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.

This book investigates the value orientation of ecologically conscious business. It analyzes, in a systematic and comparative way, the value commitments and business models of exemplary ecologically conscious businesses from around the world. Ecological consciousness is gaining importance in modern business thinking, as the effects of the Anthropocene - acidification of oceans, diminishing potable water, climate change, and decreasing biodiversity - are becoming more evident. Surviving this ecological crisis requires a radical inner transformation of humanity, and an ecological transformation of business and the economy. This book is valuable reading for masters and Ph.D. students, as well as academics, business practitioners, and policymakers who are working in the field of business ethics, business and the natural environment, business and society, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility. It also serves as general reading for reflective practitioners who are interested in progressive, ecologically conscious businesses, ethical business functioning, and business model innovation.

This volume addresses a variety of issues on traffic safety policy, ranging from issues of climate change, urban equity, and transport safety, in a broad global and societal context, while retaining situation-specific details. Written by international experts on issues of transportation and traffic safety, it will be of special interest to advanced researchers in the engineering and planning disciplines working on these issues as well as policy makers concerned with setting up institutions and legislations for traffic safety.

This book aims to examine sustainability and spirituality philosophically with ethics as the balancing force. The goal is to reveal the important intersection between sustainability and spirituality by using spirituality as the invisible guiding hand in the quest for sustainability. The editors and contributors examine old social and economics dilemmas from a new perspective in order to provide alternative approaches to economic and social development. The enclosed contributions cover a broad range of topics such as sustainable development and human happiness, contemporary spirituality, environmental ethics and responsibility, and corporate social responsibility. In addition, the title features real-world case studies and discussion questions that inspire self-reflection and theoretical and empirical deliberation in academic courses and business seminars. Contemporary approaches to economic and social development have failed to address humankind's abiding need for spiritual growth. For material development to be sustainable, spiritual advancement must be seen as an integral part of the human development algorithm. While the policy makers and governments can play their respective role, each one of us has to consciously adopt spirituality and sustainability as a way of life. This book will rely on the spiritual power of individuals to heal themselves and the environment. Featuring interdisciplinary perspectives in areas such as science, marine biology, environmental policy, cultural studies, psychology, philosophy, ecological economics, and ethics, this book will provide extensive insights into the complimentary fields of spirituality, sustainability and ethics.

This book is devoted to the cultural and biological dimensions and values of landscapes, linking the concepts of biodiversity, landscape and culture and presenting an essential approach for landscape analysis, interpretation and sustainable dynamics.

Early chapters explore the concepts and values of biocultural landscapes, before addressing the methodology to identify the relationship between biological and cultural diversity. The volume continuous with a series of case studies and with an exploration of the key role of biocultural diversity in contemporary landscape ecology.

Readers will learn the importance of landscapes for different fields of natural and human sciences and are confronted to the trans-disciplinary nature of the landscape concept itself. A hierarchical approach to landscapes, in which they are composed of interacting (eco)systems, is shown to be essential in recognizing their emergent properties.

In this work, the biocultural values of landscapes are explored through their diversity in geographical scopes, methodological approaches and conceptual assumptions. Authors from Asia, Europe and North-America present diverse research experiences and views on biocultural landscapes, their pattern, conservation and management.

Landscape ecologists will find this work particularly appealing, as well as anyone with an interest in sustainable landscape development, nature conservation or cultural heritage management.

This volume is the outcome of a symposium on Biodiversity in Cultural Landscapes, organized in the framework of the 8th IALE World Congress, held in Beijing in 2011."

Monitoring the environment is absolutely essential if we are to identify hazards to human health, to assess environmental cleanup efforts, and to prevent further degradation of the ecosystem. Biomonitors and biomarkers combined with chemical monitoring offer the only approach to making these assessments. Based on an International Association of Great Lakes Research conference, this book is intended for researchers who want to incorporate new and different technologies in their development of specifically-crafted monitors; students who are learning the field of biomonitoring; and regulatory agencies that want to consider newer technologies to replace inadequate and less powerful test regimes.

