Swamps and marshes once covered vast stretches of the North American landscape. The destruction of these habitats, long seen as wastelands that harbored deadly disease, accelerated in the twentieth century. Today, the majority of the original wetlands in the US have vanished, transformed into farm fields or buried under city streets. In The Marsh Builders, Sharon Levy delves into the intertwined histories of wetlands loss and water pollution. The book's springboard is the tale of a years-long citizen uprising in Humboldt County, California, which led to the creation of one of the first U.S. wetlands designed to treat city sewage. The book explores the global roots of this local story: the cholera epidemics that plagued nineteenth-century Europe; the researchers who invented modern sewage treatment after bumbling across the insight that microbes break down pollutants in water; the discovery that wetlands act as efficient filters for the pollutants unleashed by modern humanity. More than forty years after the passage of the Clean Water Act launched a nation-wide effort to rescue lakes, rivers and estuaries fouled with human and industrial waste, the need for revived wetlands is more urgent than ever. Waters from Lake Erie and Chesapeake Bay to China's Lake Taihu are tainted with an overload of nutrients carried in runoff from farms and cities, creating underwater dead zones and triggering algal blooms that release toxins into drinking water sources used by millions of people. As the planet warms, scientists are beginning to design wetlands that can shield coastal cities from rising seas. Revived wetlands hold great promise for healing the world's waters.

This book encompasses the body of available scientific information on the notothenioid fish Pleuragramma antarctica commonly known as Antarctic silverfish. This plankton-feeder of the intermediate trophic level is the most abundant fish in the coastal regions of high Antarctica, and plays a pivotal ecological role as the main prey of top predators like seals, penguins, whales and Antarctic toothfish. Broad circum-polar distribution, a key role in the Antarctic shelf pelagic ecosystem, and adaptations makes understanding the species' likely response to environmental change relevant to foresee the potential responses at the local ecosystem level. Additionally, a detailed understanding of the abundance and trophic interactions of such a dominant keystone species is a vital element of informing the development of marine spatial planning and marine protected areas in the Antarctic continental shelf region. Experts in the field provide here unique insights into the evolutionary adaptation, eco-physiology, trophic ecology, reproductive and population ecology of the Antarctic silverfish and provide new clues about its vulnerability in facing the challenges of the ongoing environmental changes.

For nearly a quarter century, the polar bears of Churchill were routinely run down and shot by the military, by residents and by conservation officers who were brought in during the late 1960s to protect people. According to one scientist who was there at the time, polar bears were treated more like "great white rats" than the world's largest predator. But then something remarkable happened. During the 1970s the residents of Churchill decided that it was time to find a more peaceful way of living with polar bears.
In the years that followed, scientists conducted studies on the polar bear population and in relatively short order the bears of Churchill became the most studied group of large predators in the world.

More Wildlife on Your Land is a how-to book written in everyday language for the layperson - mainly the landowner who owns a few or many acres in the United States and Canada. This book describes how you can change your habitat to attract more wildlife, from songbirds to deer, to your property. Information includes 1) how to landscape and restore your woodlots, pastures, prairies, riparian areas, wetlands, and ponds; 2) how to raise crops and wildlife; 3) how to control grazing; 4) how to build and locate birdhouses, bat houses and other structures for backyard wildlife; 5) how to build watering devices and fences; 6) how to control nuisance wildlife; 7) how to get income from your wildlife; and 8) how to apply for financial assistance and other help.

In the popular imagination, no issue has been more closely linked with the environmental group Greenpeace than whaling. Opposition to commercial whaling has inspired many of the organization's most dramatic and high-profile "direct actions"-as well as some of its most notable failures. This book provides an inside look at one such instance: Greenpeace's decades-long campaign against the Norwegian whaling industry. Combining historical narrative with systems-theory analysis, author Juliane Riese shows how the organization's self-presentation as a David pitted against whale-butchering Goliaths was turned on its head. She recounts how opponents successfully discredited the campaign while Greenpeace struggled with internal disagreements and other organizational challenges, providing valuable lessons for other protest movements.

David Rothenberg is one of our most eloquent observers of the interplay between nature, culture, and technology. These nineteen pieces exemplify what has been called Rothenberg's "amiable" mix of interests, styles, and approaches.

In settings that range from wildest Norway to his own front porch in upstate New York, Rothenberg discusses the Hudson River School of painters, the hazy provenance of Chief Seattle's famous speech, ecoterrorism, suburbia, the World Wide Web, and much more. He asks if we can save a place less obtrusively than by turning it into a park. He muses on the plight of a pacifist beset by a swarm of mosquitoes. He ascends Mt. Ventoux with Petrarch and Mt. Katahdin with Thoreau.

