Articles

Parameter uncertainty and identifiability of a conceptual semi-distributed model to simulate hydrological processes in a small headwater catchment in Northwest China

Conceptual hydrological models are useful tools to support catchment water management. However, the identifiability of parameters and structural uncertainties in conceptual rainfall-runoff modeling prove to be...

Authors: Shuai Ouyang, Heike Puhlmann, Shunli Wang, Klaus von Wilpert and Osbert Jianxin Sun

Applying an ecosystem services approach to support land-use planning: a case study in Koboko district, Uganda

This paper presents a case study of the application of an ecosystem services framework to support land-use planning. The district of Koboko, in northwestern Uganda, formed the study area. The overall purpose w...

Authors: Lighea Speziale and Davide Geneletti

Inter- and transdisciplinary perspective on the integration of ecological processes into ecosystem services analysis in a mountain region

Ecosystem goods and services (EGS) studies have had little impact on policy processes and real-world decision-making due to limited understanding of the interactions and feedbacks among ecological, social and ...

Authors: Robert Huber, Simon Briner, Harald Bugmann, Ché Elkin, Christian Hirschi, Roman Seidl, Rebecca Snell and Andreas Rigling

Novel ecosystems in ecological restoration and rehabilitation: Innovative planning or lowering the bar?

Stemming from a special symposium at the 2012 inaugural meeting of the Society for Ecological Restoration Australasia in Perth, Western Australia, this special issue editorial addresses novel ecosystems in eco...

Authors: Michael P Perring, Patrick Audet and David Lamb

Spatial variation of net radiation and its contribution to energy balance closures in grassland ecosystems

Low energy balance closure (EBC) at a particular eddy-covariance flux site has increased the uncertainties of carbon, water, and energy measurements and has thus hampered the urgent research of scaling up and ...

Authors: Changliang Shao, Linghao Li, Gang Dong and Jiquan Chen

Multi-level governance through adaptive co-management: conflict resolution in a Brazilian state park

Communities situated in protected areas generate conflicts among park administrators, residents and scientists. Should they stay or should they go? This article presents a positive example of a community exist...

Authors: Barbara Schröter, Karla Sessin-Dilascio, Claas Meyer, Bettina Matzdorf, Claudia Sattler, Angela Meyer, Gregor Giersch, Camila Jericó-Daminello and Lukas Wortmann

Predicting erosion and sediment yield in a mesoscale basin in the semiarid monsoon region Miyun/China

Changes in land use and agricultural management have caused a strong increase in sediment and particulate phosphorus input into the Miyun reservoir. The simulation of the relevant runoff and sediment fluxes at...

Authors: Michael Gebel, Mario Uhlig, Stefan Halbfass, Ralph Meissner and Shuhuai Duan

Vegetation composition of old extensive green roofs (from 1980s Germany)

Since their development in the late 1970s in Germany, extensive green roofs (EGR) have become increasingly popular as mitigation tools for urban environmental issues around the world. EGRs are planted with sel...

Authors: Christine E Thuring and Nigel Dunnett

Nuisance species: beyond the ecological perspective

‘Nuisance species’ (or ‘invasive’ species) are often proposed to be the second most important concern in the context of the current biodiversity crisis. Despite increasing evidence that exotic species do not a...

Authors: Zina Skandrani, Sébastien Lepetz and Anne-Caroline Prévot-Julliard

Assessing hydrological and provisioning ecosystem services in a case study in Western Central Brazil

Current land use in the Federal District, Western Central Brazil, causes problems related to the water supply which are linked to the regulation of ecosystem services (ES). In scope of an Integrated Water Reso...

Authors: Lars Koschke, Carsten Lorz, Christine Fürst, Tobias Lehmann and Franz Makeschin

Phenology of a tropical dry deciduous forest of Bhadra wildlife sanctuary, southern India

This paper describes the leafing, flowering and fruiting phenology of canopy trees in the dry deciduous forest of Bhadra wildlife sanctuary from June 2004 to May 2006.

Authors: Appaji Nanda, Hebbalalu S Suresh and Yelugere L Krishnamurthy

Landscape architecture and novel ecosystems: ecological restoration in an expanded field

Within the continuum of natural-to-novel ecosystems − i.e., from the ‘pristine’ to the greatly intervened − this paper emphasizes the role of design within highly modified ecosystems in areas of urbanization. ...

