Abstract
Appreciation of the persistent effects of historical events on ecosystem structure, composition, and function has grown in recent decades, and landscape legacies have now been documented in most ecosystems. The drivers of legacies include human land use and natural disturbances, with agriculture causing the strongest and the most enduring impacts. Recognition of historical legacies aides in interpreting contemporary ecosystem patterns and responses to modern landscape-change drivers, has led to the questioning of long-standing assumptions about trajectories of ecosystem recovery, and provides a basis for directing policy decisions pertaining to ecosystem management.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Encyclopedia of Biodiversity |
| Subtitle of host publication | Second Edition |
| Publisher | Elsevier Inc. |
| Pages | 524-530 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9780123847195 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780123847201 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2013 |
Keywords
- Agriculture
- Carbon
- Deforestation
- Disturbance
- Land use
- Nitrogen
- Phosphorus
- Plant-community composition
- Productivity
- Recovery
- Restoration
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
- General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology