Significance of Landscape Age,Uplift, and Weathering Rates to Ecosystem Development

The combined roles of chemical and physical weathering have profound effects on the development of terrestrial ecosystems. Landscapes which are tectonically active are rapidly denudated and continually produce nutrient solutes from fresh bedrock. The chemical weathering yields are related to climate, but also to geologic factors such as uplift rates. Long-term nutrient production and the phase of ecological development are closely related to geological setting. Until recently, this relationship has not been seriously considered by ecologists. Our analysis of existing information suggests, however, not only that the nature and type of geologic processes provide significant insights into landscape, but also to ecological development. In this paper, we describe the impact of geologic uplift on the long term generation of soluble nutrients from bedrock by evaluating long-term data from a number of forested sites and comparing it to newly collected data from Taiwan, an area undergoing rapid tectonic uplift.