Salinity and water stress limit crop productivity worldwide and generate substantial economic losses each year, yet innovative research on crop and natural resource management can reveal cost-effective ways in which farmers can increase both their productivity and their income.

Presenting recent research findings on salt stress, water stress and stress-adapted plants, this book offers insights into new strategies for increasing the efficiency of crops under stressful environments. The strategies are based on conventional breeding and advanced molecular techniques used by plant physiologists, and are discussed using specific case studies to illustrate their potential. The book emphasizes the effects of environmental factors on specific stages of plant development, and discusses the role of plant growth regulators, nutrients, osmoprotectants and antioxidants in counteracting their adverse affects.

Synthesising updated information on mechansisms of stress tolerance at cell, tissue and whole-plant level, this book provides a useful reference text for post graduate students and researchers involved in the fields of stress physiology and plant physiology in general, with additional readership amongst researchers in horticulture, agronomy, crop science, conservation, environmental management and ecological restoration.

It is generally accepted that the recent progress in molecular and cellular biology would not have been possible without an understanding of the mechanisms and signaling pathways of communication inside the cell and between various cells of the animal organism. In fact a similar progress occurred in the field of chemical communication between individual organisms of vertebrate species, and this volume is aimed at presenting the current state of the art on this subject. The reader can find here both original results obtained in the laboratory or field studies and comprehensive reviews summarizing many years of research. The presentations of over 60 scientists have been grouped according to their approach into nine parts covering such fields as ecological and evolutionary aspects of chemical communication, structure and neuronal mechanisms of chemosensory systems, chemical structure of pheromones and binding proteins, kin, individual and sexual recognition, predator-prey relationships, purpose and consequences of marking behavior, scent signals and reproductive processes. Expanding on former volumes of this series, entirely new chapters have been added on prenatal chemical communication describing specific effects of the intrauterine environment. In many cases a truly multidisciplinary approach was required, such as with the population analysis of polymorphic variants of the mouse's major urinary proteins that function in carrying pheromones.

This book critically reviews advances in our understanding of the biology of vascular epiphytes since Andreas Schimper's 1888 seminal work. It addresses all aspects of their biology, from anatomy and physiology to ecology and evolution, in the context of general biological principles. By comparing epiphytes with non-epiphytes throughout, it offers a valuable resource for researchers in plant sciences and related disciplines. A particular strength is the identification of research areas that have not received the attention they deserve, with conservation being a case in point. Scientists have tended to study pristine systems, but global developments call for information on epiphytes in human-disturbed systems and the response of epiphytes to global climate change.

Over the years, irresponsible business practices have resulted in industrial waste, which is negatively impacting the environment. As a result, it is imperative to develop new solutions to reverse the damage. Collective Creativity for Responsible and Sustainable Business Practice is an authoritative reference source for the latest scholarly research on the elimination of environmental degradation through new discoveries and opportunities provided by collective creativity. Featuring extensive coverage across a range of relevant perspective and topics, such as sustainable business model innovation, social marketing, and education and business co-operatives, this comprehensive and timely publication is an essential reference source for business leaders, managers, academics, and community leaders seeking current research on sustainable management practices. Topics Covered: Bisociation Civil Commons Cyber Security Creativity Educational and Business Co-operatives Polycentric and Creative Climate Change Governance Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) Sustainable Business Model Innovation

Agricultural crops are prominent features of an increasing number of variously perturbed ecosystems and the landscapes occupied by these ecosystems. Yet the ecology of agricultural-dominated landscapes is only now receiving the scientific attention it has long deserved. This attention has been stimulated by the realization that all agriculture must become sustainable year after year while leaving nearby ecosystems unaffected.
Ecology in Agriculture focuses exclusively on the ecology of agricultural ecosystems. The book is divided into four major sections. An introduction establishes the unique ties between agricultural and ecological sciences. The second section describes the community ecology of these sorts of ecosystems, while the final section focuses on the processes that operate throughout these agricultural landscapes.
Key Features
* Contains an ecological perspective on agricultural production and resource utilization
Includes in-depth reviews of major issues in crop ecology by active researchers
* Covers a range of topics in agricultural ecophysiology, community ecology, and ecosystems ecology
* Provides examples of ecological approaches to solving problems in crop management and environmental quality

