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Books > Earth & environment > Geography > Physical geography > Forests, rainforests
The tree was poached in a two-part operation. It was felled one night and taken another. Here was a murder mystery in the deep woods: who had taken the cedar, how had they done so, and - most importantly - why? __________ A gripping account of the billion-dollar timber black market -- and how it intersects with environmentalism, class, and culture. In Tree Thieves, Lyndsie Bourgon takes us deep into the underbelly of the illegal timber market. As she traces three timber poaching cases, she introduces us to tree poachers, law enforcement, forensic wood specialists, the enigmatic residents of former logging communities, environmental activists, international timber cartels, and indigenous communities along the way. Old-growth trees are invaluable and irreplaceable for both humans and wildlife, and are the oldest living things on earth. But the morality of tree poaching is not as simple as we might think: stealing trees is a form of deeply rooted protest, and a side effect of environmental preservation and protection that doesn't include communities that have been uprooted or marginalized when park boundaries are drawn. As Bourgon discovers, failing to include working class and rural communities in the preservation of these awe-inducing ecosystems can lead to catastrophic results. Featuring excellent investigative reporting, fascinating characters, logging history, political analysis, and cutting-edge tree science, Tree Thieves takes readers on a thrilling journey into the intrigue, crime, and incredible complexity sheltered under the forest canopy. __________ 'Bourgon brilliantly shows that while following the scientific theory seems simple from a concrete jungle, for those educated under the shade of the trees it is obscure, often weaponized. Her unique insight in this book is that between the law and the science lies the chainsaw's edge.' -- London Review of Books
Sustainable Forest Management provides the necessary material to educate students about forestry and the contemporary role of forests in ecosystems and society. This comprehensive textbook on the concept and practice of sustainable forest management sets the standard for practice worldwide. Early chapters concentrate on conceptual aspects, relating sustainable forestry management to international policy. In particular, they consider the concept of criteria and indicators and how this has determined the practice of forest management, taken here to be the management of forested lands and of all ecosystems present on such lands. Later chapters are more practical in focus, concentrating on the management of the many values associated with forests. Overall the book provides a major new synthesis which will serve as a textbook for undergraduates of forestry as well as those from related disciplines such as ecology or geography who are taking a course in forests or natural resource management.
A guide to exploring 365 of Scotland's most scenic, wildlife-rich and historically significant woodlands. From the precious fragments of Caledonian pine forest to lesser-known wildwoods and urban copses, Scottish woodlands offer places of sanctuary, both for wildlife and for people. In this practical guide, Gabriel Hemery brings together the beauty, purpose, history, wildlife and ownership of some of the most extraordinary woodland sites in the country, from the largest (the Forest of Ae, which covers more than 10,000 hectares) to the smallest (Halligarth in the Shetland Islands, measuring less than a third of a hectare), and everything in-between. Some woods are notable for having the tallest or rarest trees, others are the best places in the country for spotting ospreys or red squirrels, or even marine mammals; some are known as the best places to explore preserved archaeological features, discovering hidden histories or simply enjoying spectacular scenery. Divided into 14 regions, each beginning with a summary of the region's woodland heritage, this guide features 365 sites, including details of ownership, designation, area, forest type, how to access it (including grid reference, post code and 'what3words' reference), alongside a description of the site's key features. Featuring more than 200 stunning photographs of Scotland's plants, animals and spectacular landscapes and expert region maps to help guide you to your nearest forest site, this is an essential book for adventurers, ramblers and wildlife enthusiasts. Wherever you may be in Scotland, with this guide you will never be far from a fascinating forest site!
In litter-strewn Epping Forest on the edge of London, might a writer find that magical moment of transcendence? He will certainly discover filthy graffiti and frightening dogs, as well as world-renowned artists and fading celebrities, robbers, lovers, ghosts and poets. But will he find himself? Or a version of himself he might learn something from?Strange Labyrinth is a quest narrative arguing that we shouldn't get lost in order to find ourselves, but solely to accept that we are lost in the first place. It is a singular blend of landscape writing, political indignation, cultural history and wit from a startling new voice in non-fiction.
