Perspectives On Biogeochemistry

Perspectives on Biogeochemistry is an account of the origin of forces and matter at the dawn of time, and the way they evolved to planet Earth of today. Several fields of natural sciences are consulted to present a coherent view on the cycling of terrestrial elements and molecules, both organic and inorganic, in the course of time. Critical data are drawn together from astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, and geology in order to provide some understanding of the complexity of the system Earth. In this book, E.T. Degens abstracts his knowledge of biogeochemical interactions acquired in more than thirty years of research and teaching. Students and anyone in the natural sciences wanting to familiarize themselves with phenomena prevailing at the periphery of their disciplines will profit by the very thorough and personal view of this pressing topic.

This book highlights perspectives, insights, and data in the coupled fields of aquatic microbial ecology and biogeochemistry when viewed through the lens of collaborative duos – dual career couples. Their synergy and collaborative interactions have contributed substantially to our contemporary understanding of pattern, process and dynamics. This is thus a book by dual career couples about dual scientific processes. The papers herein represent wide-ranging topics, from the processes that structure microbial diversity to nitrogen and photosynthesis metabolism, to dynamics of changing ecosystems and processes and dynamics in individual ecosystems. In all, these papers take us from the Arctic to Africa, from the Arabian Sea to Australia, from small lakes in Maine and Yellowstone hot vents to the Sargasso Sea, and in the process provide analyses that make us think about the structure and function of all of these systems in the aquatic realm. This book is useful not only for the depth and breadth of knowledge conveyed in its chapters, but serves to guide dual career couples faced with the great challenges only they face. Great teams do make great science.

This textbook presents a comprehensive process-oriented approach to biogeochemistry that is intended to appeal to readers who want to go beyond a general exposure to topics in biogeochemistry, and instead are seeking a holistic understanding of the interplay of biotic and environmental drivers in the cycling of elements in forested watersheds. The book is organized around a core set of ecosystem processes and attributes that collectively help to generate the whole-system structure and function of a terrestrial ecosystem. In the first nine chapters, a conceptual framework is developed based on distinct soil, microbial, plant, atmospheric, hydrologic, and geochemical processes that are integrated in the element cycling behavior of watershed ecosystems. With that conceptual foundation in place, students then proceed to the final three chapters where they are challenged to think critically about integrated element cycling patterns; roles for biogeochemical models; the likely impacts of disturbance, stress, and management on watershed biogeochemistry; and linkages among patterns and processes in watersheds experiencing novel environmental changes. Included with the text are figures, tables of comparative data, extensive literature citations, a glossary of terms, an index, and a set of 24 biogeochemical problems with answers. The problems are intended to support chapter concepts and to demonstrate how critical thinking skills, simple algebra, and thoughtful human logic can be used to solve applied problems in biogeochemistry that might be encountered by a research scientist or a resource manager. Using this book as an introduction to biogeochemistry, students will achieve a level of subject mastery and disciplinary perspective that will permit them to see and to interpret the individual components, interactions, and synergies that are represented in the dynamic element cycling patterns of watershed ecosystems.

Biogeochemistry may be defined as the science that combines biological and chemical perspectives for the examination of the Earth’s surface, including the relations between the biosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere. Biogeochemistry is a comparatively recently developed science, that incorporates scientific knowledge and findings, research methodologies, and models linking the biological, chemical, and earth sciences. Therefore, while it is a definitive science with a strong theoretical core, it is also dynamically and broadly interlinked with other sciences. This book examines the complex science of biogeochemistry from a novel perspective, examining its comparatively recent development, while also emphasizing its interlinked relationship with the earth sciences (including the complementary science of geochemistry), the geographical sciences (biogeography, oceanography, geomatics, earth systems science), the biological sciences (ecology, wildlife studies, biological aspects of environmental sciences) and the chemical sciences (including environmental chemistry and pollution). The book covers cutting-edge topics on the science of biogeochemistry, examining its development, structure, interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and transdisciplinary relations, and the future of the current complex knowledge systems, especially in the context of technological, developments, and the computer and data fields.

