Book Chapters

Biodiversity contributes to and depends on ecosystem structure and associated function. Ecosystem structure, such as the amount and type of tree cover, influences fundamental abiotic variables such as near-ground incoming solar radiation (e.g., Royer et al. 2011), which in turn affects species and associated biodiversity (e.g., Trotter et al. 2008). In many systems, foundational...

Core samples from the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 366 were tested in the laboratory to determine permeability, porosity, density, and frictional strength and their relation to mineralogy as part of an effort to understand hydro-mechanical processes at convergent plate margins. Seven samples were tested from a depth range of 19.6 to 197.9 m below the sea floor...

Large spatial databases often labeled as geospatial big data exceed the capacity of commonly used computing systems as a result of data volume, variety, velocity, and veracity. Additional problems also labeled with V’s are cited, but the four primary ones are the most problematic and focus of this chapter (Li et al., 2016, Panimalar et al., 2017). Sources include satellites, aircraft and...

Alpine ecosystems account for ca. 3 % of terrestrial habitats yet, along with adjacent mountain systems, provide water resources to nearly half of the world’s human population. Approximately 20 % of humans live in or near mountain areas, making it inherently important to understand current impacts on these systems. Here, I review literature regarding current and projected human impacts...

Whereas research in volcano geodesy seeks to push the boundaries of our knowledge of the physics of volcanoes, monitoring looks at changes in volcano behavior to predict when a volcanic crisis might develop. To be effective, geodetic monitoring must be done before, during, and after eruptions and must be integrated with other monitoring techniques. It requires the type of long-term...

Volcano geodesy is the branch of geodetic science that deals with the changing shapes of volcanoes, whether large or small, deep-seated or surficial. Together with seismicity and volcanic gas flux, deformation of the ground surface can be a key indicator of subsurface conditions and processes at volcanoes—information that not only improves scientific understanding of magmatic systems but...

For many people, a visit to a cave is a wondrous event directing our minds to ponder the mysteries presented by these unique places and inspiring questions: How old is the cave? What was the role of water in forming the cave and where did the water come from? How is the cave connected to the surface environment? These are intriguing questions to ask, and karst scientists use isotope...

This chapter discusses the role of seed-vectored microbes in modulating seedling development and increasing fitness of plants in terms of increased biotic and abiotic stress tolerance.

Localities in the radiometrically dated Upper Herto Member of Ethiopia’s Bouri Formation continue to produce new data that complement and extend initial reports of fossils and artifacts published in 2003. Results of these revisits are reported here and include the in situ recovery of artifacts from the same sediments containing hominid fossils. We evaluate the absolute and relative...

Shrews (Soricidae) are the only members of the mammalian order Eulipotyphla that occur in Central and South America. In Guatemala, 15 species have been recorded belonging to the genera Cryptotis and Sorex, three of which are new and undescribed. Two additional species are expected to be discovered in the country based on their known distributions. Most species appear to have limited...

The Arctic tundra, as well as coastal and inland mudflats and beaches occupied by the 63 Charadrius plover species and subspecies around the world encompass some of the habitats most threatened by current climatic challenges. The migratory habits of most plover species further intensifies these effects as the birds occupy more than one major biome during the annual cycle. And yet there...

No abstract available.