This book helps to establish a simple framework to identify and use bird species as a bioindicator for high nature value (HNV) farmlands. This book focuses on suitable methods for monitoring the HNV areas, and presents the results of several case studies. The chapters put forward ways to integrate ecosystems assessment, geographical information systems (GIS) and strategies for conservation of local biodiversity. An innovative framework focuses on the use of species distribution models (SDMs) in order to explore the importance of each characteristic of HNV farmlands. Furthermore, the book examines the relationships among bird species richness, land use diversity and landscape metrics at a local scale in the farmlands.

The book introduces tourism earth-science as a new scientific discipline by applying the principles of earth-science in the study of natural and human tourism resources. It involves studying the geo-scientific characteristics of these tourism resources through surveys, evaluation and aesthetic value assessment. It also discusses about the principles behind geopark establishment and management. It is an important publication providing direction for geopark and tourism developments in China. The book is a tool for geological heritage survey, assessment and research. It can also be used to assist planning of geopark, national parks, heritage protection and scientific interpretation. It is a valuable teaching material for teachers and students of geoscience and tourism as well as providing useful guidance for geopark managers and tour guides in their operation. In addition, the book also offers scientific knowledge of the surrounding natural and cultural landscapes to the public and the general visitors.

About seventy-one per cent of the Earth's surface is water, and even on dry land we remain closely connected to aquatic life. It provides us with oxygen, food, medicine and materials. Wild waterlife infiltrates our lives in many surprising ways. Every other breath we take is filled with oxygen provided by ocean-dwelling microscopic plants. A type of seaweed provides a means to directly test whether people are infected with viruses, including Covid-19. Robotics design takes inspiration from a pike's ability to accelerate with greater g-force than a Porsche. Wild Waters by Susanne Masters is a celebration of the breadth of wildlife that can be found in and around our varied waterways, from oceans and rivers to rock pools and ponds. Armchair explorers can read a fascinating account of how aquatic plants and animals enrich human life. Swimmers, paddleboarders, dog walkers, families and anyone with a passion for the great outdoors can learn about local wildlife, including when and where to look for different species without causing any harm. With stunning illustrations by Alice Goodridge, Wild Waters provides a tantalising insight into the world beneath the surface.

Marine Mammals: Evolutionary Biology, Third Edition is a succinct, yet comprehensive text devoted to the systematics, evolution, morphology, ecology, physiology, and behavior of marine mammals. Earlier editions of this valuable work are considered required reading for all marine biologists concerned with marine mammals, and this text continues that tradition of excellence with updated citations and an expansion of nearly every chapter that includes full color photographs and distribution maps.

This book gathers a representative sample of the relevant knowledge related to the ecology, behavior, and conservation of birds in urban Latin America. Latin America is one of the most biodiverse regions of the world, yet it is still understudied. Although it concentrates most of its population in rapidly growing cities under considerable economic, social, and environmental disparity, the study of the effects that urbanization has on biodiversity in Latin America is still insufficient. Among the best-studied wildlife groups, birds have been widely used as bioindicators in urban areas. Going from general to specific information regarding avian communities, populations, behavior, threats, and conservation issues, this book describes the state-of-the-art of avian urban ecology in the region. Such knowledge will hopefully promote the regional consolidation of the field and encourage future mechanistic studies that untangle the recorded patterns in order to have the required information to bridge the gap between evidence-based knowledge and practice in urban systems. Thus, the information included in this document will allow scientists, students, and even decision takers to relate with the current knowledge and gaps related to the topic, providing perspective for future studies and actions.

The contributors present empirical and theoretical insights on current debates on environmental change, adaptation and migration. While focusing on countries subject to environmental degradation, it calls for a regional perspective that recognises local actors and a systematic link between development studies and migration research.

This edited collection provides a cross-sectional review of environmental legislation and administration in the United States, with comparative chapters relating to Canada and New Zealand. The experts look at a variety of environmental issues that create policy problems, and while the book offers no blueprint or prognosis of environmental policy in the twenty-first century, it does offer insights into trends that will influence the future shape of that policy.

The book is prefaced by an overview of the environment as a problem for policy by Lynton K. Caldwell, who has been credited with inventing the term environmental policy. Experts examine the role of risk analysis in policy making; the transnational issues associated with NAFTA and GATT are discussed; and the efforts of the Environmental Protection Agency to integrate policy and administration are described. The perspective of the authors is transnational, with several chapters focusing primarily on U.S. policy.

A global synthesis of the impacts of wildfires and controlled burning on insects, bringing together much hitherto scattered information to provide a guide to improved conservation management practice. The great variety of responses by insect species and assemblages demonstrates the often subtle balance between fire being a severe threat and a vital management component. Examples from many parts of the world and from diverse biotopes and production systems display the increasingly detailed appreciation of fire impacts on insects in terrestrial and freshwater environments and the ways in which prescribed burning may be tailored to reduce harmful ecological impacts and incorporated into protocols for threatened species and wider insect conservation benefits.