This book brings together a selection of original studies submitted to Biodiversity and Conservation that address biodiversity and conservation in Europe. Europe is certainly the most intensively inventoried region of the world; detailed maps are available for species distributions while action plans are being drawn up for species under threat. At the same time, the wildlife of Europe has been subject to enormous human pressures, with limited wilderness' sites remaining in most countries. Europe consequently presents a case-study of what the human impact on biodiversity has been, and also what can be done to improve the situation.The contributions in this volume are drawn from a wide range of countries and discuss diverse organism and habitat types.

Mir S. Mulla joined the faculty of the Entomology Department at the University of California, Riverside in 1956, only two years after the Riverside campus was established as an independent campus within the University of California system. Prior to his appointment, Mir received his B.S. from Cornell University and then moved to the University of California, Berkeley to pursue his graduate studies. His Ph.D. from Berkeley, awarded in 1955, completed his formal American education which was the purpose of his immigration from his native Kandahar in Afghanistan. In his over 50 years at Riverside, Mir has made an incalculable impact on vector biology both within the United States and in developing countries throughout the world. Within Southern California, Mir's basic and applied research led to the rapid and sustainable control of mosquitoes and eye gnats in the Coachella Valley and so directly enabled this region to grow to the thriving, large community it is today. In 2006 his efforts in facilitating the development of the low desert of southern California were recognized through the dedication of the Mir S. Mulla Biological Control Facility by the Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District. His success has been so profound that it remains somewhat cryptic to the many who now reside in, visit, and enjoy, this region of California, oblivious to the insect problems that severely restrained development until Mir and his students ?rst applied their expertise many decades ago.

Forest management is a complex process that now incorporates information obtained from many sources. It is increasingly obvious that the physiological status of the trees in a forest has a dramatic impact on the likely success of any particular management strategy. Indeed, models described in this book that deal with forest productivity and sustainability require physiological information. This information can only be obtained from an understanding of the basic biological mechanisms and processes that contribute to individual tree growth. This valuable book illustrates that physiological ecology is a fundamental element of proficient forest management.

Taken from the earlier book "Priceless Florida" (and modified for a stand-alone book), this volume discusses the well-drained areas of Florida, including high pine grasslands, flatwoods and prairies, interior scrub, hardwood hammocks, rocklands and caves, and beach dunes. Introduces readers to the trees and plants, insects, mammals, reptiles, and other species that live in Florida's unique uplands ecosystem.

Most living carnivorous marsupials lead a secretive and solitary existence. From tiny insect eaters to the formidable Tasmanian Devil, Secret Lives of Carnivorous Marsupials offers rare insight into the history and habits of these creatures - from their discovery by intrepid explorers and scientists to their unique life cycles and incredible ways of hunting prey. Secret Lives of Carnivorous Marsupials contains a guide to the world's 136 living species of carnivorous marsupials and is packed with never-before-seen photos. Biogeography, relationships and conservation are also covered in detail. Readers are taken on a journey through remote Australia, the Americas and dark, mysterious New Guinea - some of the last truly wild places on Earth. The book describes frenzied mating sessions, minuscule mammals that catch prey far larger than themselves, and extinct predators including marsupial lions, wolves and even sabre-toothed kangaroos. Features A fascinating insight into the lives and behaviours of these secretive and solitary marsupials Extensively illustrated with stunning colour photographs Includes extinct species such as giant kangaroos, marsupial lions and tigers

In this collection of articles, an environmental scientist traces a journey through the wilderness of environmental politics. In his travels, Dr. Edward Krug developed a unique perspective on vital areas of the environmental issues, making him critical of both sides of the environmental debate. "Environment Betrayed" delves into numerous environmental issues and into environmentalism itself, presenting both Dr. Krug's opinions and the well-documented opinions of others who were active participants in the environmental arena.