"In Always the Mountains," Rothenberg dares us to "enjoy the fundamental uncertainty that grounds human existence," to wean ourselves from the habit of simple answers and embrace the world's vastness.

On September 9th, 2012, the Abruzzo National Park - now Abruzzo, Latium and Molise National Park - celebrated its ninetieth birthday. It is - along with the Gran Paradiso National Park - the oldest protected area in Italy and one of the oldest in Europe. The colloquium held in Pescasseroli in May 2012, on which this volume is based, reconstructed the highlights of the Park's troubled but always influential history and took stock of its connections with the other protected areas, with Italian and international environmentalism and with the Italian society at large.

Shortlisted for the 2018 TWS Wildlife Publication Awards in the authored book category In recent years, conflicts between ecological conservation and economic growth forced a reassessment of the motivations and goals of wildlife and forestry management. Focus shifted from game and commodity management to biodiversity conservation and ecological forestry. Previously separate fields such as forestry, biology, botany, and zoology merged into a common framework known as conservation biology and resource professionals began to approach natural resource problems in an interdisciplinary light. Wildlife Habitat Management: Concepts and Applications in Forestry presents an integrated reference combining silvicultural and forest planning principles with principles of habitat ecology and conservation biology. With extensive references and case studies drawn from real situations, this book begins with general concepts such as habitat selection, forest composition, influences on habitat patterns, and the dynamics of disturbance ecology. It considers management approaches for specific habitats including even-aged and uneven-aged systems, riparian areas, and dead wood and highlights those approaches that will conserve and manage biodiversity. The author discusses assessment and prioritization policies, monitoring techniques, and ethical and legal issues that can have worldwide impact. Detailed appendices provide a glossary, scientific names, and tools for measuring and interpreting habitat elements. Writing in a species-specific manner, the author emphasizes the need to consider the potential effects of management decisions on biodiversity conservation and maintains a holistic approach throughout the book. Drawing from the author's more than 30 years working and teaching in natural resources conservation, Wildlife Habitat Management: Concepts and Applications in Forestry provides a synopsis of current preservation techniques and establishes a common body of knowledge from which to approach the conservation of biodiversity in the future.

This book sheds new light on the causes and consequences of elephant migration in the Panchet Forest Division of Bankura District in West Bengal, India- an area characterized by fragmented forested landscape modified by agriculture and settlement expansion. Anthropogenic activities result in the decline in quality and coverage of forests, loss of biodiversity and removal of forest corridors which ultimately restrict or modify the movement of elephants causing a forceful change of their habitats. A major objective of this monograph is to identify the characteristics of man-elephant conflicts in terms of land use change, cropping patterns, ecological characteristics of the fragmented dry deciduous forest, trends and patterns of elephant migration, and livelihood patterns of the inhabitants in the affected areas. Readers will discover insights into changes in the behavioral pattern of elephants and local people in the conflict ridden zones, and how this influences food selection. Through this book we also learn about rational management strategies that can be employed on the local and national level to mitigate human-elephant conflicts. Ecologists, landscape conservation planners and environmental managers engaged in the conservation of large vertebrates in fragmenting and human-dominated landscapes will find this book valuable.

It is being increasingly recognised that cultural and biological diversity are deeply linked and that conservation programmes should take into account the ethical, cultural and spiritual values of nature. With contributions from a range of scholars, practitioners and spiritual leaders from around the world, this book provides new insights into biocultural diversity conservation. It explores sacred landscapes, sites, plants and animals from around the world to demonstrate the links between nature conservation and spiritual beliefs and traditions. Key conceptual topics are connected to case studies, as well as modern and ancient spiritual insights, guiding the reader through the various issues from fundamental theory and beliefs to practical applications. It looks forward to the biocultural agenda, providing guidelines for future research and practice and offering suggestions for improved integration of these values into policy, planning and management.