Authors: Catharina Sack

Plant recruitment and survival as indicators of ecological restoration success in abandoned pasture land in Nurcoung, Victoria, Australia

One of the major impediments to developing better restoration strategies is the inadequate documentation of past restoration efforts. In 2008, Greening Australia commenced ecological restoration on the Nurcoung p...

Authors: Singarayer K Florentine, Jessica Gardner, Friedrich P Graz and Sean Moloney

Novel ecosystems created by coal mines in central Queensland’s Bowen Basin

Open-cut coal mining began in central Queensland’s Bowen Basin approximately 50 years ago. Over this period of time, mine rehabilitators have used a variety of tree, shrub, and groundcover species to create ‘n...

Authors: Peter D Erskine and Andrew T Fletcher

Continental-scale assessment of provisioning soil functions in Europe

A framework is developed to link major soil functions to ecosystem services assessment. Provisioning soil functions—with primary linkages to ecosystem services—are evaluated on a continental scale in Europe.

Authors: Gergely Tóth, Ciro Gardi, Katalin Bódis, Éva Ivits, Ece Aksoy, Arwyn Jones, Simon Jeffrey, Thorum Petursdottir and Luca Montanarella

Combining in-situ water quality and remotely sensed data across spatial and temporal scales to measure variability in wet season chlorophyll-a: Great Barrier Reef lagoon (Queensland, Australia)

Combining in-situ data from single-point time series with remotely sensed spatial data allowed a greater elucidation of changes in chlorophyll-a concentrations through wet season conditions in the Great Barrie...

Authors: Michelle J Devlin, Eduardo Teixeira da Silva, Caroline Petus, Amelia Wenger, Daniel Zeh, Dieter Tracey, Jorge G Álvarez-Romero and Jon Brodie

Cross-scale modeling of surface temperature and tree seedling establishment in mountain landscapes

Estimating surface temperature from above-ground field measurements is important for understanding the complex landscape patterns of plant seedling survival and establishment, processes which occur at heights ...

Authors: John R Dingman, Lynn C Sweet, Ian McCullough, Frank W Davis, Alan Flint, Janet Franklin and Lorraine E Flint

Nutrient dynamics in the Sundarbans mangrove estuarine system of Bangladesh under different weather and tidal cycles

Seasonal and tidal variations in nutrient concentration and water quality were investigated in the western Sundarbans of Bangladesh during the post-monsoon, winter and monsoon seasons during 2010–2011.

Authors: Shak Md Bazlur Rahaman, Lipton Sarder, Md Sayadur Rahaman, Alokesh Kumar Ghosh, Sudhin Kumar Biswas, SM Shahjahan Siraj, Khandaker Anisul Huq, Abul Farah Md Hasanuzzaman and Shikder Saiful Islam

Complex interactions between biota, landscapes and native peoples

The papers presented here originated with a symposium held at the Ecological Society of America’s annual meeting in Portland, Oregon, in 2012. They describe how native people and indigenous researchers view an...

Authors: Jose MV Fragoso and Nicholas J Reo

Recruitment and functionality traits as bioindicators of ecological restoration success in the Lurg Hills district, Victoria, Australia

The Regent Honeyeater Project commenced ecological restoration in the Lurg district in 1994, with an aim to restore habitats for the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater Anthochaera phrygia and a range of othe...

Authors: Kristin Monie, Singarayer Florentine and Grant Palmer

Using strategically applied grazing to manage invasive alien plants in novel grasslands

Novel ecosystems that contain new combinations of invasive alien plants (IAPs) present a challenge for managers. Yet, control strategies that focus on the removal of the invasive species and/or restoring histo...

Authors: Jennifer Firn, Jodi N Price and Ralph DB Whalley

Fine-scale hydrologic modeling for regional landscape applications: the California Basin Characterization Model development and performance

Resource managers need spatially explicit models of hydrologic response to changes in key climatic drivers across variable landscape conditions. We demonstrate the utility of a Basin Characterization Model for...

Authors: Lorraine E Flint, Alan L Flint, James H Thorne and Ryan Boynton

The effects of indigenous prescribed fire on riparian vegetation in central California

Fire has a long history, but little documented role, as a process in riparian ecosystems. For millennia California Indians have applied fire to riparian ecosystems for a variety of purposes, but the effects of...

Authors: Don L Hankins

A long term calibration and verification of a submerged aquatic vegetation model for Lake Okeechobee

Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) has multiple functions in Lake Okeechobee. It provides critical habitat for fish and wildlife, stabilizes sediments, reduces phosphorus (P) concentration in the water column ...

