This Data Set allows students to use long-term data from Konza to explore the relationships between multiple characteristics of a tallgrass prairie ecosystem and the productivity of prairie plants. Specifically, students compare the interactive effects of fire frequency, topography, and inter-annual variation in precipitation on the productivity of two major plant groups (grasses and forbs). To...
In this Experiment, students examine the relationships between demographic factors (economic, social, etc.) and environmental quality. Students observe and collect data on the differences in environment and human quality of life along a cross-town transect spanning a socioeconomic gradient in a city. The authors used a transect in Washington, DC that runs along T Street, spanning approximately 25...
This Experiment introduces students to a local ecosystem and what ecologists do: observe and describe patterns in organisms and then attempt to explain why those patterns exist. In the example used by the author, students examine tree communities found on the north and south slopes of a local mountain (in the Holyoke Range, near Amherst, MA). Student-generated questions include: Are the tree...
This Issue focuses on a research article by Barange (2003) that was published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. The article discusses long-term (inter-decadal and longer) patterns of change in marine species in the context of over-exploitation of marine fisheries. Barange’s emphasis is use of ecosystem-based management practice to move us towards sustainable fisheries. However, h...
This report defines the role of nearshore ecosystems, such as wetlands and seagrass meadows, as nurseries for populations of fish and shellfish that may be of commercial value to humans. The ecological value of nursery habitats in relation to the life cycle of many species of fish and invertebrates is mentioned as the nursery-role hypothesis is discussed. Biological, physical, chemical, and...
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