The vast explosion of high-resolution molecular data in the past few years has provided an unprecedented glimpse into the microbial world. This book synthesises current viewpoints and knowledge on microbial ecological theory.

Managing biosecurity is everybody s business. The book s multi-site, multi-sectoral research contributes to an holistic, evidence-based strategy for managing plant biosecurity in complex contexts. The intent is to provide a starting point for all stakeholders in the biosecurity endeavor policy personnel at all levels of governance, planners and regional developers, non-government organizations, community groups and individuals to plan localized strategies that fit national needs and constraints and the way people live their lives. In putting forward a strategy, we draw on many disciplines and cultural perspectives on a problem that is fundamentally a multidisciplinary and global issue. At the same time, the contributing researchers remain aware that such a strategy is always subject to local contextual factors and influences, indigenous and local knowledge and culture, and is regarded as a tool for planning, always subject to change.

This book offers an overview of salt stress, which has a devastating effect on the yields of various agricultural crops around the globe. Excessive salts in soil reduce the availability of water, inhibit metabolic processes, and affect nutrient composition, osmotic balance, and hydraulic conductivity. Plants have developed a number of tolerance mechanisms, such as various compatible solutes, polyamines, reactive oxygen species and antioxidant defense mechanisms, ion transport and compartmentalization of injurious ions. The exploitation of genetic variation, use of plant hormones, mineral nutrients, soil microbe interactions, and other mechanical practices are of prime importance in agriculture, and as such have been the subject of multidisciplinary research. Covering both theoretical and practical aspects, the book provides essential physiological, ecological, biochemical, environmental and molecular information as well as perspectives for future research. It is a valuable resource for students, teachers and researchers and anyone interested in agronomy, ecology, stress physiology, environmental science, crop science and molecular biology.

How is a changing climate affecting hurricanes, and how are these changes intersecting with our changing exposure and vulnerability in ways that affect tropical cyclone risk? Crucially, how should this understanding be incorporated into risk management practice? This book takes a cross-sectoral look at how damaging tropical cyclone characteristics are changing and presents novel approaches to integrate science with risk assessment. In this new era of tropical cyclone impacts, understanding effective risk management practice in a changing climate is more important than ever. This book details the outcomes of new research focusing on climate risk related to hurricanes in a changing climate. Topics include characteristics of tropical cyclone risk, perspectives on hurricane risk management strategies in the built environment, and implications for commercial risk. Inspired by the Symposium on Hurricane Risk in a Changing Climate, this book brings together leading international academics and researchers, and provides a source reference for both risk managers and climate scientists for research on the interface between tropical cyclones, climate, and risk. 8 chapters are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

'Gow reinvents what it means to be a guardian of the countryside.'-Guardian 'This authentic, impassioned manifesto-cum-memoir will hopefully have a major impact on what is likely to be a long-running controversy.'-The Spectator 'Gow has a fire in his belly. We need more like him.'-BBC Wildlife Magazine A Waterstones Best Nature Writing Book of 2020 'Bringing Back the Beaver is a hilarious, eccentric and magnificent account of a struggle . . . to reintroduce a species crucial to the health of our ecosystems.'-George Monbiot Bringing Back the Beaver is farmer-turned-ecologist Derek Gow's inspirational and often riotously funny first-hand account of how the movement to rewild beavers into the British landscape became the single most dramatic and subversive nature conservation act of the modern era. Since the early 1990s - in the face of outright opposition from government, landowning elites and even some conservation professionals - Gow has imported, quarantined and assisted the reestablishment of beavers in waterways across England and Scotland. With a foreword by bestselling author of Wilding, Isabella Tree, Bringing Back the Beaver makes a passionate case as to why the return of one of nature's great problem solvers will be critical as part of a sustainable fix for the UK's growing flooding problems, whilst ensuring the creation of essential landscapes that enable the broadest spectrum of Britain's wildlife to thrive. 'It is wonderful to see that beavers are now officially back on the list of native species, having been absent for so long . . . far too long!'-Dame Judi Dench

Communication is defined as an interaction between at least two living agents which share a repertoire of signs. These are combined according to syntactic, semantic and context-dependent, pragmatic rules in order to coordinate behavior. This volume deals with the important roles of soil bacteria in parasitic and symbiotic interactions with viruses, plants, animals and fungi. Starting with a general overview of the key levels of communication between bacteria, further reviews examine the various aspects of intracellular as well as intercellular biocommunication between soil microorganisms. This includes the various levels of biocommunication between phages and bacteria, between soil algae and bacteria, and between bacteria, fungi and plants in the rhizosphere, the role of plasmids and transposons, horizontal gene transfer, quorum sensing and quorum quenching, bacterial-host cohabitation, phage-mediated genetic exchange and soil viral ecology.