The discipline of landscape ecology has matured rapidly over the past few decades, generating a wealth of knowledge that can be used to enhance forest policy development and management. However, much of this knowledge has yet to be applied in practice. Forest Landscape Ecology: Transferring Knowledge to Practice is the first book to introduce landscape ecologists to the discipline of knowledge transfer. The book considers knowledge transfer in general, critically examines aspects of transfer that are unique to forest landscape ecology, and reviews several case studies of successful applications for policy developers and forest managers in North America. Readers are encouraged to recognize the value of sharing their knowledge, and to understand their role in active knowledge transfer. The intent is to connect, as seamlessly and effectively as possible, ecological principles to policy and practice. This book is written for researchers, academics and students in landscape ecology and related fields, as well as policymakers and land and resource managers who are interested in landscape-level approaches.
Ajith H. Perera is a research scientist and leads the Forest Landscape Ecology Program at the Ontario Forest Research Institute. Lisa J. Buse is a forest biologist who coordinates technology transfer for the Ontario Forest Research Institute. Thomas R. Crow is national program leader for ecological research and environmental sciences with the USDA Forest Service.
Features almost 300 colour photographs and brings together more than 60 years of research by a leading voice in British woodland ecology. Trees define woodland. They provide a complex, multi-layered habitat for a great range of wildlife, but they are also wildlife themselves, reacting to their circumstances and each other. Woodlands are important to people, supplying timber, food and fuel, accumulating carbon, and offering places of refuge and refreshment. But they are also under threat: some stand in the way of 'progress', and all are becoming increasingly vulnerable to disease and climate change. In Trees and Woodlands, George Peterken brings together decades of scientific research, while also incorporating his personal experiences, to explore the ecology, nature conservation and wider cultural value of our native trees and shrubs, and the various ways they have combined as woodland. Peterken accepts that all woodlands have been shaped by people as well as nature, and he describes the long history of use and management and how this has influenced woodland wildlife. Woodlands have also contributed to our art, beliefs and social attitudes, and this too is examined. He concludes by asking, what next for Britain's trees and woodlands? He advocates woods being managed and their timber and small wood being put to good use, but recognises that this is all part of a larger question: the future of ourselves. Containing nearly 300 photographs, and interspersed with box texts describing the history and ecology of representative woods across Britain, this is a commentary on trees, woodlands and our relationship with them from one of our most highly regarded forest ecologists.
Trees are crucial in preserving a liveable future. Canopy of Titans makes an eloquent plea for saving one of North America's last great forests. — Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History In Canopy of Titans, Paul Koberstein and Jessica Applegate examine the global importance of the Pacific Coastal Temperate Rainforest that stretches from Northern California to Alaska. Their urgent and authoritative account sets out the threats facing a vital environmental resource, and celebrates the beauty and complexity of one of the world’s great forests. Drawing on years of on-the-ground reporting, Koberstein and Applegate pull back the curtain on policies of governmental bodies that have seriously diminished the rainforest’s capacity to store carbon, and uncover industry practices that have led to the destruction of swaths of a major ecological resource. Additionally, using an environmental justice perspective, Canopy of Titans shines a light on the Indigenous communities that have lived in the rainforest for millennia, and the impact forest policies have had on their lives.
This updated and expanded second edition of a much lauded work provides a current overview of the impacts of climate change on tropical forests. The authors also investigate past, present and future climatic influences on the ecosystems with the highest biodiversity on the planet. Tropical Rainforest Responses to Climatic Change, Second Edition, looks at how tropical rain forest ecology is altered by climate change, rather than simply seeing how plant communities were altered. Shifting the emphasis on to ecological processes, e.g. how diversity is structured by climate and the subsequent impact on tropical forest ecology, provides the reader with a more comprehensive coverage. A major theme of the book is the interaction between humans, climate and forest ecology. The authors, all foremost experts in their fields, explore the long term occupation of tropical systems, the influence of fire and the future climatic effects of deforestation, together with anthropogenic emissions. Incorporating modelling of past and future systems paves the way for a discussion of conservation from a climatic perspective, rather than the usual plea to stop logging. This second edition provides an updated text in this rapidly evolving field. The existing chapters are revised and updated and two entirely new chapters deal with Central America and the effect of fire on wet forest systems. In the first new chapter, the paleoclimate and ecological record from Central America (Lozano, Correa, Bush) is discussed, while the other deals with the impact of fire on tropical ecosystems. It is hoped that Jonathon Overpeck, who has been centrally involved in the 2007 and 2010 IPCC reports, will provide a Foreword to the book.
