Many endangered species of wild animals are managed in captivity through studbooks. In this book these data-rich resources are mined in innovative, integrated and statistically tested ways to maximise information gain for conservation practice - whether for captive or released/reintroduced or managed wild populations. This book is thus an important tool for all species managers, and for students and researchers in small population biology and wildlife conservation. The book's studbook analyses are grouped in three interrelated sections: natural history, demography and genetics. Statistical tests to determine the significance of results or to compare results between subgroups are undertaken throughout. Real studbooks of a variety of species, e.g. cranes, wolverines, blesbok, illustrate the practical applications and interpretations of the analyses and statistics. The "natural history" section presents analyses to determine baseline species information such as litter size, inter-birth interval, longevity and seasonality. "Demography" covers census(-style) analyses, age-class based life tables, comparative survival analyses and population projections. Solutions for dealing with small sample sizes are included.Inbreeding depression and unconscious selection form the main focus of the "genetics" section. Survival and life table analyses are used to assess inbreeding effects. Quantitative genetics methods are applied to natural history traits as a tool to monitor genetic variation. A fourth section on "conservation" shows how data from captive populations can be used where natural history data from wild populations are missing. A real example uses studbook data to inform Population Viability Analysis. The final section deals with issues related to incomplete and missing data and statistical topics. The purpose-written open-source software programs "Population Management Library (PML)" and "studbookR" used for analyses in the book, are available at www.princee.com.

Increased atmospheric nitrogen deposition and changes in the management of heathlands have caused a significant change in the species composition of the NW-European heathlands. This change from ericaceous towards gramineous dominance is analysed in detail in Heathlands: Patterns and Processes in a Changing Environment. Special emphasis is put on the effects of increased atmospheric nutrient input on nutrient cycling, competition between plant species and plant--herbivore interactions. The possibilities for the long-term conservation of heathlands are discussed by considering regeneration from seed and the usefulness of mathematical management models. The book provides a synthesis of pure and applied plant ecology. It is vital reading for plant ecologists, biological conservationists, heathland managers and government decision makers.

This book explores the concepts, premises, advancements, and challenges in quantifying natural forest landscape patterns through mapping techniques. After several decades of development and use, these tools can now be examined for their foundations, intentions, scope, advancements, and limitations. When applied to natural forest landscapes, mapping techniques must address concepts such as stochasticity, heterogeneity, scale dependence, non-Euclidean geometry, continuity, non-linearity, and parsimony, as well as be explicit about the intended degree of abstraction and assumptions. These studies focus on quantifying natural (i.e., non-human engineered) forest landscape patterns, because those patterns are not planned, are relatively complex, and pose the greatest challenges in cartography, and landscape representation for further interpretation and analysis.

Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology provides detailed review articles concerned with aspects of chemical contaminants, including pesticides, in the total environment with toxicological considerations and consequences.

China has been undertaking unprecedented ecological restoration efforts to deal with its problems of soil erosion, flooding, dust storms, and habitat loss. While there have been studies of these efforts, questions remain concerning whether they have been effectively implemented, what their induced socioeconomic and ecological impacts are, and how their performance can be improved.

Tackling these important questions in an integrated manner, An Integrated Assessment of China 's Ecological Restoration Programs is extraordinary for its broad coverage and methodological rigor. It provides a substantial improvement over the conventional approach of simply reporting projects undertaken and accepting uncritically the government assessment, and thus fills an important knowledge gap of the restoration efforts being implemented upon a variety of ecosystems in China.

We live in unprecedented times. Climate change and ecosystem collapse are altering our world beyond recognition, and a growing global population is exacerbating the pressure on the resources that power our economies. How should the private sector respond to the new risks and uncertainties of our Crowded Planet? Frugal Value contests the notion that companies can rise to the great challenges of our time by adopting so-called 'sustainable business' practices. Instead, the acute ecological crisis requires an all-round rethink of what business does, and how it does it. This book explores what business responsibility looks like today, and how it could be put into practice through far-reaching changes to companies, ranging from new approaches to product design and business models to reconfiguration of operations and innovative ownership structures. Frugal Value provides practitioners and scholars with the perspective and tools they need to design companies that help drive the socio-economic changes so urgently required for a sustainable and just world.

