 |  Environmental Science: A Global Concern, 7/e William P. Cunningham,
University of Minnesota
Mary Ann Cunningham,
Vassar College
Barbara Woodworth Saigo,
St. Cloud State University
Biomes, Landscapes, Restoration, and Management
Chapter OverviewAbiotic factors, principally temperature and moisture availability, determine where the major types of biotic communities will develop on earth. This chapter surveys these ecological systems, their locations, and their general features.
While the fundamental ecological principles you learned in earlier chapters apply to both terrestrial and aquatic systems, this chapter highlights some of the differences between these two kinds of systems.
Human activities are having a significant negative impact on the earth’s biomes. Interest is growing in ways we can manage landscapes and ecosystems to remedy and restore natural processes. The chapter ends by examining ecosystem management, an emerging discipline that seeks to integrate social, economic, and ecological goals in a systems approach.
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2003 McGraw-Hill Higher Education