Addresses One of the Supreme Threats to Biodiversity

As the worldwide human population explodes and trade becomes increasingly globalized, the transboundary movement of plant species from their place of origin to foreign regions is escalating and expected to experience continued growth in the coming decades. Invasive Plants and Forest Ecosystems takes an informed and integrated approach to the current onslaught of invasive species, spotlighting the tremendous challenges they pose for natural resource managers charged with the maintenance of biological diversity and the sustainable production of forest wealth. It addresses the havoc these alien invaders are wrecking on native forest ecosystems and the staggering $300 billion annually in damage and control costs they incur.

An Up-to-Date Synthesis of Invasive Plants, Their Impact, and Control Strategies

Examining invasion ecology through both synthesis and original research chapters, this compilation gives a bird's eye view of the ecological impact alien invaders have both in temperate and tropical climates. With internationally recognized contributors, this text explores the socioeconomic and policy aspects of adaptive collaborative management strategies that are crucial to controlling alien invasive plants. This book successfully captures the current state of knowledge surrounding this fast-growing ecological issue, making it an indispensable resource for those committed to the protection of global forestry and natural resources.

Bringing together a wealth of knowledge, the Handbook of Environmental Management, Second Edition, gives a comprehensive overview of environmental problems, their sources, their assessment, and their solutions. Through in-depth entries, and a topical table of contents, readers will quickly find answers to questions about pollution and management issues. This six-volume set is a reimagining of the award-winning Encyclopedia of Environmental Management, published in 2013, and features insights from more than 500 contributors, all experts in their fields. The experience, evidence, methods, and models used in studying environmental management is presented here in six stand-alone volumes, arranged along the major environmental systems. Features of the new edition: The first handbook that demonstrates the key processes and provisions for enhancing environmental management. Addresses new and cutting -edge topics on ecosystem services, resilience, sustainability, food-energy-water nexus, socio-ecological systems and more. Provides an excellent basic knowledge on environmental systems, explains how these systems function and offers strategies on how to best manage them. Includes the most important problems and solutions facing environmental management today.

Bringing together a wealth of knowledge, Environmental Management Handbook, Second Edition, gives a comprehensive overview of environmental problems, their sources, their assessment, and their solutions. Through in-depth entries and a topical table of contents, readers will quickly find answers to questions about environmental problems and their corresponding management issues. This six-volume set is a reimagining of the award-winning Encyclopedia of Environmental Management, published in 2013, and features insights from more than 500 contributors, all experts in their field. The experience, evidence, methods, and models used in studying environmental management are presented here in six stand-alone volumes, arranged along the major environmental systems. Features The first handbook that demonstrates the key processes and provisions for enhancing environmental management Addresses new and cutting-edge topics on ecosystem services, resilience, sustainability, food-energy-water nexus, socio-ecological systems, and more Provides an excellent basic knowledge on environmental systems, explains how these systems function, and offers strategies on how to best manage them Includes the most important problems and solutions facing environmental management today In this first volume, Managing Global Resources and Universal Processes, the reader is introduced to the general concepts and processes used in environmental management. As an excellent resource for finding basic knowledge on environmental systems, it reflects an extensive coverage of the field and includes the most important problems and solutions facing environmental management today. This book practically demonstrates the key processes, methods, and models used in studying environmental management.

Bringing together a wealth of knowledge, the Handbook of Environmental Management, Second Edition, gives a comprehensive overview of environmental problems, their sources, their assessment, and their solutions. Through in-depth entries, and a topical table of contents, readers will quickly find answers to questions about pollution and management issues. This six-volume set is a reimagining of the award-winning Encyclopedia of Environmental Management, published in 2013, and features insights from more than 500 contributors, all experts in their fields. The experience, evidence, methods, and models used in studying environmental management is presented here in six stand-alone volumes, arranged along the major environmental systems. Features of the new edition: The first handbook that demonstrates the key processes and provisions for enhancing environmental management. Addresses new and cutting -edge topics on ecosystem services, resilience, sustainability, food-energy-water nexus, socio-ecological systems and more. Provides an excellent basic knowledge on environmental systems, explains how these systems function and offers strategies on how to best manage them. Includes the most important problems and solutions facing environmental management today. In this second volume, Managing Air Quality and Energy Systems, the reader is introduced to the general concepts and processes of the atmosphere, with its related systems. This volume explains how these systems function and provides strategies on how to best manage them. It serves as an excellent resource for finding basic knowledge on the atmosphere, and includes important problems and solutions that environmental managers face today. This book practically demonstrates the key processes, methods, and models used in studying environmental management.

Forest Management and Planning, Second Edition, addresses contemporary forest management planning issues, providing a concise, focused resource for those in forest management. The book is intermixed with chapters that concentrate on quantitative subjects, such as economics and linear programming, and qualitative chapters that provide discussions of important aspects of natural resource management, such as sustainability. Expanded coverage includes a case study of a closed canopy, uneven-aged forest, new forest plans from South America and Oceania, and a new chapter on scenario planning and climate change adaptation.

Remote sensing and GIS are increasingly used as tools for monitoring and managing forests. Remotely sensed and GIS data are now the data sources of choice for capturing, documenting, and understanding forest disturbance and landscape pattern. Sitting astride the fields of ecology, forestry, and remote sensing/GIS, Understanding Forest Disturbance and Spatial Pattern: Remote Sensing and GIS Approaches takes you through the general biological or landscape ecological context of forest disturbance to remote sensing and GIS technological approaches and pattern description and analysis, with compelling applied examples of integration and synthesis. Written by experts, peer-reviewed to adhere to the strictest standards and highest quality criteria, these chapters discuss natural and human-caused forest change and consider factors such as biological setting, monitoring approaches, scale issues, and pattern analysis. The book explores forest disturbance and spatial pattern from an ecological point-of-view within the context of structure, function, pattern, and change. It concludes with a summary of the issues related to detection and mapping of forest disturbances with remotely sensed and GIS data. The authors elucidate how the elements presented, from ecological underpinnings, data considerations, change detection method, and pattern analysis, combine into a problem solving, information generating approach. You may find this subject covered briefly in a small sub-section in remote sensing forestry texts, or in limited technical detail in the ecology literature. The in-depth, detailed information provided in this book allows you to develop an understanding of the application of BOTH remote sensing and GIS technologies to forest change and the impacts of fire, insect infestation, forest harvesting, and other potential change influences - such as extreme weather events. This book provides guidance on how to master the challenges of capturing and characterizing forest disturbance and spatial patterns.

Trees and plants are important components of the human environment having significant presence beyond agricultural and recreational values. Colour Atlas of Woody Plants and Trees presents a photographic compilation of morphological features of trees and shrubs giving attention to their unique aspects not presented in existing books. By increasing awareness to users through high quality, full-color photographs and informative text, this book demonstrates the enormous diversity of vascular trees and plants living today. Features: Full color atlas offers concise, but highly informative text accompanied by over 200 high-resolution digital tree images Contains images of the anatomy of tree structures and evolution of the most important features of trees Presents information on the varied structure and morphology exhibited by trees and demonstrates their vital importance in the current struggle for the survival of our human society Surveys the most important morphological features of plants, shrubs and trees Presents aspects of plants and trees both common and rarely seen in nature Bryan Geoffrey Bowes is a retired Senior Lecturer in the Botany Department at Glasgow University and was a Research Fellow in ETH Zurich, Harvard University, and University of New England, Australia. His research interests encompass plant anatomy and ultrastructure, plant regeneration, and morphogenesis in vitro.

Bringing together a wealth of knowledge, Environmental Management Handbook, Second Edition, gives a comprehensive overview of environmental problems, their sources, their assessment, and their solutions. Through in-depth entries and a topical table of contents, readers will quickly find answers to questions about environmental problems and their corresponding management issues. This six-volume set is a reimagining of the award-winning Encyclopedia of Environmental Management, published in 2013, and features insights from more than 400 contributors, all experts in their field. The experience, evidence, methods, and models used in studying environmental management are presented here in six stand-alone volumes, arranged along the major environmental systems. Features The first handbook that demonstrates the key processes and provisions for enhancing environmental management Addresses new and cutting-edge topics on ecosystem services, resilience, sustainability, food-energy-water nexus, socio-ecological systems, and more Provides an excellent basic knowledge on environmental systems, explains how these systems function, and offers strategies on how to best manage them Includes the most important problems and solutions facing environmental management today In this second volume, Managing Biological and Ecological Systems, the reader is introduced to the general concepts and processes of the biosphere and all its systems. This volume explains how these systems function and provides strategies on how to best manage them. It serves as an excellent resource for finding basic knowledge on the biosphere and ecological systems and includes important problems and solutions that environmental managers face today. This book practically demonstrates the key processes, methods, and models used in studying environmental management.

