This book focuses on how climate affects or affected the biosphere and vice versa both in the present and in the past. The chapters describe how ecosystems from the Antarctic and Arctic, and from other latitudes, respond to global climate change. The papers highlight plant responses to atmospheric CO2 increase, to global warming and to increased ultraviolet-B radiation as a result of stratospheric ozone depletion.

This open access book describes the serious threat of invasive species to native ecosystems. Invasive species have caused and will continue to cause enormous ecological and economic damage with ever increasing world trade. This multi-disciplinary book, written by over 100 national experts, presents the latest research on a wide range of natural science and social science fields that explore the ecology, impacts, and practical tools for management of invasive species. It covers species of all taxonomic groups from insects and pathogens, to plants, vertebrates, and aquatic organisms that impact a diversity of habitats in forests, rangelands and grasslands of the United States. It is well-illustrated, provides summaries of the most important invasive species and issues impacting all regions of the country, and includes a comprehensive primary reference list for each topic. This scientific synthesis provides the cultural, economic, scientific and social context for addressing environmental challenges posed by invasive species and will be a valuable resource for scholars, policy makers, natural resource managers and practitioners.

Climate-driven environmental changes influence the spatial spread, persistence, and community dynamics of plant populations. Ecological theory has focused on determining which populations will persist and spread in response to these changes and how they will do so. I build on this theory by investigating how climate change affects the mechanisms that influence the spread of invasions, how structured plant populations keep pace with climate change, and if communities of native plants can recover after a biological invasion in the face of climate change. First, I develop a spatial population model to investigate how climate change affects the spread of ecosystem engineers, which are organisms that change the availability of resources in their environment. I apply this model to salt marsh grasses, which engineer their environment by increasing marsh elevation via sediment accumulation. I find that climate-driven sea-level rise reverses the conditions that promote the spread of these ecosystem engineers. Next, I develop a spatial model of a stage-structured plant population, which shifts in response to climate change. I use this model to determine if older trees left behind when the habitat shifts play any ecological role in the population. I find that these zombie forests are critical to the persistence of the population, dispersing seeds into the core population as it moves. Finally, I investigate how a series of extreme climate events, including drought, fire, and extreme precipitation, affect the ability of native plant communities to recover after removal of an invasive species. Analyzing seven years of field data, I find that the recovery of native plant communities after invader removal is resilient to major climate perturbations. Together, these studies identify conditions and mechanisms that limit the spread of plant invasions and promote the persistence of vulnerable plant populations in the face of climate change.

This book began life as a review article. That article spawned a symposium which was, in turn, greatly expanded to form the present volume. As the project moved through these developmental stages (hopefully, towards attainment of its full maturity), a number of people have provided invaluable assistance to us, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank them. Gordon Orians must certainly take a high place in that list. He has been both a friend and mentor to W.E.K., and many of the topics explored in this book have emerged from the resultant dialogue. His thought processes, ideas and perhaps even some of his turns of phrase emerge throughout much ofthe book. Gordon also played a pivotal role in inviting in motion, and so he has served as a catalyst the article that set this project to the book as well as one of its reagents. While he has not served as an editor of this book, he is one of its authors in more than just the literal sense.

This book examines the impacts of global change on terrestrial ecosystems. Emphasis is placed on impacts of atmospheric, climate and land use change, and the book discusses the future challenges and the scientific frameworks to address them. Finally, the book explores fundamental new research developments and the need for stronger integration of natural and human dimensions in addressing the challenge of global change.