Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Environmental Science and Rangeland Management, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 227-244).

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wyoming, 2006. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Dec. 20, 2007). Includes bibliographical references.

Bibliography: leaves 227-244. This study is conceived to address various aspects of western myall (Acacia papyrocarpa Benth) recruitment, lifespan, distribution and the effects of major vertebrates on the species' ecology over the major part of its range in South Australia. A study of the population dynamics of the species is done to assess the adequacy of net recruitment. Population structure is examined across the woodlands. The new concept of "fossil paddocks" is adopted to investigate the historical impact of introduced herbivores on the landscape.

Esta tesis se ha desarrollado como parte del proyecto VULCAN (Vulnerabibilty assessment of shrubland ecosystems under climatic changes), un proyecto de investigación llevado a cabo en seis ecosistemas de matorrales europeos (Gales-Reino Unido, Dinamarca, Holanda, Hungría, Cerdaña-Italia y Catalunya-España), distribuidos en un gradiente de temperatura (8.2 - 15.6 ºC) y precipitación (511 - 1427 mm). En ella se han incluido datos recogidos durante el periodo 1999-2005.El objetivo global de la investigación fue el de aportar conocimientos y reducir incertidumbres acerca del funcionamiento de los matorrales europeos y del rol que pueden desempeñar éstos como fuente o sumidero de carbono bajo la perspectiva del cambio climático.En las parcelas de los diferentes países se instalaron novedosas manipulaciones experimentales para aumentar la temperatura y para reducir el agua disponible en campo, simulando los efectos del cambio climático previstos para las décadas futuras. En este trabajo se han estudiado los efectos de los tratamientos en la diversidad vegetal, en la productividad primaria aérea, así como en la fenología del crecimiento y en la elongación de ramas de las especies vegetales dominantes de los ecosistemas arbustivos europeos. Además en las parcelas experimentales de Garraf se investigó la sensibilidad de los procesos relacionados con la captación de carbono por la vegetación a nivel de hoja (fluorescencia, fotosíntesis, conductancia estomática) y se estudió la respuesta de la floración no primaveral de las dos especies arbustivas dominantes, Erica multiflora y Globularia alypum.Los efectos del cambio climático a nivel de ecosistema fueron complejos debido a la gran variabilidad de respuestas de las plantas a los tratamientos según las variables medidas, las especies, estaciones u años, sitios y periodos de experimentación.En Garraf, una zona que sufrió un incendio en 1994, encontramos una clara reducción en el número de especies por transecto en las parcelas de sequía respecto a las control, sin embargo no encontramos efectos similares en el resto de Europa lo que sugiere que la riqueza de especies en comunidades en proceso de recuperación después de una perturbación puede ser especialmente sensible al cambio climático respecto a otras comunidades en estadios más maduros. Concretamente, encontramos que los tratamientos de calentamiento y sequía redujeron la habilidad competitiva de Pinus halepensis (germinador obligado) frente a los arbustos rebrotadores y que la estrategia en el uso del agua pudo ayudar a G. alypum a mantener una posición dominante en las parcelas de sequía de Garraf. En los países con menor aridez las respuestas de la biomasa anual acumulada al calentamiento fueron más positivas sin embargo, el hecho de que también encontremos especies mediterráneas como E. multiflora que respondieron positivamente al calentamiento, junto con el hecho de que fenómenos extremos como la ola de calor Europea en 2003 redujeran la productividad primaria, matizan la hipótesis de que sea en los ecosistemas más fríos en los que el calentamiento global de lugar a una mayor absorción de carbono. Concretamente, la respuesta a los tratamientos de la biomasa a nivel de cubierta en Garraf pudo anularse debido a respuestas opuestas de las especies dominantes. En este estudio, el gradiente geográfico que dibuja los matorrales estudiados no determinó la sensibilidad de las especies al calentamiento ni la intensidad de la respuesta en lo que a fenología del crecimiento y elongación de ramas se refiere. La fenología del crecimiento de algunas especies mediterráneas fue tan sensible al calentamiento experimental (se avanzó) como algunas especies de distribución más septentrional.Aunque nuestro estudió mostró que la floración de E. multiflora y G. alypum, que tiene lugar en otoño-invierno, dependió en gran medida de la lluvia acumulada y su distribución durante el periodo primavera-verano, los tratamientos experimentales no afectaron esta variable. Estos resultados se explican en parte por la mayor variación de humedad que hubo entre años respecto a la diferencia de humedad que hubo entre las parcelas de sequía y controles. / This PhD thesis has been developed as part of the VULCAN project (Vulnerabibilty assessment of shrubland ecosystems during climatic changes), a research project conducted in six European shrublands (Wales, United Kingdom, Denmark, Holland, Hungary, Italy-Cerdagne and Catalonia-Spain), distributed in a gradient of temperature (8.2 - 15.6 ° C) and precipitation (511 - 1427 mm). It includes data collected during the 1999-2005 period. The overall objective of the research was to provide knowledge and reduce uncertainties about the functioning of the shrublands and the role that they can play as a source or sink of carbon under the prospect of climate change. At each site, novel experimental manipulations were installed to increase the temperature and to reduce the water available in field, simulating the effects of climate change projected for the future decades.In this work we have studied the effects of treatments on plant diversity, aboveground primary productivity, as well as on the phenology of growth and on the shoot elongation of dominant species. In addition, in Garraf we investigated other processes at leaf level such fluorescence, photosynthesis, stomatal conductance and other at plant level such the response of the non-spring flowering species, Erica multiflora and Globularia alypum. The effects of climate change at the ecosystem level were complex because of the great variability of plant responses to treatment according to the variables, species, seasons or years, sites and periods of experimentation. In Garraf, an area which suffered a fire in 1994, we found a clear reduction in the number of species per transect on drought plots, but no similar effects were found in the rest of Europe, suggesting that communities in process of recovery after disturbance can be particularly sensitive to climate change compared to other communities in more mature stages. Specifically, we found that the experimental treatments reduced the competitive ability of the obligate seeder Pinus halepensis against native resprouter shrubs and that the water spender strategy of G. alypum may allow this species to maintain a dominant position in drought plots in Garraf. In sites with lower aridity, the responses of the annual accumulated biomass to warming were more positive. However, the fact that we found Mediterranean species such as E. multiflora responding positively to global warming, coupled with the fact that extreme events such as the European heat wave in 2003 reduced primary productivity, challenge the assumption that it is in colder ecosystems where global warming will result in a greater carbon sequestration. Specifically, opposite responses of the dominant species could cancel out a clear response of biomass accumulation at canopy level in Garraf.In this study, the geographical gradient did not determine the susceptibility of the species or the intensity of the response of the phenology of growth and shoot elongation to the warming treatment. The phenology of growth of some Mediterranean species was very responsive to warming treatment (mainly advances) as some species of northernmost distribution. The study also shows that although flowering of E. multiflora and G. alypum, which takes place in the autumn-winter, depended largely on the accumulated rainfall and its distribution during the spring-summer period, the experimental treatments did not affect this variable. These results are explained in part by the greater range of soil moisture between years than between drought and controls plots.