Forest management auditing is expanding from its traditional focus on forest management, stewardship and Chain of Custody certification to more innovative topics such as ecosystem services, forest carbon credits, Non-Wood Forest Products, wood energy and Fair Trade certification. Forest managers, auditors and project developers require a new range of skills, capacities and expertise to monitor these issues. This book outlines the market-based tools that are required by such professionals to ensure corporate social responsibility in the forestry sector. It shows how a mutual learning process between established forest certification processes and innovative markets is needed. It addresses key topics such as High Conservation Value (HCV) approaches, the role of independent certification versus due diligence process and the engagement of smallholders and SMEs. Beginning with a market and policy analysis, the book fosters a deeper understanding of standards, methodologies and auditing techniques. Numerous case studies are included from a wide range of contexts, including both temperate and tropical forests in developed and developing countries. Overall, the book analyses all the steps towards forest management and forest products and services certification.

The chemicals from plant sources, generally termed as phytochemicals, play an important role in acceptance or rejection of the plant by the pests as they could be distasteful or toxic on one hand or on the other hand specialist herbivores have the capability to feed on many such chemicals, as they are able to process these natural products in a manner that is beneficial to them. In the wake of increasing environmental degradation due to burgeoning synthetic chemicals, there has been a process going on to rediscover the usefulness of plants and herbs and a continued effort for more than 2 decades has been to study the green products for cures for several ailments and pest management. In fact, according to Indian Medicinal Plants: A Sectoral Study, the global trade for medicinal plants amounts to about US $ 60 billion and the world demand continues to grow at the rate of 7 per cent per annum. Although many such plants are known in literature, neem has been one of trees with mani-fold virtues. Indian neem tree, Azadirachta indica A. Juss, which is a large evergreen tree, is an outstanding example among plants that has been subject matter of numerous scientific studies concerning its utilization in medicine, industry and agriculture. So far neem preparations have been evaluated against more than 500 species of insects and more than 400 hundred are reported to be susceptible at different concentrations.

Remote sensing and GIS are increasingly used as tools for monitoring and managing forests. Remotely sensed and GIS data are now the data sources of choice for capturing, documenting, and understanding forest disturbance and landscape pattern. Sitting astride the fields of ecology, forestry, and remote sensing/GIS, Understanding Forest Disturbance and Spatial Pattern: Remote Sensing and GIS Approaches takes you through the general biological or landscape ecological context of forest disturbance to remote sensing and GIS technological approaches and pattern description and analysis, with compelling applied examples of integration and synthesis. Written by experts, peer-reviewed to adhere to the strictest standards and highest quality criteria, these chapters discuss natural and human-caused forest change and consider factors such as biological setting, monitoring approaches, scale issues, and pattern analysis. The book explores forest disturbance and spatial pattern from an ecological point-of-view within the context of structure, function, pattern, and change. It concludes with a summary of the issues related to detection and mapping of forest disturbances with remotely sensed and GIS data. The authors elucidate how the elements presented, from ecological underpinnings, data considerations, change detection method, and pattern analysis, combine into a problem solving, information generating approach. You may find this subject covered briefly in a small sub-section in remote sensing forestry texts, or in limited technical detail in the ecology literature. The in-depth, detailed information provided in this book allows you to develop an understanding of the application of BOTH remote sensing and GIS technologies to forest change and the impacts of fire, insect infestation, forest harvesting, and other potential change influences - such as extreme weather events. This book provides guidance on how to master the challenges of capturing and characterizing forest disturbance and spatial patterns.

Offers knowledge on how to resolve human-wildlife conflicts through wildlife damage management. Provides examples of how human-wildlife conflicts can be alleviated by using an integrated approach Discusses management options including employing lethal methods; distributing supplemental food; changing the behavior of either humans or wildlife; and excluding or repelling wildlife. Backed by numerous case studies, informative side bars and full color illustrations. Uses brand new case studies to illustrate the benefits of an integrated approach to wildlife management for resolving wildlife problems.

This collection represents a unique set of essays on the role of theory in shaping the practice of medicine across disciplinary boundaries. In the context of this volume, "theory" relates to the conceptual models, frameworks, knowledge representations, metaphors and analogies that inform the problem-solving efforts of practitioners seeking to develop novel dialogues both within and across disciplinary boundaries.
Contributors to this volume include computational scientists, chemists, medical researchers, biologists and philosophers, all drawing on personal experience in their respective fields to produce a genuinely interdisciplinary range of perspectives on the common theme of theory in medical thinking and multidisciplinary research practice.
* Selected and edited papers from the 10th North American Forest Soils Conference held in Saulte Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, July 20-24, 2003
* A unique spin-off from Elsevier's highly regarded journal, Forest Ecology and Management
* An estimated 400 pages of the latest findings in forest soil ecology from the most prominent researchers in the field

This book provides a taxonomic account of one of the largest genera of Leguminosae and the largest in the Central Asian flora, genus Oxytropis DC. The genus is represented by 153 species of which 62 are endemic to the region and 78 are endemic to the Central Asian territory.

