Big ecology : the emergence of ecosystem science /

Many ecologists may not be familiar with the heady days of emerging ecosystem ecology in the 1950s. Coleman (emer., Univ. of Georgia) offers his personal, inside account of ecosystem science evolution over 40 years, including the influence of individual scientists. He chronicles the beginnings and ultimate demise of the International Biological Program (IBP), which involved collaborative research efforts that focused on aspects of functional ecology. Out of the ashes of IBP slowly rose Long Term Ecological Research (LTER), shaped in part by former IBP scientists. LTER focuses on five core areas of research conducted at a network of 27 research sites in locations ranging from tropic to polar regions. The author describes how the concept of LTER was carried one step further with the establishment of the National Ecology Observatory Network (NEON), a network of environmental sensors located in 20 US domains that will measure and forecast the long-term effects of, among other factors, climate change, land use, and invasive species. Finally, Coleman considers the future of large-scale ecological programs or "big ecology." Ecologists should read this book for its insights into the foundations on which present-day ecosystem science is built. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional collections. R. L. Smith emeritus, West Virginia University