Bibliography: leaves 227-244. / xiv, 244 leaves : ill.[some col.], maps ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / This study is conceived to address various aspects of western myall (Acacia papyrocarpa Benth) recruitment, lifespan, distribution and the effects of major vertebrates on the species' ecology over the major part of its range in South Australia. A study of the population dynamics of the species is done to assess the adequacy of net recruitment. Population structure is examined across the woodlands. The new concept of "fossil paddocks" is adopted to investigate the historical impact of introduced herbivores on the landscape. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Environmental Science and Rangeland Management, 1997

Linking annual tree growth with remotely-sensed terrestrial vegetation indices provides a basis for using tree rings as proxies for ecosystem primary productivity over large spatial and long temporal scales. In contrast with most previous tree ring/remote sensing studies that have focused on temperature-limited boreal and taiga environments, here we compare the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) with a network of Pinus brutia tree ring width chronologies collected along ecological gradients in semiarid Cyprus, where both radial tree growth and broader vegetation activity are controlled by drought. We find that the interaction between precipitation, elevation, and land-cover type generate a relationship between radial tree growth and NDVI. While tree ring chronologies at higher-elevation forested sites do not exhibit climatedriven linkages with NDVI, chronologies at lower-elevation dry sites are strongly correlated with NDVI during the winter precipitation season. At lower-elevation sites, land cover is dominated by grasslands and shrublands and tree ring widths operate as a proxy for ecosystem-scale vegetation activity. Tree rings can therefore be used to reconstruct productivity in water-limited grasslands and shrublands, where future drought stress is expected to alter the global carbon cycle, biodiversity, and ecosystem functioning in the 21st century.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--Southern Oregon University, 2007 / Computer printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 49-53). Also available via Internet as PDF file through Southern Oregon Digital Archives: http://soda.sou.edu. Search Bioregion Collection.