The manufacture of plastic as well as its indiscriminate disposal and destruction by incineration pollutes atmospheric, terrestrial, and aquatic ecosystems. Synthetic plastics do not break down; they accumulate in the environment as macro-, micro-, and nanoplastics. These particulate plastics are a major source of pollutants in soil and marine ecosystems. Particulate Plastics in Terrestrial and Aquatic Environments provides a fundamental understanding of the sources of these plastics and the threats they pose to the environment. The book demonstrates the ecotoxicity of particulate plastics using case studies and offers management practices to mitigate particulate plastic contamination in the environment. Features * Describes physical and chemical properties of particulate plastics in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems * Presents information on characteristics of particulate plastics as impacted by weathering processes * Provides numerous approaches for managing particulate plastic contamination * Identifies sources of particulate plastics in the environment; distribution and characteristics of particulate plastics; and management strategies of particulate plastics Written by a global team of scientists, this book is for researchers in the fields of environmental safety and waste management or individuals interested in the impact of particulate plastics on environmental health.

This book explores attitudes and strategies towards the return of the wild in times of ecological crisis, focusing on wolves in Europe. The contributions from a variety of disciplines discuss human encounters with wolves, engaging with traditional narratives and contemporary conflicts. Covering a range of geographical areas, the case studies featured demonstrate the tremendous impact of the return of the wolf in European societies. Wolves are a keystone species that exemplify humanity's relation to what is called nature and their return generates powerful debates about what 'nature' actually is and how much it is needed or should be permitted to exist. The book considers the return of the wild as a catalyst for fundamental socio-biological changes of the world within human societies, and the various responses of humans to wolves demonstrate both our potential and limitations when it comes to multispecies communities and negotiating societal change. Managing the Return of the Wild will be relevant to a broad audience interested in discussions of social and ecological conflict today, including scholars from multispecies studies and diverse disciplines such as biology, forestry management and folklore studies.

At first glance, studying behavior is easy, but as every budding ethologist quickly realizes, there are a host of complex practical, methodological and analytical problems to solve before designing and conducting the study. How do you choose which species or which behavior to study? What equipment will you need to observe and record behavior successfully? How do you record data in the dark, in the wet, or without missing part of the action? How do you analyze and interpret the data to yield meaningful information? This new expanded edition of the Handbook of Ethological Methods provides a complete step-by-step introduction to ethological methods from topic choice and behavioral description to data collection and statistical analysis. This book is a must for both beginning students and experienced researchers studying animal behavior in the field or laboratory.

DIRECTLY APPLIES TO LIFE ON LAND SDG and CLIMATE CHANGE SDG. International organizations such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC), World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization and World Organization for Animal Health have all reminded us that health impacts of climate change will become some of societies' greatest challenges. How we respond or adapt to climate change will have profound implications for people, animals, biodiversity, economies and ecosystems today as well as in the future. The book provides, in one easy reference, all of the information Animal Health practitioners need from defining the climate change concept, providing science-based evidence of climate change degradation of animal (ecosystem) health and successful mitigation and reversal strategies. Despite being arguably the most important challenges of the 21st century, engagement, and leadership from the animal health sector on climate change remains hard to find. This book attempts to support animal health professionals by providing information, knowledge, and experiences they can use to remedy this situation. There is no other book that covers anything like the proposed subject matter to this level of completeness and detail. The publishing of a text of this nature could help erode the power of the climate denialism lobby, shifting the debate and allowing mitigation efforts to gain higher priority. The tone of the book has an understated sense of urgency, leaning slightly toward presenting as a 'Manual for the apocalypse'. This has potential to be a benchmark publication. The text not only defines climate change but takes a proactive approach with intervention and corrective action examples: each chapter ends with suggestions on teachable and actionable ideas that could be used to mobilize concepts and information provided into education or advocacy. In this way, the book not only brings key ideas, principles and information to understand the implications for climate change for animal health, but will help translate the book's offerings into education and intervention. Teachers and researchers could use this one-of-a-kind book to frame a course or seminar series heightening student career engagement and stewardship of a more sustainable and healthier planet.

