Spoil to Soil: Mine Site Rehabilitation and Revegetation presents both fundamental and practical aspects of remediation and revegetation of mine sites. Through three major themes, it examines characterization of mine site spoils; remediation of chemical, physical and biological constraints of mine site spoils, including post mine-site land-use practices; and revegetation of remediated mine site spoils. Each theme includes chapters featuring case studies involving mine sites around the world. The final section focuses specifically on case studies with successful mine site rehabilitation. The book provides a narrative of how inert spoil can be converted to live soil. Instructive illustrations show mine sites before and after rehabilitation. The purpose of this book is to provide students, scientists, and professional personnel in the mining industry sensible, science-based information needed to rehabilitate sustainably areas disturbed by mining activities. This book is suitable for undergraduate and graduate students majoring in environmental, earth, and soil sciences; environmental and soil scientists; and mine site environmental engineers and regulators.

- Provides a comprehensive introduction to the emerging interdisciplinary field of marine studies - Provides a unique social science and humanities approach to key marine challenges, including climate change, pollution and aquaculture - Includes examples of professional or academic areas of specialization within Marine Studies such as social and environmental justice, governance, traditional ecological knowledge and management, community development, conservation, and the blue economy - provide the first cohesive resource on Marine Studies to educate students, train interdisciplinary marine leaders, and build capacity for a new generation of marine-focused professionals

Invasive non-native species are a major threat to global biodiversity. Often introduced accidentally through international travel or trade, they invade and colonize new habitats, often with devastating consequences for the local flora and fauna. Their environmental impacts can range from damage to resource production (e.g. agriculture and forestry) and infrastructure (e.g. buildings, road and water supply), to human health. They consequently can have major economic impacts. It is a priority to prevent their introduction and spread, as well as to control them. Freshwater ecosystems are particularly at risk from invasions and are landscape corridors that facilitate the spread of invasives. This book reviews the current state of knowledge of the most notable global invasive freshwater species or groups, based on their severity of economic impact, geographic distribution outside of their native range, extent of research, and recognition of the ecological severity of the impact of the species by the IUCN. As well as some of the very well-known species, the book also covers some invasives that are emerging as serious threats. Examples covered include a range of aquatic and riparian plants, insects, molluscs, crustacea, fish, amphibians, reptiles and mammals, as well as some major pathogens of aquatic organisms. The book also includes overview chapters synthesizing the ecological impact of invasive species in fresh water and summarizing practical implications for the management of rivers and other freshwater habitats.

This book demonstrates the importance and potential role of Traditional Ecological Knowledge in foreseeing and curbing future global pandemics. The reduction of species diversity has increased the risk of global pandemics and it is therefore not only imperative to articulate and disseminate knowledge on the linkages between human activities and the transmission of viruses to humans, but also to create policy pathways for operationalizing that knowledge to help solve future problems. Although this book has been prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, it lays a policy foundation for the effective management or possible prevention of similar pandemics in the future. One effective way of establishing this linkage with a view to promoting planet health is by understanding the traditional ecological knowledge of indigenous peoples with a view to demonstrating the significant impact it has on keeping nature intact. This book argues for the deployment of traditional ecological knowledge for land use management in the preservation of biodiversity as a means for effectively managing the transmission of viruses from animals to humans and ensuring planetary health. The book is not projecting traditional ecological knowledge as a panacea to pandemics but rather accentuating its critical role in the effective mitigation of future pandemics. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of traditional ecological knowledge, indigenous studies, animal ecology, environmental ethics and environmental studies more broadly.

The book is the first comprehensive analysis of the macroecology and geobotany of endemic vascular plants with case-studies and analyses from different regions in the world. Endemism is a pre-extinction phenomenon. Endemics are threatened with extinction. Due to international nature conservation policies and due to the perception of the public the concept s importance is increasing. Endemism can result from different biological and environmental processes. Depending on the process conservation measures should be adapted. Endemic vascular plant taxa, in the setting of their species composition and vegetation types are important features of landscapes and indicators of the quality of relating habitats. The book is an important basis for biologists, ecologists, geographers, planners and managers of nature reserves and national parks, and people generally interested in nature conservation and biogeography of vascular plants."

DNA Barcoding has been promoted since 2003 as a new, fast, digital genomics-based means of identifying natural species based on the idea that a small standard fragment of any organism s genome (a so-called micro-genome ) can faithfully identify and help to classify every species on the planet. The fear that species are becoming extinct before they have ever been known fuels barcoders, and the speed, scope, economy and user-friendliness claimed for DNA barcoding, as part of the larger ferment around the genomics revolution, has also encouraged promises that it could inspire humanity to reverse its biodiversity-destructive habits.

