Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-28-2009

Abstract

Global environmental changes have direct effects on aquatic ecosystems, as well as indirect effects through alterations of adjacent terrestrial ecosystem structure and functioning. For example, shifts in terrestrial vegetation communities resulting from global changes can affect the quantity and quality of water, organic matter, and nutrient inputs to aquatic ecosystems. The relative importance of these direct and terrestrial vegetation-mediated effects is largely unknown but essential to our ability to predict the consequences of global changes for aquatic ecosystems. Here, we present a conceptual framework for considering the relative strengths of these effects and use case studies from xeric, wet temperate, and boreal ecosystems to demonstrate that the response of aquatic ecosystems to drivers of global changes may not be evident when both pathways are studied separately. Future studies examining changes in aquatic ecosystem structure and functioning should consider the relative contributions of both direct and terrestrial vegetation-mediated effects of global changes.

Language

English

Comments

Supplementary materials (Appendices 1-4) for the published article with the referenced title in BioScience. These items have been peer-reviewed and are considered to be published along with the article.

Sponsorship

NSF

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