Understanding Nature is a new kind of ecology textbook: a straight-forward resource that teaches natural history and ecological content, and a way to instruct students that will nurture both Earth and self. While meeting the textbook guidelines set forth by the Ecological Society of America, Understanding Nature has a unique ecotherapy theme, using a historical framework to teach ecological theory to undergraduates. This textbook presents all the core information without being unnecessarily wordy or lengthy, using simple, relatable language and discussing ecology in ways that any student can apply in real life. Uniquely, it is also a manual on how to improve one's relationship with the Earth. This is accomplished through coverage of natural history, ecology, and applications, together with suggested field activities that start each chapter and thinking questions that end each chapter. The book includes traditional ecological knowledge as well as the history of scientific ecological knowledge. Understanding Nature teaches theory and applications that will heal the Earth. It also teaches long-term sustainability practices for one's psyche. Professor Louise Weber is both an ecologist and a certified ecopsychologist, challenging ecology instructors to rethink what and how they teach about nature. Her book bridges the gap between students taking ecology to become ecologists and those taking ecology as a requirement, who will use the knowledge to become informed citizens.

Boreal Shield Watersheds: Lake Trout Ecosystems in a Changing Environment brings together the work of a renowned international group of scientists who specialize in aquatic science and environmental management. They explore the functioning of Boreal Shield ecosystems, focusing on the lake trout, the classic coldwater species of northern glaciated lakes, using it as an indicator of environmental change and as a model to measure the effectiveness of management actions. This book demonstrates how boreal waters have served as a crucible for decades of environmental research into the impacts of nutrient additions, trace contaminants, acid rain, climate change, sport fishing, invasive species, and watershed disturbances. The text builds on this substantial research legacy and explores our ability to manage human interactions with ecosystems across the vast Boreal Shield ecozone of North America, and with other important ecosystems worldwide. It also provides models and new methods of assessing the risk to and the durability of ecosystems in relation to local, regional, and global human activities. Maps and descriptions of several important long-term monitoring sites and an atlas describing more than 3,000 lake trout lakes in the region are special components of the book.

Speech, verbally mediated consciousness, and culture most evidently differentiate people from animals. Moreover, verbal communication has historically been viewed as a human attribute. Yet, the biological precursors to verbal communication exist in animal communication: obvious links have been found between human and animal nonverbal vocal communication. Knowledge of these links contribute to our understanding of three major theoretical and clinical issues: the evolution of vocal communication; the process of speech acquisition during infancy; and the pathways of disorders in communicative development. In Nonverbal Vocal Communication specialists from several disciplines review the present knowledge on neural substrates of vocal communication, on primate vocal communication, and on precursors and prerequisites of human speech. Among other points, the book illustrates that animal vocal signals, particularly in primates, appear to be much more complex than mere expressions of effective states. The nonverbal communication data is complemented by comparative and developmental research of the preverbal period of human vocal communication. Studies of speech acquisition, biological adaptation and environmental support to speech yield a complex picture of interrelations between biogenetic and environmental factors. The new evidence that parents--without knowing--are well-fitted for supporting infant communicative development is astonishing. Their capacities represent a primary, biological model of didactic educational support.

Consciously or not, wildlife managers generally act from a theoretical basis, although they may not be fully versed in the details or ramifications of that theory. In practice, the predictions of the practitioners sometimes prove more accurate than those of the theoreticians. Practitioners and theoreticians need to work together, but this proves difficult when new management ideas and cutting-edge ecological theory are often published in separate scientific outlets with distinctly different readerships. A compilation of the scientific papers presented at the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute's 25th Anniversary Conference of April 2006, Wildlife Science: Linking Ecological Theory and Management Applications brings together these two often separate approaches to elucidate the theoretical underpinnings of wildlife management and to apply evolving ecological concepts to changes and adaptations in management practices. Gathering many of the best and greatest minds in wildlife science, this volume addresses the critically important theme of linking ecological theory and management applications. Divided into five parts, the first two parts deal with the landscape ecology of birds and mammals respectively, demonstrating the need for applied theory in gamebird management and the preservation of the cougar. Part three highlights the role of climate when applying ecological theory to habitat management and discusses the emergence of ecosystem management in managing wildlife at the ecosystem scale. Part four considers the management of wildlife disease and reveals the increasing importance of genetics in conservation and ecology. Finally, the economic and social issues affecting wildlife science round out the coverage in part five. Applying emerging ecological theory for the advancement of wildlife management, Wildlife Science: Linking Ecological Theory and Management Applications provides a long awaited cooperative look at the future of ecosystem manage

This practical book covers all aspects of the biology of malaria vectors, with notes on the vectors of dengue. It is the first work in this field to concentrate on mosquitoes, rather than covering all disease vectors. Authored by renowned field entomologist Jacques Derek Charlwood, it disseminates his vast experience working on mosquito biology, ecology and the evaluation of new vector control tools across five continents over the past 40 years. Covering all aspects from classification and systematics, population dynamics, vector control, to surveillance and sampling, epidemics, and a selection of case histories, the book also considers genetics and resistance, Aedes biology, and malaria and dengue models. It is designed to fill the gap between very specialized texts and undergraduate books on general disease vectors, and is ideal as a textbook for postgraduate courses in entomology and mosquito vectors of disease.