This book is based on six years of ethnographic research on changing practices in the identification and classification of natural species. Informed both by Science and Technology Studies (STS) and the anthropology of science, the authors analyse DNA barcoding in the context of a sense of crisis concerning global biodiversity loss, but also the felt inadequacy of taxonomic science to address such loss. The authors chart the specific changes that this innovation is propelling in the collecting, organizing, analyzing, and archiving of biological specimens and biodiversity data. As they do so they highlight the many questions, ambiguities and contradictions that accompany the quest to create a genomics-based environmental technoscience dedicated to biodiversity protection. They ask what it might mean to recognise ambiguity, contradiction, and excess more publicly as a constitutive part of this and other genomic technosciences.

"Barcoding Nature" will be of interest to students and scholars of sociology of science, science and technology studies, politics of the environment, genomics and post-genomics, philosophy and history of biology, and the anthropology of science.

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.

Farmers have developed a range of agricultural practices to sustainably use and maintain a wide diversity of crop species in many parts of the world. This book documents good practices innovated by farmers and collects key reviews on good practices from global experts, not only from the case study countries but also from Brazil, China and other parts of Asia and Latin America. A good practice for diversity is defined as a system, organization or process that, over time and space, maintains, enhances and creates crop genetic diversity, and ensures its availability to and from farmers and other users. Drawing on experiences from a UNEP-GEF project on "Conservation and Sustainable Use of Wild and Cultivated Tropical Fruit Tree Diversity for Promoting Livelihoods, Food Security and Ecosystem Services", with case studies from India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, the authors show how methods for identifying good practices are still evolving and challenges in scaling-up remain. They identify key principles effective as a strategy for mainstreaming good practice into development efforts. Few books draw principles and lessons learned from good practices. This book fills this gap by combining good practices from the research project on tropical fruit trees with chapters from external experts to broaden its scope and relevance.

Farmers have engaged in collective systems of conservation and innovation improving crops and sharing their reproductive materials since the earliest plant domestications. Relatively open flows of plant germplasm attended the early spread of agriculture; they continued in the wake of (and were driven by) imperialism, colonization, emigration, trade, development assistance and climate change. As crops have moved around the world, and agricultural innovation and production systems have expanded, so too has the scope and coverage of pools of shared plant genetic resources that support those systems. The range of actors involved in their conservation and use has also increased dramatically.

This book addresses how the collective pooling and management of shared plant genetic resources for food and agriculture can be supported through laws regulating access to genetic resources and the sharing of benefits arising from their use. Since the most important recent development in the field has been the creation of the multilateral system of access and benefit-sharing under the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, many of the chapters in this book will focus on the architecture and functioning of that system. The book analyzes tensions that are threatening to undermine the potential of access and benefit-sharing laws to support the collective pooling of plant genetic resources, and identifies opportunities to address those tensions in ways that could increase the scope, utility and sustainability of the global crop commons.

Farmers have engaged in collective systems of conservation and innovation improving crops and sharing their reproductive materials since the earliest plant domestications. Relatively open flows of plant germplasm attended the early spread of agriculture; they continued in the wake of (and were driven by) imperialism, colonization, emigration, trade, development assistance and climate change. As crops have moved around the world, and agricultural innovation and production systems have expanded, so too has the scope and coverage of pools of shared plant genetic resources that support those systems. The range of actors involved in their conservation and use has also increased dramatically.

This book addresses how the collective pooling and management of shared plant genetic resources for food and agriculture can be supported through laws regulating access to genetic resources and the sharing of benefits arising from their use. Since the most important recent development in the field has been the creation of the multilateral system of access and benefit-sharing under the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, many of the chapters in this book will focus on the architecture and functioning of that system. The book analyzes tensions that are threatening to undermine the potential of access and benefit-sharing laws to support the collective pooling of plant genetic resources, and identifies opportunities to address those tensions in ways that could increase the scope, utility and sustainability of the global crop commons.

