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Books > Earth & environment > The environment > Applied ecology
How do ecosystems combine function and adaptability despite comprising large ensembles of individual populations that are not subject to any central control? This question is addressed in The Dynamic Nature of Ecosystems by replacing the prevailing static view of the balance of nature with a more dynamic perspective. It argues that it is the trade-off between the irregular, chaotic dynamics at the population level and the spatio-temporal organization of the system as a whole, that shapes ecological systems. Such a trade-off is mediated by the effects of positive feedback that link populations across time and space. By rejecting a purely mechanistic perception, this volume sets out to develop a new framework within which the dynamic nature and organization of ecosystems can be understood. Such a perspective leads to emphasizing uncertainty as an essential part of ecological systems instead of viewing it as an obstacle impeding quantitative evaluations and predictions.
This book presents modern Bayesian analysis in a format that is accessible to researchers in the fields of ecology, wildlife biology, and natural resource management. Bayesian analysis has undergone a remarkable transformation since the early 1990s. Widespread adoption of Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques has made the Bayesian paradigm the viable alternative to classical statistical procedures for scientific inference. The Bayesian approach has a number of desirable qualities, three chief ones being: i) the mathematical procedure is always the same, allowing the analyst to concentrate on the scientific aspects of the problem; ii) historical information is readily used, when appropriate; and iii) hierarchical models are readily accommodated. This monograph contains numerous worked examples and the requisite computer programs. The latter are easily modified to meet new situations. A primer on probability distributions is also included because these form the basis of Bayesian inference. Researchers and graduate students in Ecology and Natural Resource Management will find this book a valuable reference.
discusses the long evolution of the idea that foreign state and private financing can be used to protect tropical forests and the carbon stored within them, resulting in both local economic development and global climate benefits. links the literature on REDD+ with that covering Indonesias recent democratic regression, highlighting how the countrys environmental performance is inextricably linked to the timbre of its political governance. This book will be of great interests to students and scholars of political ecology, deforestation, climate change, environmental politics, natural resource management and environmental conservation.
This book sets out to reframe the theory of real options so that it can be used to support environmental investments for climate change adaptation and mitigation. Climate change policy often involves making decisions that concern extended time periods, and doing so under considerable uncertainty. By expanding and broadening the framework of real options, this book first introduces readers to new ways of quantifying investment decisions that can much more effectively address the shape and size of the uncertainty than traditional approaches using Net Present Value. In turn, the second part of the book applies this new theoretical framework to climate change policy by presenting a number of examples, and by providing a general perspective on investment decisions related to climate change and how to prioritize them.
One of Asia's best-respected writers on business and economy, Hong Kong-based author Mark L. Clifford provides a behind-the-scenes look at what companies in China, India, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Thailand are doing to build businesses that will lessen the environmental impact of Asia's extraordinary economic growth. Dirty air, foul water, and hellishly overcrowded cities are threatening to choke the region's impressive prosperity. Recognizing a business opportunity in solving social problems, Asian businesses have developed innovative responses to the region's environmental crises. From solar and wind power technologies to green buildings, electric cars, water services, and sustainable tropical forestry, Asian corporations are upending old business models in their home countries and throughout the world. Companies have the money, the technology, and the people to act-yet, as Clifford emphasizes, support from the government (in the form of more effective, market-friendly policies) and the engagement of civil society are crucial for a region-wide shift to greener business practices. Clifford paints detailed profiles of what some of these companies are doing and includes a unique appendix that encapsulates the environmental business practices of more than fifty companies mentioned in the book.
Over the past 30 years sustainability has become increasingly important to scholarly research and business in practice. This book explores a variety of challenges faced by businesses when becoming sustainable and how this links to economic development and its corruption, ethical and taxation implications. Showcasing an interdisciplinary approach, the chapters explore topics such as business ethics, corporate responsibility, tax governance and sustainability practice.
This book is a practical approach to insuring financial sustainability of US colleges, presented through the lens of organizational strategic thinking. The book does not simply offer models of how colleges can become financially sustainable in cost cutting, online education, international student recruiting, etc. Rather, it presents a succinct historical perspective of how foundational problems emerged, how some universities transformed themselves, and introduces an organizational strategic thinking process that can be used to develop unique solutions for almost any institution.
