Coastal areas face increasing pressures from land use change, developmental activities, shoreline erosion, biodiversity losses and natural calamities. This volume addresses these issues facilitating the integrated analysis of the sustainability of coastal zones. The contributors have tried to focus their respective works on the problems that need urgent attention relevant to present day issues. Coastal Zone Management and its sustainability strategy should safeguard ecological security of the coastal areas, avoid pollution as well as exploitation of living and non living aquatic resources, protecting also the agrarian community and avian population and other floral and faunal breeding grounds. Articles have been selected on the basis of sound scientific findings hoping that it will help in developing meaningful regulations for future sustainable coastal management zone.

The second volume of "Adaptation and Evolution in Marine Environments - The Impacts of Global Change on Biodiversity" from the series "From Pole to Pole" integrates the marine biology contribution of the first tome to the IPY 2007-2009, presenting overviews of organisms (from bacteria and ciliates to higher vertebrates) thriving on polar continental shelves, slopes and deep sea. The speed and extent of warming in the Arctic and in regions of Antarctica (the Peninsula, at the present ) are greater than elsewhere. Changes impact several parameters, in particular the extent of sea ice; organisms, ecosystems and communities that became finely adapted to increasing cold in the course of millions of years are now becoming vulnerable, and biodiversity is threatened. Investigating evolutionary adaptations helps to foresee the impact of changes in temperate areas, highlighting the invaluable contribution of polar marine research to present and future outcomes of the IPY in the Earth system scenario.

One of the main objectives of nature conservation in Europe is to protect valuable cultural landscapes characterized by a mixture of open habitats and hedges, trees and patchy woodland (semi-open landscapes).The development of these landscapes during the past decades has been characterized by an ongoing intensification of land use on the one hand, and an increasing number of former meadows and pastures becoming fallow as a result of changing economic conditions on the other hand. Since species adapted to open and semi-open landscapes contribute to biodiversity in Europe in a major way, this development is of great concern to nature conservation. In several countries largescale, nature-adapted pastoral systems have been recognized as one solution to this problem. These systems could offer an alternative to industrial livestock raising and keep a high biodiversity on the landscape level. Against the background of livestock diseases such as BSE and Foot and Mouth Disease and the efforts to reform the Common Agricultural Policy in the EU by changing the criteria for agricultural subsidies, these concepts gain particular significance.They could also represent an alternative to the established, costly habitat management tools.

Carbonate sediments are of increasing relevance for archives of past environmental conditions and for economical reasons in areas of geothermal energy and hydrocarbon reservoirs. Complex interaction of physical and chemical parameters with biological parameters determines the architecture and composition of carbonate sedimentary bodies. This book closes some of the still existing gaps in our understanding of the influence and interplay of physical, chemical, and biological parameters with carbonate sedimentation. An understanding of this interaction is not only required for reliable prediction of reservoir quality but also for a robust interpretation of environmental conditions in the past and the present. It is written by geologists for geologists in order to provide an easily accessible overview of the large amount of relevant information provided by the neighbouring sciences. The approach of the book is to document the modern depositional environments of three classical areas of carbonate deposition, each characteristic for a specific sedimentological setting (isolated platform, attached shelf, ramp) in order to assess both the range of physical, biological and chemical parameters and their sedimentary response. This book presents a comprehensive compilation based on data from published work and unpublished theses, and the integration of these data in order to extract previously undiscovered relationships between the discussed parameters and carbonate deposition.

Ulrike Probstl, Veronika Wirth, Birgit Elands, and Simon Bell 1. 1 Background to the Study Ulrike Probstl and Simon Bell New directions and the need for reform - these two catch phrases dominate the political discussions around forests, forestry, and forest research in many European countries. In Germany there is concern about the reduction of university positions in forestry, as there is across Europe about the new, more economically ori- tated direction of forest management. For example, in 2004 the Bavarian electorate defeated a referendum about the restructuring of the forest administration, largely because of concern about changes to nature conservation and recreation mana- ment. Obviously, the new trends in forest management imposed by commercial interests stand in stark contrast to the overall expectations society has of effective multi-functional forest management (Deutscher Rat fur Landesp ege 2004). The administrative desires for reform on the one side and - often contradictory - societal demands on the other are the reason to undertake an investigation of the European model of multi-functional forest management.