Howler monkeys (genus Alouatta) comprise 12 species of leaf-eating New World monkeys that range from southern Mexico through northern Argentina. This genus is the most widespread of any New World primate and can be found to inhabit a range of forest types from undisturbed rainforest to severely anthropogenically-impacted forest fragments. Although there have been many studies on individual species of howler monkeys, this book is the first comprehensive volume that places information on howler behavior and biology within a theoretical framework of ecological and social adaptability. This is the first of two companion volumes devoted to the genus Alouatta. This volume: * Provides new and original empirical and theoretical research on howler monkeys * Presents evolutionary and adaptive explanations for the ecological success of howler monkeys * Examines howler behavior and ecology within a comparative framework These goals are achieved in a collection of chapters written by a distinguished group of scientists on the evolutionary history, paleontology, taxonomy, genetics, morphology, physiology, and anatomy of howlers. The volume also contains chapters on howlers as vectors of infectious diseases, ethnoprimatology, and conservation.

One of Britain's natural treasures, the Shetland Islands are spectacular with their varied geology, wonderful landscape, and special flora and fauna. They are peopled by a culture distinct within the British Isles. Despite their isolation, the islands have evolved many particular species. This book is only the second to describe all the wildlife of the Shetland Islands and the first to comprehensively cover their history since the last Ice Age, as well as the human impacts of the Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron Age cultures and the Norse influences from Scandinavia. It critically observes the costs and benefits of a modern economy, both to the people and the natural scene. 12 chapters describe the ecology, flora and fauna, marine fisheries, Fair Isle, local and visiting naturalists and the oil industry. The closing chapter examines today's environmental changes in the context of those of the last 12000 years and draws lessons for the future. Written for the general reader and keen naturalist, this book is lavishly illustrated with photographs and graced with evocative sketches by John Busby. 65 figures, tables, maps and diagrams illustrate and clarify points in the text. Features: * The only full description of the natural history of the Shetlands in print * Focuses on conservation and the relationship between ecology and human activity * Contains evocative sketches by John Busby

Marine Mammal Observer and Passive Acoustic Monitoring Handbook is the ultimate instruction manual for mitigation measures to minimise man-made acoustical and physical disturbances to marine mammals from industrial and defence activities. Based on more than two decades of offshore experience, and a decade of supplying MMO and PAM services (commercial and scientific), the Handbook is a long-overdue reference guide that seeks to improve standards worldwide for marine operations such as seismic and drilling exploration, wind farm and civil engineering piling, dredging, trenching, rock-dumping, hydrographical surveys, and military/defence exercises. By popular request, this manual will also form an accompaniment to MMO and PAM courses. The Handbook consolidates all aspects of this discipline into one easily accessible resource, to educate all stakeholders (e.g. MMOs, PAM operators, suppliers, recruitment agencies, clients, contractors, regulators, NGOs, consultants, scientists, academia and media), regardless of experience. Topics include worldwide legislation, compliance, anthropogenic noise sources and potential effects, training, offshore life, visual and acoustic monitoring (theory and practice), marine mammal distribution, hearing and vocalisations, and report writing. Advice is provided on implementing sensible and practical mitigation techniques, appropriate technologies, data collection, client and regulator liaison, and project kick-off meetings. "The Handbook is an indispensable How To guide to the growing and increasingly important occupation of marine mammal monitoring, written with clarity and humor by scientists who have extensive experience in this field." -Dr Phillip J. Clapham, world-renowned cetologist and Director of the Cetacean Assessment and Ecology Program at the National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle.

When biologist Brian Harvey saw a thousand fish blundering into a Brazilian dam, he asked the obvious: What's going to happen to them? The End of the River is the story of his long search for an answer. The End of the River is about people and rivers and the misuse of science. Harvey takes readers from a fisheries patrol boat on the Fraser River to the great Tsukiji fish market in Japan, with stops in the Philippines, Thailand, and assorted South American countries. Finally, in the arid outback of northeast Brazil, against a backdrop of a multi-billion dollar river project nobody seems to want, he finds a small-scale answer to his simple question. The End of the River is a journey with many companions. Some are literary, some are imaginary. But mostly they're real characters, human and otherwise: a six-foot endangered catfish, a Canadian professor with a weakness for Thai bar girls, a chain-smoking Brazilian Brunnhilde with a passion for her river, a drug-addled stick-up artist. The End of the River is about fishermen and fish farmers and even fish cops; there are scientists and shysters as well as a few Colombian narcotraficos and some very drunk, very hairy Brazilian men in thongs. Funny and sad, The End of the River is a new kind of writing about the environment, as far off the beaten track as you can get in a Land Rover driven by a female Colombian biologist whose favourite expression is "Oops - no road " "A wonderful and engaging read with a samba beat, on the plight of the planet's living waters. The End of the River is the book Nemo would write if he could. A great way to open peoples' eyes." - Thomas E. Lovejoy, President, Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment

This book gives a start-to-finish overview of the whole Fish4Knowledge project, in 18 short chapters, each describing one aspect of the project. The Fish4Knowledge project explored the possibilities of big video data, in this case from undersea video. Recording and analyzing 90 thousand hours of video from ten camera locations, the project gives a 3 year view of fish abundance in several tropical coral reefs off the coast of Taiwan. The research system built a remote recording network, over 100 Tb of storage, supercomputer processing, video target detection and tracking, fish species recognition and analysis, a large SQL database to record the results and an efficient retrieval mechanism. Novel user interface mechanisms were developed to provide easy access for marine ecologists, who wanted to explore the dataset. The book is a useful resource for system builders, as it gives an overview of the many new methods that were created to build the Fish4Knowledge system in a manner that also allows readers to see how all the components fit together.

Insects are the most diverse and abundant animals that share our world, and conservation initiatives are increasingly needed and being implemented globally, to safe guard the wealth of individual species. This book provides sufficient background information, illustrated by examples from many parts of the world, to enable more confident and efficient progress towards the conservation of these ecologically indispensable animals. Writing for graduate students, academic researchers and professionals, Tim New describes the major ingredients for insect species management and conservation, and how these may be integrated into effective practical management and recovery plans.

This book provides complete, comprehensive, and broad subject-based reviews for students, teachers, researchers, policymakers, conservationists, and NGOs interested in the biodiversity and conservation of woody plants. Forests cover approximately 31 percent of the world's total landmass; 93 percent is natural forest and only 7 percent consists of planted trees. Forest decline is progressing at an alarming rate worldwide. In addition to human activities (logging, deforestation, and exploiting forest lands for agriculture and industrial use), a number of other factors - including pests and diseases, drought, soil acidity, radiation, and ozone - are cumulatively contributing to global forest decline. The present situation forces us to focus on forest conservation strategies for the present and future. Gene conservation and maintaining genetic diversity in forest ecosystems are crucial to the preservation of forest genetic resources. This calls for integrated action to implement both the in situ (on site) preservation of forest stands and ex situ (distant from the original site) strategies for the conservation of woody plants' genetic resources. Selected priority areas include: 1) assessing patterns of genetic diversity and threats, 2) understanding the biological processes regulating genetic diversity, 3) assessing the impact of human activities and climate change on genetic diversity, and 5) finding methods for prioritizing species and populations for the conservation of forest trees genetic resources. All chapters were written by leading scientists in their respective fields, which include: woody plant diversity, ecology and evolution; assessment of genetic diversity in forest tree populations; conservation planning under climate change; and in situ and ex situ strategies, including biotechnological approaches, for the conservation of woody plants genetic resources.

This practical handbook of reptile field ecology and conservation brings together a distinguished, international group of reptile researchers to provide a state-of-the-art review of the many new and exciting techniques used to study reptiles. The authors describe ecological sampling techniques and how they are implemented to monitor the conservation status and population trends of snakes, lizards, tuatara, turtles, and crocodilians throughout the world. Emphasis is placed on the extent of statistical inference and the biases associated with different techniques and analyses. The chapters focus on the application of field research and data analysis for achieving an understanding of reptile life history, population dynamics, movement patterns, thermal ecology, conservation status, and the relationship between reptiles and their environment. The book emphasises the need for thorough planning, and demonstrates how a multi-dimensional approach incorporates information related to morphology, genetics, molecular biology, epidemiology, statistical modelling, animal welfare, and biosecurity. Although accentuating field sampling, sections on experimental applications in laboratories and zoos, thermal ecology, genetics, landscape ecology, disease and biosecurity, and management options are included. Much of this information is scattered in the scientific literature or not readily available, and the intention is to provide an affordable, comprehensive synthesis for use by graduate students, researchers, and practising conservationists worldwide.

This book provides an invaluable, comprehensive and practical introduction to conservation issues associated with current farming practice. Representing both industry and conservation as an integrated and holistic system, it explores conservation issues within every farming discipline; from arable and horticulture to grasslands, woodlands, aquatic and coastal farming and will include an assessment of the impact of global warming. The book includes relevant case studies and international, real-world examples, focusing on applied management and not just ecological facts, theories and principles.

The carefully structured book begins by introducing the overall subject including some statistics on current farming activities, giving a brief outlook for the future of farming systems in relation to conservation. Each subsequent chapter will have its own introduction setting the commercial context and conservation value of an example farm, and will progress with a series of case studies that will include the following elements: site assessment; species list; soils management options; and a habitat management plan. A summary section will draw together the common themes of the chapter and develop a lead-in to subsequent chapters.

