![]() |
![]() |
Your cart is empty |
||
Books > Earth & environment > The environment > Applied ecology > General
This book is the first comprehensive global review of all aspects of alien plant invasions in protected areas. It provides insights into advances in invasion ecology emanating from work in protected areas, and the link to locally relevant management support for protected areas. The book provides in-depth case studies, illuminating interesting and insightful knowledge that can be shared across the global protected area network. The book includes the collective understanding of 80 ecologists and managers to extract as much information as possible that will support the long-term management of protected areas, and the biodiversity and associated ecosystem services they maintain. " This outstanding volume draws together pretty much all that can be said on this topic, ranging from the science, through policy, to practical action ." Dr. Simon N. Stuart, IUCN Species Survival Commission, UK. ""This important and timely volume addresses two of the most serious problems affecting biodiversity conservation today: assessing the extent to which protected areas are impacted by biological invasions and the complex problems of managing these impacts. Written by leading specialists, it provides a comprehensive overview of the issues and gives detailed examples drawn from protected areas across the world."" Professor Vernon H. Heywood, School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, UK "
Fourteen informative papers dealing with their DNA, species interactions, adventiveness, host specificity, potential as boi-contol agents of weeds, chemical control, behaviour, their role in fungal pathogen epidemiology, influence in forests and on ornamentals, collecting and mounting techniques and their interaction with crops are presented here. This is an extensive and valuable contribution to eriophyoid science and a must for present and future researchers in this field.
An environmental historian delves into the history, science, and philosophy of a paradoxical pursuit: the century-old quest to design natural places and create wild species. Environmental restoration is a global pursuit and a major political concern. Governments, nonprofits, private corporations, and other institutions spend billions of dollars each year to remove invasive species, build wetlands, and reintroduce species driven from their habitats. But restoration has not always been so intensively practiced. It began as the pastime of a few wildflower enthusiasts and the first practitioners of the new scientific discipline of ecology. Restoration has been a touchstone of US environmentalism since the beginning of the twentieth century. Diverging from popular ideas about preservation, which romanticized nature as an Eden to be left untouched by human hands, and conservation, the managed use of natural resources, restoration emerged as a "third way." Restorationists grappled with the deepest puzzles of human care for life on earth: How to intervene in nature for nature's own sake? What are the natural baselines that humans should aim to restore? Is it possible to design nature without destroying wildness? Laura J. Martin shows how, over time, amateur and professional ecologists, interest groups, and government agencies coalesced around a mode of environmental management that sought to respect the world-making, and even the decision-making, of other species. At the same time, restoration science reshaped material environments in ways that powerfully influenced what we understand the wild to be. In Wild by Design, restoration's past provides vital knowledge for climate change policy. But Martin also offers something more-a meditation on what it means to be wild and a call for ecological restoration that is socially just.
How, when, and why has the Pacific been a locus for imagining different futures by those living there as well as passing through? What does that tell us about the distinctiveness or otherwise of this "sea of islands"? Foregrounding the work of leading and emerging scholars of Oceania, Pacific Futures brings together a diverse set of approaches to, and examples of, how futures are being conceived in the region and have been imagined in the past. Individual chapters engage the various and sometimes contested futures yearned for, unrealized, and even lost or forgotten, that are particular to the Pacific as a region, ocean, island network, destination, and home. Contributors recuperate the futures hoped for and dreamed up by a vast array of islanders and outlanders-from Indigenous federalists to Lutheran improvers to Cantonese small business owners-making these histories of the future visible. In so doing, the collection intervenes in debates about globalization in the Pacific--and how the region is acted on by outside forces--and postcolonial debates that emphasize the agency and resistance of Pacific peoples in the context of centuries of colonial endeavor. With a view to the effects of the "slow violence" of climate change, the volume also challenges scholars to think about the conditions of possibility for future-thinking at all in the midst of a global crisis that promises cataclysmic effects for the region. Pacific Futures highlights futures conceived in the context of a modernity coproduced by diverse Pacific peoples, taking resistance to categorization as a starting point rather than a conclusion. With its hospitable approach to thinking about history making and future thinking, one that is open to a wide range of methodological, epistemological, and political interests and commitments, the volume will encourage the writing of new histories of the Pacific and new ways of talking about history in this field, the region, and beyond.