Microbes can respire on metals. This seemingly simple finding is one of the major discoveries that were made in the field of microbiology in the last few decades. The importance of this observation is evident. Metals are highly abundant on our planet. Iron is even the most abundant element on Earth and the forth most abundant element in the Earth's crust. Hence, in some environments iron, but also other metals or metalloids, are the dominant respiratory electron acceptors. Their reduction massively drives the carbon cycle in these environments and establishes redox cycles of the metallic electron acceptors themselves. These redox cycles are not only a driving force for other biotic reactions but are furthermore necessary for initiating a number of geochemically relevant abiotic redox conversions. Although widespread and ecologically influential, electron transfer onto metals like ferric iron or manganese is biochemically challenging. The challenge is to transfer respiratory electrons onto metals that occur in nature at neutral pH in the form of metal oxides or oxihydroxides that are effectively insoluble. Obviously, it is necessary that the microbes specially adapt in order to catalyze the electron transfer onto insoluble electron acceptors. The elucidation of these adaptations is an exciting ongoing process. To sum it up, dissimilatory metal reduction has wide-spread implications in the field of microbiology, biochemistry and geochemistry and its discovery was one of the major reasons to establish a novel scientific field called geomicrobiology. Recently, the discovery of potential applications of dissimilatory metal reducers in bioremediation or current production in a microbial fuel cell further increased the interest in studying microbial metal reduction.

Shortly, this book is the written up-graded version of the topics discussed during the Small Meeting of the 2nd International School Congress: Natural Resources, Sustainability and Humanity, held in Braga, Portugal, 5-8 May 2010 with the diverse participation of scientists, educators and governmental representatives. The Earth hosts an immense ecosystem, colonized by millions of species for billions of years but only for a few tens of thousands of years by humans. Environmental history tells though that it was humankind that shaped the environment as no other species. History, geography, religion and politics among other reasons have differentiated populations with respect to access to safe food and water, education, health, and to space and natural resource utilization. The globalization era of trade, information and communication is shortening distances and increasing overall wealth, but, as is pointed out in this book, it is also contributing to the propagation of diseases, and to the modification or even destruction of native ecosystems by exotic invasive species. Man is the only species that has the perception of its history, evolution, of the consequences of its decisions, and that there is a future ahead. It is also the only species that has the potential to change it. This awareness can be a source of anxiety and contradictory behaviours, but it is also the key to changing attitudes towards the construction of a common sustainable home, by committed education, interdisciplinary approaches, mobilization and empowerment of people and political consonant actions.

Soil quality is threatened by many human-induced activities, but can also be improved by good land management. In the relatively short history of mankind on earth, the landscape and soils of the world have been drastically modified from their "natural " state. Landscapes altered by man's activities are termed "Anthroscapes" which are inextricably linked to culture and history. The challenges for today's scientists are to devise and implement sustainable land management strategies in order to preserve the land for the benefit of future generations. This book is a valuable compendium of the research experiences so far gained in studies of the context and concept of the "Anthroscape" and highlights the potential future contributions of such research to sustainable development.

This book represents a rather complicated history of encounters, changes in research interest and some very interesting results. Initially it is the very fruitful interaction of Ecology and Geology. The point of view of ecologists is extremely refreshing for hard science people. Interaction and inter-relationships are the focus of Ecology whereas the traditional sciences, such as Geology, have tried to isolate the natural phenomena so that thye could be studied in a more rigorous manner. The traditional sciences were of course natural science - based since the world to be observed was at the door step of everyone, mountains, weather patterns, plants and so forth. Chemistry and Physics were de ned after Mathematics in order to establish more precise and viable principles of the behavior of the materials that formed the world around mankind. It became quite clear that the observation of the natural world was too complicated to consider all of the possible variables which could affect an observed process or situation. The systems were simpli ed and taken into the laboratory in order to better master the phenomena observed. Physics c- cerned itself with non-reacting materials, subjected to essentially mechanical forces.

When did life first appear on Earth and what form did it take? The answer to this intriguing and fundamentally important question lies somewhere within the early Archean rock record. The young Earth was, however, a very different place to that we know today and numerous pitfalls await our interpretation of these most ancient rocks. The first half of this practical guide equips the reader with the background knowledge to successfully evaluate new potentially biological finds from the Archean rock record. Successive steps are covered, from locating promising samples in the field, through standard petrography and evaluation of antiquity and biogenicity criteria, to the latest state of the art geochemical techniques. The second half of the guide uniquely brings together all the materials that have been claimed to comprise the earliest fossil record into an easily accessible, fully illustrated format. This will be a handbook that every Archean geologist, palaeobiologist and astrobiologist will wish to have in their backpack or on their lab-bench.

Increasing rate of species extinction in the present day will lead to a huge biodiversity crisis; eventually, this will lead to the paucity of non-renewable resources of energy making our Earth unsustainable in future. To save our mother planet from this crisis, studies need to be performed to discover abundant new fossil sites on Earth for continued access to oil-rich locations. Most importantly, a holistic approach is necessary in solving the present problem of biodiversity loss. This book presents newly developed quantitative models in understanding the biodiversity, evolution and ecology of extinct organisms. This will assist future earth scientists in understanding the natural and anthropogenic causes behind biodiversity crisis and ecosystem collapse. In addition, this study would be of great interest to exploration geologists and geophysicists in potentially unraveling natural resources from our sustainable Earth.

