Although of high abundance, diversity and ecological importance, meiofauna is little covered by relevant scientific media. How can this negligence be overcome? The present treatise highlights promising meiofauna research fields, selected both from basic and applied science, as well as new methods that could strengthen the potential of meiobenthology. Selected recent meiofauna studies, often supported by rapidly advancing gene-based methods, underline the relevance and potential of meiobenthology revealing characteristics and harassments of ecosystems, not the least in extreme habitats. Also in the more classical domains such as taxonomy and phylogeny, progress in meiobenthos research defines a new and deeper scientific understanding.

This study, based on a literature review and simulations, shows the efficiency of cover crops at catching nitrate in most agriculture situations. It also analyzes both the negative impacts they can have and the ecosystem services they can provide. The introduction of a cover crop between two main crops helps catch the soil mineral nitrogen before the period of drainage and consequently reduces nitrate leaching and nitrate concentration in the drainage water. This study allows quantifying the efficiency of cover crops at catching nitrate and optimizing their implantation conditions over a large range of French pedoclimatic conditions. The presence of high nitrate levels in surface and ground waters, due to excessive nitrogen fertilization and natural production of nitrate by soil organic matter mineralization, is a double challenge for public health and environment protection.

This volume focuses on small mammal fossils from extinct Asian faunas of about 1 to 7 million years ago in North China. These played a role in the emergence of vertebrate paleontology as a modern science in that country. This second volume of the sub-series Late Cenozoic Yushe Basin, Shanxi Province, China: Geology and Fossil Mammals in the Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology book series deals with a rich microfauna fossil record; megafauna follow in subsequent volumes. This research on Yushe Basin fossils provides a view of changes in northeast Asian terrestrial faunas during the Late Neogene, and therefore is a key to the biochronology for a vast part of the continent. The faunas recovered by the multinational team working in this region represent changes in small mammal communities of the Yushe Basin, revealed on a finer time scale that has not been achieved previously. Detailed systematic studies on small mammal groups proceeded under the care of specialists are outlined in the chapters of this volume. Paleontologists, ecologists and evolutionary biologists will find this book appealing.

This book offers a unique perspective on Zionism. The author, a geneticist by training, focuses on science, rather than history. He looks at the claims that Jews constitute a people with common biological roots. An argument that helps provide justification for the aspirations of this political movement dedicated to the return of the Jewish people to their homeland. His study explores two issues. The first considers the assertion that there is a biology of the Jews. The second deals with attempts to integrate this idea into a consistent history. Both issues unfolded against the background of a romantic national culture of Western Europe in the 19th century: Jews, primarily from Eastern Europe, began to believe these notions and soon they took the lead in the re-formulation of Jewish and Zionist existence. The author does not intend to present a comprehensive picture of the biological literature of the origins of a people and the blood relations between them. He also recognizes that the subject is emotionally-loaded. The book does, however, present a profound mediation on three overlapping questions: What is special or unique to the Jews? Who were the genuine Jews? And how can one identify Jews? This volume is a revised and edited English version of Tzionut Vehabiologia shel Hayehudim, published in 2006.

Japan s traditional and fragile satoyama landscape system was developed over centuries of human life on mountainous island terrain in a monsoon climate. The carefully managed coppice woodlands on the hillsides, the villages strung along the base of the hills, and the carefully tended paddy fields of rural Japan made possible the sustainable interaction of nature and humans. Radical changes in the middle of the twentieth century led to the abandonment of satoyama landscapes which now are being rediscovered. There is a new realization that these woodlands still play a vital role in the management of the Japanese landscape and a new determination to manage them for the future. This multifaceted book explores the history, nature, biodiversity, current conservation measures, and future uses of satoyama. The information presented here will be of interest in all parts of the world where patterns of sustainable development are being sought.