Groundwater Contamination in Coastal Aquifers: Assessment and Management first describes groundwater contamination in coastal aquifers and then delves into specific topics surrounding various hydrogeochemical processes. Next, the book covers case studies of groundwater quality assessment using recent techniques, explains the various pollutants and contaminants in coastal aquifers, and covers management and remediation methods to control contamination in coastal aquifers. This key reference encompasses various topics in broader perspectives on groundwater contamination in coastal aquifers, providing a significant contribution to the field of hydrogeology.
With its focus on the practical application of the techniques of multivariate statistics, this book shapes the powerful tools of statistics for the specific needs of ecologists and makes statistics more applicable to their course of study. It gives readers a solid conceptual understanding of the role of multivariate statistics in ecological applications and the relationships among various techniques, while avoiding detailed mathematics and the underlying theory. More importantly, the reader will gain insight into the type of research questions best handled by each technique and the important considerations in applying them. Whether used as a textbook for specialised courses or as a supplement to general statistics texts, the book emphasises those techniques that students of ecology and natural resources most need to understand and employ in their research. While targeted for upper-division and graduate students in wildlife biology, forestry, and ecology, and for professional wildlife scientists and natural resource managers, this book will also be valuable to researchers in any of the biological sciences.
Drawing on the careers of senior executives of the US Environmental Protection Agency, True Green identifies the concrete actions that work in protecting our nation's environment. By examining the exquisitely difficult tasks of executive leadership in environmental protection, one of the most conflicted public issues of today, these scholars provide lessons of executive effectiveness in the principal government institution essential to national environmental progress. The EPA shoulders great expectations from the public and political leaders on fulfilling its statutorily assigned activities. As a result, EPA must act in concert with state and local governments, nongovernment organizations and interest groups, as well as business and industry. This volume also highlights the career civil servants who bridge across from policymakers to the government bureaucrats who must make real the abstract policy choices of politicians. True Green uses the experiences of the individual contributors to provide a deeper understanding of the practices associated with effective executive behavior in the Environmental Protection Agency.
Here, expert authors delineate approaches that can support both decision makers as well as their concerned populations in overcoming unwarranted fears and in elaborating policies based on scientific evidence. Four exemplary focus areas were chosen for in-depth review, namely:- The scientific basis of risk management- Risk management in the area of environmental and ecological policy- Risk management in radiation medicine- Risk management in context with digitalization and roboticsGeneral as well as specific recommendations are summarized in a memorandum. Fundamental thoughts on the topic are presented in the introductory part of the book. The idea for and contents of the book were developed at a workshop on "Sustainable Risk Management: How to manage risks in a sensible and responsible manner?" held in Feldafing at Lake Starnberg (Germany) on April 14 to 16, 2016. The book offers important information and advice for scientists, entrepreneurs, administrators and politicians.
In the past, the natural environment and business were often seen as competing interests. Now, world leaders recognise that the future depends on a new approach to business, operating in harmony with the environment. In Environmental Management – A business management approach, the vital connection between environmental management and business sustainability is clearly outlined. The book gives students and practitioners insight into the impact business and lifestyle decisions have on the natural environment, and how this in turn affects the long-term sustainability of business. It also gives an overview of key environmental principles and the need to balance these with business activities. Key Features/ Benefits
This book focuses on lifelong learning for sustainable development, an aspect that has been rarely explored in great detail. It also discusses methodological approaches and experiences deriving from case studies and projects, which demonstrate how lifelong learning for sustainable development can be implemented in practice. The book provides respecting research institutions, universities, NGOs, and enterprises with an opportunity to display and present their work in this field. It fosters the exchange of information, ideas and experiences acquired in the context of concerning initiatives, especially with regard to successful projects and best practices.
