Conclusions
In this lab you have seen and used different techniques for analyses of the ef-fects of landscape structure and ecosystem function on organisms as well as the feedbacks that organisms have on the structure and function of ecosys-tems and landscapes. Both modeling and direct observation of organism dis-tribution and landscape structure and function are important tools in this en-deavor. There are numerous other examples in the literature; however, most work of this sort is conducted in the field (or in a model parameterized with field data) rather than in the laboratory. Nevertheless, laboratory data can also be useful to understand some of the finer-scale mechanisms that may be driving a particular system. While it may seem intuitively obvious that or-ganisms can influence ecosystem processes and landscape structure, much work is still needed to understand the mechanisms behind these effects.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Bibliography
Atsatt, P. R., and D. J. O’Dowd. 1976. Plant defense guilds. Science 193:24–29. This benchmark paper in ecology, the first to describe a potentially mutualistic interaction among plants involving interaction with a separate trophic level, represents one of the finest early studies of spatial ecology, as well.
Christensen, N. L., J. K. Agree, P, F. Brussard, J. Hughes, D. H. Knight, G. W. Minshall, J. M. Peek, S. J. Pyne, F. J. Swanson, J. W. Thomas, S. Wells, S. E. Williams, and H. A. Wright. 1989. Interpreting the Yellowstone fires of 1988. BioScience 39:678–685.
Despain, D. 1990. Yellowstone Vegetation. Roberts Reinhart, Boulder, Colorado.
Edwards, P. J., and S. D. Wratten. 1980. Ecology of Insect-Plant Interactions. Edward Arnold, London.
Houston, D. G. 1982. The Northern Yellowstone Elk. MacMillan, New York.
Jones, C. G., and J. H. Lawton. 1995. Linking Species and Ecosystems. Chapman and Hall, New York. This seminal volume on linking processes across scales includes Chapters on linkages between species-level processes and landscape and ecology levels with examples of population structure and function, evolution, and trophic-level interactions.
Jones, C. G., J. H. Lawton, and M. Shachak. 1997. Positive and negative effects of organisms as physical ecosystem engineers. Ecology 78:1946–1957.
Knight, D. H. 1987. Parasites, lightning and vegetation mosaic in wilderness landscapes. In M. G. Turner, ed. Landscape Heterogeneity and Disturbance. Springer-Verlag, New York, pp. 59–83.
Louda, S. M., and J. E. Rodman. 1996. Insect herbivory as a major factor in the shade distribution of a native crucifer (Cardamine cordifolia A. Gray, bittercress). Journal of Ecology 84:299–237.
Ludwig, J. A., and J. F. Reynolds. 1988. Statistical Ecology: A Primer on Methods and Computing. John Wiley and Sons, New York.
Mcnaughton, S. J. 1984. Grazing lawns: Animals in herds, plant form and coevolution. American Naturalist 124:863–886.
Meagher, M. M. 1973. The bison of Yellowstone National Park. National Park Service Scientific Monographs, No. 1.
Nothnagle, P. J., and J. C. Schultz. 1987. What is a forest pest? In P. Barbosa and J. C. Schultz, eds. Insect Outbreaks. Academic Press, New York, pp. 59–80.
Pastor, J., A. Downing, H. E. Erickson. 1996. Species-area curves and diversity-productivity relationships in beaver meadows of Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, USA. Oikos 77:399–406.
Pearson, S. M., M. G. Turner, L. L. Wallace, and W. H. Romme. 1995. Winter habitat use by large ungulates following fire in northern Yellowstone National Park. Ecological Applications 5:744–755
Roland, J. 1993. Large-scale forest fragmentation increases the duration of tent caterpillar outbreak. Oecologia 93:25–30.
Rykiel, E. J., R. N. Coulson, P. J. H. Sharpe, T. F. H. Allen, and R. O. Flamm. 1988. Disturbance propagation by bark beetles as an episodic landscape phenomenon. Landscape Ecology. 1:129–139.
Senft, R. L., M. B. Coughenour, D. W. Bailey, L. R. Rittenhouse, O. E. Sala, and D. M. Swift. 1987. Large herbivore foraging and ecological hierarchies. Bio-Science 37:789–799. This paper will also be a benchmark paper in ecology because of its efforts to link foraging processes across scales. Although few people now use the concept of overmatching as described in the paper, many use the conceptual processes developed here.
Thatcher, R. D., J. L. Searchy, J. E. Coster, and G. D. Hertel. 1982. The southern pine beetle. USDA Forest Service Technical Bulletin 1631.
Turner, M.G., R. H. Gardner, V. H. Dale, and R. V. O’Neill. 1989. Predicting the spread of disturbance across heterogeneous landscapes. Oikos 55:121–129. This paper describes, in both mathematical and ecological terms, how heterogeneity should influence the spread of disturbances, populations, matter, and information across a landscape. It also describes a null-model approach for testing the effects of heterogeneity on these flows.
Turner, M. G., Y. Wu, W. H. Romme, and L. L. Wallace. 1993. A landscape simulation model of winter foraging by large ungulates. Ecological Modeling 69:163–184.
Turner, M. G., Y. Wu, L. L. Wallace, W. H. Romme, and A. Brenkert. 1994. Simulating interactions among ungulates, vegetation, and fire in northern Yellowstone park during winter. Ecological Applications 4:472–496.
Wallace, L. L., and S. T. Gray. In Prep. Impact of a fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea) outbreak on prairie woodlands.
Wallace, L. L., M. G. Turner, W. H. Romme, R. V. O’Neill, and Y. Wu. 1993. Scale of heterogeneity of forage production and winter foraging by elk and bison. Landscape Ecology 10:75–83.
Whicker, A. D., and J. K. Detling. 1988. Ecological consequences of prairie dog disturbances. BioScience 38:778–785.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2002 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wallace, L.L., Gray, S.T. (2002). Feedbacks between Organisms and Ecosystem Processes. In: Gergel, S.E., Turner, M.G. (eds) Learning Landscape Ecology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-21613-8_17
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-21613-8_17
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-95254-3
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-21613-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive