Networks of Invasion: Networks of Invasion: Empirical Evidence and Case Studies, Volume 57 bridges a conceptual gap between ecological network studies and invasion biology studies. This book contains chapters detailing pressing concerns regarding invasive species in food webs, but also extends the idea of networks of invasion to other systems, such as mutualistic networks or even the human microbiome. Chapters describe the tools, models and empirical methods adapted for tackling invasions in ecological networks, including sections on parasites and biological invasions, invasions in freshwater systems, and those in host-associated microbiome networks. In addition, the book provides interesting discussions on the importance of microorganisms and their relationship to macroorganisms.

Quantifying and Managing Soil Functions in Earth's Critical Zone: Combining Experimentation and Mathematical Modelling, Volume 142, the latest in the Advances in Agronomy series continues its reputation as a leading reference and first-rate source for the latest research in agronomy. Each volume contains an eclectic group of reviews by leading scientists throughout the world. Five volumes are published yearly, ensuring that the authors' contributions are disseminated to the readership in a timely manner. As always, the subjects covered are varied and exemplary of the myriad of subject matter dealt with by this long-running serial.

From bestselling authors and journalistic titans Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, Abundance is a once-in-a-generation, paradigm-shifting call to renew a politics of plenty, face up to the failures of liberal governance, and abandon the chosen scarcities that have deformed American life.

To trace the history of the twenty-first century so far is to trace a history of unaffordability and shortage. After years of refusing to build sufficient housing, America has a national housing crisis. After years of limiting immigration, we don’t have enough workers. Despite decades of being warned about the consequences of climate change, we haven’t built anything close to the clean-energy infrastructure we need. Ambitious public projects are finished late and over budget—if they are ever finished at all. The crisis that’s clicking into focus now has been building for decades—because we haven’t been building enough.

Abundance explains that our problems today are not the results of yesteryear’s villains. Rather, one generation’s solutions have become the next generation’s problems. Rules and regulations designed to solve the problems of the 1970s often prevent urban-density and green-energy projects that would help solve the problems of the 2020s. Laws meant to ensure that government considers the consequences of its actions have made it too difficult for government to act consequentially. In the last few decades, our capacity to see problems has sharpened while our ability to solve them has diminished.

Progress requires facing up to the institutions in life that are not working as they need to. It means, for liberals, recognizing when the government is failing. It means, for conservatives, recognizing when the government is needed. In a book exploring how we can move from a liberalism that not only protects and pre­serves but also builds, Klein and Thompson trace the political, economic, and cultural barriers to progress and propose a path toward a politics of abundance. At a time when movements of scarcity are gaining power in country after country, this is an answer that meets the challenges of the moment while grappling honestly with the fury so many rightfully feel.

"We have to adapt to the impacts that, unfortunately, we can no longer avoid", said President Obama at the UN Climate Summit in September 2014. Adaptation and resilience are now a must in both academic research and international bodies. A fashionable concept, resilience's polysemy sparks many debates on its uses and operational relevance. This book bridges the increasing divide between academic research and the latest planning innovations, offering practical and conceptual insights for practitioners, researchers and students. Magali Reghezza-Zitt and Samuel Rufat present a cross-disciplinary, state-of-the-art debate and critical analysis of the social, spatial, practical and political implications of resilience.

This book is the result of over ten years of field research across Zambia. It covers the production and diverse uses of wood and non-wood forest products in different parts of Zambia. Although a short format, it is a multi-contributed work. It starts an overview of the forestry sector, and covers more specific areas like production, markets and trade of wood and non-wood products; the role of non-wood forest products in the livelihood of the local population, the contribution of the forestry sector to Zambia's overall economy and reviews of efforts to strategically utilize these resources for local economic, and sustainable, development.

This unique seminal work is the only book which comprehensively addresses current environmental management in South Africa from an interdisciplinary perspective.

The third edition of Fuggle & Rabie’s Environmental Management in South Africa sheds light on the legal frameworks in regional and international environmental law, administrative law and the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA).

Key themes addressed in environmental management, including agriculture and soils, air quality, biodiversity, climate change, energy, the coast, economics, trade and the role of financial institutions (among others), are covered from both scientific and legal perspectives.

Materials for Carbon Dioxide Mitigation Technology offers expert insight and experience from recognized authorities in advanced material development in carbon mitigation technology and constitutes a comprehensive guide to the selection and design of a wide range of solvent/sorbent/catalyst used by scientists globally. It appeals to chemical scientists, material scientists and engineers, energy researchers, and environmental scientists from academia, industry, and government in their research directed toward greener, more efficient carbon mitigation processes.

Chemostratigraphy: Concepts, Techniques, and Applications is the first collection of contributed articles that introduces young geoscientists to the discipline while providing seasoned practitioners with a standard reference that showcases the topic's most recent research and application developments. This multi-contributed reference on one of the youngest and most dynamic branches of the geosciences includes articles from some of the world's leading researchers. This book is a one-stop source of chemostratigraphy theory and application, helping geoscientists navigate through the wealth of new research that has emerged in recent years.

Harde band, meer as 400 volkleurfoto's

Ook beskikbaar in Engels - Guide to the Aloes of South Africa

Gids tot die Aalwyne van Suid-Afrika is die eerste volledige en moderne aalwyngids in Afrikaans. Dit is 'n volkleur-handleiding en die hoë gehalte foto's maak dit vir die algemene belangstellende sowel as die wetenskaplike maklik om aalwyne in die natuur en in tuine te identifiseer. Die inhoud weerspieël die nuutste wetenskaplike bevindings en bevat:
Volledige beskrywings van al 155 spesies wat tans deur aalwynkenners erken word, met inligting oor kenmerke waarvolgens die plante geïdentifiseer kan word, blomtyd, habitat en geografiese verspreiding, bewaringstatus, oorsprong van die wetenskaplike name, en volksname, asook algemene riglyne vir die kweek van die plante, en inligting oor hul tradisionele gebruike.
Meer as 400 kleurfoto's wat die habitat en groeivorm aantoon, sowel as nabyfoto's van die blomme en blare.
Verspreidingskaarte van al die spesies, as 'n verdere hulpmiddel vir identifisering.
'n Gebruikersvriendelike klassifikasiestelsel wat die aalwyne in 12 groepe verdeel, hoofsaaklik aan die hand van hul groeivorms.
Inleidende hoofstukke wat die fokus plaas op aalwynagtige plante (wat met aalwyne verwar kan word); medisinale, kosmetiese en tonikumgebruike; bewaring; kweking en vermeerdering; tuinmaak en landskapontwerp met aalwyne; hibriede en kultivars, plae en siektes; en verwantskappe en genuskonsepte.
'n Geïllustreerde woordelys van plantkundige terme, indeks tot die wetenskaplike en volksname, asook 'n literatuurlys vir verdere leeswerk.

Die outeurs: Ben-Erik van Wyk is 'n professor in Plantkunde aan die Universiteit van Johannesburg en het 'n navorsingsbelangstelling in plantsistematiek en plantbenutting. Hy is die skrywer van internasionale wetenskaplike topverkopers soos Medicinal Plants of the World en Food Plants of the World.
Gideon F. Smith is Hoofdirekteur van Biosistematiek en Versamelings by die Suid- Afrikaanse Nasionale Biodiversiteitsinstituut, professor in Plantwetenskap aan die Universiteit van Pretoria, en 'n navorsingsgenoot aan die Universiteit van Coimbra in Portugal. Hy is die skrywer of medeskrywer van meer as 40 boeke oor onder meer aalwyne, sukkulente, tuinbou, tuine, Angola, taksonomie en indringerplante.