The Fernow Watershed Acidification Study is a long-term, paired watershed acidification study, undertaken in the central Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia, USA. The Study, which began in 1989, includes research on biogeochemical responses of streams, soils and vegetation to air pollution, and also includes research on acidification's effects on salamanders. This book describes the responses to chronic N and S amendments by deciduous hardwood forests, one of the few studies to focus on these important hardwood forest ecosystems. Intensive monitoring of soil solution and stream chemistry, along with measurements of soil chemistry, and vegetation growth and chemistry, provide insights into the acidification process in forested watersheds, evaluating these in the context of nitrogen saturation, soil acidification and base cation leaching models.

One of the most interesting and vexing problems in ecology is how distinctly different communities of plants and animals can occur in the same ecosystem. The theory of these systems, known as multiple stable states, is well understood, but whether multiple stable states actually exist in nature has remained a hotly debated subject. Multiple Stable States in Natural Ecosystems provides a broad and synthetic critique of recent advances in theory and new experimental evidence. Modern models of systems with multiple stable states are placed in historical context. Current theories are covered in a rigorous fashion with the specific goal of identifying testable predictions about multiple stable states. The book provides a more synthetic, more critical, and broader analysis of multiple stable states in natural ecosystems than any previous review. By making the theory more transparent and the analysis of the evidence more comparative, the book broadens the discussion about multiple stable states, leading to a more general consideration of the interplay between theory and experiment in community ecology and environmental management. This accessible research monograph will be suitable for graduate students taking courses in community ecology, theoretical ecology, and restoration ecology. It will also be a valuable reference for professional ecologists and environmental managers requiring a concise overview of the topic.

This book describes how models are used to monitor crops and soils in precision agriculture, and how they are used to support farmers' decisions. The introductory section starts with an overview of precision agriculture from the early days of yield monitoring in the 1980s to the present, with a focus on the role of models. The section continues with descriptions of the different kinds of models and the opportunities for their application in precision agriculture. The section concludes with a chapter on socio-economic drivers and obstacles to the adoption of precision agriculture technologies. The middle section of the book explores the state-of-the-art in modeling for precision agriculture. Individual chapters focus on the major processes in precision agriculture: water use, nitrogen and other amendments, as well as weeds, pests and diseases. The final section contains a series of short chapters that each describe a commercial, model-based service that is currently available to farmers. The book aims to provide useful information to graduate-level professionals that want to broaden their knowledge of precision agriculture; to scientists who want to learn about using academic knowledge in practical farming; and to farmers, farm consultants and extension workers who want to increase their understanding of the science behind some of the commercial software available to the farming community.

Dokuchaev carried out most of his research in Ukraine. His student and friend, Volodymyr Vernadsky, went on to create trans-disciplinary environmental sciences and the concept of Earth as a living organism, famously taken up by James Lovelock. That spring of ideas still flows and the researches captured in this volume are relevant to present-day problems, and not only in Ukraine. Soils have always been under stress but, in the Anthropocene, mankind is in the driving seat. As a sequel to Soil Science Working for a Living: Applications of soil science to present-day problems, we consider issues of policy as well as soil genesis, attributes and functions in various environments, natural and man-made. We consider human impacts on the soil cover through its use and misuse, highlight methods of research and assessment of soil quality, and the threats of soil degradation. The distinguished contributors also describe and propose various options for evaluation and remediation of degraded soils, drawing on the latest methods of modelling and cartography as well as long-term field experiments and long experience. The book will be invaluable to researchers and practitioners in soil science including graduate and post-graduate education, academics and professionals.

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.