If, as has been asserted, everything in nature is connected to everything else, it is a lesson yet to be reflected among environmental professions, especially those serving law and policy. Nowhere is the lack of integration more apparent than in the incorporation of sound ecological principles. Yet, comprehension of these principles is a prerequisite to establishing effective environmental programs, whether local or global. Ecology and environmental sciences range from cosmology to determining toxic effects in a biological system. In short, ecology is served by, and is itself a manifestation of, all the natural sciences. Ecology is further manifested in the social sciences, directly and indirectly. In this book, ecology and environmental sciences are presented to environmental professionals in terms relevant to all their endeavors.

Today's ecologies emerge from the venerable scientific endeavor. Upon placing ecology in the hierarchy of natural sciences, this volume centers on the wealth of dimensions in which ecology is expressed. Extending beyond the three spatial dimensions and that of time, ecology enters those of holistic and reductionist vantages, the last reflected in abiotic and biotic detail. Dimensions serving environmental professions include the experimental, those arising from interrelationships with adaptation and evolution, and that of human ecology. Finally, there is the intellectual dimension: Ecology as one thread in the contemporary cultural tapestry into which environmental policy and law are being woven. Scrupulously avoiding superimposition of political stance, this unique volume serves anyone lacking scientific preparation who would take a stance, professional or personal.

This book highlights the latest advances in waste management, resource recovery and resource circulation in various countries, with a special emphasis on India. It leads the way towards a sustainable circular economy developing local economy and enhances the sustainability of the energy sector as a whole by holistically addressing waste management. Waste management is a major problem around the globe; effective waste disposal is one of the most plaguing issues faced by municipalities. Yet waste can also serve as a major source of energy rather than a disposable material. The book discusses various upstream and downstream aspects of waste management systems, e.g. conversion processes and collection methods, that are needed in order to make waste management systems into an effective industry and move closer to a circular economy. It also provides information on management tools for analysis and decision support. All chapters included here are based on high-quality research papers presented at the conference IconSWM 2018.

The purpose of this contributed volume is to consider how global consumption patterns will develop in the next few decades, and what the consequences of that development will be for the economy, policymakers, and society at large. In the long run, the extent to which economic growth translates into better living conditions strongly depends on how rising affluence and new technologies shape consumer preferences. The ongoing rise in household income in developing countries raises some important questions: Will consumption patterns always continue to expand in the same manner as we have witnessed in the previous two centuries? If not, how might things evolve differently? And what implications would such changes hold for not only our understanding of consumption behavior but also our pursuit of more sustainable societies?

Many endangered species of wild animals are managed in captivity through studbooks. In this book these data-rich resources are mined in innovative, integrated and statistically tested ways to maximise information gain for conservation practice - whether for captive or released/reintroduced or managed wild populations. This book is thus an important tool for all species managers, and for students and researchers in small population biology and wildlife conservation. The book's studbook analyses are grouped in three interrelated sections: natural history, demography and genetics. Statistical tests to determine the significance of results or to compare results between subgroups are undertaken throughout. Real studbooks of a variety of species, e.g. cranes, wolverines, blesbok, illustrate the practical applications and interpretations of the analyses and statistics. The "natural history" section presents analyses to determine baseline species information such as litter size, inter-birth interval, longevity and seasonality. "Demography" covers census(-style) analyses, age-class based life tables, comparative survival analyses and population projections. Solutions for dealing with small sample sizes are included.Inbreeding depression and unconscious selection form the main focus of the "genetics" section. Survival and life table analyses are used to assess inbreeding effects. Quantitative genetics methods are applied to natural history traits as a tool to monitor genetic variation. A fourth section on "conservation" shows how data from captive populations can be used where natural history data from wild populations are missing. A real example uses studbook data to inform Population Viability Analysis. The final section deals with issues related to incomplete and missing data and statistical topics. The purpose-written open-source software programs "Population Management Library (PML)" and "studbookR" used for analyses in the book, are available at www.princee.com.

