The regional determining factors underlying inter- and intra-site variation of (15)N natural abundance in foliage, O horizon and mineral soil were investigated in eastern China.(15)N natural abundance values for these forest ecosystems were in the middle of the range of values previously found for global forest ecosystems. In contrast to commonly reported global patterns, temperate forest ecosy...

human activities often adversely affect natural landscapes and ecosystems. natural landscapes consist of habitats, and habitat loss and fragmentation are major threats to biodiversity. environmental impact assessment (eia)as a systematic and well documented procedure to identify, describe and assess the direct and indirect effects of a developmental project in different environments does not co...

Interest in arid ecosystems as a source of food supply for rapidly increasing population of the world, on the one hand, and the problems pertaining to the climatic characteristics, water shortages and soil sensitivity for the inhabitants in such areas, on the other have prompted efforts at both national and international levels to develop a better understanding of these problems as well as to f...

Progress in genetic improvement of crop yield potential has slowed since 1985. Simultaneously, more sustainable management of agricultural ecosystems is needed. A better understanding of natural selection can help solve both problems. We illustrate this point with two specific examples. First, the genetic legacy of crop plants has been refined by millions of years of natural selection, often dr...

A primary motivation for research in Digital Ecosystems is the desire to exploit the self-organising properties of natural ecosystems. Ecosystems arc thought to be robust, scalable architectures that can automatically solve complex, dynamic problems. However, the biological processes that contribute to these properties have not been made explicit in Digital Ecosystem research. Here, we introduc...