This book presents a taxonomic account of families of order Tubiflora, namely, Verbenaceae, Labiatae, Solanaceae, and Scrophulariceae, which contain several interesting endemic genera and species that are important for understanding the developmental history of Central Asian flora.

Forest certification has been widely accepted as a tool that would encourage industrial and non-industrial management of resources in an environmentally acceptable, socially beneficial and economically viable manner. Much has been written on certification yet five issues have been missing, which this book addresses: an analysis of the scientific basis for the certification standards; a formal and mechanistic incorporation of social and natural system sustainability as part of the standards; the rationale for the different sets of standards that are currently being used to certify governmental, industrial and non-industrial organizations; the success of the different sets of standards in assessing the environmental acceptability, social benefits and economic viability of the managed system; and, the difficulty of certifying small landowners with current protocols. Forest Certification examines the historical roots of forest certification, the factors that guide the development of certification protocols, the players involved in certification, the factors determining the customers to be certified, and the benefits of certification. The book also covers the terminology and other issues intrinsic to certification that direct the structure of standards, the similarities between indicators of different human disturbances within the ecosystem/landscape and certification standards, and, finally, a case study evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of existing certification protocols. Forest Certification is unique in its analysis of the scientific basis for the structure of the forest certification protocols. It documents the roles of human values in the development of assessment protocols but demonstrates how elements of existing protocols should be used to produce non-value based standards.

Originally published in 1990 Tropical Resources presents in-depth coverage of the extremely diverse tropical environments, the resources to be found within the region and their production, and ecological management. The book discusses economic geography and ways of utilizing available resources, including those of tropical forests, wildlife, tidal wetlands and the sea. The book also include chapters on the development and land use of protected areas, the ecological aspects of pasture resources; and the impacts of economic development and population damage. In addition, studies are offered on tropical soils, including their distribution properties and management and the ecological processes at work in tropical forests. For geographers, economists and policymakers, the book provides a wealth of information on tropical resources and their potential development.

In contexts outside of ecology, the term "disturbance" carries a variety of negative connotations. Within ecology, however, disturbances are neither inherently negative nor positive for ecological systems; instead, their effects depend on the context, scale, and species involved. As ecologists better understand these context-dependencies, the field of disturbance ecology has matured, diversified, and become more complex and nuanced over the past several decades. Ecological Disturbance: Scale, Context, and Nature unites a collection of perspectives that weave together the topics of disturbance ecology and biological diversity. Chapters cover wildfire, disease, herbivory, surface mining, land-use conversions, and forest harvest, among numerous other natural and anthropogenic influences on ecosystems. The book begins with an introduction that reviews how thinking on perturbations and community organization has evolved over the last century, then explores how disturbances might be meaningfully categorized, and how biological diversity has been conceptualized. The introduction also explores the roles of scale and ecological context in disturbance outcomes, and reviews recent analytical and methodological advances relevant to disturbance ecology. The book then moves into forested ecosystems, where much of the early literature on disturbances arose, and focuses on scale-dependence, relationships of natural and anthropogenic disturbance, and recovery or successional trajectories. The next section focuses on emerging disturbances amidst global change, including non-native species, disease, and synergies with other disturbances. The book ends with a section on land-use disturbance, focusing on landscape pattern, resilience, and recovery dynamics. Throughout, the book's material spans a wide diversity of spatial and temporal scales, disciplines, taxa, and levels of ecological organization. This book may be used in a seminar course, as a compendium for disturbance ecology curricula that are at the interface of conceptual and applied ecology, and in other circumstances to illustrate how different authors have handled the various pragmatic challenges that arise in studies that ask broader questions. In an era of unprecedented global change, this book constitutes a valuable source for researchers, students, natural resource managers, and other conservation practitioners interested in delving deeper into disturbance ecology.

