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Browse more than 5,500 book chapters authored by our scientists over the past 100+ year history of the USGS and refine search by topic, location, year, and advanced search.
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Controls on distribution patterns of biological soil crusts at micro- to global scales
Biocrusts are heterogeneously distributed in space. The drivers of their distribution patterns vary
depending on the spatial scale of observation. Globally, there are about 1337 cyanobacteria,
algae, bryophyte, and lichen species reported as components of biocrusts. At the broadest
biogeographical scales, the degree and age of isolation of land masses may dictate distribution of
these species and
Authors
Jayne Belnap, Otto L. Lange, Matthew A. Bowker, Burkhard Buedel, Christophe Sannier, Nicole Pietrasiak, David Eldridge, Victor Rivera Aguilar
How biological soil crusts became recognized as a functional unit: a selective history
It is surprising that despite the world-wide distribution and general importance of biological soil crusts (biocrusts), scientific recognition and functional analysis of these communities is a relatively young field of science. In this chapter, we sketch the historical lines that led to the recognition of biocrusts as a community with important ecosystem functions. The idea of biocrusts as a funct
Authors
Otto L. Lange, Jayne Belnap
Natural recovery of biological soil crusts after disturbance
Natural recovery of biological soil crusts (biocrusts) is influenced by a number of different parameters, such as climate, soil conditions, the severity of disturbance, and the timing of disturbance relative to the climatic conditions. In recent studies, it has been shown that recovery is often not linear, but a highly dynamic process directly influenced by non-linear external parameters as extrao
Authors
Bettina Weber, Matthew A. Bowker, Yuanming Zhang, Jayne Belnap
Patterns and controls on nitrogen cycling of biological soil crusts
Biocrusts play a significant role in the nitrogen [N ] cycle within arid and semi-arid ecosystems, as they contribute major N inputs via biological fixation and dust capture, harbor internal N transformation processes, and direct N losses via N dissolved, gaseous and erosional loss processes (Fig. 1). Because soil N availability in arid and semi-arid ecosystems is generally low and may limit net
Authors
Nichole N. Barger, Eli Zaady, Bettina Weber, Ferran Garcia-Pichel, Jayne Belnap
Synthesis on biological soil crust research
In this closing chapter, we summarize the advances in biocrust research made during the last 1.5 decades. In the first part of the chapter, we discuss how in some research fields, such as the microbial diversity of fungi, bacteria, and microfauna; the interaction between biocrusts and vascular plants; and in the rehabilitation of biocrusts; particularly large achievements have been made. In other
Authors
Bettina Weber, Jayne Belnap, Burkhard Buedel
Modeling flow, sediment transport and morphodynamics in rivers
Predicting the response of natural or man-made channels to imposed supplies of water and sediment is one of the difficult practical problems commonly addressed by fluvial geomorphologists. This problem typically arises in three situations. In the first situation, geomorphologists are attempting to understand why a channel or class of channels has a certain general form; in a sense, this is the cen
Authors
Jonathan M. Nelson, Richard R. McDonald, Yasuyuki Shimizu, Ichiro Kimura, Mohamed Nabi, Kazutake Asahi
Surficial geological tools in fluvial geomorphology: Chapter 2
Increasingly, environmental scientists are being asked to develop an understanding of how rivers and streams have been altered by environmental stresses, whether rivers are subject to physical or chemical hazards, how they can be restored, and how they will respond to future environmental change. These questions present substantive challenges to the discipline of fluvial geomorphology, especially
Authors
Robert B. Jacobson, James E. O'Connor, Takashi Oguchi
Vegetation as a tool in the interpretation of fluvial geomorphic processes and landforms
This chapter exemplifies that vegetation can be used as a tool for geomorphic interpretation in several major ways. It presents a general overview: through dendrogeomorphic analysis (tree rings) to estimate the timing of important geomorphic events including floods and mass wasting and to estimate rates of erosion and sedimentation; through the documentation and interpretation of species distribut
Authors
Cliff R. Hupp, S Dufour, G Bornette
Critical elements in sediment-hosted deposits (clastic-dominated Zn-Pb-Ag, Mississippi Valley-type Zn-Pb, sedimentary rock-hosted Stratiform Cu, and carbonate-hosted Polymetallic Deposits): A review: Chapter 12
Some sediment-hosted base metal deposits, specifically the clastic-dominated (CD) Zn-Pb deposits, carbonate-hosted Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) deposits, sedimentary-rock hosted stratiform copper deposits, and carbonate-hosted polymetallic (“Kipushi type”) deposits, are or have been important sources of critical elements including Co, Ga, Ge, and Re. The generally poor data concerning trace elem
Authors
Erin E. Marsh, Murray W. Hitzman, David L. Leach
Analyses of historical and projected climates to support climate adaptation in the northern Rocky Mountains: Chapter 4
Most of the western United States is experiencing the effects of rapid and directional climate change (Garfin et al. 2013). These effects, along with forecasts of profound changes in the future, provide strong motivation for resource managers to learn about and prepare for future changes. Climate adaptation plans are based on an understanding of historic climate variation and their effects on ecos
Authors
John E. Gross, Michael Tercek, Kevin Guay, Tony Chang, Marian Talbert, David Thoma, Ann Rodman, Patrick Jantz, Jeffrey T. Morisette
Measuring spatial patterns in floodplains: A step towards understanding the complexity of floodplain ecosystems: Chapter 6
Floodplains can be viewed as complex adaptive systems (Levin, 1998) because they are comprised of many different biophysical components, such as morphological features, soil groups and vegetation communities as well as being sites of key biogeochemical processing (Stanford et al., 2005). Interactions and feedbacks among the biophysical components often result in additional phenomena occuring over
Authors
Murray W. Scown, Martin C. Thoms, Nathan R. De Jager
The physiology of mangrove trees with changing climate
Mangrove forests grow on saline, periodically flooded soils of the tropical and subtropical coasts. The tree species that comprise the mangrove are halophytes that have suites of traits that confer differing levels of tolerance of salinity, aridity, inundation and extremes of temperature. Here we review how climate change and elevated levels of atmospheric CO2 will influence mangrove forests. Tole
Authors
Catherine E. Lovelock, Ken W. Krauss, Michael J. Osland, Ruth Reef, Marilyn C. Ball