Paleoecology. The rise and fall of forests.

Abstract

After a catastrophic disturbance to an ecosystem, there is an initial period of ecosystem buildup, eventually followed (in the absence of another major disturbance) by a decline phase during which ecosystem productivity and plant biomass decrease. In their Perspective, [Birks and Birks][1] discuss a recent chronosequence analysis of six types of forest ecosystem that demonstrates how changes in soil composition contribute to ecosystem decline during interglacial periods ([ Wardle et al .][2]). [1]: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/305/5683/484 [2]: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/305/5683/509