For much of its history, human population growth increased at a glacial pace. The demographic rate only soared about 200 years ago, climaxing in the period 1950-2000. In that 50-year span, the population grew more than it had in the previous 5000 years. Though these raw numbers are impressive, they conceal the fact that the growth rate of population topped out in the 1960s. The apparent population boom may be approaching a population bust, despite our coexistence with more than seven billion people. In On the Cusp, economist Charles Pearson explores the meaning of this population trend from the arc of demographic growth to decline. He reviews Thomas Malthus's famous 1798 argument that human population would exceed the earth's carrying capacity, and explains why this surfaces periodically when birth rates strongly exceed 2.1 children per household. Analyzing population trends through dual lenses - demography and economics - Pearson examines the potential opportunities and challenges of population decline and aging. In many industrialized countries, the combination of an aging population and considerable food security may call for policies that boost fertility, immigration, and worker participation, reform pension schemes, and ease concern over moderating rates of population and economic growth. Sharp and occasionally funny, Pearson's research has thought-provoking implications for future public policies. Pearson ends his analysis with a mildly hopeful conclusion, noting that both the rich and the poor face a new demographic order. Bold and comprehensive, general readers and students alike will find On the Cusp an informative and engaging read.

In March 2011 the Fukushima nuclear power plant (NPP) in Japan was hit by an earthquake and subsequent tsunami which resulted in the release of significant amounts of radioactive material. The incident led to the suspension of nuclear programmes by a number of countries. This book provides a definitive account of the accident.

This Third Edition of Elements of Petroleum Geology is completely updated and revised to reflect the vast changes in the field since publication of the Second Edition. This book is a usefulprimer for geophysicists, geologists, and petroleum engineers in the oil industry who wish to expand their knowledge beyond their specialized area. It is also an excellent introductory text for a university course in petroleum geoscience. Elements of Petroleum Geology begins with an account of the physical and chemical properties of petroleum, reviewing methods of petroleum exploration and production. These methods include drilling, geophysical exploration techniques, wireline logging, and subsurface geological mapping. After describing the temperatures and pressures of the subsurface environment and the hydrodynamics of connate fluids, Selley examines the generation and migration of petroleum, reservoir rocks and trapping mechanisms, and the habit of petroleum in sedimentary basins. The book contains an account of the composition and formation of tar sands and oil shales, and concludes with a brief review of prospect risk analysis, reserve estimation, and other economic topics.

Radioactive waste management and contaminated site clean-up reviews radioactive waste management processes, technologies, and international experiences. Part one explores the fundamentals of radioactive waste including sources, characterisation, and processing strategies. International safety standards, risk assessment of radioactive wastes and remediation of contaminated sites and irradiated nuclear fuel management are also reviewed. Part two highlights the current international situation across Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. The experience in Japan, with a specific chapter on Fukushima, is also covered. Finally, part three explores the clean-up of sites contaminated by weapons programmes including the USA and former USSR.
Radioactive waste management and contaminated site clean-up is a comprehensive resource for professionals, researchers, scientists and academics in radioactive waste management, governmental and other regulatory bodies and the nuclear power industry.
Explores the fundamentals of radioactive waste including sources, characterisation, and processing strategiesReviews international safety standards, risk assessment of radioactive wastes and remediation of contaminated sites and irradiated nuclear fuel managementHighlights the current international situation across Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America specifically including a chapter on the experience in Fukushima, Japan

This book is the first comprehensive treatment of the major ethical and social issues resulting from the use of ionizing radiation. It covers topics such as nuclear fuel cycles, radioactive waste treatment, nuclear bomb testing, nuclear safety management, stakeholder engagement, cleanup after nuclear accidents, ecological risks from radiation, environmental justice, health and safety for radiation workers, radiation dose standards, the ethics of clinical radiology, and the principles of radiation protection and their ethical underpinnings. With authors ranging from philosophers to radiation protection officials and practitioners, the book spans from theoretical to practical implications of this important area of radiation risk assessment and management.
Covers all the major social and ethical issues in relation to radiation protectionInformation is easily accessible and non-technicalAuthors include leading radiation protection officials as well as specialists who are more independent of the radiation protection system, thus presenting both authoritative and more critical viewsIncludes theoretical perspectives as well as practical experience

