Amphibian species around the world are unusually vulnerable to a variety of threats, by no means all of which are properly understood. Volume 11 in this major series is published in parts devoted to the causes of amphibian decline and to conservation measures in regions of the world. This volume, Part 4 in the series, is concerned with Southern Europe (Italy, Malta, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Albania, Greece, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Cyprus). Each chapter has been written by experts from each country, describing the ecological background and the conservation status of affected species, with an emphasis on native species. As well as infectious diseases and parasites, threats take the form of introduced and invasive species, pollution, destruction and alteration of habitat, and climatic change. These are discussed as they affect each species. All these countries have monitoring schemes and conservation programs, whose origins and activities are described. Recommendations for action are also made. Edited by leading scholars in the field, Volume 11, when complete, will provide a definitive survey of the amphibian predicament and a stimulus to further research with the objective of arresting the global decline of an entire class of animal.

A global synthesis of the impacts of wildfires and controlled burning on insects, bringing together much hitherto scattered information to provide a guide to improved conservation management practice. The great variety of responses by insect species and assemblages demonstrates the often subtle balance between fire being a severe threat and a vital management component. Examples from many parts of the world and from diverse biotopes and production systems display the increasingly detailed appreciation of fire impacts on insects in terrestrial and freshwater environments and the ways in which prescribed burning may be tailored to reduce harmful ecological impacts and incorporated into protocols for threatened species and wider insect conservation benefits.

The book focuses on environment and conservation issues pertaining to the Himalayas, spanning Pakistan, Nepal, India, Bhutan and Myanmar. Environmental degradation, changes in snow cover and glaciers in India-Bhutan, threats to protected areas, and biodiversity in this ecologically fragile region are assessed in twelve distinct, regional case studies.

This synopsis covers evidence for the effects of conservation interventions for native farmland wildlife. It is restricted to evidence captured on the website www.conservationevidence.com. It includes papers published in the journal Conservation Evidence, evidence summarized on our database and systematic reviews collated by the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence. It is the thrid volume in the series Synopses of Conservation Evidence. Evidence was collected from all European countries west of Russia, but not those south of France, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary and Romania. A list of interventions to conserve wildlife on farmland was developed collaboratively by a team of thirteen experts. A number of interventions that are not currently agri-environment options were added during this process, such as 'Provide nest boxes for bees (solitary or bumblebees)' and 'Implement food labelling schemes relating to biodiversity-friendly farming'. Interventions relating to the creation or management of habitats not considered commercial farmland (such as lowland heath, salt marsh and farm woodland) were removed. The list of interventions was organized into categories based on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifications of direct threats and conservation actions. Interventions that fall under the threat category 'Agriculture' are grouped by farming system, with separate sections for interventions that apply to arable or livestock farms, or across all farming types.

Historically, it is the land of the bison. But the land across which these powerful herds once thundered has been transformed. We know it today by such names as Montana, Wyoming, Dakota, western Iowa, and Nebraska--but it is really buffalo country, the land of the big sky rivers. This book is a tale of two rivers, a history of the majestic Missouri and how it was once wedded to the Yellowstone. Though quite different today--one dammed into reservoirs, the other unregulated with a semblance of wildness--they were once linked ecologically, geographically, and historically. Then in the twentieth century, Euro-Americans dismantled many of these connections and attempted to uncouple the streams. Viewing the rivers and their surrounding lands as a living system, Robert Kelley Schneiders focuses on four components within the Upper Missouri bioregion--the Missouri River valley, the Yellowstone River valley, Homo sapiens, and bison--to show the significance of their interaction over the past two hundred years. To frame his story, Schneiders goes back to the nineteenth-century journals of fur traders and settlers, and in the record of flora, fauna, floods, and human activity he finds evidence of rapid and disruptive change. Bison once had the greatest influence on the land, and Schneiders depicts an original bison and Indian trail network on which were overlaid the first forts and towns and then the railroads, highways, and reservoirs that reconfigured the region forever. Schneiders explains how these geographical constructs interacted with larger demographic and economic trends in the twentiety-century West, as dams and their resultant reservoirs enhanced the federal presence in the Dakotas andeastern Montana. He describes human encroachment on the rivers and tells why the Corps of Engineers dammed the Missouri but spared the Yellowstone. The engineers and their backers have so completely engineered the Missouri that few people today think of it as anything other than water. But we can reestablish our bonds to the river if we decide to let it flow once again, argues Schneiders. Removing the dams on the Missouri is the first step toward reasserting localism and grassroots democracy. In what was once buffalo country, a dormant ecology awaits rebirth. A major work of environmental history, "Big Sky Rivers offers a challenging vision for the future of the Upper Missouri bioregion.

