Title | Future Directions in Jornada Research: Applying an Interactive Landscape Model to Solve Problems |
Publication Type | Book Chapter |
Year of Publication | 2006 |
Authors | Peters DC, Schlesinger W.H, Herrick JE, Huenneke L., Havstad K |
Editor | Havstad K, Huenneke L., Schlesinger W.H |
Book Title | Structure and Function of a Chihuahuan Desert Ecosystem: The Jornada Basin Long-Term Ecological Research Site |
Chapter | 18 |
Pagination | 369-386 |
Publisher | Oxford University Press |
City | New York, NY |
ARIS Log Number | 150218 |
Keywords | Chihuahuan Desert, Jornada Basin, LTER, synthesis book |
Abstract | In this book chapter, we propose a new model of arid and semiarid landscapes that focuses explicitly on the processes and properties that generate spatial variation in ecosystem dynamics. We are specifically interested in three interrelated aspects of landscapes: (1) feedbacks among plants, animals, and soils generated from interactions among biotic processes, a heterogeneous physical template, and the disturbance regime across a range of spatial and temporal scales, (2) neighborhood or contagious processes that generate fluxes and flows within and among spatial units, and (3) the landscape context and the condition of the study area of interest relative to its surroundings that modifies the transfers of materials. We first describe our spatially interactive model and compare it to previous models then introduce an approach to identify the landscape locations where spatial processes and information are needed in order to understand and predict ecosystem dynamics. The local, regional, and global implications of our interactive landscape model are also discussed. |
URL | /files/bibliography/06-069.pdf |