An eagerly anticipated addition to the New Naturalist series. The shieldbug is an amazing and beautiful species, rich with diversity in shape, form, size, life history, ecology, physiology and behaviour. But they are not commonly known, outside of specialist circles. Richard Jones’ groundbreaking New Naturalist volume on shieldbugs encourages those enthusiasts who would otherwise be put off by the, to date, rather technical literature that has dominated the field, providing a comprehensive natural history of this fascinating and beautiful group of insects.

The tropical plant family Pandanaceae comprises three genera, Freycinetia, Pandanus and Sararanga. One-hundred and fourteen genera and 226 species of fungi were found on dead leaves of Pandanaceae collected in Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, Hawaii, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nepal, New Zealand, Niue, Philippines, Seychelles, Vanuatu and Vietnam. Taxonomic issues within each fungus genus are discussed and reference made to preceding work. All species are written up with bibliographic details, relevant measurements of the current specimens, known habitat and distribution, collection details, and a discussion on taxonomic conclusions. New taxa (4 genera, 35 species) are fully described and illustrated, each with a plate showing relevant macro- and microscopic details. Keys and/or synoptic tables are provided to all species in 28 genera. In addition, details on almost 700 species of fungi described and recorded worldwide from the Pandanaceae are listed.

Increased atmospheric nitrogen deposition and changes in the management of heathlands have caused a significant change in the species composition of the NW-European heathlands. This change from ericaceous towards gramineous dominance is analysed in detail in Heathlands: Patterns and Processes in a Changing Environment. Special emphasis is put on the effects of increased atmospheric nutrient input on nutrient cycling, competition between plant species and plant--herbivore interactions. The possibilities for the long-term conservation of heathlands are discussed by considering regeneration from seed and the usefulness of mathematical management models. The book provides a synthesis of pure and applied plant ecology. It is vital reading for plant ecologists, biological conservationists, heathland managers and government decision makers.

This book explores the concepts, premises, advancements, and challenges in quantifying natural forest landscape patterns through mapping techniques. After several decades of development and use, these tools can now be examined for their foundations, intentions, scope, advancements, and limitations. When applied to natural forest landscapes, mapping techniques must address concepts such as stochasticity, heterogeneity, scale dependence, non-Euclidean geometry, continuity, non-linearity, and parsimony, as well as be explicit about the intended degree of abstraction and assumptions. These studies focus on quantifying natural (i.e., non-human engineered) forest landscape patterns, because those patterns are not planned, are relatively complex, and pose the greatest challenges in cartography, and landscape representation for further interpretation and analysis.

Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology provides detailed review articles concerned with aspects of chemical contaminants, including pesticides, in the total environment with toxicological considerations and consequences.

China has been undertaking unprecedented ecological restoration efforts to deal with its problems of soil erosion, flooding, dust storms, and habitat loss. While there have been studies of these efforts, questions remain concerning whether they have been effectively implemented, what their induced socioeconomic and ecological impacts are, and how their performance can be improved.

Tackling these important questions in an integrated manner, An Integrated Assessment of China 's Ecological Restoration Programs is extraordinary for its broad coverage and methodological rigor. It provides a substantial improvement over the conventional approach of simply reporting projects undertaken and accepting uncritically the government assessment, and thus fills an important knowledge gap of the restoration efforts being implemented upon a variety of ecosystems in China.

We live in unprecedented times. Climate change and ecosystem collapse are altering our world beyond recognition, and a growing global population is exacerbating the pressure on the resources that power our economies. How should the private sector respond to the new risks and uncertainties of our Crowded Planet? Frugal Value contests the notion that companies can rise to the great challenges of our time by adopting so-called 'sustainable business' practices. Instead, the acute ecological crisis requires an all-round rethink of what business does, and how it does it. This book explores what business responsibility looks like today, and how it could be put into practice through far-reaching changes to companies, ranging from new approaches to product design and business models to reconfiguration of operations and innovative ownership structures. Frugal Value provides practitioners and scholars with the perspective and tools they need to design companies that help drive the socio-economic changes so urgently required for a sustainable and just world.