This volume offers insight in the identification and selection procedure of marine protected areas in the German exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of the North - and Baltic Seas. EU Member States are obliged to establish a coherent network of protected areas, consisting of sites identified under the EC Habitats and Birds Directives. The goal of this Natura 2000 network is the conservation of biodiversity on land and in the sea. To fill important gaps in knowledge regarding the presence, abundance, and distribution of certain species and habitats in the German North- and Baltic Seas, the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) initiated a detailed research programme, involving researchers from many renowned German marine research institutes. This book contains the main results of the different projects under this research programme, which formed the basis for the identification and selection of the Natura 2000 sites. Information is given on two NATURA 2000 habitats (sandbanks and reefs), and benthic species, fish, birds and marine mammals, as well as on legal aspects and implementation procedures. Last but not least the book introduces the current status of NATURA 2000 in the German EEZ. Target audience are not only scientists, but also policymakers, environmental organisations and other stakeholders, and the book includes many illustrations.

Beach renourishment is the restoration of beaches that have been depleted. The text deals with the sources of beach sediment as well as the causes and typical responses to beach erosion, before discussion of beach renourishment. Some of the first documented renourishment projects were undertaken in the early 1900's on the east coast of the United States. Several countries have since renourished beaches, particularly during the past few decades. Most projects have been in the United States, the United Kingdom, some European countries and Australia. These are reviewed and experience from various beach renourishment projects used for discussion of the following topics: 1. The need for preliminary investigations 2. Sources of sediment for beach renourishment 3. Methods of beach renourishment 4. Design considerations 5. Monitoring changes after beach renourishment 6. Assessment of performance 7. Modelling of beach renourishment 8. Beach renourishment for coast protection 9. Environmental impacts 10. Costs and benefits 11. Response of renourished beaches to a rising sea level

Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) synthesize intracellular nano-sized minerals of magnetite and/or greigite magnetosomes for magnetic orientation. They play important roles in global iron cycling and sedimentary magnetism, and have a broad range of potential applications in both biotechnological and biomedical fields. However, because the majority of MTB in nature remain unculturable, our understanding of these specific bacteria remains fairly limited. This thesis describes the development of a novel approach for effectively collecting, purifying and characterizing uncultivated magnetotactic bacteria. The diversity, genomic information and rock magnetic properties of various uncultivated MTB are investigated and characterized using a combination of biological and geophysical methods. The results will lead to a better understanding of the biogeography and biomineralization mechanisms of MTB in nature, and improve our knowledge of the contributions of MTB to biogeochemical cycles of elements and sedimentary magnetism. Dr. Wei Lin works at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

The investigations refer to the development of plant phenology since the 1960s in Germany. Spatiotemporal trends were assessed by means of regression kriging. It could be shown that there already is a distinct shift of phenological onset towards the beginning of the year of up to two weeks. In future, a shift of up to one month was calculated till 2080. Moreover, a prolongation of the vegetation period of up to three weeks was found. The findings are relevant for the development of mitigation measures to prevent from environmental, agricultural and economic issues due to climate change.

The book describes richness and diversity of Georgia's vegetation. Contrasting ecosystems coexist on the relatively small territory of the country and include semi-deserts in East Georgia, Colchic forests with almost sub-tropical climate in West Georgia and subnival plant communities in high mountains. West Georgia lacks xerophilous vegetation zone and mesophilous forest vegetation spreads from the sea level to subalpine zone. The Colchic refugium (West Georgia) ensured survival of the Tertiary's mesophilous forest flora. Vertical profile of the vegetation is more complex in East Georgia with semi-desert, steppe and arid open forest zone. In South Georgia the montane zone represented by montane steppe is devoid of forests

This book brings together international scientists who focus on present-day and fossil cephalopods, ranging broadly from Paleozoic ammonoids to today's octopods. It covers systematics and evolution; hard- and soft part morphology; and ecology, biogeography, and taphonomy. The book also includes new evidence for the existence of an ink sac in fossil ammonoids and features the first record of an in-depth study of octopus ecology in Alaska.