Water is a paramount determinant of quality of life. The WHO experts believe that the sickness and death rates of the world population could be reduced by 75% by maintaining good quality of drinking water. That is why thirty-one leading scientists and specialists from fifteen countries gathered in November 2003 at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) on "Modern Tools and Methods of Water Treatment for Improving Living Standards" in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, to discuss the scientific concepts and practical means for the solution of the complex social, economic and ecological problems associated with water purification, consumption, conservation, and protection. All this is covered in this book of proceedings of the NATO ARW.

This book contains four parts. In Part 1, the readers will find recent advances in drinking water treatment in the United States, biological control in water-cooling towers, analytical control of drinking water quality, and the use of radionuclides for monitoring global contamination. In Part 2, some innovative methods and tools, such as electrochemically-stimulated sorption and sorption-membrane methods, a bubble-extraction method, fibroid sorbents, in-situ oxygen curtain technology, use of ion-exchange membranes, electrochemically-generated silver and copper ions and colloidal gold for water purification and post-purification are presented. In Part 3, recent studies into the treatment of wastewaters could be found. Among them: water reclamation and recycling in Danish industry, biocide polymers as a new opportunity in water treatment, optimization of galvanic wastewater treatment processes, efficiency of nitrification and denitrification processes inwastewater treatment plants, electrochemical processes for wastewater purification employing fluidized beds of particles, cold plasma as a new tool for purification of wastewater from chemical contaminants, bacteria and viruses. In Part 4, examples of management of water resources in the United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Poland, Croatia, and Romania using a variety of case studies are presented. Also, the important issue of industry-university cooperation for postgraduate education and training in the water treatment area is discussed.

We believe that this book will be helpful to the international community of scientists, specialists and students dealing with water treatment, purification, conservation and protection.

Landraces possess a very large genetic base in population structure and are dynamic populations of cultivated plants with historical origin, distinct identity, and without any formal crop improvement. They are often genetically diverse, locally adapted, and associated with traditional farming systems. Resistance genes to biotic and abiotic stress factors, which are especially diversified in landraces, are of great interest to plant breeders, faced with global climate challenge. In addition, gene pools made of different landraces grown in different ecological conditions can be used for wheat breeding to enhance quality; yield and other desirable agricultural parameters. An estimated 75% of the genetic diversity of crop plants was lost in the last century due to the replacement of high yielding modern varieties. There is, thus, an urgent need to preserve existing species, not only for posterity but also as a means to secure food supply for a rising world population. In this book, we provide an overview of wheat landraces with special attention to genetic diversities, conservation, and utilization.

The goal of this Third Edition is to update long-term data presented in earlier editions and to generate new syntheses and conclusions about the biogeochemistry of the Hubbard Brook Valley based on these longer-term data. There have been many changes, revelations, and exciting new insights generated from the longer data records. For example, the impact of acid rain peaked during the period of the HBES and is now declining. The longer-term data also posed challenges in that very marked changes in fluxes occurred in some components, such as hydrogen ion and sulfate deposition, calcium and nitrate export in stream water and biomass accumulation, during the almost 50 years of record. Thus, presenting "mean" or "average" conditions for many components for such a long period, when change was so prominent, do not make sense. In some cases, pentads or decades of time are compared to show these changes in a more smoothed and rational way for this long period. In some cases, a single period, often during periods of rapid change, such as acidification, is used to illustrate the main point(s). And, for some elements a unique mass balance approach, allowing the calculation of the Net Ecosystem Flux (NEF), is shown on an annual basis throughout the study.

Mangroves are basically salt tolerant forest ecosystems found mainly in tropical and sub-tropical inter-tidal regions. Till about 1960s, mangroves were largely viewed as "economically unproductive areas" and were therefore destroyed for reclaiming land for various economic and commercial activities. Gradually, with the passage of time, the economic and ecological benefits of mangroves have become visible and their importance is now well appreciated. Today, mangroves are observed in about 30 countries in tropical subtropical regions covering an area of about 99,300 Sq.Km. However, during the past 50 years, over 50% of the mangrove cover has been lost, mainly because of the increased pressure of human activities like shrimp farming and agriculture, forestry, salt extraction, urban development, tourist development and infrastructure. Also, dam on rivers, contamination of sea waters caused by heavy metals, oil spills, pesticides and other products etc. have been found to be responsible for the decline of mangroves. Although the temperature effect on growth and species diversity is not known, sea-level rise may pose a serious threat to these ecosystems The present book addresses all these important issues in separate chapters with some interesting case studies whose data may serve as pathfinder for future researches in the sphere of the influence of climate change on mangrove ecosystem. The role of mangroves in the sector of bioremediation is a unique feather in the crown of this coastal and brackishwater vegetation that may be taken up by the coastal industries in order to maintain the health of ambient environment. This book seeks to discover and to assess the vulnerability of climate change on mangrove flora and fauna, their role in carbon sequestration and some interesting case studies by some groups of dedicated researchers that may serve as the basis of future climate related policies.