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This book examines the long-term fate of invasive species by detailing examples of invaders from different zoological and botanical taxa from various places around the world. Readers will discover what happened, after a century or so, to 'classical' invaders like rabbits in Australia, house sparrows in North America, minks in Europe and water hyacinths in Africa and Asia. Chapters presented in the book focus on eighteen species in the form of in-depth case studies including: earthworms, zebra mussels, Canadian water weed, Himalayan balsam, house sparrows, rabbits, crayfish plague, Colorado beetles, water hyacinths, starlings, Argentine ant, Dutch elm disease, American mink, cane toad, raccoons, Canadian beavers, African killer bees and warty comb jelly. Invaded areas described are in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, Pacific islands, and South America. Readers will get some ideas about the likely future of current invaders from the fate of old ones. This book is intended for undergraduates studying environmental sciences, researchers and members of environmental NGO's.

Divided into three sections, this book explores the three main pillars of sustainable development, namely economy, environment and society, and their interlinkages at the regional level. The first section, Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) for sustainable development, focuses on international agreements and national legislation, as well as the challenges in implementing ABS in e.g. India. In turn, the second section examines the process of forming Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) at the Local Self Government (LSG) level to promote environmental sustainability, highlighting local and community-level conservation initiatives that have led to the conservation of habitats and species. The third section addresses poverty eradication and food security. The case studies included demonstrate how the combination of traditional knowledge and modern techniques can enhance the productivity of traditional crop varieties, yielding greater benefits for communities. The aim of this volume is to disseminate the lessons learned from these case studies, as well as the findings from projects already in place, which can offer recommendations that can be applied to similar problems elsewhere in an attempt to find environmental solutions for sustainable development. Further, it introduces readers to new approaches to inclusive development, demonstrating that participation and grass root empowerment are key drivers of equitable and sustainable development.

This book discusses several recent theoretic advancements in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary integration in the field of evolution. While exploring novel views, the text maintains a close link with one of the most broadly held views on evolution, namely that of "Darwinian evolution." This work puts forth a new point of view which allows researchers to define in detail the concept of evolution. To create this conceptual definition, the text applies a stringent object-based focus. With this focus, the editor has been able to develop an object-based pattern of evolution at the smallest scale. Subsequently, this smallest scale pattern is used as an innovative basis for generalizations. These generalizations create links between biological Darwinism and generalized Darwinism. The object-based approach that was used to suggest innovations in the field of Darwinian evolution also allowed for contributions to other topics, such as major evolutionary transitions theory, the definition of life and the relationships between evolution, self-organization and thermodynamics. Together, the chapters of this book and the multidisciplinary reflections and comments of various specialists on these chapters offer an exciting palette of innovative ideas.

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.

This handbook, produced by world renowned experts from the World Conservation Union (IUCN), spans the full terrain of protected area management and is the international benchmark for the field. The book employs dozens of detailed international cases studies, hundreds of concise topical snapshots, maps, tables, illustrations and a colour plate section, as well as evaluation tools, checklists and numerous appendices to cover all aspects of park management from biodiversity to natural heritage to financial management.The book establishes a conceptual underpinning for protected area management, presents guiding principles for the 21st century, reflects recent work on international best practice and provides an assessment of skills required by professionals. As the most authoritative guide ever compiled to the principles and practice of protected area management, this volume is essential for all professionals and students in all countries and contexts.

Pflanzen und ihre Lebensraume - Wie konnen Pflanzen unter speziellen Lebensbedingungen gedeihen, wachsen und sich vermehren? Organismen interagieren mit ihrer Umwelt auf verschiedenen Ebenen. Die fundamentale Einheit geobotanischer Untersuchungen ist der individuelle pflanzliche und mikrobielle Organismus. Seine evolutive Entwicklung ist das Ergebnis eines selektiven Prozesses und seiner Einnischung in spezifische Lebensraume auf einem hoheren Organisationsniveau, den Populationen, den Pflanzengesellschaften und den von ihnen aufgebauten Okosystemen. Die Beziehungsgeflechte von Klima, Boden und biotischen Interaktionen werden dargestellt. Zahlreiche Beispiele erlautern die Gesetzmassigkeiten. Die Autoren zeigen, wie naturliche Prozesse, beispielsweise Verlandungen von Gewassern, funktionieren, Sukzessionen sich auswirken oder auch wie sich Storungen nach Sturmen, Branden oder Klimaanderungen zeigen. Eine Einfuhrung in komplexe Okosysteme."