Following the report by the World Commission on Environment and Development, research efforts devoted to sustainable development were promoted by the Swedish Council for Planning and Coordination of Research (FRN). With its fifteen essays by Swedish scholars on different aspects of society -- environment interface, giving various analyses of and prospects for the concept of sustainable development -- this book is a result of those efforts. The authors represent a spectrum of inter- and multidisciplinary approaches in the field of ecology, economy and environment. They are economists, ecologists, engineers, anthropologists, physicists, geographers, political scientists, science theorists and educationalists discussing sustainable development and the future of society and the environment. The question is also raised whether there is a special Swedisch touch' -- with a responsibility for the world' ethos -- to the approach to environmental issues, especially as seen through the efforts of the research community.

This book gathers contributions from scientists and industry representatives on achieving a sustainable bioeconomy. It also covers the social sciences, economics, business, education and the environmental sciences. There is an urgent need to optimise and maximise the use of biological resources, so that primary production and processing systems can generate more food, fibre and other bio-based products with less environmental impacts and lower greenhouse gas emissions. In other words, we need a "sustainable bioeconomy" - a term that encompasses the sustainable production of renewable resources from land, fisheries and aquaculture environments and their conversion into food, feed, fibre bio-based products and bio-energy, as well as related public goods. Despite the relevance of achieving a sustainable bioeconomy, there are very few publications in this field. Addressing that gap, this book illustrates how biological resources and ecosystems could be used in a more sustainable, efficient and integrated manner - in other words, how the principles of sustainable bioeconomy can be implemented in practice. Given its interdisciplinary nature, the field of sustainable bioeconomy offers a unique opportunity to address complex and interconnected challenges, while also promoting economic growth. It helps countries and societies to make a transition and to use resources more efficiently, and shows how to rely less on biological resources to satisfy industry demands and consumer needs. The papers are innovative, cross-cutting and include many practice-based lessons learned, some of which are reproducible elsewhere. In closing, the book, prepared by the Inter-University Sustainable Development Research Programme (IUSDRP) and the World Sustainable Development Research and Transfer Centre (WSD-RTC), reiterates the need to promote a sustainable bioeconomy today.

Based on graph theory studies this book seeks to understand how tropical species interact with each other and how these interactions are affected by perturbations in some of the most species-rich habitats on earth. Due to the great diversity of species and interactions in the tropics, this book addresses a wide range of current and future issues with empirical examples and complete revisions on different types of ecological networks: from mutualisms to antagonisms. The goal of this publication is not to be only for researchers but also for undergraduates in different areas of knowledge, and also to serve as a reference text for graduate-level courses mainly in the life sciences.

International concern in scientific, industrial, and governmental communi ties over traces of xenobiotics in foods and in both abiotic and biotic envi ronments has justified the present triumvirate of specialized publications in this field: comprehensive reviews, rapidly published research papers and progress reports, and archival documentations. These three international publications are integrated and scheduled to provide the coherency essential for nonduplicative and current progress in a field as dynamic and complex as environmental contamination and toxicology. This series is reserved ex clusively for the diversified literature on "toxic" chemicals in our food, our feeds, our homes, recreational and working surroundings, our domestic animals, our wildlife and ourselves. Tremendous efforts worldwide have been mobilized to evaluate the nature, presence, magnitude, fate, and toxi cology of the chemicals loosed upon the earth. Among the sequelae of this broad new emphasis is an undeniable need for an articulated set of authoritative publications, where one can find the latest important world literature produced by these emerging areas of science together with docu mentation of pertinent ancillary legislation. Research directors and legislative or administrative advisers do not have the time to scan the escalating number of technical publications that may contain articles important to current responsibility. Rather, these individu als need the background provided by detailed reviews and the assurance that the latest information is made available to them, all with minimal literature searching."

