| Beierkuhnlein, C; Shrestha, S: The Biogeography of the Earth Critical Zone in Timothy White, Antonello Provenzale: Critical Zone and Ecosystem Dynamics, Springer Nature (2024), online: 2024-11-29, doi:10.1007/978-3-031-69076-1_3 [Link] | |
| Abstract: The active skin of the Earth, the Earth Critical Zone (ECZ), is a complex layer with diffuse limits towards the atmosphere and the lithosphere resulting from interacting physical, chemical, and biological processes. Biodiversity across all biological realms, including bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes, is a substantial component and contribution to the ECZ. Without the activity of organisms, this zone and its ecosystems would not be functional or even exist. |