This book describes the alarming condition of agriculture in the Anthropocene, when the ethical conception of agriculture as a service of common utility for both society and environment has progressively been marginalized. The ethical utility of agriculture has been sidetracked with the increasing industrialisation of society, the involvement of agriculture in the business-as-usual economy, and the consequential environmental and societal impacts it has had. Thus, re-establishing a meaningful bridge between ethics and agriculture is necessary. A relatively new science (ecology) with both a new epistemological tool (that of the ecosystem concept), and a unique narrative of sustainable development, can help bridge this gap. This book focuses on ethics as a lever for raising scientific, technical, social, economic and political solutions to adopt in agriculture as a model of symbiotic relationships between man and nature. It provides a detailed discussion of the ecological intensification practices in order to maximize ecological and ethical services, wherein agroecosystems will follow.

This book complies latest advancement in the field of environmental biotechnology. It focuses on topics that comprises industrial, environment and agricultural related issues to microbiological studies and exhibits correlation between biological world and dependence of humans on it. It is designed into three sections covering the role of environmental biotechnology in industry, environmental remediation, and agriculture. Ranging from micro-scale studies to macro, it covers up a huge domain of environmental biotechnology. Overall the book portrays the importance of modern biotechnology technologies in solving the problems in modern day life. The book is a ready reference for practicing students, researchers of biotechnology, environmental engineering, chemical engineering and other allied fields likewise.

The International Decade for the East African Lakes (IDEAL) has completed its first phase of field studies, and has assembled in this volume its findings, ranging from seismic reflections to historical drought chronologies, geochemistry, and modern food web processes. Multidisciplinary IDEAL investigations are summarized and integrated, revealing that modern changes in the East African lakes share a continuity with past variations in climate and environmental conditions. Results from an array of disciplinary perspectives and evidentiary lines point to the causative role of modern climate variation in the deterioration of Lake Victoria, one of the most prominent lakes on the planet. The ancient conditions of Victoria and other East African lakes are reconstructed with forensic tools that permit measurements of paleomagnetism, pollen and algal fossils, biogenic minerals, depositional carbonates, and bulk geochemistry. Oral traditions, explorer's journals, and records of the ancient Nile provide human testimonies that parallel the physical record. Studies of biological production, nutrient dynamics, and lower food web processes reveal how the lake communities function at the trophic levels that leave sedimentary evidence in the form of organic matter, minerals, and fossils. Comparisons of weather records and lake properties demonstrate a striking change in climate conditions during the present century with causal links to lake conditions. The collected scientific perspective makes a compelling case for the worth of integrated studies across a spectrum of traditional specialties when they are focused on complex environmental issues.

Recent studies have greatly contributed to a better understanding of the earth's ecosystem. This abundantly illustrated book provides a fundamental introduction to the ecological zones of the geosphere. Nine terrestrial ecozones have been distinguished and described in individual chapters with respect to: distribution, climate, relief/hydrology, soil vegetation/animal lifeand land use. The first chapter provides the reader with a general introduction to each subject area.

The second edition is a competely revised and updated version. A large number of new Anglo-American ecological studies are included. The book also includes more than 70 new figures and tables and detailed maps on global agricultural regions and soil classification. Another new feature is the discussion of the correlation between northern ecosystems and the carbon dioxide balance in the global atmosphere.

This book presents research findings and conclusions that has been developed as algorithms or intelligent new methods solving problems in the fields of air pollution, climate and health, natural hazards and risks, water resources, human activities and management and informatics, remote sensing, high-performance computing and GIS for environmental monitoring and management. Environmental protection and disaster risk topics are challenging fields, that scientific world is trying to address as much as it can. Earthquakes, floods, fires, droughts, blizzards, dust storms, natural releases of toxic gases and liquids, diseases and other environmental variations affect hundreds of millions of people each year. Many disaster events are triggered by human activities. Dealing with these problems will require systems thinking and integrating multidisciplinary science. Actions in these directions are taken more and more in the recent years by political bodies, NGOs and scientific groups trying to find sustainable solutions for the future generations. Every point of view matter when it comes to our global home - The Planet Earth.