Biodiversity may refer to the diversity of genes, species or ecosystems in general. These varying concepts of biodiversity occasionally lead to conflicts among researchers and policy makers, as each of them require a customized type of protection strategy. This book addresses the questions surrounding the merits of conserving an existing situation, evolutionary development or the intentional substitution of one genome, species or ecosystem for another. Any practical steps towards the protection of biodiversity demand a definition of that which is to be protected and, in turn, the motivations for protecting biodiversity. Is biodiversity a necessary model which is also useful, or does it carry intrinsic value? Debates like this are particularly complex when interested parties address it from different conceptual and moral perspectives. Comprised of three parts, each complemented by a short introductory paragraph, this collection presents a variety of approaches to this challenge. The chapters cover the perspectives of environmental scientists with expertise in evolutionary, environmental biology, systematic zoology and botany, as well as those of researchers with expertise in philosophy, ethics, politics, law and economics. This combination facilitates a truly interdisciplinary debate by highlighting hitherto unacknowledged implications that inform current academic and political debates on biodiversity and its protection. The book should be of interest to students and researchers of environment studies, biodiversity, environmental philosophy, ethics and management.

Mountain regions encompass nearly 24 percent of the total land surface of the earth and are home to approximately 12 percent of the world's population. Their ecosystems play a critical role in sustaining human life both in the highlands and the lowlands. During recent years, resource use in high mountain areas has changed mainly in response to the globalization of the economy and increased world population. As a result, mountain regions are undergoing rapid environmental change, exploitation, and depletion of natural resources leading to ecological imbalances and economic unsustainability. Moreover, the changing climatic conditions have stressed mountain ecosystems through higher mean annual temperatures and the melting of glaciers and snow. Altered precipitation patterns have also had an impact. This book addresses these critical issues and looks at ways to stop the downward spiral of resource degradation, rural poverty, and food and livelihood insecurity in mountain regions. The book also discusses new and comprehensive approaches to mountain development that are needed to identify sustainable resource development practices, how to strengthen local institutions and knowledge systems, and how to increase the resilience between mountain environments and their inhabitants.

Marine eutrophication has been recognized as a global problem with adverse effects on ecosystem's health and the economies of coastal states. Most conventions regarding marine environmental protection of Regional Seas have given priority to eutrophication and relevant management practices. This book presents a global perspective of eutrophication in most of the Regional Seas, including the legal framework, assessment and management practices. Information on ecosystem's impact as well as an outline of the methods used for assessing eutrophication is also provided. This volume will be useful to research students, marine scientists and policy makers working in marine environmental management. Key Features: Contributes to the understanding of the eutrophication processes and problems Presents an extensive account of the data analysis methods used for the quantitative assessment of eutrophication Looks the eutrophication status of the main regional seas Provides information on eutrophication politics and measures to mitigate eutrophication

Biological diversity - or 'biodiversity' - is the degree of variation of life within an ecosystem. It is a relatively new topic of study but has grown enormously in recent years. Because of its interdisciplinary nature the very concept of biodiversity is the subject of debate amongst philosophers, biologists, geographers and environmentalists. The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Biodiversity is an outstanding reference source to the key topics and debates in this exciting subject. Comprising twenty-three chapters by a team of international contributors the Handbook is divided into six parts: Historical and sociological contexts, focusing on the emergence of the term and early attempts to measure biodiversity What is biodiversity? How should biodiversity be defined? How can biodiversity include entities at the edge of its boundaries, including microbial diversity and genetically engineered organisms? Why protect biodiversity? What can traditional environmental ethics contribute to biodiversity? Topics covered include anthropocentrism, intrinsic value, and ethical controversies surrounding the economics of biodiversity Measurement and methodology: including decision-theory and conservation, the use of indicators for biodiversity, and the changing use of genetics in biodiversity conservation Social contexts and global justice: including conservation and community conflicts and biodiversity and cultural values Biodiversity and other environmental values: How does biodiversity relate to other values like ecological restoration or ecological sustainability? Essential reading for students and researchers in philosophy, environmental science and environmental studies, and conservation management, it will also be extremely useful to those studying biodiversity in subjects such as biology and geography.

By 2050, the global population of humans is predicted to increase by 35%. Approximately 70% more food may be required, and this will take place against a backdrop of 15-40% land degradation. This book examines land use intensification and biodiversity conservation and its impacts. It also discusses whether suites of species, and/or functional groups of taxa will either benefit or suffer from land use intensification and whether it is possible to make robust predictions of biotic responses across landscapes, regions, and continents.