Managing Urban Rivers: From Planning to Practice captures the different facets of river management required for integrating rivers within the development landscape of cities in a sustainable manner. Sections cover the entire spectrum of urban river management, from planning to actual on-the-ground implementation, providing a one-stop destination for knowledge on urban river management. Edited by a team of four experts with practical experience in this domain, the different chapters of the book are authored by eminent scholars and practitioners with expertise in specific areas of urban river management. Urban rivers and their management is a hot topic as governments across the world are focusing on this aspect, especially since it has direct implications for SDG target 6.6, which aims to “protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes”.
Over the years, irresponsible business practices have resulted in industrial waste, which is negatively impacting the environment. As a result, it is imperative to develop new solutions to reverse the damage. Collective Creativity for Responsible and Sustainable Business Practice is an authoritative reference source for the latest scholarly research on the elimination of environmental degradation through new discoveries and opportunities provided by collective creativity. Featuring extensive coverage across a range of relevant perspective and topics, such as sustainable business model innovation, social marketing, and education and business co-operatives, this comprehensive and timely publication is an essential reference source for business leaders, managers, academics, and community leaders seeking current research on sustainable management practices. Topics Covered: Bisociation Civil Commons Cyber Security Creativity Educational and Business Co-operatives Polycentric and Creative Climate Change Governance Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) Sustainable Business Model Innovation
Salinity and water stress limit crop productivity worldwide and generate substantial economic losses each year, yet innovative research on crop and natural resource management can reveal cost-effective ways in which farmers can increase both their productivity and their income. Presenting recent research findings on salt stress, water stress and stress-adapted plants, this book offers insights into new strategies for increasing the efficiency of crops under stressful environments. The strategies are based on conventional breeding and advanced molecular techniques used by plant physiologists, and are discussed using specific case studies to illustrate their potential. The book emphasizes the effects of environmental factors on specific stages of plant development, and discusses the role of plant growth regulators, nutrients, osmoprotectants and antioxidants in counteracting their adverse affects. Synthesising updated information on mechansisms of stress tolerance at cell, tissue and whole-plant level, this book provides a useful reference text for post graduate students and researchers involved in the fields of stress physiology and plant physiology in general, with additional readership amongst researchers in horticulture, agronomy, crop science, conservation, environmental management and ecological restoration.
This is the first text aimed at introducing machine learning methods to a readership of professional ecologists. All but one of the chapters have been written by ecologists and biologists who highlight the application of a particular method to a particular class of problem.
Creating and Restoring Wetlands: From Theory to Practice, Second Edition describes the challenges and opportunities relating to the restoration of freshwater and estuarine wetlands in natural, agricultural, and urban environments in the coming century. This second edition is structured by clearly defined chapters based on specific wetland types (e.g. Peatlands, Mangroves) and with a consistent and coherent organization for ease of discoverability. The table of contents is divided into four main subjects: Foundations, Restoration of Freshwater Wetlands, Restoration of Estuarine Wetlands, and From Theory to Practice, each with multiple chapters. Part 1, Foundations, contains chapters describing definitions of wetlands, ecological theory used to guide restoration, and considerations on where to implement restoration on the landscape. In Parts 2 and 3, restoration of specific freshwater (marshes, forests, peatlands) and estuarine (tidal marshes, mangroves) wetlands are described. Part 4, From Theory to Practice, contains chapters describing performance standards to gauge success of projects and case studies describing small-scale and large-scale restoration projects of various freshwater and estuarine wetlands. Each chapter contains clearly labeled sections which assist the reader to quickly and easily key in on the subject matter that they are seeking. The approach of Creating and Restoring Wetlands is unique in that, in each chapter, it links ecological theory important to ecosystem restoration with practical techniques to undertake and implement successful wetland restoration projects, including recommendations for performance standards to gauge success as well as realistic expectations and timescales for achieving success. Each chapter ends with a summary table describing keys to ensure success for a given wetland ecosystem.