Dr. Krug has worked as an environmental scientist since the early eighties, and much of the research and information included here originated in the eighties and nineties. Despite this gap of time, defenders of modern Western civilization don't seem to recognize the nature of the environmental war, let alone many of its details. By raising issues, environmentalists also define the battlefield-that is, the context of thought. Krug cites credible sources on both sides of the debate with varying perspectives on where things stand in this conflict.

Only by gaining a clear understanding of what's at stake can we truly grasp the numerous environmental issues swirling around us and what they will mean for our future.

The environmental and chemical sciences are ever more reliant on computers. This dependence needs formalization, and the theory of algebraic relations is one possibility. Under algebraic relations, "order" turns out to be of special interest in many applicational fields. Internationally renowned authors explain the theory and practice of order relations in such a way, that no specific mathematical skill is needed to understand the advantages of this algebraization. As the order relations are very general and simple, they can be used quite universally. For example, the structure of chemicals and their properties; evaluation of waste disposal sites, decision support for river management; and the way to measure biodiversity are examples of the broadness of the concept.
This book is recommended to those, who are interested in the interface between sciences and management.

The poles undergo climate changes exceeding those in the rest of the world in terms of their speed and extent, and have a key role in modulating the climate of the Earth. Ecosystems adapted to polar environments are likely to become vulnerable to climate changes. Their responses allow us to analyse and foresee the impact of changes at lower latitudes. We need to increase our knowledge of the polar marine fauna of continental shelves, slopes and deep sea, as identifying the responses of species and communities is crucial to establishing efficient strategies against threats to biodiversity, using international and cross-disciplinary approaches. The IPY 2007-2009 was a scientific milestone. The outstanding contribution of Marine Biology is reflected in this volume and the next one on "Adaptation and Evolution in Marine Environments - The Impacts of Global Change on Biodiversity" from the series "From Pole to Pole", making these volumes a unique and invaluable component of the scientific outcome of the IPY.

Access to green space and the act of creating green spaces is well understood to promote human health, especially in therapeutic contexts among individuals suffering traumatic events. Less well understood, though currently being studied, is the role of access to green space and the act of creating and caring for it in promoting neighborhood health and well being as related to social-ecological system resilience. An important implication of Greening in the Red Zone lies in specific instances of greening and the presence of greened spaces in promoting and enhancing recovery, and perhaps resilience, in social-ecological systems disrupted or perturbed by violent conflict or other catastrophic disaster. This edited volume provides illustration and interpretation of these phenomena through a series of cases or examples of Greening in the Red Zone, which will explore how access to green space and the act of creating green spaces in extreme situations might contribute to resistance, recovery, and resilience of social-ecological systems.

"Greening in the Red Zone" "takes important steps in advancing our understanding of what makes communities bounce back from disaster or violent conflict. The authors findings that creating an caring for green space contributes positively to recovery and resilience adds to the toolkit of those working in disaster and conflict zones."

William C. Banks, Director,
Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism,
Syracuse University

"Greening in the Red Zone" is an important and highly relevant book. It provides theoretical understanding and scientific evidence of the healing and therapeutic power of contact with nature, especially during times of crisis, sickness and loss. At a time when society is more separated than ever from the natural world, it offers additional reason why our ongoing experience of nature is essential for the human body, mind and spirit. This book is both instructive and inspiring."