This study focuses on impacts of the environmental and socio-economic transformation on the indigenous people's livelihoods in Vietnam's Central Highlands recent decades since the country's reunification in 1975. The first empirical section sheds light on multiple external conditions (policy reforms, population trends, and market forces) exposed onto local people. The role of human and social capital is examined again in a specific livelihood of community-based tourism to testify the resilience level of local people when coping with constraints. The study concludes with an outlook on implications of development processed which still places agriculture at the primary position livelihood, and pays attention to human capital and social capital of indigenous groups in these highlands.
The Routledge Handbook of Law and the Anthropocene provides a critical survey into the function of law and governance during a time period when humans have power to impact the Earth system. The Anthropocene is a 'crisis of the earth system'. This book addresses its implications for law and legal thinking in the 21st century. Unpacking the challenges of the Anthropocene for advocates of ecological law and politics, this handbook pursues a range of approaches to the scientific fact of anthropocentrism, with contributions from lawyers, philosophers, geographers and environmental and political scientists. Rather than adopting a hubristic normativity, the contributors engage methods, concepts and legal instruments in a way that underscores the importance of humility and an expansive ethical worldview. Contributors to this volume are the leading scholars and future leaders in the field. Rather than upholding orthodoxy, the handbook also problematizes received wisdom and is grounded in the conviction that the ideas we have inherited from the Holocene must all be open to question. Engaging such issues as the Capitalocene, Gaia theory, the rights of nature, posthumanism, the commons, geoengineering and civil disobedience, this handbook will be of enormous interest to academics, students and others with interests in ecological law and the current environmental crisis.
This edited volume comprises ideas, visions, strategies, and dreams of entrepreneurs, managers, scientists and political experts who share their best practice experience relating to the joint goal of a more sustainable, humanistic, and responsible fashion industry. Readers will find a variety of approaches and strategies that in sum represent a rich pool of insights and cases for anyone interested in the study of new management perspectives and in the systematic advancement of sustainable fashion.In 14 chapters, international authors discuss topics such as Sustainable Business Models, Cradle-to-Cradle, Circular Economy, Human Rights, Ethical Supply Chain Management, Sustainable Fashion Consumption, Certification and Auditing, Traceability, Impact Measurement, and Industry Transformation. Business case studies include H&M, Filippa K, Melawear, Otto, Tauko, and Tchibo. Further brands that are discussed in the book are Prada, Burberry, Hermes, Hugo Boss, and many more. The book demonstrates that sustainable fashion can hardly be realized by just one actor or by using just one business tool or governance instrument. The sustainable transformation of the textile sector requires concerted action of businesses, governments, NGOs, and consumers to clearly demonstrate a coalition for change and a willingness and power to end inhumane and unsustainable business practices in the 21st century. The sum of innovative approaches and solutions presented in this book shows that the momentum for change is strong and that mutual learning, respect and collaboration can lead to interesting and effective new paths of co-creation and shared responsibility in the fashion industry.
This book brings a unique perspective to animal movement studies because all cases came from tropical environments where the great diversity, either biological and structurally (trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes), presents the animal with several options to fulfill its live requirements. These conditions have forced the evolution of unique movement patterns and ecological strategies. Movement is an essential process in the life of all organisms. Animals move because they are hungry, thirsty, to avoid being eaten, or because they want to find mates. Understanding the causes and consequences of animal movement is not an easy task for behavioural ecologists. Many animals are shy, move in secretive ways and are very sensible to human presence, therefore, studying the movements of mammals in tropical environments present logistical and methodological challenges that have recently started to be solved by ecologist around the world. In this book we are compiling a set of extraordinary cases where researchers have used some of the modern technology and the strongest methodological approaches to understand movement patterns in wild tropical mammals. We hope this book will inspire and encourage young researchers to investigate wild mammals movements in some of the amazing tropical environments of the world.
The first accessible text on the topic of animals as environmental predictors, bringing together the literature from as far back as 18th century through to the present day. - Covers wider terrain than other titles in a relatively unexplored subject area. The text discusses climate change (highly topical) and how animals may be able to be used to predict future weather and climatic events. There is international potential as the climate challenge is global, and the examples span worldwide case studies. The sources used include myths, anecdotes, news articles and stories backed up by relevant scientific literature in international peer-reviewed journals. Each chapter starts with a short fictitious story to set the scene and anecdotes from indigenous cultures are especially interesting. The author draws on his vast expertise in biochemistry and cell biology. The science does not impede the less technical reader, due to the engaging mix of stories, anecdotes, personal observations and scientific underpinnings.