This book is a collection of comprehensive and latest information on all aspects of vaccination in fish and shellfish. It provides the basic understanding about the immune system of both fish and crustaceans, besides giving the latest information on adjuvants, vaccine delivery methods, adverse effects of vaccines and methods to assess the efficacy of vaccines. Separate chapters on the role of pattern recognition receptors and interferons in fish vaccination, biofilm vaccines and biosafety and regulatory requirements for fish vaccines are also included. Aquaculture, being the fastest growing food producing industry in the world, is looked upon for alleviating the malnutrition especially among the under privileged population. However, intensive aquaculture practices have led to increased incidences of diseases and significant production losses. Among various health management measures employed in aquaculture, vaccination has been proven to be the best approach to protect fish against pathogens. It is considered to be safe and is a key factor for sustainable aquaculture. In this background, apart from the basic understanding of fish and shellfish immune system, updated knowledge on various types of vaccines and the vaccination strategies currently employed in aquaculture are also covered. The book is designed to provide the latest and comprehensive knowledge on all these aspects as a compiled resource material which is useful to students, researchers and other professionals in the field of aquaculture.

The rapid urbanization and industrialization of developing countries across the globe have necessitated for substantial resource utilization and development in the areas of Healthcare, Environment, and Renewable energy. In this context ,this resourceful book serves as a definitive source of information for the recent developments in application of microbial enzymes in various sectors. It covers applications in fermentation processes and their products, extraction and utilisation of enzymes from various sources and their application in health and biomass conversion for production of value added products. Different chapters discuss various areas of bioprospecting in enzyme technology, and describe why these are the mainstays for industrial production of value added products. The rich compilation of the cutting-edge advances and applications of the modern industrial based techniques hold feasible solutions for a range of current issues in enzyme technology. This book will be of particular interest for scientists, academicians, technical resource persons, engineers and members of industry. Undergraduate and graduate students pursuing courses in the area of industrial biotechnology will find the information in the book valuable. General readers having interest towards biofuels, enzyme technology, fermented food and value added products, phytochemicals and phytopharmaceutical products will also find the book appealing. Readers will discover modern concepts of enzymatic bioprocess technology for production of therapeutics and industrial value added products.

This book highlights the best practices regarding nanoscience and nanotechnology for agriculture and environmental sectors to shape sustainable development thought to improve the quality and quantity of the agriculture products and to decrease the collateral effect of nanotechnology in the ecosystems. Besides, leading nanotechnologies are showed and discussed to guarantee their proper management in lands and ecosystems. Therefore, nanotechnologies such as agronanobiotechnology, nanofertilization, pest control, magnetofection for plant breeding, plant molecular farming, OMICs technologies, phytonanotechnology, nanoremediation, etc. are described in five sections and 21 chapters. Undoubtedly it is an ideal and updated book for undergraduate or postgraduate students, and scientists or researchers involved in nanoscience, nanotechnology, crop production, and remediation technologies as well as for those researchers that solving technical problems regarding the crop management and the human and environmental health without hampering the pursuit of sustainable development goals.

This book presents a comprehensive overview and analysis of mangrove ecological processes, structure, and function at the local, biogeographic, and global scales and how these properties interact to provide key ecosystem services to society. The analysis is based on an international collaborative effort that focuses on regions and countries holding the largest mangrove resources and encompasses the major biogeographic and socio-economic settings of mangrove distribution. Given the economic and ecological importance of mangrove wetlands at the global scale, the chapters aim to integrate ecological and socio-economic perspectives on mangrove function and management using a system-level hierarchical analysis framework. The book explores the nexus between mangrove ecology and the capacity for ecosystem services, with an emphasis on thresholds, multiple stressors, and local conditions that determine this capacity. The interdisciplinary approach and illustrative study cases included in the book will provide valuable resources in data, information, and knowledge about the current status of one of the most productive coastal ecosystem in the world.