Stephen R. Kellert,
Tweedy Ordway Professor Emeritus,
Senior Research Scholar,
Yale University

"Greening in the Red Zone is a fascinating book that greatly elevates our understanding of how the perspective of humans as an integrated part of nature may contribute to the resilience discourse. This multi-authored volume provides numerous examples of how greening and the presence of green spaces in areas that have experienced large disturbances or catastrophic events may reduce trauma among individuals and enhance recovery and resilience in human communities. I certainly warmly recommend this book to anyone interested in how we may prepare ourselves for an increasingly uncertain future, building resilience in social-ecological systems."

Thomas Elmqvist,
Department of Systems Ecology, and
Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University"

The current literature on resource selection by animals is a maze of methodologies for data collection and interpretation. Field biologists need a guide through the labyrinth. This book provides such a guide. It gives a clear and consistent framework for the study of how animals select their resources (food and habitat) by taking the reader through different types of study design. It is an invaluable handbook for the field biologist, especially those concerned with the management and conservation of wildlife. The authors have clearly identified the need to pull together the diffuse literature, and biologists will greatly improve their experimental design, methodology, and analysis with this book.

The second edition of this popular book has been updated to include many developments in the last few years. There is new material on discrete choice models, the analysis of data from geographical information systems, compositional analysis, Mahalanobis distance methods, and neural networks and related approaches.

Resource Selection by Animals:

• is an invaluable guide for field biologists;
• provides a consistent framework for study of resource selection (food and habitat) by animals;
• is a unique guide, and is the only book which covers this critical topic in such depth; and
• is particularly useful to wildlife managers and conservation biologists.

For centuries, thinking about the earth's increasing human population has been tied to environmental ideas and political action. This highly teachable collection of contextualized primary sources allows students to follow European and North American discussions about intertwined and evolving concepts of population, resources, and the natural environment from early contexts in the sixteenth century through to the present day. Edited and introduced by Robert J. Mayhew, a noted biographer of Thomas Robert Malthus-whose Essay on the Principle of Population (1798), excerpted here, is an influential and controversial take on the topic-this volume explores themes including evolution, eugenics, war, social justice, birth control, environmental Armageddon, and climate change. Other responses to the idea of new "population bombs" are represented here by radical feminist work, by Indigenous views of the population-environment nexus, and by intersectional race-gender approaches. By learning the patterns of this discourse, students will be better able to critically evaluate historical conversations and contemporary debates.

The present monograph is the fourth of six volumes which review the Hypotricha, a major group of the spirotrichs. The book is about the Gonostomatidae, the Kahliellidae, and some taxa of unknown position in the hypotrichs. Gonostomum was previously misclassified in the Oxytrichidae because its type species Gonostomum affine has basically an 18-cirri pattern, which is dominant in the oxytrichids. A new hypothesis, considering also molecular data, postulates that this 18-cirri pattern evolved in the last common ancestor of the hypotrichs and therefore it appears throughout the Hypotricha tree. The simple dorsal kinety pattern, composed of only three bipolar dorsal kineties, and gene sequence analyses strongly suggest that Gonostomum branches off rather early in the phylogenetic tree. Thus, the Gonostomatidae, previously synonymised with the oxytrichids, are reactivated to include the name-bearing type genus and other genera (e.g., Paragonostomum, Wallackia, Cladotricha) which have the characteristic gonostomatid oral apparatus. The Kahliellidae are a rather vague group mainly defined via the preservation of parts of the parental infraciliature. The kahliellids preliminary comprise, besides the name-bearing type genus Kahliella, genera such as Parakahliella and its African pendant Afrokahliella or the monotypic Engelmanniella. In total 68 species distributed in 21 genera and subgenera are revised. As in the previous volumes almost all morphological, morphogenetic, molecular, faunistic, and ecological data, scattered in almost 700 papers, are compiled so that the four volumes (Oxytrichidae, Urostyloidea, Amphisiellidae and Trachelostylidae, Gonostomatidae and Kahliellida) provide a detailed insight into the biology of almost 500 species of hypotrichs. The series is an up-to-date overview about this highly interesting taxon of spirotrichous ciliates mainly addressed to taxonomists, cell biologists, ecologists, molecular biologists, and practitioners.