Sense organs serve as a kind of biological interface between the environment and the organism. Therefore, the relationship between sensory systems and ecology is very close and its knowledge of fundamental importance for an understanding of animal behavior. The sixteen chapters of this book exemplify the diversity of the constraints and opportunities associated with the sensation of stimuli representing different forms of energy. The book stresses the events taking place in the sensory periphery where the animal is exposed to and gets in touch with its natural habitat and acquires the information needed to organize its interaction with its environment. Ecology of Sensing brings together the leading experts in the field.

Southeast Asia is highly diversified in terms of socio-ecosystems and biodiversity, but is undergoing dramatic environmental and social changes. These changes characterize the recent period and can be illustrated by the effects of the Green Revolution in the late 1960s and 1970s, to the globalization of trade and increasing agronomic intensification over the past decade. Biodiversity Conservation in Southeast Asia provides theoretical overviews and challenges for applied research in living resource management, conservation ecology, health ecology and conservation planning in Southeast Asia. Five key themes are addressed: origin and evolution of Southeast Asian biodiversity; challenges in conservation biology; ecosystem services and biodiversity; managing biodiversity and living resources; policy, economics and governance of biodiversity. Detailed case studies are included from Thailand and the Lower Mekong Basin, while other chapters address cross-cutting themes applicable to the whole Southeast Asia region. This is a valuable resource for academics and students in the areas of ecology, conservation, environmental policy and management, Southeast Asian studies and sustainable development.

This book examines how contemporary artists have engaged with histories of nature, geology, and extinction within the context of the changing planet. Susan Ballard describes how artists challenge the categories of animal, mineral, and vegetable-turning to a multispecies order of relations that opens up a new vision of what it means to live within the Anthropocene. Considering the work of a broad range of artists including Francisco de Goya, J. M. W. Turner, Robert Smithson, Nancy Holt, Yhonnie Scarce, Joyce Campbell, Lisa Reihana, Katie Paterson, Taryn Simon, Susan Norrie, Moon Kyungwon and Jeon Joonho, Ken + Julia Yonetani, David Haines and Joyce Hinterding, Angela Tiatia, and Hito Steyerl and with a particular focus on artists from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, this book reveals the emergence of a planetary aesthetics that challenges fixed concepts of nature in the Anthropocene. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, visual culture, narrative nonfiction, digital and media art, and the environmental humanities.

The frontier images of America embrace endless horizons, majestic herds of native ungulates, and romanticized life-styles of nomadie peoples. The images were mere reflections of vertebrates living in harmony in an ecosystem driven by the unpre dictable local and regional effects of drought, frre, and grazing. Those effects, often referred to as ecological "disturbanees," are rather the driving forces on which species depended to create the spatial and temporal heterogeneity that favored ecological prerequisites for survival. Alandscape viewed by European descendants as monotony interrupted only by extremes in weather and commonly referred to as the "Great American Desert," this country was to be rushed through and cursed, a barrier that hindered access to the deep soils of the Oregon country, the rich minerals of California and Colorado, and the religious freedom sought in Utah. Those who stayed (for lack of resources or stamina) spent a century trying to moderate the ecological dynamics of Great Plains prairies by suppressing fires, planting trees and exotic grasses, poisoning rodents, diverting waters, and homogenizing the dynamies of grazing with endless fences-all creating bound an otherwise boundless vista. aries in Historically, travelers and settlers referred to the area of tallgrasses along the western edge of the deciduous forest and extending midway across Kansas as the "True Prairie. " The grasses thlnned and became shorter to the west, an area known then as the Great Plains."

European ecosystems and species remain under pressure from intensive agriculture and forestry, fishing, pollution, urban sprawl, invasive species and climate change. This book provides a detailed description and critical analysis of nature conservation responses, achievements and failures, motivated by the concerning state of nature and missed biodiversity targets. It summarises Europe's nature and the impact of human activities, and then gives an overview of relevant international biodiversity treaties and the EU nature conservation policy and legislative framework. The core of the book comprises chapters written by national experts, which cover the UK and twenty-five EU Member States, providing comparative case studies from which valuable lessons are drawn. Covering wide-ranging topics such as biodiversity pressures, legislation and governance, biodiversity strategies, species protection, protected areas, habitat management, and funding, this book is of interest to a wide audience, including academics and professionals involved in nature conservation and related environmental fields.