Green management or management using environmentally sensible techniques is the next major challenge for American business managers. State-of-the-art green management practices are needed to reduce pollution and to improve competitiveness by conserving resources and using the resources in a responsible manner. Every functional area of the firm will participate. World class practices for planning and implementation of green strategies are provided for technical, production, marketing and general managers. Management and engineering techniques are integrated to help readers assimilate practices into their own companies. Green benchmarking, green value analysis, and life cycle assessment are included.

This work is mainly written for practicing production managers, R&D managers, corporate managers, and marketing managers who are interested in learning about green management with methods of measurements of success and methods of implementation included. The work also should be of interest to scholars and students in business management.

Now in paperback! A dual biography of two of the most compelling elements in the narrative of wild America, John Muir and Alaska. John Muir was a fascinating man who was many things: inventor, scientist, revolutionary, druid (a modern day Celtic priest), husband, son, father and friend, and a shining son of the Scottish Enlightenment -- both in temperament and intellect. Kim Heacox, author of The Only Kayak, bring us a story that evolves as Muir's life did, from one of outdoor adventure into one of ecological guardianship---Muir went from impassioned author to leading activist. The book is not just an engaging and dramatic profile of Muir, but an expose on glaciers, and their importance in the world today. Muir shows us how one person changed America, helped it embrace its wilderness, and in turn, gave us a better world. December 2014 marked the 100th anniversary of Muir's death. Muir died of a broken heart, some say, when Congress voted to approve the building of Hetch Hetchy Dam in Yosemite National Park. Perhaps in the greatest piece of environmental symbolism in the U.S. in a long time, on the California ballot last November was a measure to dismantle the Hetch Hetchy Dam. Muir's legacy is that he reordered our priorities and contributed to a new scientific revolution that was picked up a generation later by Aldo Leopold and Rachel Carson, and is championed today by influential writers like E.O. Wilson and Jared Diamond. Heacox takes us into how Muir changed our world, advanced the science of glaciology and popularized geology. How he got people out there. How he gave America a new vision of Alaska, and of itself.

How do societies negotiate the apparently competing agendas of environmental protection and social justice? Why do some countries perform much better than others? Democracy in the Woods answers these questions by explaining the trajectories of forest and land rights-and the fate of forest-dependent peasants-in the forested regions of India, Tanzania, and Mexico. To organize a comparative inquiry that straddles the fields of comparative politics, historical institutionalism, and policy studies, this book develops a political economy of institutions framework. It shows that differences in structures of political intermediation-venues that help peasant groups and social movements engage in political and policy processes-explain the varying levels of success in combining the pursuits of social justice and environmental conservation. The book challenges the age-old notion that populist policies produce uniformly deleterious environmental consequences that must be mitigated via centralized systems of environmental regulation. It shows instead that the national leaders and dominant political parties that must compete for popular support in the political arena are more likely to fashion interventions that pursue conservation of forested landscapes without violating the rights of forest-dependent people. Mexico demonstrates the potential for win-win outcomes, India continues to stumble on both environmental and social questions despite longstanding traditions of popular mobilization for forestland rights, and Tanzania's government has failed its forest-dependent people despite a lucrative wildlife tourism sector. This book's political analysis of the control over and use of nature opens up new avenues for reflecting on nature in the Anthropocene.

In the tradition of Thoreau's "Walden," William Paul Winchester offers a chronicle of everyday life on Southwind, his farm of twenty acres. As a subsistence farmer, he builds his own house and barn, puts in a garden and an orchard, acquires a milk cow, and takes up beekeeping. In these pages, we hear his thoughts on such subjects as the weather, seasonal changes, machinery repair, the flora and fauna of the region, and vegetarian cooking. His philosophy, like his lifestyle, is simple, yet profoundly wise.

This book gathers papers presented and discussions held at the Conference on Wind Energy and Wildlife Impacts in Melbourne, Australia on 9th October 2012. The purpose of the conference was to bring together researchers, industry, consultants, regulators and Non-Government Organizations to share the results of studies into wind farm and wildlife investigations in Australia and New Zealand. The aim was to further networking and communication between these groups. The conference discussed key issues and areas for future investigation, with the intention of developing consistencies in research and management. Like the Conference, the book showcases current research and management in the field of wind farms and wildlife in Australia and New Zealand; establishes consistencies in research and management; and highlights areas in need of further examination. The papers in these Proceedings are presented in two session topics. The first covers "Investigations and assessment of new wind farms" and the second, "Monitoring, mitigation and offsets." The Proceedings then summarize the panel discussions held at the end of the conference. The themes include improving pre- and post-construction survey design; identifying key knowledge gaps and research priorities; uncertainties and errors in data sets and analysis; creating opportunities to share knowledge; and assessing cumulative impacts across multiple sites.