This book brings together scientific evidence and experience relevant to the practical conservation of bats. The authors worked with an international group of bat experts and conservationists to develop a global list of interventions that could benefit bats. For each intervention, the book summarises studies captured by the Conservation Evidence project, where that intervention has been tested and its effects on bats quantified. The result is a thorough guide to what is known, or not known, about the effectiveness of bat conservation actions throughout the world. Bat Conservation is the fifth in a series of Synopses that will cover different species groups and habitats, gradually building into a comprehensive summary of evidence on the effects of conservation interventions for all biodiversity throughout the world. By making evidence accessible in this way, we hope to enable a change in the practice of conservation, so it can become more evidence-based. We also aim to highlight where there are gaps in knowledge. Evidence from all around the world is included. If there appears to be a bias towards evidence from northern European or North American temperate environments, this reflects a current bias in the published research that is available to us. Conservation interventions are grouped primarily according to the relevant direct threats, as defined in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Unified Classification of Direct Threats (www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes).

How do societies negotiate the apparently competing agendas of environmental protection and social justice? Why do some countries perform much better than others? Democracy in the Woods answers these questions by explaining the trajectories of forest and land rights-and the fate of forest-dependent peasants-in the forested regions of India, Tanzania, and Mexico. To organize a comparative inquiry that straddles the fields of comparative politics, historical institutionalism, and policy studies, this book develops a political economy of institutions framework. It shows that differences in structures of political intermediation-venues that help peasant groups and social movements engage in political and policy processes-explain the varying levels of success in combining the pursuits of social justice and environmental conservation. The book challenges the age-old notion that populist policies produce uniformly deleterious environmental consequences that must be mitigated via centralized systems of environmental regulation. It shows instead that the national leaders and dominant political parties that must compete for popular support in the political arena are more likely to fashion interventions that pursue conservation of forested landscapes without violating the rights of forest-dependent people. Mexico demonstrates the potential for win-win outcomes, India continues to stumble on both environmental and social questions despite longstanding traditions of popular mobilization for forestland rights, and Tanzania's government has failed its forest-dependent people despite a lucrative wildlife tourism sector. This book's political analysis of the control over and use of nature opens up new avenues for reflecting on nature in the Anthropocene.

Amphibian Conservation is the fourth in the series of Synopses of Conservation Evidence, linked to the online resource www.ConservationEvidence.com. This synopsis is part of the Conservation Evidence project and provides a useful resource for conservationists. It forms part of a series designed to promote a more evidence-based approach to biodiversity conservation. Others in the series include bee, bird, farmland and bat conservation and many others are in preparation. Approximately 32% of the 7,164+ amphibian species are currently threatened with extinction and at least 43% of species are declining. Despite this, until recently amphibians and their conservation had received little attention. Although work is now being carried out to conserve many species, often it is not adequately documented. This book brings together and summarises the available scientific evidence and experience relevant to the practical conservation of amphibians. The authors consulted an international group of amphibian experts and conservationists to produce a thorough summary of what is known, or not known, about the effectiveness of amphibian conservation actions across the world. "The book is packed with literature summaries and citations; a veritable information goldmine for graduate students and researchers. It also admirably provides decision makers with a well-researched resource of proven interventions that can be employed to stem/reverse the decline of amphibian populations." -John G Palis, Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society

This book brings together scientific evidence and experience relevant to the practical conservation of bats. The authors worked with an international group of bat experts and conservationists to develop a global list of interventions that could benefit bats. For each intervention, the book summarises studies captured by the Conservation Evidence project, where that intervention has been tested and its effects on bats quantified. The result is a thorough guide to what is known, or not known, about the effectiveness of bat conservation actions throughout the world. Bat Conservation is the fifth in a series of Synopses that will cover different species groups and habitats, gradually building into a comprehensive summary of evidence on the effects of conservation interventions for all biodiversity throughout the world. By making evidence accessible in this way, we hope to enable a change in the practice of conservation, so it can become more evidence-based. We also aim to highlight where there are gaps in knowledge. Evidence from all around the world is included. If there appears to be a bias towards evidence from northern European or North American temperate environments, this reflects a current bias in the published research that is available to us. Conservation interventions are grouped primarily according to the relevant direct threats, as defined in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Unified Classification of Direct Threats (www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes).