Islands with large colonies of seabirds are found throughout the globe. Seabird islands provide nesting and roosting sites for birds that forage at sea, deposit marine nutrients on land, and physically alter these islands. Habitats for numerous endemic and endangered animal and plant species, seabird islands are therefore biodiversity hotspots with high priority for conservation.
Successful campaigns to eradicate predators (e.g., rats and cats) from seabird islands have been conducted worldwide. However, removal of predators will not necessarily lead to natural recovery of seabirds or other native species. Restoration of island ecosystems requires social acceptance of eradications, knowledge of how island food webs function, and a long-term commitment to measuring and assisting the recovery process.
This book, written collaboratively by and for ecologists and resource managers, provides the first large-scale cross-system compilation, comparison, and synthesis of the ecology of seabird island systems. Offering a new conceptual framework into which to fit the impacts of seabirds on island ecology, this is an essential resource for academics and resource managers alike.

Quaggas were beautiful pony-sized zebras in southern Africa that had fewer stripes on their bodies and legs, and a browner body coloration than other zebras. Indigenous people hunted quaggas, portrayed them in rock art, and told stories about them. Settlers used quaggas to pull wagons and to protect livestock against predators. Taken to Europe, they were admired, exhibited, harnessed to carriages, illustrated by famous artists and written about by scientists. Excessive hunting led to quaggas' extinction in the 1880s but DNA from museum specimens showed rebreeding was feasible and now zebras resembling quaggas live in their former habitats. This rebreeding is compared with other de-extinction and rewilding ventures and its appropriateness discussed against the backdrop of conservation challenges-including those facing other zebras. In an Anthropocene of species extinction, climate change and habitat loss which organisms and habitats should be saved, and should attempts be made to restore extinct species?

Understanding Nature is a new kind of ecology textbook: a straight-forward resource that teaches natural history and ecological content, and a way to instruct students that will nurture both Earth and self. While meeting the textbook guidelines set forth by the Ecological Society of America, Understanding Nature has a unique ecotherapy theme, using a historical framework to teach ecological theory to undergraduates. This textbook presents all the core information without being unnecessarily wordy or lengthy, using simple, relatable language and discussing ecology in ways that any student can apply in real life. Uniquely, it is also a manual on how to improve one's relationship with the Earth. This is accomplished through coverage of natural history, ecology, and applications, together with suggested field activities that start each chapter and thinking questions that end each chapter. The book includes traditional ecological knowledge as well as the history of scientific ecological knowledge. Understanding Nature teaches theory and applications that will heal the Earth. It also teaches long-term sustainability practices for one's psyche. Professor Louise Weber is both an ecologist and a certified ecopsychologist, challenging ecology instructors to rethink what and how they teach about nature. Her book bridges the gap between students taking ecology to become ecologists and those taking ecology as a requirement, who will use the knowledge to become informed citizens.

This volume charts a new course in animal studies that re-examines Jacques Derrida's enduring thought on the visualization of the animal in his seminal Cerisy Conference from 1997, The Animal That Therefore I Am. Building new proximities with the animal in and through - and at times in spite of - the visual apparatus, Seeing Animals after Derrida investigates how the recent turn in animal studies toward new materialism, speculative realism, and object-oriented ontology prompts a renewed engagement with Derrida's animal philosophy. In taking up the matter of Derrida's treatment of animality for the current epoch, the contributors to this book each present a case for new philosophical approaches and aesthetic paradigms that challenge the ocularcentrism of Western culture.

This volume brings together evidence that animal behaviour varies geograhically, and explores some of the richness in phenomena, interpretations, and problems which can arise in such studies. The authors summarize advances in the field to date, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of various approaches, and give a clear and balanced overview of this area.

When Nancy Beckage and I first met in Lynn Riddiford's laboratory at the University of Washington in the mid 1970s, the fields of parasitology, behavior, and endocrinology were thriving and far-flung--disciplines in no serious danger of intersecting. There were rumors that they might have some common ground: Behavioural Aspects of Parasite Transmission (Canning and Wright, 1972) had just emerged, with exciting news not only of the way parasites themselves behave, but also of Machiavellian worms that caused intermediate hosts to shift fundamental responses to light and disturbance, becoming in the process more vulnerable to predation by the next host (Holmes and Bethel, 1972). Meanwhile, biologists such as Miriam Rothschild (see Dedication), G. B. Solomon (1969), and Lynn Riddiford herself (1975) had suggested that the endocrinological rami of parasitism might be subtle and pervasive. In general, however, para fications sites were viewed as aberrant organisms, perhaps good for a few just-so stories prior to turning our attention once again to real animals. In the decade that followed, Pauline Lawrence (1986a, b), Davy Jones (Jones et al., 1986), Nancy Beckage (Beckage, 1985; Beckage and Templeton, 1986), and others, including many in this volume, left no doubt that the host-parasite combination in insect systems was physiologically distinct from its unparasitized counterpart in ways that went beyond gross pathology."