Frank E. Zachos offers a comprehensive review of one of today's most important and contentious issues in biology: the species problem. After setting the stage with key background information on the topic, the book provides a brief history of species concepts from antiquity to the Modern Synthesis, followed by a discussion of the ontological status of species with a focus on the individuality thesis and potential means of reconciling it with other philosophical approaches. More than 30 different species concepts found in the literature are presented in an annotated list, and the most important ones, including the Biological, Genetic, Evolutionary and different versions of the Phylogenetic Species Concept, are discussed in more detail. Specific questions addressed include the problem of asexual and prokaryotic species, intraspecific categories like subspecies and Evolutionarily Significant Units, and a potential solution to the species problem based on a hierarchical approach that distinguishes between ontological and operational species concepts. A full chapter is dedicated to the challenge of delimiting species by means of a discrete taxonomy in a continuous world of inherently fuzzy boundaries. Further, the book outlines the practical ramifications for ecology and evolutionary biology of how we define the species category, highlighting the danger of an apples and oranges problem if what we subsume under the same name ("species") is in actuality a variety of different entities. A succinct summary chapter, glossary and annotated list of references round out the coverage, making the book essential reading for all biologists looking for an accessible introduction to the historical, philosophical and practical dimensions of the species problem.

The book collects a selection of the papers presented at the meeting held in the context of the Joint Programme on the Links between Biological and Cultural Diversity (JP-BiCuD). Recognizing the inextricable link between biological and cultural diversity, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) joined forces, and in 2010 launched the Joint Programme on the Links between Biological and Cultural Diversity (JP-BiCuD). The first meeting for the implementation of the JP-BiCuD was held in Florence (Italy) in April 2014 and produced the UNESCO-sCBD Florence Declaration, which highlights the concept of biocultural diversity. The European rural territory is predominantly a biocultural, multi-functional landscape, providing a crucial and effective space for integration of biological and cultural diversity, suggesting the need to revise some of the current strategies for the assessment and management of biodiversity.

This book places lion conservation and the relationship between people and lions both in historical context and in the context of the contemporary politics of conservation in Africa. The killing of Cecil the Lion in July 2015 brought such issues to the public's attention. Were lions threatened in the wild and what was the best form of conservation? How best can lions be saved from extinction in the wild in Africa amid rural poverty, precarious livelihoods for local communities and an expanding human population? This book traces man's relationship with lions through history, from hominids, to the Romans, through colonial occupation and independence, to the present day. It concludes with an examination of the current crisis of conservation and the conflict between Western animal welfare concepts and sustainable development, thrown into sharp focus by the killing of Cecil the lion. Through this historical account, Keith Somerville provides a coherent, evidence-based assessment of current human-lion relations, providing context to the present situation. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of environmental and African history, wildlife conservation, environmental management and political ecology, as well as the general reader.

Everyone uses species. All human cultures, whether using science or not, name species. Species are the basic units for science, from ecosystems to model organisms. Yet, there are communication gaps between the scientists who name species, called taxonomists or systematists, and those who use species names-everyone else. This book opens the "black box" of species names, to explain the tricks of the name-makers to the name-users. Species are real, and have macroevolutionary meaning, and it follows that systematists use a broadly macroevolution-oriented approach in describing diversity. But scientific names are used by all areas of science, including many fields such as ecology that focus on timescales more dominated by microevolutionary processes. This book explores why different groups of scientists understand and use the names given to species in very different ways, and the consequences for measuring and understanding biodiversity. Key selling features: Explains the modern, multi-disciplinary approach to studying species evolution and species discovery, and the role of species names in diverse fields throughout the life sciences Documents the importance and urgent need for high-quality taxonomic work to address today's most pressing problems Summarises controversies in combining different-sometimes quite different-datasets used to estimate global biodiversity Focusses throughout on a central theme-the disconnect between the makers and the users of names-and seeks to create the rhetorical foundation needed to bridge this disconnect Anticipates the future of taxonomy and its role in studies of global biodiversity

Imagine that you are an environmentalist who passionately believes that it is wrong to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. How do you convince someone that a decision to drill is wrong? Debates about the environment and how humans ought to treat it have gone on for decades, yet arguments in favor of preserving biodiversity often lack empirical substance or are philosophically naive, making them far less effective than they could be. This book critically examines arguments that are commonly offered in support of biodiversity conservation. The authors adopt a skeptical viewpoint to thoroughly test the strength of each argument and, by demonstrating how scientific evidence can be integrated with philosophical reasoning, they help environmentalists to better engage with public debate and judiciously inform public policy. This interdisciplinary and accessible book is essential reading for anyone who engages in discussions about the value of biodiversity conservation.

