Ecosystem Biogeochemistry

This textbook presents a comprehensive process-oriented approach to biogeochemistry that is intended to appeal to readers who want to go beyond a general exposure to topics in biogeochemistry, and instead are seeking a holistic understanding of the interplay of biotic and environmental drivers in the cycling of elements in forested watersheds. The book is organized around a core set of ecosystem processes and attributes that collectively help to generate the whole-system structure and function of a terrestrial ecosystem. In the first nine chapters, a conceptual framework is developed based on distinct soil, microbial, plant, atmospheric, hydrologic, and geochemical processes that are integrated in the element cycling behavior of watershed ecosystems. With that conceptual foundation in place, students then proceed to the final three chapters where they are challenged to think critically about integrated element cycling patterns; roles for biogeochemical models; the likely impacts of disturbance, stress, and management on watershed biogeochemistry; and linkages among patterns and processes in watersheds experiencing novel environmental changes. Included with the text are figures, tables of comparative data, extensive literature citations, a glossary of terms, an index, and a set of 24 biogeochemical problems with answers. The problems are intended to support chapter concepts and to demonstrate how critical thinking skills, simple algebra, and thoughtful human logic can be used to solve applied problems in biogeochemistry that might be encountered by a research scientist or a resource manager. Using this book as an introduction to biogeochemistry, students will achieve a level of subject mastery and disciplinary perspective that will permit them to see and to interpret the individual components, interactions, and synergies that are represented in the dynamic element cyclingpatterns of watershed ecosystems.

• Provides a unified emphasis on forested watershed ecosystems that is more process-oriented, comprehensive, and pedagogical than existing single watershed case studies;
• Delivers a coherent synthesis of biogeochemistry at the watershed ecosystem scale - the most common landscape unit for current research and resource management;
• Enables students to interpret the individual components, interactions, and synergies represented in the dynamic element cycling patterns of watershed ecosystem;
• Presents an operational manual that examines how forested watersheds work with respect to fundamental parts, processes, interrelationships, whole-system behavior, and responses to changing conditions.

Autorentext

Dr. Christopher Cronan is a Professor in the School of Biology and Ecology at the University of Maine, Orono, ME. He is the author of a previous introductory textbook entitled Introduction to Ecology and Ecosystems Analysis, and has published over 70 peer-reviewed scientific articles in journals such as Bioscience, Science, Nature, Water Resources Research, Environmental Science and Technology, Ecological Modelling, Landscape Ecology, Tree Physiology, Biogeochemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Soil Science Society of America Journal, Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta, and Environmental Management. He is former director of the School of Biology and Ecology and founding director of the Graduate Program in Ecology and Environmental Science at the University of Maine. The author earned a B.A. in ecology at the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. at Dartmouth College.