The key aim of this book is to explore the global conservation and management of sharks. There has been a rapid decline in populations of many shark species, while new science has emerged of the critical role they play in marine ecosystems. However, the authors show that conservation law and policy have been slow to develop, with only a small number of iconic species being protected worldwide. The increase in fishing impact - primarily through shark finning and by-catch - has led to shark conservation receiving greater international attention in recent years. The book explores our current knowledge and status of the law and science in relation to sharks with a particular focus on improving frameworks for their conservation and management. Recent trends are analysed, including shark finning bans that have been put in place in several countries, the widening number of nations establishing shark sanctuaries and the growth of shark-based tourism. The efficacy of current listing processes for endangered species and fisheries regulations is also examined. Tourism is explored as an alternative to fishing and the risks and impacts associated with this industry are analysed. Contributors include leading authorities from universities and conservation organizations in North America, Europe and Australia. A common theme is to emphasise the importance of collaborative governance between various interest groups and the need for inter-disciplinary research and management approaches that are necessary to address the decline in sharks.

__________________ Our Earth is more beautiful and more diverse than we can possibly conceive of. The Book of Vanishing Species is a stunning homage to the planet's most mysterious, bizarre and wondrous creatures and plants. Their stories are captivating, from the eyeless and tiny dragonlike olm to the hawksbill turtle, whose gender will be determined by the temperature of the sand it is born in. These species may have survived for hundreds of thousands of years by cleverly adapting to their environments, but their future remains far from certain. The book brings to life red cranes as they dance and bow for the sheer joy of movement, trees that breathe out a haze of misty atmosphere for insects that only feast on one kind of flower, a deep-ocean snail quietly building its shell from iron... and each one of them is illuminated with an exquisite illustration. As you turn the pages, there emerges a network of life that stretches across and around the planet in a dazzling web of existence. This is both a love letter to life on Earth, and an urgent summons to protect what is precious and lovely in this world.

Wildlife and the countryside are highly valued by people in the UK, and for good reason. Healthy habitats are invaluable assets and promote human wellbeing. However, they are under increasing threat from, among other things, relentless urban expansion and intensive modern agriculture. These pressures largely stem from a major underlying cause - the high and growing population of humans living in the UK. This book provides an overview of wildlife in the UK and its recent status; factors contributing to wildlife declines; trends in human numbers; international deliberations about the impacts of human population growth; and the implications for the future of wildlife conservation in the UK. The evidence-based text includes comparisons of wildlife declines and their causes in other countries, providing a global perspective. This book is for ecologists, naturalists and conservation biologists studying and working in academia or in consultancies, as well as all those interested in wildlife conservation.

Scarcity of water has brought about a number of structural, behavioural, physiological and ecological adaptations in amphibians inhabiting seasonally xeric habitats.
This book describes structural and functional adaptations of key organs such as skin, kidneys, bladder, lungs and ovaries. Behavioural responses to high temperatures mainly involve thermoregulation and the selection of optimal temperatures and humidity. Special emphasis is placed on physiological adaptations: water, electrolyte, nitrogen, and thermal balance and their endocrine control are treated in detail. Development and metamorphosis, larval competition for food resources, and reproductive strategies are only a few of the exciting topics in the chapter on ecological aspects.

This book aims at providing students and researchers an advanced integrative overview on zooplankton ecology, covering marine and freshwater organisms, from microscopic phagotrophic protists, to macro-jellyfishes and active fish larvae. The first book section addresses zooplanktonic organisms and processes, the second section is devoted to zooplankton spatial and temporal distribution patterns and trophic dynamics, and the final section is dedicated to emergent methodological approaches (e.g., omics). Book chapters include comprehensive synthesis, observational and manipulative studies, and sediment-based analysis, a vibrant imprint of benthic-pelagic coupling and ecosystem connectivity. Most chapters also address the impacts of anticipated environmental changes (e.g., warming, acidification).