Long-term trends in production, abundance, and richness of plants and animals

TitleLong-term trends in production, abundance, and richness of plants and animals
Publication TypeBook Chapter
Year of Publication2013
AuthorsPeters DC, Laney C., Lugo AE, Collins S.L., Driscoll CT, Groffman PM, J. Grove M, Knapp A.K, Kratz T.K, Ohman MD
Book TitleLong-Term Trends in Ecological Systems: A Basis for Understanding Responses to Global Change
Chapter14
Pagination191-205
PublisherNational Technical Information Services
CitySpringfield, Virginia
Accession NumberJRN52672
ARIS Log Number256728
Keywordsatmospheric chemistry, climate change, cross-site comparisons, disturbance, ecological response, ecology, ecosystem, EcoTrends, experimental forests, global change, human demography, human population growth, Long Term Ecological Research (LTER), long-term datasets, precipitation, rangeland, rangeland research stations, surface water chemistry
Abstract

This chapter shows long-term data and trends in production, abundance, and richness of plants and animals for each site.  It contains a brief introduction to the topic, and methods of measurements, selection of variables, and their data source. It consists primarily of a large number of figures showing long-term data for different variables.  Net primary production, plant biomass and species richness, animal abundance and species richness are selected.  Figure of site-scale data through time of each variable is shown, and a regression line is shown if the relationship is significant and the trend appears linear.  The site graphs are shown on a continental map with similar sites to allow comparison among sites.  At many sites, multiple locations are sampled for plant and animal dynamics. The large within-site variability in responses often overwhelms trends through time.  Although plant response variables of ANPP, richness, and biomass are sampled for most sites to allow cross-site comparisons, animal response variables are more variable among sites with fewer comparable groups. These results indicate that each site selects representative trophic groups from the local ecosystems, instead of attempting to standardize across sites.  The length of the time series also varies across sites which further complicates cross-site comparisons.

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