This book is intended for human resources management academics, researchers, students, organizational leaders and managers, HR Practitioners, and those responsible for helping support employees in the 21st-century workplace. It offers a path forward to create an environment that will not only build a healthier workplace by providing appropriate and effective well-being interventions but also offers solutions to manage multi-generational and 'holistic' employees within the employment relationship. The book describes the factors that promote healthy and WELL organizations and introduces concepts and strategies to reduce workplace stress and mental health issues and improve workplace well-being toward sustained organizational success. Employers that embrace the corporate responsibility of promoting the health and well-being of multi-generational, holistic employees will reap cost savings, employee engagement, and productivity advantages, as well as a healthier and more productive workforce.

Following the report by the World Commission on Environment and Development, research efforts devoted to sustainable development were promoted by the Swedish Council for Planning and Coordination of Research (FRN). With its fifteen essays by Swedish scholars on different aspects of society -- environment interface, giving various analyses of and prospects for the concept of sustainable development -- this book is a result of those efforts. The authors represent a spectrum of inter- and multidisciplinary approaches in the field of ecology, economy and environment. They are economists, ecologists, engineers, anthropologists, physicists, geographers, political scientists, science theorists and educationalists discussing sustainable development and the future of society and the environment. The question is also raised whether there is a special Swedisch touch' -- with a responsibility for the world' ethos -- to the approach to environmental issues, especially as seen through the efforts of the research community.

This book gathers contributions from scientists and industry representatives on achieving a sustainable bioeconomy. It also covers the social sciences, economics, business, education and the environmental sciences. There is an urgent need to optimise and maximise the use of biological resources, so that primary production and processing systems can generate more food, fibre and other bio-based products with less environmental impacts and lower greenhouse gas emissions. In other words, we need a "sustainable bioeconomy" - a term that encompasses the sustainable production of renewable resources from land, fisheries and aquaculture environments and their conversion into food, feed, fibre bio-based products and bio-energy, as well as related public goods. Despite the relevance of achieving a sustainable bioeconomy, there are very few publications in this field. Addressing that gap, this book illustrates how biological resources and ecosystems could be used in a more sustainable, efficient and integrated manner - in other words, how the principles of sustainable bioeconomy can be implemented in practice. Given its interdisciplinary nature, the field of sustainable bioeconomy offers a unique opportunity to address complex and interconnected challenges, while also promoting economic growth. It helps countries and societies to make a transition and to use resources more efficiently, and shows how to rely less on biological resources to satisfy industry demands and consumer needs. The papers are innovative, cross-cutting and include many practice-based lessons learned, some of which are reproducible elsewhere. In closing, the book, prepared by the Inter-University Sustainable Development Research Programme (IUSDRP) and the World Sustainable Development Research and Transfer Centre (WSD-RTC), reiterates the need to promote a sustainable bioeconomy today.

International concern in scientific, industrial, and governmental communi ties over traces of xenobiotics in foods and in both abiotic and biotic envi ronments has justified the present triumvirate of specialized publications in this field: comprehensive reviews, rapidly published research papers and progress reports, and archival documentations. These three international publications are integrated and scheduled to provide the coherency essential for nonduplicative and current progress in a field as dynamic and complex as environmental contamination and toxicology. This series is reserved ex clusively for the diversified literature on "toxic" chemicals in our food, our feeds, our homes, recreational and working surroundings, our domestic animals, our wildlife and ourselves. Tremendous efforts worldwide have been mobilized to evaluate the nature, presence, magnitude, fate, and toxi cology of the chemicals loosed upon the earth. Among the sequelae of this broad new emphasis is an undeniable need for an articulated set of authoritative publications, where one can find the latest important world literature produced by these emerging areas of science together with docu mentation of pertinent ancillary legislation. Research directors and legislative or administrative advisers do not have the time to scan the escalating number of technical publications that may contain articles important to current responsibility. Rather, these individu als need the background provided by detailed reviews and the assurance that the latest information is made available to them, all with minimal literature searching."