Authors: Kang-Ren Jin and Zhen-Gang Ji

Adopting novel ecosystems as suitable rehabilitation alternatives for former mine sites

The nature and extent of environmental disturbance associated with mining commonly entails completely new and challenging combinations of climate, lithology and landform. Consequently, the outcomes of ecologic...

Authors: David Doley and Patrick Audet

A framework for considering ecological interactions for common non-timber forest product species: a case study of mountain date palm (Phoenix loureiroi Kunth) leaf harvest in South India

Many economically important non-timber forest products (NTFPs) come from widespread and common plant species. Harvest of these species often is assumed to be sustainable due to their commonness. However, becau...

Authors: Lisa Mandle, Tamara Ticktin, Snehlata Nath, Siddappa Setty and Anita Varghese

Structural development of vegetation on rehabilitated North Stradbroke Island: Above/belowground feedback may facilitate alternative ecological outcomes

This study depicts broad-scale revegetation patterns following sand mining on North Stradbroke Island, south-eastern Queensland, Australia.

Authors: Patrick Audet, Amanda Gravina, Vanessa Glenn, Phill McKenna, Helen Vickers, Melina Gillespie and David Mulligan

Is thirty-seven years sufficient for full return of the ant biota following restoration?

An assessment of whether rehabilitated mine sites have resulted in natural or novel ecosystems requires monitoring over considerable periods of time or the use of space-for-time substitution (chronosequence) a...

Authors: Jonathan D Majer, Brian Heterick, Thomas Gohr, Elliot Hughes, Lewis Mounsher and Andrew Grigg

Incorporating novelty and novel ecosystems into restoration planning and practice in the 21st century

Novelty pervades the biosphere. In some cases, potentially irreversible abiotic and/or biotic changes have led to the crossing of thresholds and thus the formation of “novel ecosystems.” Their widespread emerg...

Authors: Michael P Perring, Rachel J Standish and Richard J Hobbs

Why we gather: traditional gathering in native Northwest California and the future of bio-cultural sovereignty

The concept of bio-cultural sovereignty is drawn from Native American Studies scholar Stefano Varese who explores the daily forms of biological and cultural resistance and adaptation in South America. This art...

Authors: Cutcha Risling Baldy

Denitrification from nitrogen-fixing biologically crusted soils in a cool desert environment, southeast Utah, USA

Nitrogen fixation by microorganisms within biological soil crust (“biocrust”) communities provides an important pathway for N inputs in cool desert environments where soil nutrients are low and symbiotic N-fix...

Authors: Nichole N Barger, Sarah C Castle and Gavin N Dean

Novel ecosystems in the restoration of cultural landscapes of Tl’chés, West Chatham Island, British Columbia, Canada

The small archipelago of Tl’chés, in coastal British Columbia, has gone through drastic social-ecological change culminating in the decline of traditional management practices, invasion of exotic plant species an...

Authors: Thiago C Gomes

Root-derived organic matter confines sponge community composition in mangrove ecosystems

Caribbean mangrove-associated sponge communities are very distinct from sponge communities living on nearby reefs, but the mechanisms that underlie this distinction remain uncertain. It has been hypothesized t...

Authors: Ellard R Hunting, Selma M Ubels, Michiel HS Kraak and Harm G van der Geest

The structure of natural microbial enemy-victim networks

The persistence of generalists and specialists is a topical question in community ecology and results from both ecological and evolutionary processes. At fine taxonomical scales, ecological specialisation, i.e...

Authors: Timothée Poisot, Manon Lounnas and Michael E Hochberg

Indigenous marine resource management on the Northwest Coast of North America

There is increasing recognition among anthropologists that indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast actively managed their terrestrial and marine resources and ecosystems. Such management practices ensured th...

Authors: Dana Lepofsky and Megan Caldwell

Biological soil crusts as an integral component of desert environments

Authors: Jayne Belnap and Bettina Weber

Wind farm potential is higher in prime habitat for uncommon soil crust lichens

Biotic soil crust communities contribute valuable ecosystem services and biodiversity in steppe ecosystems. The uncommon crust lichens Acarospora schleicheri, Fuscopannaria cyanolepra, Rhizocarpon diploschistidin...

Authors: Heather T Root, Myrica McCune and Bruce McCune

Ammonia-oxidizing archaea and bacteria are structured by geography in biological soil crusts across North American arid lands

Biological soil crusts (BSCs) can dominate surface cover in dry lands worldwide, playing an integral role in arid land biogeochemistry, particularly in N fertilization through fixation and cycling. Nitrificati...

