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Biogeochemistry, Biogeography, and Geomatics

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Biogeochemistry and the Environment

Abstract

Biogeochemistry and biogeography are both vital, expanding, interconnected, hybrid, multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary branches of the life, earth, and conservation sciences, with spatially and temporally oriented methodologies, and increasing relevance for current global realities and human survival. Both discipline clusters seek spatial relevance, from local to global scales, interconnectedness, linking multiple ecosystems, and use increasingly sophisticated research methodologies. Both may also use the tools of geomatics including geodesy, radio detection and ranging (radar), and light detection and ranging (LiDAR), to uncover more exact, reliable, and definitive information from researched data. For biogeochemistry, the main use for such techniques is the identification and measurement of the relevant parameters (organisms, habitat variables, earth structures that facilitate and contain chemical flows and reservoirs). For biogeography, spatial distributions assume prominence, including areal extents and differentiation. However, few studies have sought to document the increasingly complex relationship between these research clusters. This chapter uses a literature-based research methodology to uncover these issues, especially biogeography, as biogeochemistry has been defined in the earlier chapters. Selectivity is necessary, as this relationship is as broad as the Earth itself. Case studies are taken from the global scale of biomes and earth systems to the local contexts of ecological change. The role of human action is also explored, in addition to the possibilities of multidirectional change. Research methods within the field of geomatics, as the premier tools for the analysis of spatial ecologies and environmental variables, are also explored. It is argued that these three research clusters, when linked, form the basis of the environmental sciences. This contributes to the development of the environmental sciences and strengthens the status of biogeochemistry as a root science of the study of the Earth.

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Correspondence to Michael O’Neal Campbell .

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Campbell, M.O. (2023). Biogeochemistry, Biogeography, and Geomatics. In: Biogeochemistry and the Environment. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-47017-2_4

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