The Antarctic and Southern Ocean are hotspots for contemporary endeavours to oversee 'the last frontier' of the Earth. The Handbook on the Politics of Antarctica offers a wide-ranging and comprehensive overview of the governance, geopolitics, international law, cultural studies and history of the region. Written by leading experts, the Handbook brings together the very best interdisciplinary social science and humanities scholarship on the Antarctic and Southern Ocean, offering a definitive statement on why the world's only uninhabited continent attracts global attention in terms of science, politics and natural resources - and what can be done to manage it. Four sections take readers from the earliest human encounters to contemporary resource exploitation and climate change through thematic and critical analyses: the exploration, exploitation and mapping of Antarctica; its emergence as an object of global interest; human behaviour and environmental change in response to managerial interventions; and a contemplation of possible futures for Antarctica. All topics are covered in accessible yet authoritative contributions. Specialist readers in polar regions, public international law, geography, geopolitics and international relations will appreciate this uniquely comprehensive and up-to-date examination of politics in and around Antarctica, as will scholars with interest in areas beyond national jurisdiction, peace/co-operation studies and the interface between public policy and science. Contributors include: A.E. Abdenur, D.G. Ainley, A. Antonello, D. Avango, P.J. Beck, M. Benwell, L.E. Bloom, A.-M. Brady, C. Braun, N. Brazell, C. Brooks, I. Cardone, S.L. Chown, C. Collis, R. Davis, K. Dodds, A. Elzinga, F. Francioni, M. Haward, A.D. Hemmings, F. Hertel, A. Howkins, J. Jabour, S. Kaye, R.D. Launius, E. Leane, D. Liggett, H. Nielsen, E. Nyman, O. Olsson, H. OEsterblom, H.-U. Peter, P. Roberts, R. Roura, J.F. Salazar, D. Sampaio, S.V. Scott, T. Stephens, E. Stewart, L.-M. van der Watt, N. Vanstappen, P. Vigni, R. Wolfrum, J. Wouters, O. Young

Investigating Biological Systems Using Modeling describes how to apply software to analyze and interpret data from biological systems. It is written for students and investigators in lay person's terms, and will be a useful reference book and textbook on mathematical modeling in the design and interpretation of kinetic studies of biological systems. It describes the mathematical techniques of modeling and kinetic theory, and focuses on practical examples of analyzing data. The book also uses examples from the fields of physiology, biochemistry, nutrition, agriculture, pharmacology, and medicine.
Key Features:
* Contains practical descriptions of how to analyze kinetic data
* Provides examples of how to develop and use models
* Describes several software packages including SAAM/CONSAM
* Includes software with working models

Traditional plant physiological ecology is organism centered and provides a useful framework for understanding the interactions between plants and their environment and for identifying characteristics likely to result in plant success in a particular habitat. This book focuses on extending concepts from plant physiological ecology as a basis for understanding carbon, energy, and biogeochemical cycles at ecosystem, regional, and global levels.
This will be a valuable resource for researchers and graduate students in ecology, plant ecophysiology, ecosystem research, biometerology, earth system science, and remote sensing.
Key Features
* The integration of metabolic activities across spatial scales, from leaf to ecosystem
* Global constraints and regional processes
* Functional units in ecological scaling
* Models and technologies for scaling

The series Religion and Society (RS) contributes to the exploration of religions as social systems- both in Western and non-Western societies; in particular, it examines religions in their differentiation from, and intersection with, other cultural systems, such as art, economy, law and politics. Due attention is given to paradigmatic case or comparative studies that exhibit a clear theoretical orientation with the empirical and historical data of religion and such aspects of religion as ritual, the religious imagination, constructions of tradition, iconography, or media. In addition, the formation of religious communities, their construction of identity, and their relation to society and the wider public are key issues of this series.

This book discusses the concepts of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) that are the core of various paradigms used in strategic management to understand competitive advantage as well as flexibility in organizational boundaries. It serves as a valuable reference resource in the area of VUCA markets. An increase in the levels and types of uncertainty has important implications potentially for the durability of a company's advantages, the way firms learn and adapt, approaches for managing innovation and knowledge, and the attractiveness of different strategies and organizational models. In today's world, strategic flexibility in VUCA is essential for business leaders to sustain market advantage and attain a clear vision amid the chaos. Business leaders who stay focused and are aware of external volatility as the prevalent characteristic are successful, while those who are not flexible in this VUCA world and lock themselves into fixed positions lose out. The book includes empirical and conceptual research papers along with case studies and models discussing strategies for emerging markets in volatile and uncertain environments. It also covers a variety of issues, including innovation, people and processes, financial management, and leadership and strategies in VUCA markets. Apart from research fraternity and academia, the contents of the book will be useful for practitioners as well as industry watchers.