The first accessible text on the topic of animals as environmental predictors, bringing together the literature from as far back as 18th century through to the present day. - Covers wider terrain than other titles in a relatively unexplored subject area. The text discusses climate change (highly topical) and how animals may be able to be used to predict future weather and climatic events. There is international potential as the climate challenge is global, and the examples span worldwide case studies. The sources used include myths, anecdotes, news articles and stories backed up by relevant scientific literature in international peer-reviewed journals. Each chapter starts with a short fictitious story to set the scene and anecdotes from indigenous cultures are especially interesting. The author draws on his vast expertise in biochemistry and cell biology. The science does not impede the less technical reader, due to the engaging mix of stories, anecdotes, personal observations and scientific underpinnings.
Biodesign in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Deep Green investigates the potential of nature based technology for shaping the evolution of contemporary architecture and design. It takes on the now pervasive topic of design intelligence, extending its definition to encompass both biological and digital realms. As in their first title, Systemic Architecture: Operating Manual for the Self Organizing City, the authors engage the topic through the specific lens of their innovative design practice, ecoLogicStudio and their research at the University of Innsbruck and at the Bartlett, UCL. Part One of the book, entitled PhotoSynthetica (TM), illustrates design solutions that engage the urban microbiome and seek to achieve an immediate impact, while Part Two, entitled Deep Green, includes synthetic landscapes and operates within a much larger spatio-temporal frame, going beyond human perception and life span to envision design as a geographical and geological force. In the age of catastrophic climate change, such perceptual expansion helps to clarify that change cannot simply be stopped or rolled back. We must instead establish more positive dynamics of change within the living world. To this end, this book proposes to engage with design and architecture as an extended cognitive interface, a sentient being that is co-evolutionary and symbiotic with the living planet, contributing to its beauty and to our continued enjoyment of it.
This book is about understanding the value of environmental services in South Asia. It provides an overview of different environmental problems in South Asia and examines how economic valuation techniques can be used to assess these problems. It brings together multiple case studies on valuation undertaken by economists and environmental scientists from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka under the aegis of the South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE). The book addresses the challenges of valuing environmental changes that are unique to developing countries. Each chapter starts with a description of an environmental problem and the valuation strategy used, followed by a discussion of estimation methods and results. It is designed to serve as a reference book for students, teachers, researchers, non-government organizations, and practitioners of environmental valuation. Those interested in development and environmental economics, and natural resource management policies, will also find it useful.
The book deals with the economics of conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture in low income countries. This is done by developing concepts and discussing case studies. Only discussing the issues of access to and benefit sharing of plant genetic resources, unfortunately public discussion has neglected the serious problem of financing the conservation efforts because to date the issues of access to and benefit sharing of plant genetic resources have merely been discussed. The global situation of the conserved genetic resources is alarming, mainly due to the fact that the institutes, above all those in developing countries, do not have enough financial resources. Hence, it is imperative that the costs are taken into consideration. The contributions are grouped around theoretical approaches and empirical studies. The estimation of conservation costs help to allocate the appropriate financial assistance to the relevant countries for conserving their natural resources and assist in rationing scarce resources among competing crops which need to be covered under the conservation programmes.
- examines the five major religions - Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism - and provides a balanced, objective critique of both the beliefs and practices employed which lead to both the protection and exploitation of animals - draws on scripture as well as leading historical and contemporary figures in the religions, from early Christian saints to royal figures like Ashoka - compares the teachings of old with contemporary practice and showcases what the major religions are doing to protect or exploit animals, from moving their investments away from animal-exploiting companies or running animal sanctuaries to participating in or condoning animal sacrifice, cruel sports and factory farming - challenges religious leaders and followers to re-examine their religion's teachings and to raise their official or personal practices in relation to the well-being of animals. - essential reading for those interested in the role of religion in animal welfare, human-animal studies, and animal ethics more broadly.
Green Marketing examines the concept of 'Green Marketing' using examples from Turkey and the rest of the world. The book examines Sa-ba Inc. as a case study which is among the pioneering enterprises in Turket's automative sub-industy and its green marketing strategies.