Plant tissue culture is an essential component of Biotechnology which has gained unbeatable recognition in plant sciences for successful micropropagation and improvement of plant species, leading to the commercial application. A number of plant species have been investigated around the globe. This book presents current research on the application of in vitro technology in the improvement of Balanites aegyptiaca Del., a medicinal plant of semi-arid tropics. The worldwide importance of forestry, summed to the lengthy generation cycles of tree species, makes unavoidable development of new technologies that complement conventional tree breeding programmes in order to obtain improved genotypes. Recently, a new set of tools has become available in the past 20 years that combined with traditional plant breeding will allow scientists to generate products that are genetically improved varieties of the future. These set of tools come under the general title of ‘Biotechnology’. The three specific biotechnological tools have been successfully used in several programmes of plant conservation, namely, tissue culture techniques for in vitro propagation, the use of molecular markers to assess the degree of variability among population and techniques of long-term conservation such as encapsulation and cryopreservation. Plant tissue culture techniques are particularly relevant and become an alternative not only for large scale propagation of individuals that are threatened, reduce production costs and increase gains to the industry, but also to provide ecological advantages as in phytoremediation or in the establishment of artificial plantings in weed infested site. The book gives a complete documentation of the results and demonstration of Balanites aegyptiaca conducted by the authors over the past 5 years. The end-to-end approach developed through plant tissue culture techniques is reflected in the book and there has been a successful transfer of technology from lab to field. The authors hope that this information would provide valuable data and also be a reference material for future research activities in this area.
The "Global Forest Goals Report 2021" is the first flagship publication produced by the UN Forum on Forests Secretariat of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The publication presents an overview of progress towards achieving the Global Forest Goals and associated targets of the United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests. It provides a summary of actions taken and challenges encountered by Member States in their efforts to achieve the Global Forest Goals and highlights the areas of progress and areas where more action is required. The publication also highlights how progress toward the Global Forests Goals contributed to progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and outlines several "success stories" to illustrate best practice and innovative ideas. The publication is based on fifty-two national reports submitted by Member States to the fifteenth session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF15) as well as nineteen voluntary national contributions announced by Member States. This information from national reports is also supplemented with bio-physical data from FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020
The classic text on coppicing and woodland crafts, redesigned for a new generation of woodspeople. If you’re lucky enough to have access to a patch of woodland, this book contains everything you need to set up, manage and profit from a thriving coppice. But even if you don’t, there’s plenty of information on traditional woodland crafts here for you: learn how to work with bought coppiced wood to make all manner of products, from the archetypal besom broom and humble tent pegs to sturdy gate hurdles. Woodland crafts expert Ray Tabor guides you through a range of heritage woodland conservation methods. He introduces the best tools for each job – the time-honoured woodsman’s billhook being the most important of all – and the devices you’ll need. He shows how to select wood for each purpose, from ash, traditionally used for tool handles, to chestnut for making perfect fences. There’s also an in-depth exploration of the essential art of riving (splitting wooden poles by hand). Full of invaluable advice, historical information, useful diagrams and evocative photography, this book will help you reconnect to nature and the environment, and gain immense pleasure from creating beautiful crafted products using heritage methods.
For centuries, people have understood that forests, and our utilisation of them, influence the climate. With modern environmental concerns, there is now scientific, governmental, and popular interest in planting trees for climate protection. This book examines the historical origins of the idea that forests influence climate, the bitter controversy that ended the science, and its modern rebirth. Spanning the 1500s to the present, it provides a broad perspective across the physical and biological sciences, as well as the humanities, to explain the many ways forests influence climate. It describes their use in climate-smart forestry and as a natural climate solution, and demonstrates that in the forest-climate question, human and sylvan fates are linked. Accessibly written with minimal mathematics, it is ideal for students in environmental and related sciences, as well as anyone with an interest in understanding the environmental workings of forests and their interactions with climate.