Bryozoa are a colonial animal phylum with a long evolutionary history, having existed from the early Ordovician (480 My) onward and still flourishing today. Several mass extinctions in earth history shaped and triggered bryozoan evolution through drastic turnover of faunas and new evolutionary lineages. Bryozoa are widespread across all latitudes from Equator to Polar Regions and occur in marine and freshwater environments. They are shaping benthic ecosystems and recording ambient environmental conditions in their skeletons. The book provides a synthesis of the current main topics of research in the field of Bryozoology including combined research on both extant, and extinct taxa. Fields or current research span molecular genetics and phylogeny, life history, reproduction and anatomy, biodiversity and evolutionary patterns in time and space, taxonomy, zoogeography, ecology, sediment interactions, and climate response.

This book is about conflicts between different stakeholder groups triggered by protected species that compete with humans for natural resources. It presents key ecological features of typical conflict species and mitigation strategies including technical mitigation and the design of participatory decision strategies involving relevant stakeholders. The book provides a European perspective, but also develops a global framework for the development of action plans.

Wetlands serve many important functions and provide numerous ecological services such as clean water, wildlife habitat, nutrient reduction, and flood control. Wetland science is a relatively young discipline but is a rapidly growing field due to an enhanced understanding of the importance of wetlands and the numerous laws and policies that have been developed to protect these areas. This growth is demonstrated by the creation and growth of the Society of Wetland Scientists which was formed in 1980 and now has a membership of 3,500 people. It is also illustrated by the existence of 2 journals ("Wetlands" and "Wetlands Ecology and Management") devoted entirely to wetlands.

To date there has been no practical, comprehensive techniques book centered on wetlands, and written for wetland researchers, students, and managers. This techniques book aims to fill that gap. It is designed to provide an overview of the various methods that have been used or developed by researchers and practitioners to study, monitor, manage, or create wetlands. Including many methods usually found only in the peer-reviewed or gray literature, this 3-volume set fills a major niche for all professionals dealing with wetlands."

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

The fossil record contains unique long-term insights into how ecosystems form and function which cannot be determined simply by examining modern systems. It also provides a record of endangered species through time, which allow us to make conservation decisions based on thousands to millions of years of information. The aim of this book is to demonstrate how palaeontological data has been or could be incorporated into ecological or conservation scientific studies. This book will be written by palaeontologists for modern ecologists and conservation scientists. Manuscripts will fall into one (or a combination) of four broad categories: case studies, review articles, practical considerations and future directions. This book will serve as both a 'how to guide' and provide the current state of knowledge for this type of research. It will highlight the unique and critical insights that can be gained by the inclusion of palaeontological data into modern ecological or conservation studies.

Human activities are significantly modifying the natural global carbon (C) cycles, and concomitantly influence climate, ecosystems, and state and function of the Earth system. Ever increasing amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) are added to the atmosphere by fossil fuel combustion but the biosphere is a potential C sink. Thus, a comprehensive understanding of C cycling in the biosphere is crucial for identifying and managing biospheric C sinks. Ecosystems with large C stocks which must be protected and sustainably managed are wetlands, peatlands, tropical rainforests, tropical savannas, grasslands, degraded/desertified lands, agricultural lands, and urban lands. However, land-based sinks require long-term management and a protection strategy because C stocks grow with a progressive improvement in ecosystem health.

Rice is the staple food for half of the world s population. Consumption of rice is the major exposure route globally to the class one, non-threshold carcinogen inorganic arsenic. This book explains the sources of arsenic to paddy soils and the biogeochemical processes and plant physiological attributes of paddy soil-rice ecosystems that lead to high concentrations of arsenic in rice grain. It presents the global pattern of arsenic concentration and speciation in rice, discusses human exposures to inorganic arsenic from rice and the resulting health risks. It also highlights particular populations that have the highest rice consumptions, which include Southern and South East Asians, weaning babies, gluten intolerance sufferers and those consuming rice milk. The book also presents the information of arsenic concentration and speciation in other major crops and outlines approaches for lowering arsenic in rice grain and in the human diet through agronomic management."

A murmur is heard from the depths of time. Life and Earth are engaged in a dialog that has lasted for four billion years. Sometimes it's a whisper, sometimes a roar. One part sometimes gets the upper hand, dominates the discussion and sets the agenda. But mostly the two have some kind of mutual understanding, and the murmur goes on. Most of us don't listen. Nora does. She listens, and she tries to understand. Nora Noffke has focused her scientific career on the interaction between the living and the non-living. This is no mean task in an academic world where you are usually either this or that, such as either a biologist or a geologist. The amount of stuff you need to grasp is so large that it usually feels better to sit comfortably on one chair, rather than to risk falling between them. Geobiology is not for the faint of heart. Nora's focus is on that all-important biological substance mucus, or EPS (ext- cellular polymeric substance). EPS is the oil in the machinery, the freeway to travel for many small animals and protists, the coat of armour for others, the mortar in the brick wall for yet others. For microbes such as cyanobacteria it may be the world they built, the world they live, eat, fight, multiply, and die in.