It will provide students with an informed appreciation of current practice whilst raising questions about the development of conservation in farming in the future.

These reflections on canoe and kayak and ski journeys though the Adirondack Park, New York State, represent both observation of habitat and wildlife, and concern for its future preservation and accessibility.

This book summarises legal and political events related to active sonar and marine mammals. While strandings and mortality of marine mammals, primarily beaked whales, have been observed in concurrence with mid-frequency sonar operation, additional controversy has focused on the development of low-frequency active (LFA) sonar. Some peacetime use of military sonar has been regulated under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and other statutes due to concerns that active military sonars are operated at frequencies used by some cetaceans (i.e., whales, porpoises, and dolphins), and their high-intensity sound pulses may travel long distances in the ocean. Although mid-frequency sonar has been implicated in several beaked whale strandings, there is scientific uncertainty surrounding the totality of the effects active sonar transmissions may have on marine mammals. This book also addresses the concern regarding environmental effects of ocean noise on three activities -- military sonar exercises, oil and gas exploration, and commercial shipping. This is an edited, excerpted and augmented edition of a CRS publication.

In "The Last Wolf," Jim Crumley explores the place of the wolf in Scotland--past, present and future--and challenges many of the myths that have been regarded for centuries as biological fact. Bringing to bear a lifetime's immersion in his native landscape and more than twenty years as a professional nature writer, Crumley questions much of the written evidence on the plight of the wolf in light of contemporary knowledge and considers the wolf in today's world, an examination that ranges from Highland Scotland to Devon and from Yellowstone in North America to Norway and Italy, as he pursues a more considered portrait of the animal than the history books have previously offered. Within the narrative, Crumley also examines the extraordinary phenomenon of wolf reintroductions physically transforming the landscapes in which they live that even the very colours of the land change under the influence of teeming grasses, flowers, trees, butterflies, birds, and mammals that flourish in their company, Crumley makes the case for their reintroduction into Scotland with all the passion and poetic fervour that has become the hallmark of his writing over the years. This is an elegant, erudite and imaginative account that readdresses the place of the wolf in modern Scotland.

Farmland wildlife has been decimated by intensive crop growing using pesticides, grubbing up hedges, ploughing heathland and draining marshes, etc. With too many sheep grazing our moors, hills and mountains, a range of upland plants, invertebrates and birds has been diminished and the land converted to closely-grazed turf, perfect for heavy rain to cause catastrophic downstream floods. Once common farmland birds have declined by 54% since 1970 with farmland invertebrates declining by 40% in a few decades. Since the 1930s a staggering 97% of our once flower-rich meadows has been lost. Ploughing a New Furrow examines these stark figures and in the context of Brexit considers the unprecedented opportunity for wildlife once again to be nurtured by Britain's farmers alongside food production, reversing the enormous plant and animal losses our farmland has suffered. With its financial largesse, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has encouraged farmers to destroy huge areas of wildlife habitat in Britain's lowlands and seriously damage large tracts of our uplands, depleting Britain's farmed land of much of its wildlife. With responsibility for farm policy to be transferred back to the UK, these enormous losses could be reversed and Britain's farms made wildlife-rich once more. This book is based to a significant extent on conversations with farmers and on the achievements and experiences of some farmers who have made good use of agri-environment payments to reinstate lost habitats and manage their remaining wildlife more sensitively. The author sets out the case for removing or capping subsidies, supporting organic and other more sustainable forms of agriculture and the conservation of soils and the rich life forms they hold. He proposes a set of policy changes and other measures that should be adopted by the Government post-Brexit to make the 70% of our land that farming occupies rich in wildlife again. Literally food for thought!

Invertebrate Conservation and Agricultural Ecosystems explores the diverse interests of invertebrate conservation and agricultural production. It is both an introduction to invertebrate conservation biology for agriculturists and an introduction to crop protection for conservation biologists, demonstrating how these two disparate fields may draw on each other for greater collective benefit. It draws on recent literature to show how invertebrate conservation in highly altered landscapes may be promoted and enhanced. The book deals with problems of, and approaches to, invertebrate conservation in highly managed agricultural ecosystems, and how biodiversity may be promoted without compromising agricultural production. It draws attention to the importance of invertebrates in agricultural systems and their role in ecosystem functions.