Orcas are the most profitable and controversial display animal in history, and since the release of the documentary Blackfish in 2013, millions around the world have focused on their plight. Yet no historical account has explored how we came to care about killer whales in the first place. In Orca, Jason Colby tells the exhilarating and often heartbreaking story of how people came to love the ocean's greatest predator. Historically reviled as dangerous pests, killer whales were dying by the hundreds, even thousands, by the 1950s-the victims of whalers, fishermen, and even the US military. In the Pacific Northwest, fishermen shot them, scientists harpooned them, and the Canadian government mounted a machine gun to eliminate them. But that all changed in 1965, when a Seattle entrepreneur named Ted Griffin became the first person to swim and perform with a captive killer whale. The show was a hit, and he began capturing and selling others, including Sea World's first "Shamu." Over the following decade, live display transformed popular and scientific views of Orcinus orca. The public embraced killer whales as charismatic and friendly while scientists enjoyed their first access to live orcas. In the Pacific Northwest, these captive encounters reshaped regional values and helped drive environmental activism, including Greenpeace's anti-whaling campaigns. Yet even as Northwesterners taught the world to love whales, they came to oppose their captivity. So when Sea World attempted to catch its own killer whales, Northwesterners would fight for the freedom of a marine predator that had become a regional icon. With access to previously unavailable documents and interviews, Colby offers the definitive history of how the feared and despised "killer" became the beloved "orca" and what that means for our relationship with the ocean and its creatures.

This volume contains studies on the evolution and function of lightweight constructions of planktonic and other organisms, and examples of how they can be used to create new solutions for radical innovations of lightweight constructions for technological application. The principles and underlying processes responsible for evolution and biodiversity of marine plankton organisms are highly relevant and largely unresolved issues in the field of marine science. Amongst the most promising objects for the study of evolution of stable lightweight constructions are marine organisms such as diatoms or radiolarians. Research in these fields requires interdisciplinary expertises such as in evolutionary modelling, paleontology, lightweight optimization, functional morphology, and marine ecology. Considerable effort and expert knowledge in production engineering or lightweight optimization is necessary to transfer knowledge on biogenic structures and evolutionary principles into new lightweight solutions. This book show methods and examples of how this can be achieved efficiently.

The present volume by the author is based on the outcome of extensive explorations in the Himalayas for more than a decade. It incorporates the original research findings along with that based on literature survey. It is intended to provide a comprehensive account of an important group of fungi which has a direct bearing on wood industry and forest ecosystem besides commercial application in bioremediation and pollution control. It is the first step in providing the mycologists with consolidated, systematically up-to-date and illustrative monograph of wood-rotting fungi of Himalayas. Every year the students of the post graduate colleges and universities particularly Indian sub-continent go in for fungal forays to collect fungi which forms part of their course curriculum. This book will serve as a field manual for identification. The book has more than 240 color photographs and 123 plates of camera lucida drawings covering all the fungi which have been reported till-to-date from the study area.

This uniquely interdisciplinary textbook explores the exciting and complex relationship between Earth’s geological history and the biodiversity of life. Its innovative design provides a seamless learning experience, clarifying major concepts step by step with detailed textual explanations complemented by detailed figures, diagrams and vibrant pictures. Thanks to its layout, the respective concepts can be studied individually, as part of the broader framework of each chapter, or as they relate to the book as a whole. It provides in-depth coverage of: - Earth’s formation and subsequent geological history, including patterns of climate change and atmospheric evolution; - The early stages of life, from microbial ‘primordial soup’ theories to the fossil record’s most valuable contributions; - Mechanisms of mutual influence between living organisms and the environment: how life changed Earth’s history whilst, at the same time, environmental pressures continue to shape the evolution of species; - Basic ideas in biodiversity studies: species concepts, measurement techniques, and global distribution patterns; - Biological systematics, from their historical origins in Greek philosophy and Biblical stories to Darwinian evolution by natural selection, and to phylogenetics based on cutting-edge molecular techniques. This book’s four major sections offer a fresh cross-disciplinary overview of biodiversity and the Earth’s history. Among many other concepts, they reveal the massive diversity of eukaryotes, explain the geological processes behind fossilisation, and provide an eye-opening account of the relatively short period of human evolution in the context of Earth’s 4.6 billion-year history. Employing a combination of proven didactic tools, the book is simultaneously a reading reference, illustrated guide, and encyclopaedia of organismal biology and geology. It is aimed at school- and university-level students, as well as members of the public fascinated by the intricate interrelationship of living organisms and their environment.

