Historical Ecology Learning from the Past to Understand the Present and Forecast the Future of Ecosystems

About this book

This book addresses present-day landscapes, ecosystem functioning and biodiversity as legacies of the past. It implements an interdisciplinary approach to understand how natural or human-impacted ecological systems have changed over time.

Historical Ecology combines theory, methods, regional case studies and syntheses to provide a complete up-to-date overview of historical ecology. Beginning with the crucial role of time and inference from observed patterns, the book critically reviews the main methodological approaches, including monitoring of permanent plots, analysis of old maps, repeat photography, remote sensing, soil analysis, charcoal analysis, botanical indicators, and combinations of these methods applied to forest ecosystems.

A series of case studies from various biomes shows how historical ecology can help in understanding today's socio-ecosystems, such as mainland and island forests, orchards, tundra and coastal dunes. The book concludes by showing how historical ecology can answer timely fundamental research questions and provide science-based evidence for landscape and ecosystem management.

Contents

Chapter 1. A General Introduction to Historical Ecology   1 / Guillaume Decocq
Chapter 2. Historical Resurveys Reveal Causes of Long-term Ecological Change   11 / Donald M Waller
Chapter 3. Getting the Right Answer Can Take a While: Long-term Ecological Field Studies as Historical Ecology   27 / Frank S Gilliam
Chapter 4. Gaps and Cracks in Land Cover Mapping for Historical Ecology   45 / Francesca Di Pietro, Roger Coly, Clemence Chaudron, Samuel Leturcq
Chapter 5. The Use of Repeat Photography in African Historical Ecology   57  Michael Timm Hoffman and Rick F Rohde
Chapter 6. Remote Sensing for Historical Ecology   71 / Pierre-Alexis Herrault and David Sheeren
Chapter 7. Soil Archives: Where Soilscape History Meets Present-day Ecosystems   85 / Boris Brasseur, Damien Ertlen and Vincent Robin
Chapter 8. Continuous and Nested Time in Historical Ecology: Application to Soil Studies   99 / Damien Ertlen
Chapter 9. The Analysis of Relic Charcoal Kilns for the Assessment of Forest Trajectories   111 / Vincent Robin, Alexa Dufraisse and Claudia Oliveira
Chapter 10. Ancient Trees and Botanical Indicators as Evidence for Change and Continuity in Landscape Evolution   123 / Ian D Rotherham
Chapter 11. Towards a Methodological Framework for Investigating the Hidden History of Woodland Covers   135 / Damien Marage, Catherine Fruchart, Isabelle Jouffroy-Bapicot, Olivier Girardclos, Vincent Balland
Chapter 12. The Gate to the Forest is in its History   151 / Keith J Kirby
Chapter 13. Plant Assemblages and Ecosystem Functioning, a Legacy of Long-term Interactions with Large Herbivores   163 / Christophe Baltzinger and Anders Marell
Chapter 14. A Historical Ecology of the Compiegne Forest (N France)   177 / Jerome Buridant, Boris Brasseur, Helene Horen, Emilie Gallet-Moron and Guillaume Decocq
Chapter 15. The Chestnut Orchards in the Bolognese Apennines: A Vanishing Socio-ecological Habitat   195 / Giovanna Pezzi, Fabrizio Ferretti, Alberto Maltoni, Patrik Krebs, Marco Conedera and Giorgio Maresi
Chapter 16. Claudius' Coin in the Forest - Niche Construction and Strategies by Early Colonizers of Boreal Inlands in Central Scandinavia   207 / Ove Eriksson and Karl-Johan Lindholm
Chapter 17. Recent History of Vegetation Changes in the Arctic   221 / Antoine Becker-Scarpitta, Bastien Parisy and Tomas Roslin
Chapter 18. Reconstructing the Impact of Humans on Aotearoa New Zealand's Biodiversity   233 / Nicolas J Rawlence, Alexander J.F Verry, Karen Greig, Justin J Maxwell, Lara D Shepherd and Richard Walter
Chapter 19. Historical Ecology of the Coastal Aeolian Sedimentary Systems of the Canary Islands   247 / Aaron Moises Santana-cordero, Antonio Ignacio Hernandez-Cordero, Nestor Marrero-Rodriguez, Levi Garcia-Romero, Elisabet Fernandez-Cabrera, Carolina Pena-Alonso, Emma Perez-Chacon Espino and Luis Hernandez-Calvento
Chapter 20. Historical Forest Microclimates   259 / Emiel De Lombaerde, Karen De Pauw, Pallieter De Smedt, Jonathan Lenoir, Camille Meeussen, Thomas Vanneste, Kris Verheyen, Florian Zellweger and Pieter De Frenne
Chapter 21. Causes and Consequences of Extinction Debts: Perspectives for Historical Ecology and Biological Conservation   273 / Gregoire Blanchard and Francois Munoz
Chapter 22. Historical Ecology for the Past and the Future: Organizing at Local and Regional Scales   285 / Carole L Crumley

List of Authors   295
Index   301

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