Artificial habitats have been used for centuries to successfully modify environments for the benefit of Man. In the aquatic environment, the use of artificial habitat technologies is of growing interest worldwide. Opportunities exist in both developed and developing nations to apply these technologies in many areas, including classical scientific investigations of ecosystem structure and function, engineering advances in underwater technology, and fisheries and environmental management.
The applications of artificial habitat technologies are taking on ever greater economic, social, and environmental importance globally, not only in developed countries such as Japan where highly sophisticated technologies are used, but also in developing nations, where lower cost practices are in use. There is growing pressure to increase production, while at the same time preserve or enhance the environments and ecosystems surrounding fisheries.
This book provides a comprehensive review of the facts, issues, and global trends emerging regarding the use of artificial habitats in aquatic ecosystems. It presents the most recent scientific advances in ecology and engineering technologies related to the building of artificial habitats, and it also presents many of the fisheries management and socioeconomic and environmental issues.
Artificial Habitats for Marine and Freshwater Fisheries will be of interest to a broad audience including natural resource scientists, planners, and managers, particularly those interested in aquatic and fisheries science and management; organizations and individuals interested in commercial and recreational fishing; ecologists; environmental economists, engineers, lawyers, and social scientists; and geographers.
Key Features
* Presents a global scope
* Draws together, for the first time, disparate literature
* Contains contributions by authors in the United States and Japan
* Features engineering chapters that focus on Japanese advanced technology often not available to the English language audience

Climate change is a matter of global concern and specific sectors of society such as universities need to engage and be active in the search for regional and local solutions for what is a global problem. Despite the fact that many universities all around the world are undertaking remarkable efforts in tackling the challenges posed by climate change, few of such works are widely documented and disseminated. The book "Universities and Climate Change" addresses this gap. The book pursues three aims. Firstly, it presents a review of the approaches and methods to inform, communicate and educate university students and the public on climate change being used by universities around the world. Secondly, it introduces initiatives, projects and communication strategies undertaken by universities with a view to informing students and other stakeholders in order to raise awareness on matters related to climate change. Finally, the book documents, promotes and disseminates some of the on-going initiatives.

Demands for sustainability policies have set new challenges for business both on the individual firm level and on the level of organized business interests. This edited volume brings together economic, social, environmental, and cultural dimensions of sustainability that comprise different challenges for business processes and activities. The aim is to develop an overarching framework to the study of sustainability and business and to advance an interdisciplinary analytical perspective. The book establishes a balanced account that equally represents business as problem causers as well as problem solvers, and therefore responds to the urgent need to investigate the intersection between sustainability issues and business participation.

Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. Challenging the mainstream view of the environment as either threatening or valuable, this book considers how geographic knowledge can be applied to offer a more nuanced understanding. Framed within geopolitics and using a range of methodologies, the chapters encapsulate different approaches to demonstrate how selective forms of knowledge, measurement, and spatial focus both embody and stabilize power, shaping how people perceive and respond to changing features of human-environment interactions. With key case studies analyzed throughout, this will be a timely read for geography and environmental studies scholars. It will also be beneficial to those studying political science and regional studies, as well as those working in NGOs and think tanks. Contributors include: L. Acton, B. Blue, L.M. Campbell, S. Dalby, O. Evrard, C.A. Fox, N.J. Gray, M. Himley, C. Johnson, F. Lasserre, P. Le Billon, M. Mostafanezhad, S. O'Lear, L. Olman, B. Schneider, L. Shykora, C. Sneddon, J. Swann-Quinn, M. Tadaki, P.-L. Tetu, S.D. VanDeveer

Forest vegetation is distributed in monsoon Asia continuously from boreal forests through temperate to tropical rain forests. This vegetation - the richest in the world - is being subjected to global change on an unprecedented scale. It has been predicted that boreal forests will experience the most significant change in response to global warming, while tropical forests are endangered by rapid changes in land use due to high population pressure. An increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration will severely affect ecosystem function in this area. This volume presents a review of terrestrial ecosystems in monsoon Asia and assesses possible effects of global change on the structure and function of forest ecosystems and feedback routes to the global carbon cycle. Audience: Vital reading for plant ecologists, vegetation scientists, environmental managers and government decision makers.