As one of the world's largest and most bio-diverse countries, India's approach to environmental policy will be very significant in tackling global environmental challenges. This book explores the transformations that have taken place in the making of environmental policy in India since the economic liberalization of the 1990s. It investigates if there has been a slow shift from top-down planning to increasingly bottom up and participatory policy processes, examining the successes and failures of recent environmental policies. Linking deliberation to collective action, this book contends that it is crucial to involve local actors in framing the policies that decide on their rights and control over bio-resources in order to achieve the goal of sustainable human development. The first examples of large-scale participatory processes in Indian environmental policy were the 1999 National Biodiversity Strategy Action Plan and the 2006 Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act. This book explores these landmark policies, exploring the strategies of advocacy and deliberation that led to both the successes and failures of recent initiatives. It concludes that in order to deliberate with the state, civil society actors must engage in forms of strategic advocacy with the power to push agendas that challenge mainstream development discourses. The lessons learnt from the Indian experience will not only have immediate significance for the future of policy making in India, but they will also be of interest for other countries faced with the challenges of integrating livelihood and sustainability concerns into the governance process.

This book discusses political controversies involved in global biodiversity policy, and the practical opportunities that are opened up in solving them through increased citizen participation and democratic deliberation. It examines the emerging practice of deliberative global governance and its political consequences. The collection focuses on the intersection of global biodiversity policy and the promise of deliberative democracy. In doing so, it examines how new discursive logics emerge in global citizen deliberation that might destabilize the impasses encountered in biodiversity negotiations, how a "global citizens' voice" emerges in deliberative processes despite the dominance of national institutions in the lives of those citizens, the most effective and innovative ways to amplify the results of large-scale deliberations to policy makers and broader audiences, and how future citizen deliberations can be designed to make them fair, feasible and consequential processes, in general and for biodiversity issues in particular. This highly original contribution to the field provides theoretical discussions, empirical analyses and local experiences of biodiversity policy, making it an invaluable resource for students and scholars of environmental politics, governance and sociology, particularly those interested in deliberative democracy, citizen participation and biodiversity.

The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) is a pivotal piece of recent legislation, providing a route map for the use of such resources for sustainable agriculture and food security.

Plant Genetic Resources and Food Security explains clearly the different interests and views at stake between all players in the global food chain. It touches upon many issues such as international food governance and policy, economic aspects of food and seed trade, conservation and sustainable use of food and agricultural biodiversity, hunger alleviation, ecological concerns, consumers' protection, fairness and equity between nations and generations, plant breeding techniques and socio-economic benefits related to food local economies.

The book shows that despite the conflicting interests at stake, players managed to come to an agreement on food and agriculture for the sake of food security and hunger alleviation in the world. Published with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and with Bioversity International.

Beach-spawning fishes from exotic locations on most continents of the world provide spectacular examples of extreme adaptations during the most vulnerable life cycle stages. The beauty, intriguing biology, and importance of these charismatic fishes at the interface of marine and terrestrial ecosystems have inspired numerous scientific studies. Adaptations of behavior, physiology, development, and ecology are gathered together for the first time in this book. Beach-Spawning Fishes: Reproduction in an Endangered Ecosystem is a comprehensive guide to beach spawning, a charismatic animal behavior that is seen in a surprising number of teleost species. This unexpected form of reproduction provides a window into the ecology of coastal areas, the behaviors and physiology necessary for fishes and their eggs to adapt to terrestrial conditions, and the threats and challenges for conservation and management. Beach-spawning species include important forage fishes such as the capelin, exotic fishes such as the fugu puffer, and the spectacular midnight runs of the California grunion.

Biodiversity at its simplest, refers to the variety of species inhabiting Planet Earth. It is essential to the well-being of the planet. There is now a scientific consensus around the current ongoing crisis in biodiversity arising from both climate change and human activities. Experts believe we are in the middle of a mass extinction of biodiversity with devastating consequences for our planet. "

Accounting for Biodiversity" explores the need for companies to actively protect, conserve and improve biodiversity within their sphere of operation. The 14 chapters written by a selected team of experts investigate the ways in which companies are embracing their responsibility through a variety of biodiversity initiatives and innovative models designed to improve the recording, reporting and valuing of biodiversity. Global case studies look at biodiversity accounting in Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe and South America. Overall, this book provides a comprehensive set of reflections on accounting for biodiversity and recommendations for the future.

This book is essential reading for all those interested in the contribution that accounting can make to the preservation of accounting. As we see increasing awareness of the importance of sustainability and ecological responsibility in business activity it is relevant and should prove informative to students, managers, accountants and those in business more generally. It is also important for all those interested in conserving biodiversity. "

Biodiversity at its simplest, refers to the variety of species inhabiting Planet Earth. It is essential to the well-being of the planet. There is now a scientific consensus around the current ongoing crisis in biodiversity arising from both climate change and human activities. Experts believe we are in the middle of a mass extinction of biodiversity with devastating consequences for our planet. "

Accounting for Biodiversity" explores the need for companies to actively protect, conserve and improve biodiversity within their sphere of operation. The 14 chapters written by a selected team of experts investigate the ways in which companies are embracing their responsibility through a variety of biodiversity initiatives and innovative models designed to improve the recording, reporting and valuing of biodiversity. Global case studies look at biodiversity accounting in Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe and South America. Overall, this book provides a comprehensive set of reflections on accounting for biodiversity and recommendations for the future.