This book is the outcome of a NATO Advanced Research Workshop on "The Eastern Mediterranean as a laboratory basin for the assessment of contrasting ecosystems" that was held in Kiev, Ukraine, March 23-27, 1998. The scientific rationale of the workshop can be summarized as follows. The Eastern Mediterranean is the most nutrient impoverished and oligotrophic large water body known. There is a well-defined eastward trend in nutrient ratios over the entire Mediterranean that starts at the Gibraltar Straits and, through the western basin, proceeds to the Ionian and Levantine Seas. Supply of nutrients to the entire Mediterranean is limited by inputs from the North Atlantic and various river systems along the sea. The unique feature of the Mediterranean is the presence of an eastward longitudinal trend in available nitrate/phosphate ratios. This apparently induces a west-to-east variation in the structure of the pelagic food web and trophic interactions. In this context the Mediterranean, and in particular its Eastern basin, provides probably a unique platform to explore the hypotheses related to the suggested phosphate-limitation on production and to the shift between "microbial" and "classical" modes of operation of the photic food web. The major exception of the overall oligotrophic nature of the Eastern Mediterranean is the highly eutrophic system of the Northern Adriatic Sea. Here, during the last two decades the discharges of the northern rivers (especially of the Po), together with municipal sewage, have led to a very marked increase of nutrients and subsequent imponent eutrophication events.

Mangroves and seagrasses form extensive and highly productive ecosystems that are both biologically diverse and economically valuable. This book, now in its third edition and fully updated throughout, continues to provide a current and comprehensive introduction to all aspects of the biology and ecology of mangroves and seagrasses. Using a global range of examples and case studies, it describes the unique adaptations of these plants to their exacting environments; the rich and diverse communities of organisms that depend on mangrove forests and seagrass meadows (including tree-climbing shrimps, synchronously flashing fireflies, and 'gardening' seacows); the links between mangrove, seagrass, and other habitats; and the evolution, biodiversity, and biogeography of mangroves and seagrasses. The economic value of mangroves and seagrasses is also discussed, including approaches to rational management of these vital resources and techniques for the restoration of degraded habitats. A final chapter, new to this edition, examines the potential effects of global climate change including sea level rise. As with other titles in the Biology of Habitats Series, particular emphasis is placed on the organisms that dominate these fascinating aquatic ecosystems although pollution, conservation, and experimental aspects are also considered. This accessible textbook assumes no previous knowledge of mangrove or seagrass ecology and is intended for senior undergraduate and graduate students, as well as professional ecologists, conservation practitioners, and resource managers.

This book discusses UV radiation, its effects on ecosystems and the likely evolutionary consequences of changed UV radiation environments, past, present and future. The first two chapters examine the history of the UV radiation climate of earth and the factors that determine organismal and ecosystem exposure. Their purpose is to give the reader a physical perspective on UV radiation and an understanding of the constantly changing UV environment that ecosystems are exposed to over time. Variations in the UV radiation environment occur at the local level (such as boundary layer and plant canopy effects) through to global-scale changes (such as alterations in the column abundance of UV-B protecting ozone). UV radiation regimes also vary over temporal scales. These alterations occur on time scales of seconds (the movement of clouds and plant canopies) to literally billions of years (gross long-term changes in the composition of the Earth's atmosphere). In the chapters that follow five specific biological and ecological topics in photobiology are considered. They are effects of UV radiation on amphibians, plants, corals, aquatic microbial ecosystems and Antarctic ecosystems that are exposed to the anthropogenically generated ozone 'hole'. These chapters consider UV radiation effects at a diversity of levels from the biochemical to the community. Their purpose is to provide the reader with our current understanding of the ecological effects of UV radiation, the areas where questions still remain and to provide a perspective from which the reader can better understand questions in evolutionary photobiology. The final chapter investigates the biological consequences of altered extraterrestrial ultraviolet fluxes, which are quite different from those experienced on the Earth. Our knowledge of the role of UV radiation in shaping ecologies and evolutionary change is still in its infancy. This book brings together a number of authors with the aim of helping to consolidate a better understanding of this interesting area of photobiology.

