Ecosystem Processes, Biodiversity and Climate Change 2008/9
Essay questions for return by 1600 hrs, Thursday Feb 5th (Wk 4) (
Class Assessment 2
Write a 1000-1500 word essay (do not exceed maximum)
1) What processes determine terrestrial productivity; how are they controlled?
Roy J, Saugier B, Mooney HA (2001). Terrestrial global productivity. Academic Press, San Diego.
Schlesinger WH (1997). Biogeochemistry: an analysis of global change, 2 ed, Academic Press, San Diego.
Schimel DS, House JI, Hibbard KA et al. (2001). Recent patterns and mechanisms of carbon exchange by
terrestrial ecoystems. Nature, 414, 169-172.
2) How does the land surface influence climate?
Aber JD, Melillo JM (2001). Terrestrial Ecosystems, 2nd ed, Academic Press, San Diego.
Bonan G (2002). Ecological climatology: concepts and applications. CUP, Cambridge.
Betts (2004). Global vegetation and climate: self-beneficial effects, climate forcings and climate feedbacks.
J. Phys. IV (ask me for a copy).
3) Is it likely that climate change will alter biodiversity in the next 100 years?
Parmesan C, Yohe G (2003). A globally coherent fingerprint of climate change impacts across natural
systems. Nature, 421, 37-42.
Sala OE et al. (2000). Global biodiversity scenarios for the year 2100. Science, 287, 1770-1774.
Thomas CD et al. (2004). Extinction risk from climate change. Nature, 427, 145-148.
There is much recent literature; try to be up to date, but in any case make sure you are
clear about your sources. Make an attempt to us the Web of Knowledge (science citation
index; find it through MyEd) to help you in your literature search, but do not rely too
strongly the abstracts alone. Make sure you get a thorough understanding of some papers
rather than a superficial understanding of too many. Do not restrict your reading to the
suggested ‘starter’ papers given above. Look for papers that cite the ones listed above.
Remember to keep this essay succinct and focused. Cite published material
appropriately. Introduce your subject and the aims of the essay and show the relevance
of the question to the wider scientific context. Try to be creative in showing any results;
make your own graphs/maps from data in the literature if you find this useful. Use the
Discussion to evaluate the information available to you that is relevant to the question
and to lead you to a clear set of conclusions (and their justification), which may also
include an analysis of the wider implications of the subject.