Global ETD Search
Search theses and dissertations gathered from participating repositories worldwide. Every result links back to the library that holds it. No account is needed.
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Showing 1 to 20 of 155 for “"Ecosystem functioning"”.
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Ecological Community Changes and Ecosystem Functioning During Structured Wetland Development
Saltmarshes provide important ecosystem services, including protection from tidal inundation, grazing for livestock, resources for birds and breeding grounds for fish. After a long history of saltmarsh reclamation there is now emphasis on restoration of existing or destroyed saltmarshes to provide …
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Building A Mechanistic Understanding Of Biodiversity And Ecosystem Functioning In Forests
… supports the productivity, resilience, and functioning of ecosystems over time. However, the underlying mechanisms of how biodiversity begets ecosystem function are still being uncovered. I sought to understand how tree diversity could influence local resource pools of light, water, and …
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The effects of tropical forest management on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning
… Tropical Forest Management on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning Eleanor M. Slade 1. Between 35 % and 50 % of all closed-canopy tropical forest has been lost, and the rate of deforestation continues to increase throughout the tropics. Despite a wealth of literature on the effects of tropical …
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Linking plant traits and herbivory in grassland biodiversity-ecosystem functioning research
… the consequences of community disassembly for ecosystem functioning. In addition, there has also been a call for advancing the multitrophic view of biodiversity- ecosystem functioning. Here I propose a trait-based framework to merge plant-herbivore interactions with biodiversity-ecosystem …
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Effects of plant diversity on the stability of natural grassland ecosystem functioning
Contains fulltext : 175733.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)
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Invertebrate mediated biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships : lessons from tropical forest dung beetles
… productivity and decomposition. Since these ecosystem processes underpin a number of goods and services to society, human-driven changes in the structure of ecosystems could negatively impact upon human wellbeing. However, the majority of our knowledge of the role of biodiversity in ecosystem …
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The importance of interaction strength for food web dynamics and ecosystem functioning
… through controlled experimentation. Biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEF) research has explored the likely consequences of biodiversity loss on the functioning of natural systems and the provision of important ecosystem services. Empirical tests of BEF theory often consist of simplified …
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The impact of macrophyte mats on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning of benthic communities
… Ulva on the benthic macrofaunal communities and ecosystem functions, at different phases of decomposition; firstly, as large sheets (Chapter 2), then as detritus (Chapter 3), and finally as the Ulva detritus is incorporated and reworked into the sediment and foodweb (Chapters 4 and 5). The …
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The context-specific roles of a bioturbating crab (Austrohelice crassa) on ecosystem functioning
… and biogeochemical surroundings, altering ecosystem functioning. Austrohelice crassa (herein Austrohelice) is a burrow building estuarine crab endemic to New Zealand. The abundant and widespread nature of this species infers that its effects on sediment processes are likely to be …
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Organic nitrogen uptake by marine algae: consequences for marine ecosystem functioning and biodiversity
… of nutrient pools could impact on marine ecosystem function and health.
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Changing land use / land cover around an urban estuary : implications for ecosystem functioning
The changing spatial and temporal patterns in land use/land cover surrounding Zandvlei estuary were investigated over the period 1944 to 2005. Changes in the extent of four terrestrial and two aquatic land use/land cover categories were mapped from high quality aerial photographs using ArcView GIS. …
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Effects of climate change on plants and ecosystem functioning : Implications for managed temperate grasslands
… climate change poses challenges to plants and ecosystem functioning. Grasslands have become a major study object in experimental biodiversity and climate impact studies. The great majority of the existing studies investigated the effects of climate change on productivity. However, studies on …
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The effects of dung beetles on ecosystem functioning: From global trends to New Zealand pastures
… affect a suite of important biotic and abiotic ecosystem processes, or functions. However, the dynamics of these functions across different ecosystems and over time remain largely unknown. This PhD thesis investigates the relationships between dung beetles and ecosystem functions, from …
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Prokaryotic diversity and ecosystem functioning in hypersaline environment: a metagenomic study of the Cagliari salterns
Solar salterns are extreme environments of outstanding scientific interest, hosting highly specialized microbial communities shaped by steep physicochemical gradients. Despite the well-documented diversity of Mediterranean salterns, Sardinian systems remain largely unexplored. This study represents …
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Interactions between ecosystem engineering by burrowing sandprawns (Callichirus kraussi) and nutrients: consequences for benthic community structure and ecosystem functioning
… Knowledge of how this process drives ecosystem functioning and community structure either individually, or interactively with other processes, is however, limited, particularly in shallow soft- littoral ecosystems. At a local level, such systems are dominated by allogenic engineers …
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The effect of simulated nitrogen deposition on growth and ecosystem functioning of managed P. patula plantation ecosystems in South Africa
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of future NO₃ and NH₄ deposition on growth and nutrient cycling in P. patula plantations growing on shale-derived soil. This study consists of a field and pot-grown seedling experiments, the former commencing in November 1995 and the latter in …
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Assessment of grassland ecosystem functioning: Carbon dioxide exchange and the dynamics of carbon and nutrient pools in temperate and Mediterranean grasslands
… extreme weather events, management methods and ecosystem heterogeneity on grassland ecosystem functioning in the context of the variables CO2 exchange, nutrient dynamics, production, nitrogen and carbon pools. Two sites were selected in Central Europe, to represent temperate grassland, namely a …
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Ecosystem functioning, ecosystem services and rooibos production as affected by connectivity to natural vegetation and agrochemical use in rooibos tea (Aspalathus linearis) farming
… at the landscape scale which may affect various ecosystem services. Insect pollination by wild pollinators is especially affected, but their relative impact and possible interactions have been relatively unexplored. There is also considerable evidence for the negative impacts of agricultural …
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