This book is essential reading for all those interested in the contribution that accounting can make to the preservation of accounting. As we see increasing awareness of the importance of sustainability and ecological responsibility in business activity it is relevant and should prove informative to students, managers, accountants and those in business more generally. It is also important for all those interested in conserving biodiversity. "

Bringing together a wealth of knowledge, Environmental Management Handbook, Second Edition, gives a comprehensive overview of environmental problems, their sources, their assessment, and their solutions. Through in-depth entries and a topical table of contents, readers will quickly find answers to questions about environmental problems and their corresponding management issues. This six-volume set is a reimagining of the award-winning Encyclopedia of Environmental Management, published in 2013, and features insights from more than 400 contributors, all experts in their field. The experience, evidence, methods, and models used in studying environmental management are presented here in six stand-alone volumes, arranged along the major environmental systems. Features The first handbook that demonstrates the key processes and provisions for enhancing environmental management Addresses new and cutting-edge topics on ecosystem services, resilience, sustainability, food-energy-water nexus, socio-ecological systems, and more Provides an excellent basic knowledge on environmental systems, explains how these systems function, and offers strategies on how to best manage them Includes the most important problems and solutions facing environmental management today In this fourth volume, Managing Water Resources and Hydrological Systems, the reader is introduced to the general concepts and processes of the hydrosphere with its water resources and hydrological systems. This volume serves as an excellent resource for finding basic knowledge on the hydrosphere systems and includes important problems and solutions that environmental managers face today. This book practically demonstrates the key processes, methods, and models used in studying environmental management.

Bringing together a wealth of knowledge, the Handbook of Environmental Management, Second Edition, gives a comprehensive overview of environmental problems, their sources, their assessment, and their solutions. Through in-depth entries, and a topical table of contents, readers will quickly find answers to questions about pollution and management issues. This six-volume set is a reimagining of the award-winning Encyclopedia of Environmental Management, published in 2013, and features insights from more than 500 contributors, all experts in their fields. The experience, evidence, methods, and models used in studying environmental management is presented here in six stand-alone volumes, arranged along the major environmental systems. Features of the new edition: The first handbook that demonstrates the key processes and provisions for enhancing environmental management. Addresses new and cutting -edge topics on ecosystem services, resilience, sustainability, food-energy-water nexus, socio-ecological systems and more. Provides an excellent basic knowledge on environmental systems, explains how these systems function and offers strategies on how to best manage them. Includes the most important problems and solutions facing environmental management today. In this second volume, Managing Air Quality and Energy Systems, the reader is introduced to the general concepts and processes of the atmosphere, with its related systems. This volume explains how these systems function and provides strategies on how to best manage them. It serves as an excellent resource for finding basic knowledge on the atmosphere, and includes important problems and solutions that environmental managers face today. This book practically demonstrates the key processes, methods, and models used in studying environmental management.

This book provides a comprehensive synthesis of current knowledge of the potential and challenges associated with the multiple roles, use, management and livelihood contributions of indigenous vegetables in urban agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. There has been growing research and policy effort around urban agriculture in the region over the last two decades, but never has it been integrated with work on under-researched crops such as indigenous vegetables. These species have multiple advantages, including low input requirements, adaptability to African environments, high nutritional value and marked biodiversity, cultural and local food security significance. Yet they are overlooked in the modern world, where recent emphasis has been directed to growing a limited range of exotic crops, both for internal markets and for export to developed country markets. This book provides evidence that, in spite of this neglect, in many African cities indigenous vegetables are still widely used, cultivated and marketed. It goes on to consider their potential to contribute to income generation and poverty alleviation of the growing numbers of urban dwellers in sub-Saharan Africa, whilst promoting urban greening and sustainability. Based on critical analysis of the debates it presents a multidisciplinary analysis of the realities and future opportunities.

This book recounts the habits of many interesting and unusual exceptions to the rule that insects are typically terrestrial forms of life. It examines the different ways that groups of species have developed modes of existence in or on the surface of water, and gives reasons why the gross morphology of insects is not favorable for life in or near bodies of water, such as wings that fail to function after coming into contact with water, rendering them useless.