This book gathers papers presented and discussions held at the Conference on Wind Energy and Wildlife Impacts in Melbourne, Australia on 9th October 2012. The purpose of the conference was to bring together researchers, industry, consultants, regulators and Non-Government Organizations to share the results of studies into wind farm and wildlife investigations in Australia and New Zealand. The aim was to further networking and communication between these groups. The conference discussed key issues and areas for future investigation, with the intention of developing consistencies in research and management. Like the Conference, the book showcases current research and management in the field of wind farms and wildlife in Australia and New Zealand; establishes consistencies in research and management; and highlights areas in need of further examination. The papers in these Proceedings are presented in two session topics. The first covers "Investigations and assessment of new wind farms" and the second, "Monitoring, mitigation and offsets." The Proceedings then summarize the panel discussions held at the end of the conference. The themes include improving pre- and post-construction survey design; identifying key knowledge gaps and research priorities; uncertainties and errors in data sets and analysis; creating opportunities to share knowledge; and assessing cumulative impacts across multiple sites.

A pacifist's timely and passionate manifesto addressing the issue of global warming.
Utopia, as Ratzlaff explains, is not some unattainable oasis but rather a world without war and with a balanced global habitat that can sustain future generations. " R]ank and file Americans need to be able to comprehend what global warming is all about," the author writes, "in order to grasp what will happen if we fail to take immediate steps to combat it." The book is not a scientific treatise bogged down with academic language, but rather a pacifist's simple approach to solving one of the world's most difficult dilemmas. Employing a minimum of hard data to explore melting ice caps, rising sea levels, changing weather patterns and ocean currents, Ratzlaff effectively illustrates the cause-and-effect relationship between human activity and the planet's well-being. While Al Gore answered the hows and whys of global warming in "An Inconvenient Truth, " Ratzlaff illustrates the imminent need for vast governmental and political changes, and he explains the consequences of ignoring the obvious threat to our planet. The author states that one of the biggest problems with the current approach to global warming is the tendency of advocates to ignore the significant role of population growth. Additionally, at the roots of global warming lay nationalism, religious wars and the military-industrial complex - Ratzlaff outright blames governments and corporations for the current situation. After demonstrating the various successes of the United Nations in heading off global conflicts, the author concludes that the UN is the only organization capable of becoming a fully empowered international governing body. Yet handcuffed by its current structure, it can do nothing more than cast environmental resolutions that are often ignored. Unlike other books that attempt to tackle major global issues, rather than pointing out the problems and offering no solutions, Ratzlaff rounds out each of the seven steps with definitive alternatives in his "If I Were President" summaries.
A thorough yet easy-to-comprehend take on global warming.
- Kirkus Review

This book focuses on the use of microorganisms in relation to agriculture, aquaculture and related fields, ranging from biofertilizers to poultry production. The latest innovations are also included to provide insights into the unlimited potentials of microorganisms in these areas.Individual chapters explore topics such as probiotics in poultry, biopurification of wastewater, converting agrowastes into value-added applications and products, rice cultivation, surfactants and bacteriocin as biopreservatives, bioplastics, crop productivity, biofloc, and the production of natural antibiotics. This volume will be of particular interest to scientists, policymakers and industrial practitioners working in the fields of agriculture, aquaculture and public health.

"Diagnosing Wild Species Harvest" bridges gaps of knowledge fragmented among scientific disciplines as it addresses this multifaceted phenomenon that is simultaneously global and local. The authors emphasize the interwoven nature of issues specific to the ecological, economic, and socio-cultural realms of wild species harvest.

The book presents the diagnosing wild species harvest procedure as a universal approach that integrates seven thematic perspectives to harvest systems: resource dynamics, costs and benefits, management, governance, knowledge, spatiality, and legacies. When analyzed, these themes help to build a holistic understanding of this globally important phenomenon. Scholars, professionals and students in various fields related to natural resources will find the book a valuable resource.