This textbook provides an introduction to the field of mineral economics and its use in understanding the behaviour of mineral commodity markets and in assessing both public and corporate policies in this important economic sector. The focus is on metal and non-metallic commodities rather than oil, coal, and other energy commodities. The work draws on John Tilton's teaching experience over the last 30 years at the Colorado School of Mines and the Catholic University of Chile, as well as short courses for RioTinto and other mining companies. This is combined with the professional consulting and academic research of Juan Ignacio Guzman over the past decade, in order to demonstrate the industry application of the economic principles described in the earlier chapters. The book should be an ideal text for graduate and undergraduate students in the fields of mining engineering and natural resource economics and policy. It should also be of interest to professionals and investors in mining and commodity markets, and those undertaking continuing education in the mineral sector.
Taken from the earlier book "Priceless Florida" (and modified for a stand-alone book), this volume discusses the well-drained areas of Florida, including high pine grasslands, flatwoods and prairies, interior scrub, hardwood hammocks, rocklands and caves, and beach dunes. Introduces readers to the trees and plants, insects, mammals, reptiles, and other species that live in Florida's unique uplands ecosystem.
While deforestation continues at an alarming rate around the world, discussions on the range of underlying causes continue. The premise is that studying successful transitions from deforestation to sustainable forestry ex post in Finland can provide novel insights into how deforestation in the tropics might be reduced in the future. Our fundamental question here is why Finland succeeded to stop deforestation for a century ago and why not the same is feasible in the contemporary tropical countries? This book presents a novel integrated theory within which this case study on Finland and contemporary modeling of underlying causes of tropical deforestation are developed. Finland remains the world's second largest net exporter of forest products, while maintaining the highest forest cover in Europe. A transition from deforestation to sustainable industrial forestry took place in Finland during the first part of the 20th century. The underlying causes of this transition are compared via our theory with deforestation in 74 contemporary tropical countries. Both appear similar and support our theory. The interaction of public policies and market institutions has appeared to be critical during this transition. The study's findings suggest that private forest ownership with a continuous increase in the real value of forests and alleviation of poverty under non-corruptive conditions has been a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition for this transition. In a parallel way public policies have also proved to be a necessary, but not sufficient, condition in this transition. The conclusion is that socialistic forestry along with corruption is artificially maintaining too low values in the tropical forests. The opportunity cost of sustainable forestry remains too high and deforestation by extensification of agriculture therefore continues. The prevailing socialistic forestry with dominating public forest ownership is by purpose maintaining administratively set low stumpage prices leading to low value of forests, wide corruption and continuous forest degradation and deforestation. An effective remedy - to raise the value of forests - is found to be within forestry.
Forest ecosystems are characterized by a steady change in their structure of function. Natural developments are more and more radically disturbed by human impact. Air pollution leads to soil acidification, change in nutrient budget and to a decreasing vitality of the trees. Forest management can prevent natural succession and often leads to less stable forests. In this book, selected results of 10 years of interdisciplinary ecosystem research are presented. Not only growth and physiological reactions on environmental stress, but also natural succession processes are described and analysed. Besides the description of forest development processes, based on longterm experiments and observation, conclusions for practical forest management are given.
The inaction of nation states and international bodies has posed significant risks to the environment. By contrast, cities are sites of action and innovation. In Sustainability, Citizen Participation, and City Governance, contributors researching in the areas of law, urban planning, geography, and philosophy identify approaches for tackling many of the most challenging environmental problems facing cities today. Sustainability, Citizen Participation, and City Governance facilitates two strands of dialogue about climate change. First, it integrates legal perspectives into policy debates about urban sustainability and governance, from which law has typically stood apart. Second, it brings case studies from Quebec into a rare conversation with examples drawn from elsewhere in Canada. The collection proposes humane and inclusive processes for arriving at effective policy outcomes. Some chapters examine governance mechanisms that reconcile clashes of incommensurable values and resolve conflicts about collective interests. Other chapters provide platforms for social movements that have faced obstacles to communicating to a broad public. The collection's proposals respond to drastic changes in urban environments. Some changes are imminent. Others are upon us already. All threaten the present and future well-being of urban communities.