The Antarctic and Southern Ocean are hotspots for contemporary endeavours to oversee 'the last frontier' of the Earth. The Handbook on the Politics of Antarctica offers a wide-ranging and comprehensive overview of the governance, geopolitics, international law, cultural studies and history of the region. Written by leading experts, the Handbook brings together the very best interdisciplinary social science and humanities scholarship on the Antarctic and Southern Ocean, offering a definitive statement on why the world's only uninhabited continent attracts global attention in terms of science, politics and natural resources - and what can be done to manage it. Four sections take readers from the earliest human encounters to contemporary resource exploitation and climate change through thematic and critical analyses: the exploration, exploitation and mapping of Antarctica; its emergence as an object of global interest; human behaviour and environmental change in response to managerial interventions; and a contemplation of possible futures for Antarctica. All topics are covered in accessible yet authoritative contributions. Specialist readers in polar regions, public international law, geography, geopolitics and international relations will appreciate this uniquely comprehensive and up-to-date examination of politics in and around Antarctica, as will scholars with interest in areas beyond national jurisdiction, peace/co-operation studies and the interface between public policy and science. Contributors include: A.E. Abdenur, D.G. Ainley, A. Antonello, D. Avango, P.J. Beck, M. Benwell, L.E. Bloom, A.-M. Brady, C. Braun, N. Brazell, C. Brooks, I. Cardone, S.L. Chown, C. Collis, R. Davis, K. Dodds, A. Elzinga, F. Francioni, M. Haward, A.D. Hemmings, F. Hertel, A. Howkins, J. Jabour, S. Kaye, R.D. Launius, E. Leane, D. Liggett, H. Nielsen, E. Nyman, O. Olsson, H. OEsterblom, H.-U. Peter, P. Roberts, R. Roura, J.F. Salazar, D. Sampaio, S.V. Scott, T. Stephens, E. Stewart, L.-M. van der Watt, N. Vanstappen, P. Vigni, R. Wolfrum, J. Wouters, O. Young

Investigating Biological Systems Using Modeling describes how to apply software to analyze and interpret data from biological systems. It is written for students and investigators in lay person's terms, and will be a useful reference book and textbook on mathematical modeling in the design and interpretation of kinetic studies of biological systems. It describes the mathematical techniques of modeling and kinetic theory, and focuses on practical examples of analyzing data. The book also uses examples from the fields of physiology, biochemistry, nutrition, agriculture, pharmacology, and medicine.
Key Features:
* Contains practical descriptions of how to analyze kinetic data
* Provides examples of how to develop and use models
* Describes several software packages including SAAM/CONSAM
* Includes software with working models

Traditional plant physiological ecology is organism centered and provides a useful framework for understanding the interactions between plants and their environment and for identifying characteristics likely to result in plant success in a particular habitat. This book focuses on extending concepts from plant physiological ecology as a basis for understanding carbon, energy, and biogeochemical cycles at ecosystem, regional, and global levels.
This will be a valuable resource for researchers and graduate students in ecology, plant ecophysiology, ecosystem research, biometerology, earth system science, and remote sensing.
Key Features
* The integration of metabolic activities across spatial scales, from leaf to ecosystem
* Global constraints and regional processes
* Functional units in ecological scaling
* Models and technologies for scaling

The series Religion and Society (RS) contributes to the exploration of religions as social systems- both in Western and non-Western societies; in particular, it examines religions in their differentiation from, and intersection with, other cultural systems, such as art, economy, law and politics. Due attention is given to paradigmatic case or comparative studies that exhibit a clear theoretical orientation with the empirical and historical data of religion and such aspects of religion as ritual, the religious imagination, constructions of tradition, iconography, or media. In addition, the formation of religious communities, their construction of identity, and their relation to society and the wider public are key issues of this series.