Inhalt

Preface.- Chapter 1: General Chemical Concepts.- Introduction.- Periodic Table and Element Groups.- Chemical Bonding.- Chemical Reactions, Stoichiometry, and Kinetics.- Equilibrium, Steady-State, and Residence Time.- General Concepts of Organic Chemistry.- Aqueous Solubility and Polarity.- Diffusion and Osmotic Potential.- Freezing Exclusion and Concentration of Solutes.- Defining Dissolved and Particulate Phases.- SI Units and Concentrations.- Ionic Charge Balance.- Stable Isotope Chemistry.- Chapter 2: Soil Biogeochemistry.- Introduction.-Soil Formation and Pedogenesis.- Soil Classification.- Soil Texture and Coarse Fragments.- Soil Moisture.- Mineralogy.- Physical-Chemical Features of Clays and Other Soil Colloids.- Clay Colloids.- Humic Colloids.- Chemical Processes in Soils.- Ion Exchange and Adsorption in Soils.- Soil Ion Exchange Chemistry and Base Saturation.- Acidification.- Complexation.- Leaching.- Dissolution and Precipitation Reactions.- Comparative Analysis of Soil Chemical Properties.- Soil Exchange Chemistry.- Soil Distributions of Aluminum.- Vertical Distributions of Organic Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus in Soils.- Forms of Organic Nitrogen in Soils.- Patterns of Soil Solution Chemistry.- Integrated Processes of Nutrient Supply and Storage in Soils.- Chapter 3: Microbial Biogeochemistry.- Introduction.- Redox Conditions.- Microbial Nitrogen Transformations.- Nitrogen Fixation.- Mineralization or Ammonification.- Nitrogen Immobilization.- Nitrification.- Denitrification.- Dissimilatory Nitrate Reduction to Ammonium (DNRA).- Assimilatory Nitrate Reduction.- Microbial Sulfur Transformations.- Mineralization of Organic Sulfur.- Anaerobic Dissimilatory Sulfate Reduction.- Assimilatory Sulfate Reduction.- Microbial Carbon Transformations.- Fermentation.- Methane Production.- Organic Acid Synthesis by Microbes.- Microbial Processes that Contribute to Bioremediation or Metal Transformations.- Chapter 4: Plant Biogeochemistry.- Introduction.- General Plant Chemistry.- Plant Functional Morphology and Growth Allocation.- Aboveground Structure and Function.- Belowground Structure and Function of the Root System.- Growth Allocation and Root:Shoot Relationships.- Carbon Fixation, Metabolism, and Plant Production.- Photosynthesis and Nutrients.- Photosynthesis and Water.- Respiration and Metabolism.- Exchange of Carbon Dioxide in a Forest Ecosystem.- Energy Budgets and Primary Production.- Whole-Plant Carbon Cycling and Allocation.- Metabolic Allocation to Plant Defense.- Plant Nutrient Cycling.- Plant Nutrient Absorption.- Implications of Nutrient Uptake for Acid-Base Chemistry.- Plant Transport or Translocation of Nutrients.- Plant Nutrient Resorption.- Detrital Cycling of Plant Nutrients.- Plant Canopy Processes Affecting Element Cycling.- NUE as an Index of Plant Nutrition and Nutrient Cycling.- Nutrient Limitation.- Effects of Chemical Stress on Plants.- Effects of Acidic Deposition on Plant Membrane-Bound Calcium.- Aluminum Antagonism and Toxicity Stress.- Plant Responses to Ozone Stress.- Chapter 5: Cycling of Organic Matter.- Introduction.- Ecosystem Perspective.- Storage of Organic Matter in Forest Soils, Biomass, and Woody Debris.- Soil Organic Matter and Soil Carbon Storage.- Forest Floor Storage.- Turnover Rates and Age of Soil Organic Matter Reservoirs.- Influence of Land Management and Disturbance on SOM.- Aboveground and Belowground Biomass.- Coarse Woody Debris.- Transfers of Organic Matter in Detritus and Solutions.- Aboveground Litterfall.- Belowground Detrital Inputs from Root Mortality and Turnover.- Solution Transfers of DOM.- Decomposition of Organic Matter.- General Processes of Decomposition.- Wood Decay Processes.- Decomposition Rates and Decay Constants.- Element Cycling Patterns in Decaying Organic Matter.- Substrate Controls on Decomposition.- Environmental Controls on Decomposition.- Biological Influences on Decomposition.- Transfers of CO2 in the Organic Matter Budget of a Forest Ecosystem.- Chapter 6: Atmospheric Deposition.- Introduction.- Atmospheric Chemistry.- Deposition Processes and Patterns.- Atmospheric Emissions and Deposition of Sulfur and Nitrogen.- Measurement and Analysis of Atmospheric Deposition.- Wet Deposition.- Dry Deposition.- Environmental Patterns of Precipitation Chemistry and Atmospheric Deposition.- Daily Patterns.- Monthly Patterns.- Multi-year Trends in Precipitation Chemistry.- Lon…