If you had a trillion dollars and a year to spend it for the good of the world and the advancement of science, what would you do? It's an unimaginably large sum, yet it's only around one per cent of world GDP, and about the valuation of Google, Microsoft or Amazon. It's a much smaller sum than the world found to bail out its banks in 2008 or deal with Covid-19. But what could you achieve with $1 trillion? You could solve the problem of the pandemic, for one, and eradicate malaria, and maybe cure all disease. You could end global poverty. You could settle on the Moon and explore the solar system. You could build a massive particle collider to probe the nature of reality like never before. You could build quantum computers, develop artificial intelligence, or increase human lifespan. You could even create a new life form. Or how about transitioning the world to clean energy? Or preserving the rainforests, or saving all endangered species? Maybe you could refreeze the melting Arctic, launch a new sustainable agricultural revolution, and reverse climate change? How to Spend a Trillion Dollars is the ultimate thought experiment but it is also a call to arms: these are all things we could do, if we put our minds to it - and our money.
The aim of this book is to elucidate the role of forests as part of a landscape in the life of people. Most landscapes today are cultural landscapes that are influenced by human activity and that in turn have a profound effect on our understanding of and identification with a place. The book proposes that a better understanding of the bond between people and forests as integrated part of a landscape may be helpful in landscape planning, and may contribute to the discussion of changes in forest cover which has been motivated by land use changes, rural development and the global climate debate. To this end, people's perception of forest landscapes, the reasons for different perceptions, and future perspectives are discussed. Given the wide range of forest landscapes, and cultural perspectives which exist across the world, the book focuses on Europe as a test case to explore the various relationships between society, culture, forests and landscapes. It looks at historical evidence of the impacts of people on forests and vice versa, explores the current factors affecting people's physical and emotional comfort in forest landscapes, and looks ahead to how changes in forest cover may alter the present relationships of people to forests. Drawing together a diverse literature and combining the expertise of natural and social scientists, this book will form a valuable reference for students and researchers working in the fields of landscape ecology and landscape architecture, geography, social science, environmental psychology or environmental history. It will also be of interest to researchers, government agencies and practitioners with an interest in issues such as sustainable forest management, sustainable tourism, reserve management, urban planning and environmental interpretation.
The mystique of the rainforest has captured the imaginations of generations of young people, explorers, authors, and biologists. It is a delicate ecosystem whose myriad sounds and smells, whose vibrancy of life, is balanced by constant cycles of death and decay. It is a place of fierce competition where unusual partnerships are forged and creative survival strategies are the norm. In this book, you will meet the scientific pioneers who first attempted to quantify and understand the vast diversity of these tropical forests, as well as their successors, who utilize modern tools and technologies to dissect the chemical nature of rainforest interactions. This book provides a general background on biodiversity and the study of chemical ecology before moving into specific chemical examples of insect defenses and microbial communication. It finishes with first-hand accounts of the trials and tribulations of a canopy biology pioneer and a rainforest research novice, while assessing the state of modern tropical research, its importance to humanity, and the ecological, political, and ethical issues that need to be tackled in order to move the field forward.
Killing Bugs for Business and Beauty examines the beginning of Canada’s aerial war against forest insects and how a tiny handful of officials came to lead the world with a made-in-Canada solution to the problem. Shedding light on a largely forgotten chapter in Canadian environmental history, Mark Kuhlberg explores the theme of nature and its agency. The book highlights the shared impulses that often drove both the harvesters and the preservers of trees, and the acute dangers inherent in allowing emotional appeals instead of logic to drive environmental policy-making. It addresses both inter-governmental and intra-governmental relations, as well as pressure politics and lobbying. Including fascinating tales from Cape Breton Island, Muskoka, and Stanley Park, Killing Bugs for Business and Beauty clearly demonstrates how class, region, and commercial interest intersected to determine the location and timing of aerial bombings. At the core of this book about killing bugs is a story, infused with innovation and heroism, of the various conflicts that complicate how we worship wilderness. |
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