For the past 4 billion years, the chemistry of the Earth's surface, where all life exists, has changed remarkably. Historically, these changes have occurred slowly enough to allow life to adapt and evolve. In more recent times, the chemistry of the Earth is being altered at a staggering rate, fueled by industrialization and an ever-growing human population. Human activities, from the rapid consumption of resources to the destruction of the rainforests and the expansion of smog-covered cities, are all leading to rapid changes in the basic chemistry of the Earth. The Third Edition of Biogeochemistry considers the effects of life on the Earth's chemistry on a global level. This expansive text employs current technology to help students extrapolate small-scale examples to the global level, and also discusses the instrumentation being used by NASA and its role in studies of global change. With the Earth's changing chemistry as the focus, this text pulls together the many disparate fields that are encompassed by the broad reach of biogeochemistry. With extensive cross-referencing of chapters, figures, and tables, and an interdisciplinary coverage of the topic at hand, this text will provide an excellent framework for courses examining global change and environmental chemistry, and will also be a useful self-study guide. Emphasizes the effects of life on the basic chemistry of the atmosphere, the soils, and seawaters of the EarthCalculates and compares the effects of industrial emissions, land clearing, agriculture, and rising population on Earth's chemistrySynthesizes the global cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous, and sulfur, and suggests the best current budgets for atmospheric gases such as ammonia, nitrous oxide, dimethyl sulfide, and carbonyl sulfideIncludes an extensive review and up-to-date synthesis of the current literature on the Earth's biogeochemistry.

This book describes the interaction of greenhouse gasses with the Earth System. It takes the perspective of the Earth as an integrated system and provides examples of both changes in our current climate and those in the geological past. The book gives a required elementary description of the physics of the earth system, the atmosphere and ocean.

Over the past few decades, tremendous progress in analytical facilities allowed for the decreasing detection limits of trace element (TE) analysis in a large number of organic and inorganic matrices. This was especially true for freshwater aquatic systems, where direct measurements of more than forty trace elements have become possible provided that necessary precautions against pollution are made and required sample preparation protocol is maintained. Therefore, analyses of both liquid (water) and solid (biomass, sediments, soils, and aerosol particles) compartments of the landscape continuum allowed for a new perspective on biogeochemical factors of trace elements in a large panel of terrestrial environments. However, among all Earth biomes, the Arctic and subarctic regions are certainly less studied from a trace element biogeochemical view point.This book adresses a variety of geochemical and biogeochemical issues of trace element behavior in soils, waters, and plants across the world, from Eastern Europe to Siberian subarctic and Arctic islands. It presents a synthesis of state-of-the-art studiesusing precise analytical techniqueson trace element concentrations, fractionation, and migration in the main biogeochemical reservoirs of the Northern Hemisphere. This book combines chapters on trace elements in soils, plants, soil waters, lakes, rivers and their estuarine zones, and atmopsheric aerosols. As such, it provides a comprehensive view of current TE biogeochemistry and can serve as a reference compilation of available information for judging future changes in trace element biogeochemistry for terrestrial environments influenced by climate warming or increasing anthropogenic pollution.

Perspectives on Biogeochemistry is an account of the origin of forces and matter at the dawn of time, and the way they evolved to planet Earth of today. Several fields of natural sciences are consulted to present a coherent view on the cycling of terrestrial elements and molecules, both organic and inorganic, in the course of time. Critical data are drawn together from astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, and geology in order to provide some understanding of the complexity of the system Earth. In this book, E.T. Degens abstracts his knowledge of biogeochemical interactions acquired in more than thirty years of research and teaching. Students and anyone in the natural sciences wanting to familiarize themselves with phenomena prevailing at the periphery of their disciplines will profit by the very thorough and personal view of this pressing topic.