Lubricants are essential in engineering, however more sustainable formulations are needed to avoid adverse effects on the ecosystem. Bio-based lubricant formulations present a promising solution. Biolubricants: Science and technology is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary and timely review of this important subject.
Initial chapters address the principles of lubrication, before systematically reviewing fossil and bio-based feedstock resources for biodegradable lubricants. Further chapters describe catalytic, (bio) chemical functionalisation processes for transformation of feedstocks into commercial products, product development, relevant legislation, life cycle assessment, major product groups and specific performance criteria in all major applications. Final chapters consider markets for biolubricants, issues to consider when selecting and using a lubricant, lubricant disposal and future trends.
With its distinguished authors, Biolubricants: Science and technology is a comprehensive reference for an industrial audience of oil formulators and lubrication engineers, as well as researchers and academics with an interest in the subject. It provides an essential overview of scientific and technological developments enabling the cost-effective improvement of biolubricants, something that is crucial for the green future of the lubricant industry.
A comprehensive, interdisciplinary and timely review of bio-based lubricant formulationsAddresses the principles of lubricationReviews fossil and bio-based feedstock resources for biodegradable lubricants

Bringing together ecology, evolutionary moral psychology, and environmental ethics, J. Baird Callicott counters the narrative of blame and despair that prevails in contemporary discussions of climate ethics and offers a fresh, more optimistic approach. Whereas other environmental ethicists limit themselves to what Callicott calls Rational Individualism in discussing the problem of climate change only to conclude that, essentially, there is little hope that anything will be done in the face of its "perfect moral storm" (in Stephen Gardiner's words), Callicott refuses to accept this view. Instead, he encourages us to look to the Earth itself, and consider the crisis on grander spatial and temporal scales, as we have failed to in the past. Callicott supports this theory by exploring and enhancing Aldo Leopold's faint sketch of an Earth ethic in "Some Fundamentals of Conservation in the Southwest," a seldom-studied text from the early days of environmental ethics that was written in 1923 but not published until 1979 after the environmental movement gathered strength.

Global populations have grown rapidly in recent decades, leading to ever increasing demands for shelter, resources, energy and utilities. Coupled with the worldwide need to achieve lower impact buildings and conservation of resources, the need to achieve sustainability in urban environments has never been more acute. This book critically reviews the fundamental issues and applied science, engineering and technology that will enable all cities to achieve a greater level of metropolitan sustainability, and assist nations in meeting the needs of their growing urban populations.
Part one introduces key issues related to metropolitan sustainability, including the use of both urban metabolism and benefit cost analysis. Part two focuses on urban land use and the environmental impact of the built environment. The urban heat island effect, redevelopment of brownfield sites and urban agriculture are discussed in depth, before part three goes on to explore urban air pollution and emissions control. Urban water resources, reuse and management are explored in part four, followed by a study of urban energy supply and management in part five. Solar, wind and bioenergy, the role of waste-to-energy systems in the urban infrastructure, and smart energy for cities are investigated. Finally, part six considers sustainable urban development, transport and planning.
With its distinguished editor and international team of expert contributors, Metropolitan sustainability is an essential resource for low-impact building engineers, sustainability consultants and architects, town and city planners, local/municipal authorities, and national and non-governmental bodies, and provides a thorough overview for academics of all levels in this field.
Critically reviews the fundamental issues and applied science, engineering and technology that will enable all cities to achieve a greater level of metropolitan sustainabilityWill assist nations in meeting the needs of their growing urban populationsChapters discuss urban land use, the environmental impact of the build environment, the urban heat island effect, urban air pollution and emissions control, among other topics

Now more than ever we are facing pressing world challenges of energy (identifying alternate energy), food (ensuring the food supply), water (providing clean water), and human health (enabling individualized medicine); and to solve these challenges will require chemistry and the related chemical sciences. Integrating sustainability into everything we do from instituting responsible operations, to selecting partners for change and innovating sustainable solutions. Industry needs academe to prepare their graduates to ascend the ladder with skill and agility. This can only be done by integrating sustainability expeditiously into chemistry curricula.

