Abstract
AbstractAn introduction is presented to systems ecology, through models of the pathways, pools and fluxes of materials in terrestrial ecosystems, and the role of feedback mechanisms, and of the first and second laws of thermodynamics. Food chains, food webs and trophic levels provide structure to ecosystem processes. The importance of the C4 photosynthetic pathway of the tropical grasses that dominate mesic and arid savanna biomes is emphasised. Details of the production, consumption and decomposition processes revealed in studies of mesic savanna in southern, central and western Africa illustrate the dynamics of carbon through terrestrial ecosystems. At landscape scale, the dynamics of the savanna/forest interface, that characterise much of northern Angola, is discussed in terms of tree-grass interactions and the existence of alternative stable states determined by fire.
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
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