Comparative Analyses of Ecosystems

Arising from the third Cary Conference held in 1989, Comparative Analyses of Ecosystems investigates the utility and limitations of cross-system comparisons in ecology. The contributors, all well-known in their field, support their conclusions on the use and meaning of such comparisons by presenting novel analyses of data utilizing a variety of cross-system approaches in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial systems.

I Overview of the Comparative Approach.- 1. Comparative Ecology and Undiscovered Public Knowledge.- 2. Comparative Analysis of Ecosystems: Past Lessons and Future Directions.- 3. Comparing Apples with Oranges: Methods of Interecosystem Comparison.- 4. On the Relevance of Comparative Ecology to the Larger Field of Ecology.- II Productivity and Trophic Structures.- 5. Patterns of Primary Production and Herbivory in 25 North American Lake Ecosystems.- 6. Relationships of Primary and Secondary Production in Lakes and Marine Ecosystems.- 7. Primary and Secondary Production in Terrestrial Ecosystems.- 8. Comparing Ecosystem Structures: The Chesapeake Bay and the Baltic Sea.- III Stress and Disturbance.- 9. Comparative Responses of Aquatic Ecosystems to Toxic Chemical Stress.- 10. Streams and Disturbance: Are Cross-Ecosystem Comparisons Useful?.- 11. Searching for Specific Measures of Physiological Stress in Forest Ecosystems.- IV Biogeochemical Cycles.- 12. A Cross-System Study of Phosphorus Release from Lake Sediments.- 13. Stoichiometry of C : N : P Fluxes in Shallow-Water Marine Ecosystems.- 14. Gradient Analysis of Ecosystems.- V Additional Views.- 15. Variance and the Description of Nature.- 16. Comparing Tropical and Temperate Forests.- 17. Density-Dependent Positive Feedbacks between Consumers and Their Resources.- VI Reports from Discussion Groups.- 18. Institutional Structures.- 19. Cross-System Comparisons of Detritus Food Webs.- 20. Improving Use of Existing Data.- 21. Comparative Analysis of Ecosystems along Gradients of Urbanization: Opportunities and Limitations.- 22. Comparison between Tropical and Temperate Ecosystems.- 23. Legitimizing Cross-System Comparison in Ecology.- VII Concluding Remarks.- 24. Concluding Remarks.