The study of parasitic organisms at the molecular level has yielded fascinating new insights of great medical, social, and economical importance, and has pointed the way for the treatment and prevention of the diseases they cause. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Parasites presents an up-to-date account of this modern scientific discipline in a manner that allows and encourages the reader to place the biochemistry and molecular biology of these organisms in their biological context. The chapters are cross-referenced and grouped in an arrangement that provides a fully integrated whole, and permits the reader to create a composite of the biochemical function of these organisms.
Individual chapter includes those devoted to metabolism, in both aerobic and anaerobic protozoa; antioxidant mechanisms; parasite surfaces; organelles; invasion mechanisms; and chemotherapy. The helminths are discussed not only from the point of view of their cellular biochemistry and metabolism, but also with respect to both their integrated functions such as neurochemistry, structure and functions of surfaces, and reproduction. Written by expert investigators, this book will be of interest to all experienced researchers, graduate students, and to the newcomer eager to become familiar with the biochemistry and molecular biology of parasites.

This book provides a wealth of high-quality scientific information on the patterns and processes of vegetation change across a broad range of spatial and temporal scales, concentrating on Southwestern China, mostly on the Yunnan region, and extending to the Yangtze River valley near the boundaries separating Chongqing, Sichuan and Guizhou.

This book highlights how energy-system models are used to underpin and support energy and climate mitigation policy decisions at national, multi-country and global levels. It brings together, for the first time in one volume, a range of methodological approaches and case studies of good modeling practice on a national and international scale from the IEA-ETSAP energy technology initiative. It provides insights for the reader into the rich and varied applications of energy-system models and the underlying methodologies and policy questions they can address. The book demonstrates how these models are used to answer complex policy questions, including those relating to energy security, climate change mitigation and the optimal allocation of energy resources. It will appeal to energy engineers and technology specialists looking for a rationale for innovation in the field of energy technologies and insights into their evolving costs and benefits. Energy economists will gain an understanding of the key future role of energy technologies and policy makers will learn how energy-system modeling teams can provide unique perspectives on national energy and environment challenges. The book is carefully structured into three parts which focus on i) policy decisions that have been underpinned by energy-system models, ii) specific aspects of supply and end-use sector modeling, including technology learning and behavior and iii) how additional insights can be gained from linking energy-system models with other models. The chapters elucidate key methodological features backed up with concrete applications. The book demonstrates the high degree of flexibility of the modeling tools used to represent extremely different energy systems, from national to global levels.

This volume summarises the materials presented at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Sea-Dumped Chemical Munitions, held in Kaliningrad (Moscow Region), Russia, in January 1995. The conference was sponsored by the NATO Division of Scientific and Environmental Affairs in the framework of its outreach programme to develop co-operation between NATO member countries and the Cooperation Partner countries in the area of disarmament technologies. The problem of the ecological threat posed by chemical weapons (CW) dumped in the seas after the Second World War deserves considerable international attention: the amount of these weapons, many of them having been captured from the German Army, is assessed at more than three times as much as the total chemical arsenals reported by the United States and Russia. They were disposed of in the shallow depths of North European seas - areas of active fishing - in close proximity to densely populated coastlines, with no consideration of the long-term consequences. The highly toxic material have time and again showed up, for instance when retrieved occasionally in the fishing nets, attracting local media coverage only. Nevertheless, this issue has not yet been given adequate and comprehensive scientific analysis, the sea-disposed munitions are not covered by either the Chemical Weapons Convention or other arms control treaties. In fact, the problem has been neglected for a long time on the international level. Only recently were official data made available by the countries which admitted conducting dumping operations.