“Brown” World Invertebrates Contradict “Green” World Biodiversity Theory

Old World Econometrics and New World Theory

This paper summarizes recent work on the econometrics of identification in rational expectations models by myself and Andreas Beyer. In this work, we discuss the relationship between structure and reduced form in linear rational expectations models and we apply our analysis to a class of new Keynesian models that are frequently used to inform the policy debate. We argue that the identifying ass...

Himalayan Biodiversity in the Changing World

Cryptic biodiversity in a changing world

DNA studies are revealing the extent of hidden, or cryptic, biodiversity. Two new studies challenge paradigms about cryptic biodiversity and highlight the importance of adding a historical and biogeographic dimension to biodiversity research.

Biodiversity matters in a changing world.

It is now widely accepted that the climate of our planet is changing, but it is still hard to predict the consequences of these changes on ecosystems. The impact is worst at the poles, with scientists concerned that impacts at lower latitudes will follow suit. Canada has a great responsibility and potential for studying the effects of climate changes on the ecological dynamics, given its geogra...

Brown ground: a soil carbon analogue for the green world hypothesis?

For many decades, ecologists have asked what prevents herbivores from consuming most of the plant biomass in terrestrial ecosystems, or "Why is the world green?" Here I ask the analogous question for detritivores: what prevents them from degrading most of the organic material in soils, or "Why is the ground brown?" For fresh plant detritus, constraints on decomposition closely parallel constrai...