The dissertation investigates the scientific and business factors that have resulted in air-conditioning being a major contributor to climate-change. With his architectural background, the author demonstrates how a design methodology, not commonly adopted in scientific studies, may actually be a suitable way of dealing with a complex problem: the 'business as usual' scenario involving building science, sociological values and consumer behavior. Using his innovations as case studies, the author shows how good ideas cannot be evaluated on scientific merit alone and demonstrates why commercialization may have a pivotal role in deployment of research-based technology. He advances the theory of personalized thermal comfort which can potentially resolve the air-conditioning conundrum.
This book is the first attempt to systematically introduce the aspect of time into economic and environmental innovation policy. The authors demonstrate how 'windows of opportunity' for technological innovations emerge and also explain how they can be identified and effectively exploited. Technological innovations are widely considered as an opportunity to realise a double dividend - protect the environment and increase profits by introducing a more sustainable technology. However, intervention by the state is often needed to overcome the competitive disadvantage caused by externalities, path dependency and lock-in. The authors provide extensive evidence that this resistance to technological change is subject to substantial temporal variation. They argue that it is economically and politically sensible to identify periods of time in which resistance is weakest and to exploit these 'windows of opportunity' whenever and wherever they occur. They also highlight how time strategies for innovation policy can involve the preparation and creation of 'windows' which do not yet exist. Throughout the book, they use an array of varied and interesting case studies to confirm and illustrate their theoretical findings. These address issues such as CFC phase-out, the lean-burn engine versus the catalytic converter, ecological alternatives to chemical pesticides and the zero emission vehicle mandate in California. By exploring the relationship between time strategies and technological change, this book will undoubtedly lead to a more efficient and sustainable innovation policy. It will be required reading for academics, researchers and policymakers working in the fields of environmental innovation, sustainability, technology policy and political science.
In this collection of articles, an environmental scientist traces a journey through the wilderness of environmental politics. In his travels, Dr. Edward Krug developed a unique perspective on vital areas of the environmental issues, making him critical of both sides of the environmental debate. "Environment Betrayed" delves into numerous environmental issues and into environmentalism itself, presenting both Dr. Krug's opinions and the well-documented opinions of others who were active participants in the environmental arena. Dr. Krug has worked as an environmental scientist since the early eighties, and much of the research and information included here originated in the eighties and nineties. Despite this gap of time, defenders of modern Western civilization don't seem to recognize the nature of the environmental war, let alone many of its details. By raising issues, environmentalists also define the battlefield-that is, the context of thought. Krug cites credible sources on both sides of the debate with varying perspectives on where things stand in this conflict. Only by gaining a clear understanding of what's at stake can we truly grasp the numerous environmental issues swirling around us and what they will mean for our future.
It is generally accepted that the recent progress in molecular and cellular biology would not have been possible without an understanding of the mechanisms and signaling pathways of communication inside the cell and between various cells of the animal organism. In fact a similar progress occurred in the field of chemical communication between individual organisms of vertebrate species, and this volume is aimed at presenting the current state of the art on this subject. The reader can find here both original results obtained in the laboratory or field studies and comprehensive reviews summarizing many years of research. The presentations of over 60 scientists have been grouped according to their approach into nine parts covering such fields as ecological and evolutionary aspects of chemical communication, structure and neuronal mechanisms of chemosensory systems, chemical structure of pheromones and binding proteins, kin, individual and sexual recognition, predator-prey relationships, purpose and consequences of marking behavior, scent signals and reproductive processes. Expanding on former volumes of this series, entirely new chapters have been added on prenatal chemical communication describing specific effects of the intrauterine environment. In many cases a truly multidisciplinary approach was required, such as with the population analysis of polymorphic variants of the mouse's major urinary proteins that function in carrying pheromones.