Sustainable horticulture is gaining increasing attention in the field of agriculture as demand for the food production rises to the world community. Sustainable horticultural systems are based on ecological principles to farm, optimizes pest and disease management approaches through environmentally friendly and renewable strategies in production agriculture. It is a discipline that addresses current issues such as food security, water pollution, soil health, pest control, and biodiversity depletion. Novel, environmentally-friendly solutions are proposed based on integrated knowledge from sciences as diverse as agronomy, soil science, entomology, ecology, chemistry and food sciences. Sustainable horticulture interprets methods and processes in the farming system to the global level. For that, horticulturists use the system approach that involves studying components and interactions of a whole system to address scientific, economic and social issues. In that respect, sustainable horticulture is not a classical, narrow science. Instead of solving problems using the classical painkiller approach that treats only negative impacts, sustainable horticulture treats problem sources.

Does extinction have to be forever? As the global extinction crisis accelerates, conservationists and policy-makers increasingly use advanced biotechnologies such as reproductive cloning, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and bioinformatics in the urgent effort to save species. Mendel's Ark considers the ethical, cultural and social implications of using these tools for wildlife conservation. Drawing upon sources ranging from science to science fiction, it focuses on the stories we tell about extinction and the meanings we ascribe to nature and technology. The use of biotechnology in conservation is redrawing the boundaries between animals and machines, nature and artifacts, and life and death. The new rhetoric and practice of de-extinction will thus have significant repercussions for wilderness and for society. The degree to which we engage collectively with both the prosaic and the fantastic aspects of biotechnological conservation will shape the boundaries and ethics of our desire to restore lost worlds.

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.

This book investigates soil ecology and biodiversity for its ability to maintain a balance of beneficial organisms to support plant growth. This subject is discussed by a group of international authors in natural, agricultural and urban systems. The importance of biodiversity per se and, specifically, the feedbacks between the plant and soil biota in mediating soil function are emphasized. Examples are selected from allelopathy and invasive plant species along with the, hitherto overlooked, role of viruses in soil. The book is intended to provide a framework for a holistic understanding of the essential role of soil organisms in promoting plant growth.

This book guides animal ecologists, biologists and wildlife and data managers through a step-by-step procedure to build their own advanced software platforms to manage and process wildlife tracking data. This unique, problem-solving-oriented guide focuses on how to extract the most from GPS animal tracking data, while preventing error propagation and optimizing analysis performance. Based on the open source PostgreSQL/PostGIS spatial database, the software platform will allow researchers and managers to integrate and harmonize GPS tracking data together with animal characteristics, environmental data sets, including remote sensing image time series, and other bio-logged data, such as acceleration data. Moreover, the book shows how the powerful R statistical environment can be integrated into the software platform, either connecting the database with R, or embedding the same tools in the database through the PostgreSQL extension Pl/R. The client/server architecture allows users to remotely connect a number of software applications that can be used as a database front end, including GIS software and WebGIS. Each chapter offers a real-world data management and processing problem that is discussed in its biological context; solutions are proposed and exemplified through ad hoc SQL code, progressively exploring the potential of spatial database functions applied to the respective wildlife tracking case. Finally, wildlife tracking management issues are discussed in the increasingly widespread framework of collaborative science and data sharing. GPS animal telemetry data from a real study, freely available online, are used to demonstrate the proposed examples. This book is also suitable for undergraduate and graduate students, if accompanied by the basics of databases.