Authors: Yevgeniy Marusenko, Scott T Bates, Ian Anderson, Shannon L Johnson, Tanya Soule and Ferran Garcia-Pichel

Ecological characterization of soil-inhabiting and hypolithic soil crusts within the Knersvlakte, South Africa

Within the Knersvlakte, cyanobacteria occur hypolithically underneath translucent quartz stones in areas with quartz pavement and, outside pavement areas, they are soil-inhabiting within the uppermost millimet...

Authors: Bettina Weber, Dirk CJ Wessels, Kirstin Deutschewitz, Stephanie Dojani, Hans Reichenberger and Burkhard Büdel

On the role of traditional ecological knowledge as a collaborative concept: a philosophical study

The concept of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), along with synonymous or closely related terms like indigenous knowledge and native science, has some of its origins in literatures on international devel...

Authors: Kyle Powys Whyte

Lichen species dominance and the resulting photosynthetic behavior of Sonoran Desert soil crust types (Baja California, Mexico)

Lichen dominated biological soil crusts (BSCs) occur over large areas in the Sonoran Desert of the southwestern USA and northwest Mexico. In Baja California BSCs show a distinct patchiness and several types ca...

Authors: Burkhard Büdel, Mercedes Vivas and Otto L Lange

Long-term changes in biological soil crust cover and composition

Communities change over time due to disturbances, variations in climate, and species invasions. Biological soil crust communities are important because they contribute to erosion control and nutrient cycling. ...

Authors: Eva Dettweiler-Robinson, Jeanne M Ponzetti and Jonathan D Bakker

Cultural and health implications of fish advisories in a Native American community

Fish advisories are issued in an effort to protect human health from exposure to contaminants, but Native American communities may suffer unintended health, social, and cultural consequences as a result of war...

Authors: Elizabeth Hoover

Fluxes of water, sediments, and biogeochemical compounds in salt marshes

Tidal oscillations systematically flood salt marshes, transporting water, sediments, organic matter, and biogeochemical elements such as silica. Here we present a review of recent studies on these fluxes and t...

Authors: Sergio Fagherazzi, Patricia L Wiberg, Stijn Temmerman, Eric Struyf, Yong Zhao and Peter A Raymond

Regional-scale relationship among biological soil crusts, invasive annual grasses, and disturbance

Sagebrush ecosystems in western North America are being replaced by the invasion of annual grasses, particularly Bromus tectorum. In experimental situations and in localized landscapes, prior studies have documen...

Authors: Eric B Peterson

Early life on land and the first terrestrial ecosystems

Terrestrial ecosystems have been largely regarded as plant-dominated land surfaces, with the earliest records appearing in the early Phanerozoic (<550 Ma). Yet the presence of biological components in pre-Phan...

Authors: Hugo Beraldi-Campesi

Terrestrial denitrification: challenges and opportunities

Denitrification is a process of great environmental importance but is difficult to study in terrestrial ecosystems. Methods for quantifying the process are problematic, variability in activity is high, and tem...

Authors: Peter M Groffman

A spatially distributed, deterministic approach to modeling Typha domingensis (cattail) in an Everglades wetland

The emergent wetland species Typha domingensis (cattail) is a native Florida Everglades monocotyledonous macrophyte. It has become invasive due to anthropogenic disturbances and is out-competing other vegetation ...

Authors: Gareth Lagerwall, Gregory Kiker, Rafael Muñoz-Carpena, Matteo Convertino, Andrew James and Naiming Wang

Shorebird patches as fingerprints of fractal coastline fluctuations due to climate change

The Florida coast is one of the most species-rich ecosystems in the world. This paper focuses on the sensitivity of the habitat of threatened and endangered shorebirds to sea level rise induced by climate chan...

Authors: Matteo Convertino, Adam Bockelie, Gregory A Kiker, Rafael Muñoz-Carpena and Igor Linkov

Impacts of fire and phosphorus on sawgrass and cattails in an altered landscape of the Florida Everglades

Although fire as a critical ecological process shapes the Florida Everglades landscape, researchers lack landscape-based approach for fire management. The interactive effect of fire, nutrients, water depth, an...

Authors: Yegang Wu, Ken Rutchey, Susan Newman, Shili Miao, Naiming Wang, Fred H Sklar and William H Orem