Wild species form important resources for people worldwide, and their harvest is a major driver of ecosystem change. Tropical forests regions, including Amazonia, are among those parts of the world where wild species are particularly important for people's livelihoods and larger economies. This book draws on tangible experiences from Amazonia, presented in lively narratives intermingling scientific information with stories of the people engaged in harvest and management of wild species. These stories are linked to relevant theory of wild species harvest and wider discussions on conservation, development, and the global quest of sustainability.
Includes research and report-style narratives describing a wide variety of concrete casesAddresses wild species harvest from a holistic perspective including ecological, economic and socio-cultural issues, not limiting the scope to a single type of resourcesProvides theoretical treatment of wild species harvest worldwide, with special emphasis in the most recent scientific understanding on the biodiversity of the Amazonian lowland regionPresents an objective viewpoint, noting problems the harvest may cause as well as its potential to contribute both to biodiversity conservation and to local livelihoods and national economiesCoherent, easily followed structure and abundant illustrations help the reader absorb central messages

"Curlews give their liquid, burbling call, a call of pure happiness, the music of the fells." Ella Pontefract, 1936, Wensleydale The North of England abounds with beauty, from unspoiled beaches in Northumberland to the dramatic Lakeland Fells, for so long celebrated by writers and artists. Wide estuaries, winding rivers, sheer cliffs, rushing waterfalls, ancient woodland, limestone pavements, and miles of hedgerows and drystone walls sustainably built and rebuilt over centuries - all form part of its rich heritage. But these are, too, contested and depleted landscapes. Today the curlew's call is isolated, and many other species are in decline. Industry, urban sprawl and climate chaos threaten our environment on a previously unimagined scale. And while stereotypes persist - of dark satanic mills or "bleak" moorland - the imperative of conservation is all too often overlooked for short-term economic interests. This essential volume reminds us how and why Northern people have risen to the challenge of defending their open spaces, demanding action on pollution and habitat loss. Contemporary writers including Sarah Hall, Lee Schofield, Benjamin Myers and Lemn Sissay take their place alongside those who wrote in previous centuries. Together, the voices in this one-of-a-kind anthology testify that North Country is a place apart.

A revolutionary new understanding of the precarious modern human-nature relationship and a path to a healthier, more sustainable world.
Amidst all the wondrous luxuries of the modern world--smartphones, fast intercontinental travel, Internet movies, fully stocked refrigerators--lies an unnerving fact that may be even more disturbing than all the environmental and social costs of our lifestyles. The fragmentations of our modern lives, our disconnections from nature and from the consequences of our actions, make it difficult to follow our own values and ethics, so we can no longer be truly ethical beings. When we buy a computer or a hamburger, our impacts ripple across the globe, and, dissociated from them, we can't quite respond. Our personal and professional choices result in damages ranging from radioactive landscapes to disappearing rainforests, but we can't quite see how.
Environmental scholar Kenneth Worthy traces the broken pathways between consumers and clean-room worker illnesses, superfund sites in Silicon Valley, and massively contaminated landscapes in rural Asian villages. His groundbreaking, psychologically based explanation confirms that our disconnections make us more destructive and that we must bear witness to nature and our consequences. "Invisible Nature "shows the way forward: how we can create more involvement in our own food production, more education about how goods are produced and waste is disposed, more direct and deliberative democracy, and greater contact with the nature that sustains us.

This book provides a snapshot of representative modeling analyses of coastal hypoxia and its effects. Hypoxia refers to conditions in the water column where dissolved oxygen falls below levels that can support most metazoan marine life (i.e., 2 mg O2 l-1). The number of hypoxic zones has been increasing at an exponential rate since the 1960s; there are currently more than 600 documented hypoxic zones in the estuarine and coastal waters worldwide. Hypoxia develops as a synergistic product of many physical and biological factors that affect the balance of dissolved oxygen in seawater, including temperature, solar radiation, wind, freshwater discharge, nutrient supply, and the production and decay of organic matter. A number of modeling approaches have been increasingly used in hypoxia research, along with the more traditional observational and experimental studies. Modeling is necessary because of rapidly changing coastal circulation and stratification patterns that affect hypoxia, the large spatial extent over which hypoxia develops, and limitations on our capabilities to directly measure hypoxia over large spatial and temporal scales. This book consists of 15 chapters that are broadly organized around three main topics: (1) Modeling of the physical controls on hypoxia, (2) Modeling of biogeochemical controls and feedbacks, and, (3) Modeling of the ecological effects of hypoxia. The final chapter is a synthesis chapter that draws generalities from the earlier chapters, highlights strengths and weaknesses of the current state-of-the-art modeling, and offers recommendations on future directions.

Man has had a complex relationship with inland drift sands through the ages. For some centuries these landscapes were seen as a threat, especially to agriculture and housing. This book considers the processes, origin, conservation and restoration of this very special but harsh biotope, one that is characterised by fields of lichens with sparse grasses and heather alongside a range of special animal, fungi and plant species.