It is now known that over 90 percent of all plants have established integrative plant-fungal processes in their root systems, and it may well turn out to be the case that virtually all plants have mycorrhizae. In this work, many of the best researchers in the field review the current status of research in plant-fungal communications, mycorrhizal organisms, applications, and biotechnology. The focus is a hierarchical one. This volume is comprehensive and covers both ectomycorrhizae and vesicular-arbuscular (VA) mycorrhizae, addressing concepts that are related to all the different groups. Mycorrhizal Functioning will be of interest to professionals and graduate students in microbiology, ecology, mycology, plant pathology, plant science, and soil science. Those working in the agricultural biotechnology industry will also benefit from the book's applications perspective.

Research on the evolution of social behaviour has been dominated by genetic relatedness for a long time; however, both recent empirical studies and theoretical concepts give growing evidence for ecological factors acting as very prominent additional or alternative driving forces in social evolution. Now the time is ripe to investigate similarities and differences in the course of social evolution in different animals. This book brings together renowned researchers working on sociality in different animals. For the first time, they compile the evidence for the importance of ecological factors in the evolution of social life, ranging from invertebrate to vertebrate social systems, and evaluate its importance versus that of relatedness.

This book should be of interest to students of animal ecology; ecology.

J. J. Beukema, w. J. Wolff & J. J. W. M. Brouns Man is changing the biosphere at an ever increasing Netherlands ministery of Housing, Physical Planning rate. Several of these man-made changes are on a and Health (represented by Dr. G. P. Hekstra), chaired worldwide scale, such as the increase in atmospheric by Dr. w. J. Wolff (Research Institute for Nature concentrations of several gases. In particular the Management) and housed by the Netherlands In ongoing increase of the concentration of at stitute for Sea Research (N. I. O. Z., represented by Dr. mospheric carbon dioxide, by excessive burning of J. J. Beukema). fossil fuels and forest destruction, is well The written versions of the presentations by 23 par documented. By the year 2050, CO levels will ticipants have been brought together in these pro 2 almost certainly be twice the pre-industrial concen ceedings of the Workshop. trations and this is expected to have far-reaching consequences. Direct effects include higher rates of The first paper, by G. P. HEKSTRA, explains how plant production (also in agriculture). Indirect effects trace gases affect UV-B radiation, alkalinity of the might be less favourable: by the intensified sea, rate of photosynthesis, and greenhouse warm 'greenhouse process' (to which several other gases ing."

Dr. Hossen carried out an exceptional program of research in Bangladesh which focused on water governance in relation to human rights, international water law and environmental sustainability. His major argument is that eco-agricultural system encounters major disruptions due to a number of factors including regional hydropolitics and neoliberal and highly centralized approaches to water resource management that follow the principles of "ecocracy." In this context, Dr. Hossen explores three major questions: (i) How can local ecological knowledge be incorporated into national water policy? (ii) What strategies and reforms are required at the international watershed governance level? and (iii) How can human rights principles, including the principle of water as a human right, be used to formulate more effective water policy and governance principles? To answer these questions, Dr. Hossen explores the effects of regional hydropolitics on water management, focusing on three large engineering projects, the Farakka Barrage built by India on the Ganges River, and the Ganges-Kobodak (GK) and Gorai River Restoration (GRR) Projects in Bangladesh. This analysis is based on his research into local knowledge and farming practices during a year of fieldwork in 2011-12, focus group discussions, in-depth case studies and social survey methods. In addition to this primary data, he looks at extensive secondary documents from the government of Bangladesh pertaining to water management, agricultural modernization and institutional structures. The arguments herein are applicable particularly to the Ganges-Brahmaputra Basin countries in South Asia but also to the river basins of other parts of the world.