Black-tailed and mule deer represent one of the largest distributions of mammals in North America and are symbols of the wide-open American West. Each chapter in the book was authored by the world's leading experts on that topic. Both editors, James R. Heffelfinger and Paul R. Krausman, are widely published in the popular and scientific press and recipients of the O. C. Wallmo Award, given every two years to a leading black-tailed and mule deer expert who has made significant contributions to the conservation of this species. In addition, Heffelfinger has chaired the Mule Deer Working Group sponsored by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies for more than 15 years. This working group consists of the leading black-tailed and mule deer experts from each of 24 states, provinces, and territories in western North America, putting them at the forefront of all conservation and much of the research on this species. The book represents all current knowledge available on these deer, including how changing conditions such as fires, habitat alteration and loss, disease, climate change, socio-economic forces, energy development, and other aspects are influencing their distribution and abundance now and into the future. It takes a completely fresh look at all chapter topics. The revisions of distribution, taxonomy, evolution, behavior, and new and exciting work being done in deer nutrition, migration and movements, diseases, predation, and human dimensions are all assembled in this volume. This book will instantly become the foundation for the latest information and management strategies to be implemented on the ground by practitioners and to inform the public. Although this book is about deer, the topics discussed influence most terrestrial wildlife worldwide and the basic concepts in many of the chapters are applicable to other species.
Problems of insect enumeration and assessment of needs are addressed in the contexts of rapid and substantial losses and changes to all key Australian terrestrial and freshwater environments and promoting awarenesss of the importance of insects. Further definition of the insect fauna and its peculiarities can aid threat alleviation and practical management to protect and conserve this unique and largely endemic biodiversity. Written for the many environmental managers and naturalists who are not primarily entomologists, the ten chapters expand from considerations of insect decline and diversity to the unique features of the Australian fauna and its characterisation. Cases and examples from throughout the world illustrate the major needs, approaches and priorities to sustaining a poorly known, diverse and ecologically varied insect heritage of global significance.
This book takes a critical look at solar geoengineering as an acceptable means for addressing climate change. Baskin explores the assumptions and imaginaries which animate 'engineering the climate' and discusses why this climate solution is so controversial. The book explains geoengineering's past, its revival in the mid-2000s, and its future prospects including its shadow presence in the Paris climate accord. The main focus however is on dissecting solar geoengineering today - its rationales, underpinning knowledge, relationship to power, and the stance towards nature which accompanies it. Baskin explores three competing imaginaries associated with geoengineering: an Imperial imaginary, an oppositional Un-Natural imaginary, and a conspiratorial Chemtrail imaginary. He seeks to explain why solar geoengineering has struggled to gain approval and why resistance to it persists, despite the support of several powerful actors. He provocatively suggests that reconceptualising our present as the Anthropocene might unwittingly facilitate the normalisation of geoengineering by providing a sustaining socio-technical imaginary. This book is essential reading for those interested in climate policy, political ecology, and science & technology studies.
This book summarizes all currently available information on the ecology, environmental impacts and control methods of the golden mussel in industrial plants. The golden mussel was introduced in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and South America between 1965 and 1990, swiftly spreading in freshwater waterbodies. In most areas invaded it has become the dominant macroinverebrate and a major fouling pest of industrial plants. Limnoperna fortunei attaches to any hard surface, as well as to some less firm substrates. The growth of Limnoperna populations in raw cooling water conduits became a common nuisance in many industrial and power plants that use raw river or lake water for their processes, both in South America and in Asia. This work is written by experts on the golden mussel from Asia, Europe, North America and South America, each chapter critically reviews previously available information, which is in sources of limited distribution, such as internal reports and theses, in various languages.
This volume considers current and future challenges for nature law and policy in Europe. Following the Fitness Check evaluation of the Birds and Habitats Directives, in 2017 the EU adopted an Action Plan for nature, people and the economy to rapidly improve the Directives' implementation and accelerate progress towards the EU's biodiversity targets for 2020. More recently, the EU has adopted a Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and proposed an EU Nature Restoration Law. This book makes a timely contribution by examining the current state of play in light of recent and historical developments, as well as the post-2020 nature law and policy landscape. While evidence suggests that Natura 2000 and the Habitats and Birds Directives have delivered conservation benefits for wildlife in Europe, biodiversity loss continues apace. The book reviews the requirements for an effective international nature conservation system, with reference to the Birds and Habitats Directives. It examines regulatory regimes, current legal issues in the fields of site protection and species protection, the protection of areas outside Natura 2000, recent developments in the EU and the UK, including the implications of Brexit, agriculture and nature conservation, litigation, science and access to justice. Written by leading experts in the field, from a range of stakeholder groups, the volume draws on diverse experiences as well as providing interdisciplinary perspectives. This volume will be essential reading for students and scholars interested in European environmental policy and law, including lawyers, ecologists, environmental scientists, political scientists, natural resource managers, and planners. It will also be of interest to conservation practitioners, policy-makers and NGOs. |
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