This book makes a serious effort at bringing forth and synergistically combining the concepts of green chemistry, sustainability and nanotechnology and should motivate scientistsat all levels to think clearly and seriously about creating and optimizing novel and sustainable green approaches to nanotechnology. The chapters in this book can be divided into three broad categories: 1) Advancement in research on pollution control through the green chemistry principles of nanotechnology; 2) Emergence of nanomaterials in widespread applications in various scientific fields, including but not limited to sensors and catalysts; 3) Extension of research into nanotechnology and green nanotechnology at a rapid pace. Review articles on the individual aspects of these diverse and complementary topics have become important resources for researchers, industry leaders, and regulators, both nationally and internationally. This book contains a few chapters associated with these particular themes, and provides glimpses of the many difficulties and challenges faced by those who seek to not only understand but also regulate the new nanomaterials. Nanotechnology represents a unique field of science, and necessitates new and novel sustainable approaches to create usable end products for the market place with the primary goal of yielding less adverse effects upon both human health and the environment.

Rivers are significant geomorphological agents, they show an amazing diversity of form and behaviour and transfer water and sediment from the land surface to the oceans. This book examines how river systems respond to environmental change and why this understanding is needed for successful river management. Highly dynamic in nature, river channels adjust and evolve over timescales that range from hours to tens of thousands of years or more, and are found in a wide range of environments. This book provides a comprehensive overview of recent developments in river channel management, clearly illustrating why an understanding of fluvial geomorphology is vital in channel preservation, environmentally sensitive design and the restoration of degraded river channels. It covers: flow and sediment regimes: flow generation; flow regimes; sediment sources, transfer and yield channel processes: flow characteristics; processes of erosion and sediment transport; interactions between flow and the channel boundary; deposition channel form and behaviour: controls on channel form; channel adjustments; floodplain development; form and behaviour of alluvial and bedrock channels response to change: how channels have responded to past environmental change; impacts of human activity; reconstructing past changes river management: the fluvial hydrosystem; environmental degradation; environmentally sensitive engineering techniques; river restoration; the role of the fluvial geomorphologist. Fundamentals of Fluvial Geomorphology is an indispensable text for undergraduate students. It provides straightforward explanations for important concepts and mathematical formulae, backed up with conceptual diagrams and appropriate examples from around the world to show what they actually mean and why they are important. A colour plate section also shows spectacular examples of fluvial diversity.

The Protection of Subjects in Human Research rule by the USEPA, including the establishment of the Human Studies Review Board (HSRB), has resulted in changes to both study design and study evaluation processes, particularly with respect to ethical considerations. Non-Dietary Human Exposure andRisk Assessment is a compilation of the presentations given in a symposium of the same name at the 238th ACS National Meeting in Washington D.C. The purpose of the symposium was to provide a forum for scientists from industry, academia, and government to share investigative methods used to generate data for use in non-dietary human risk assessments and to share methodology for performing and evaluating those assessments.
This compilation is intended to provide the reader with a concise overview of the current status of both the scientific and regulatory aspects of non-dietary human exposure and risk assessment as applied to pesticides. It is the hope of the editors that it will also be the starting point for discussions leading to the further refinement of study and risk assessment design, data evaluation, and regulatory harmonization.
Three major areas are covered in this symposium edition. The first area is regulatory issues including the development of the Protection of Subjects in Human Research rule and the HSRB, statistical procedures involved in designing human exposure studies, handling of the data generated in those studies, and quality assurance processes related to worker exposure studies. The second area, study design, includes processes for the identification and recruitment of volunteers for human exposure studies, overviews of several studies that have been recently performed, the development of procedures for evaluating the resulting data by Regulatory Agencies, and efforts towards international cooperation in the generation and use of exposure data. The final area, methodology, includes examples of the development of methods for the analysis of samples generated in non-dietary human exposure studies with particular emphasis on the use of hyphenated techniques and the development of a model for determining greenhouse exposures that is currently being used in Europe.