Arctic and Alpine Biodiversity: Patterns, Causes and Ecosystem Consequences

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XVIII

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2. Patterns and Causes of Diversity

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Patterns and Causes of Arctic Plant Community Diversity

      • M. D. Walker

      Pages 3-20

   3. Causes of Arctic Plant Diversity: Origin and Evolution

      • D. F. Murray

      Pages 21-32

   4. Patterns and Causes of Genetic Diversity in Arctic Plant

      • J. B. McGraw

      Pages 33-43

   5. Alpine Plant Diversity: A Global Survey and Functional Interpretations

      • Ch. Körner

      Pages 45-62

   6. Origin and Evolution of the Mountain Flora in Middle Asia and Neighbouring Mountain Regions

      • O. Agakhanjanz, S.-W. Breckle

      Pages 63-80

   7. Diversity of the Arctic Terrestrial Fauna

      • Yu. I. Chernov

      Pages 81-95

   8. Animal Diversity at High Altitudes in the Austrian Central Alps

      • E. Meyer, K. Thaler

      Pages 97-108

3. Past, Present, and Future Changes in Diversity

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 109-109

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   2. Arctic Tundra Biodiversity: A Temporal Perspective from Late Quaternary Pollen Records

      • L. B. Brubaker, P. M. Anderson, F. S. Hu

      Pages 111-125

   3. Effects of Mammals on Ecosystem Change at the Pleistocene-Holocene Boundary

      • S. A. Zimov, V. I. Chuprynin, A. P. Oreshko, F. S. Chapin III, M. C. Chapin, J. F. Reynolds

      Pages 127-135

   4. Paleorecords of Plant Biodiversity in the Alps

      • B. Ammann

      Pages 137-149

   5. Implications for Changes in Arctic Plant Biodiversity from Environmental Manipulation Experiments

      • T. V. Callaghan, S. Jonasson

      Pages 151-166

   6. Patterns and Current Changes in Alpine Plant Diversity

      • G. Grabherr, M. Gottfried, A. Gruber, H. Pauli

      Pages 167-181

   7. Anthropogenic Impacts on Biodiversity in the Arctic

      • O. R. Young, F. S. Chapin III

      Pages 183-196

4. Ecosystem Consequences of Diversity

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 197-197

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   2. Plant Functional Diversity and Resource Control of Primary Production in Alaskan Arctic Tundras

      • G. R. Shaver

      Pages 199-211

   3. Direct and Indirect Effects of Plant Species on Biogeochemical Processes in Arctic Ecosystems

      • S. E. Hobbie

      Pages 213-224

   4. Causes and Consequences of Plant Functional Diversity in Arctic Ecosystems

      • F. S. Chapin III, S. E. Hobbie, M. S. Bret-Harte, G. Bonan

      Pages 225-237

As human populations expand and have increasing access to technol­ ogy, two general environmental concerns have arisen. First, human pop­ ulations are having increasing impact on the earth system, such that we are altering the biospheric carbon pools, basic processes of elemental cycling and the climate system of the earth. Because of time lags and feedbacks, these processes are not easily reversed. These alterations are occurring now more rapidly than at any time in the last several million years. Secondly, human activities are causing changes in the earth's biota that lead to species extinctions at a rate and magnitude rivaling those of past geologic extinction events. Although environmental change is potentially reversible at some time scales, the loss of species is irrevo­ cable. Changes in diversity at other scales are also cause for concern. Habitat fragmentation and declines in population sizes alter genetic di­ versity. Loss or introduction of new functional groups, such as nitro­ gen fixers or rodents onto islands can strongly alter ecosystem processes. Changes in landscape diversity through habitat modification and frag­ mentation alter the nature of processes within and among vegetation patches. Although both ecological changes altering the earth system and the loss of biotic diversity have been major sources of concern in recent years, these concerns have been largely independent, with little concern for the environmental causes the ecosystem consequences of changes in biodiversity. These two processes are clearly interrelated. Changes in ecological systems cause changes in diversity.

• Alpen, Ökologie
• Arktis, Ökologie
• Arten
• Artenvielfalt
• Biodiversität
• Diversität
• Species richness
• alpine ecology
• biodiversity
• ecology
• ecosystem
• global change
• globale Veränderung
• species diversity
• Ökosystem

• Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, USA

  F. Stuart Chapin

• Department of Botany, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

  Christian Körner

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