Logging in the northern forest has been romanticized, with images of log drives, plaid shirts, and bunkhouses in wide circulation. Increasingly dismissed as a quaint, rural pastime, logging remains one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States, with loggers occupying a precarious position amid unstable markets, expanding global competition, and growing labor discord. Examining a time of transition and decline in Maine's forest economy, Andrew Egan traces pathways for understanding the challenges that have faced Maine's logging community and, by extension, the state's forestry sector, from the postwar period through today. Seeking greater profits, logging companies turned their crews loose at midcentury, creating a workforce of independent contractors who were forced to purchase expensive equipment and compete for contracts with the mills. Drawing on his own experience with the region's forest products industry, interviews with Maine loggers, media coverage, and court documents, Egan follows the troubled recent history of the industry and its battle for survival.

The dictionary contains approx. 10,000 terms used today in forest science, management and conservation, comprising forest ecology, forest entomology and pathology, forest fire management, forest geomatics, forest meteorology and hydrology, forest soils and geomorphology, forest surveys and mensuration, genetics and tree improvement, harvesting and forest operations, integrated forest management, photogrammetry and remote sensing, physico-mechanical properties of wood, processing (panels, pulp and paper, sawing, etc.), silviculture, tree physiology, agroforestry, urban forestry, wildlife and wilderness management and arboriculture, wood anatomy and structure.

Across the continental United States, one can identify 20 distinct forest cover types. Most of these are to be found on federal lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. Those responsible for the management of trees that form the 20 different cover types and the diversity of forest wildlife that reside in them must have a solid grounding in concepts of forest management, especially silviculture, as well as concepts of wildlife management, in order to integrate both as part of any effective natural resource management plan. Forest Wildlife Ecology and Habitat Management provides both foresters and wildlife biologists responsible for managing forest resources with an integrated understanding of the relationship between forests and wildlife. Based on David Patton's 50 years of experience as a forester and wildlife biologist, the book shows readers how to look at forests as ecological systems and wildlife as part of the energy flow and nutrient cycling process within those systems. He offers readers a fundamental understanding of the natural processes that occur in a forest taking into consideration vegetation, water, and the natural effects of climate and time. He then provides a biological perspective on wildlife, discussing reproduction, behavior, feeding habits, and mobility. He also discusses the various influences on forests and wildlife by both natural and human-caused events. Covering those forest types included in the U.S. National Atlas, and associating over 1,100 wildlife species with 20 major forest types in 48 states, Professor Patton provides recommendations for ways to restore and maintain wildlife habitat by direct and indirect coordination. Towards this end, the author - Evaluates various approaches to integrate forestry and wildlife management Offers a number of practical management strategies, emphasizing a progressive holistic approach

Examines the management and use of common-property forests, groves and trees on southern Mount Kenya, demonstrating the long-standing relationships between Kenyans and their forest resources - and the connections between anthropology and forestry. This book is published in the IT Studies in Indigenous Knowledge and Development series.

At the time of European discovery, the ancient North American forests stretched across nearly half the continent. And while today little remains of this past glory, efforts are underway to bring back some of the diverse ecosystems of that era. America's Ancient Forests: From the Ice Age to the Age of Discovery provides scientists and professionals with essential information for forest restoration and conservation projects, while presenting a compelling and far-reaching account of how the North American landscape has evolved over the past 18,000 years.

The book weaves historical accounts and scientific knowledge into a dynamic narrative about the ancient forests and the events that shaped them. Divided into two major parts, it covers first the glaciers and forests of the Ice Age and the influences of native peoples, and then provides an in-depth look at these majestic forests through the eyes of the first European explorers. Changes in climate and elevation, the movement of trees northward, the assembly of modern forests, and qualities that all ancient forests shared are also thoroughly examined.

A special feature of this book is its self-contained introduction to the early history of Native American peoples and their environment. The author draws on his roots in the Osage nation as well as painstaking research through the historical record, offering a complete discussion of how the cultural practices of hunting, agriculture, and fire helped form the ancient forests.

This book summarizes a long-term research project addressing land and water use in the irrigated areas of the Aral Sea basin. In an interdisciplinary approach, natural and human sciences are combined to elucidate the challenges of economic transition that affect the use of land, water and biological resources, ecological sustainability, economic efficiency and the livelihoods of the local population. The research focuses on Khorezm, a region in Uzbekistan, located on the Amudarya river, in the heart of Central Asia. A series of chapters describes the biophysical environment and the aspects of society and institutions that shape land and water use. The book discusses options and tools to improve land and water management, and to reform the economic system management, based on agronomic, hydrological, economic ans social studies and modeling. The insights are not only important for Uzbekistan, but for all countries in transitions and irrigated dryland areas elsewhere.