Williams Mark W.

No Thumbnail Available
Last Name
Williams
First Name
Mark W.
ORCID

Filters

2012 2
2
2
Reset filters

Settings

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Article
    Long-term ecological research in a human-dominated world
    (American Institute of Biological Sciences, 2012-04) Robertson, G. Philip ; Collins, Scott L. ; Foster, David R. ; Brokaw, Nicholas ; Ducklow, Hugh W. ; Gragson, Ted L. ; Gries, Corinna ; Hamilton, Stephen K. ; McGuire, A. David ; Moore, John C. ; Stanley, Emily H. ; Waide, Robert B. ; Williams, Mark W.
    The US Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network enters its fourth decade with a distinguished record of achievement in ecological science. The value of long-term observations and experiments has never been more important for testing ecological theory and for addressing today's most difficult environmental challenges. The network's potential for tackling emergent continent-scale questions such as cryosphere loss and landscape change is becoming increasingly apparent on the basis of a capacity to combine long-term observations and experimental results with new observatory-based measurements, to study socioecological systems, to advance the use of environmental cyberinfrastructure, to promote environmental science literacy, and to engage with decisionmakers in framing major directions for research. The long-term context of network science, from understanding the past to forecasting the future, provides a valuable perspective for helping to solve many of the crucial environmental problems facing society today.
  • Article
    The disappearing cryosphere : impacts and ecosystem responses to rapid cryosphere loss
    (American Institute of Biological Sciences, 2012-04) Fountain, Andrew G. ; Campbell, John L. ; Schuur, Edward A. G. ; Stammerjohn, Sharon E. ; Williams, Mark W. ; Ducklow, Hugh W.
    The cryosphere—the portion of the Earth's surface where water is in solid form for at least one month of the year—has been shrinking in response to climate warming. The extents of sea ice, snow, and glaciers, for example, have been decreasing. In response, the ecosystems within the cryosphere and those that depend on the cryosphere have been changing. We identify two principal aspects of ecosystem-level responses to cryosphere loss: (1) trophodynamic alterations resulting from the loss of habitat and species loss or replacement and (2) changes in the rates and mechanisms of biogeochemical storage and cycling of carbon and nutrients, caused by changes in physical forcings or ecological community functioning. These changes affect biota in positive or negative ways, depending on how they interact with the cryosphere. The important outcome, however, is the change and the response the human social system (infrastructure, food, water, recreation) will have to that change.