Agricultural crops are prominent features of an increasing number
of variously perturbed ecosystems and the landscapes occupied by
these ecosystems. Yet the ecology of agricultural-dominated
landscapes is only now receiving the scientific attention it has
long deserved. This attention has been stimulated by the
realization that all agriculture must become sustainable year after
year while leaving nearby ecosystems unaffected.
The book is about accountability processes and how they contribute solutions to our current environmental and global political problems. This book is different to other literature in this field. This is so because the dominant accountability discourse is shaped by what is defined as a neoliberal business case for social and environmental reform. This book assumes a nirvana stance within globalisation where all citizens operate within the parameters of the free market and will recover from adverse economic and political damage. Further this book uses neoliberalism and free-market reforms aims as examples to implement efficient management technologies and create more competitive pressures. Central to the argument of the book are perspectives on authenticity, expressivism and interpretivism which are found to provide a radical reworking of our understanding of being in the world. These frameworks offer a starting point for rethinking the way individuals, businesses and communities ought to be dealing politically with accountability and ecological crises. The argument builds to an accountability perspective that utilises work from expressivism, interpretivism, classical liberalism and postmodern theory. The theoretical quest undertaken in this book is to develop connections between accountability, democratic, ethical and ecological perspectives.
Access to green space and the act of creating green spaces is well understood to promote human health, especially in therapeutic contexts among individuals suffering traumatic events. Less well understood, though currently being studied, is the role of access to green space and the act of creating and caring for it in promoting neighborhood health and well being as related to social-ecological system resilience. An important implication of Greening in the Red Zone lies in specific instances of greening and the presence of greened spaces in promoting and enhancing recovery, and perhaps resilience, in social-ecological systems disrupted or perturbed by violent conflict or other catastrophic disaster. This edited volume provides illustration and interpretation of these phenomena through a series of cases or examples of Greening in the Red Zone, which will explore how access to green space and the act of creating green spaces in extreme situations might contribute to resistance, recovery, and resilience of social-ecological systems. "Greening in the Red Zone" "takes important steps in advancing our understanding of what makes communities bounce back from disaster or violent conflict. The authors findings that creating an caring for green space contributes positively to recovery and resilience adds to the toolkit of those working in disaster and conflict zones." William C. Banks, Director, "Greening in the Red Zone" is an important and highly relevant book. It provides theoretical understanding and scientific evidence of the healing and therapeutic power of contact with nature, especially during times of crisis, sickness and loss. At a time when society is more separated than ever from the natural world, it offers additional reason why our ongoing experience of nature is essential for the human body, mind and spirit. This book is both instructive and inspiring." Stephen R. Kellert, "Greening in the Red Zone is a fascinating book that greatly elevates our understanding of how the perspective of humans as an integrated part of nature may contribute to the resilience discourse. This multi-authored volume provides numerous examples of how greening and the presence of green spaces in areas that have experienced large disturbances or catastrophic events may reduce trauma among individuals and enhance recovery and resilience in human communities. I certainly warmly recommend this book to anyone interested in how we may prepare ourselves for an increasingly uncertain future, building resilience in social-ecological systems." Thomas Elmqvist, |
![]() ![]() You may like...
Resilience Imperative - Uncertainty…
Magali Reghezza, Samuel Rufat
Hardcover
R2,475
Discovery Miles 24 750
Next Generation Biomonitoring: Part 2…
David Bohan, Alex Dumbrell, …
Hardcover
R4,984
Discovery Miles 49 840
Handbook on the Business of…
Gerard George, Martine R. Haas, …
Hardcover
R7,537
Discovery Miles 75 370
Encyclopedia of Inland Waters
Thomas Mehner, Klement Tockner
Hardcover
R46,034
Discovery Miles 460 340
Salvaging Corporate Sustainability…
Michael L. Barnett, Irene Henriques, …
Hardcover
R2,666
Discovery Miles 26 660
|