This book is a compilation of recent global measures to conserve bio-resources and manage biotic and abiotic stresses. It highlights emerging issues related to agriculture, abiotic and biotic stress factors, ethnic knowledge, climate change and global warming, as well as natural resources and their sustainable management. It also focuses on the consolidated efforts of scientists and academics engaged in addressing a number of issues related to resource management and combating stresses in order to protect the Earth. Crop production and productivity have been significantly improved, however, there have been no corresponding practical advances in sustainable agriculture.This book offers a wide range of affordable approaches to managing bio-resources with a focus on sustainability. Lastly, it describes research highlights and future areas of research.

This book presents sustainable development themes across universities and introduces methodological approaches and projects to the teaching staff. It has been prepared against this background, to identify ways to better teach about sustainability issues in a university context. It contains a set of papers presented at a Symposium with the same title, held at Manchester Metropolitan University (UK) in March 2017. The event was attended by a number of institutions of higher education active in this field. It involved researchers in the field of sustainable development in the widest sense, from business and economics, to arts and fashion, administration, environment, languages and media studies. Sustainability is seldom systematically embedded in the curriculum at higher education institutions. Yet, proper provisions for curricular integration of sustainability issues as part of teaching programmes across universities are an important element towards curriculum greening. The aims of this book are: (i) to provide teaching staff at universities active and/or interested in teaching sustainable development themes with an opportunity to document and disseminate their works (i.e. curriculum innovation, empirical work, activities, case studies practical projects); (ii) to promote information, ideas and experiences acquired in the execution of teaching courses, especially successful initiatives and good practice; (iii) to introduce methodological approaches and projects which aim to offer a better understanding of how matters related to sustainable development can be tackled in university teaching. Last but not least, a further aim of this book, prepared by the Inter-University Sustainable Development Research Programme (IUSDRP) and the World Sustainable Development Research and Transfer Centre (WSD-RTC), is to catalyse a debate on the need to promote sustainable development teaching today.

The aim of this edited volume is to introduce the scientific community to paleoenvironmental studies of estuaries, to highlight the types of information that can be obtained from such studies, and to promote the use of paleoenvironmental studies in estuarine management. Readers will learn about the the application of different paleoecological approaches used in estuaries that develop our understanding of their response to natural and human influences. Particular attention is given to the essential steps required for undertaking a paleoecological study, in particular with regard to site selection, core extraction and chronological techniques, followed by the range of indicators that can be used. A series of case studies are discussed in the book to demonstrate how paleoecological studies can be used to address key questions, and to sustainably manage these important coastal environments in the future. This book will appeal to professional scientists interested in estuarine studies and/or paleoenvironmental research, as well as estuarine managers who are interested in the incorporation of paleoenvironmental research into their management programs.

The cryosphere stands for environments where water appears in a frozen form. It includes permafrost, glaciers, ice sheets, and sea ice and is currently more affected by Global Change than most other regions of the Earth. In the cryosphere, limited water availability and subzero temperatures cause extreme conditions for all kind of life which microorganisms can cope with extremely well. The cryosphere's microbiota displays an unexpectedly large genetic potential, and taxonomic as well as functional diversity which, however, we still only begin to map. Also, microbial communities influence reaction patterns of the cryosphere towards Global Change. Altered patterns of seasonal temperature fluctuations and precipitation are expected in the Arctic and will affect the microbial turnover of soil organic matter (SOM). Activation of nutrients by thawing and increased active layer thickness as well as erosion renders nutrient stocks accessible to microbial activities. Also, glacier melt and retreat stimulate microbial life in turn influencing albedo and surface temperatures. In this context, the functional resilience of microbial communities in the cryosphere is of major interest. Particularly important is the ability of microorganisms and microbial communities to respond to changes in their surroundings by intracellular regulation and population shifts within functional niches, respectively. Research on microbial life exposed to permanent freeze or seasonal freeze-thaw cycles has led to astonishing findings about microbial versatility, adaptation, and diversity. Microorganisms thrive in cold habitats and new sequencing techniques have produced large amounts of genomic, metagenomic, and metatranscriptomic data that allow insights into the fascinating microbial ecology and physiology at low and subzero temperatures. Moreover, some of the frozen ecosystems such as permafrost constitute major global carbon and nitrogen storages, but can also act as sources of the greenhouse gases methane and nitrous oxide. In this book we summarize state of the art knowledge on whether environmental changes are met by a flexible microbial community retaining its function, or if the altered conditions also render the community in a state of altered properties that affect the Earth's element cycles and climate. This book brings together research on the cryosphere's microbiota including permafrost, glaciers, and sea ice in Arctic and Antarctic regions. Different spatial scales and levels of complexity are considered, spanning from ecosystem level to pure culture studies of model microbes in the laboratory. It aims to attract a wide range of parties with interest in the effect of climate change and/or low temperatures on microbial nutrient cycling and physiology.

This book presents a model for describing the hierarchical concept of China's water rights structure, one which takes into account pioneering theories on natural resources and environmental institutional economics. It highlights the basic theory of water rights, with a view to helping Chinese policymakers acquire a deeper understanding of water rights and the need for a reform program in the long-term development of water-poor China. To do so, it draws on three main sources: Cheung SNS's "Economic Explanation", Douglas C. North's "New Economic History" and Ray Huang's "Macro History". The book makes two essential contributions: it elaborates the hierarchical water governance structure in China, which originated in the Qin Dynasty that unified the country 2000 years ago and has been employed without interruption ever since; further, it constructs a choice model for water governance structures and advances the logic of making structural choices with minimum transaction costs under constraint conditions, while also explaining the inherent nature of China's choice for the hierarchical structure from the perspectives of management cost and cooperation cost. As such, the book enriches and builds on the theories of the "water governance" school represented by Karl Marx, Karl Wittfogel and Ray Huang, laying the foundation for the further study of water rights theory in contemporary China.

This book provides standards and guidelines for quantifying greenhouse gas emissions and removals in smallholder agricultural systems and comparing options for climate change mitigation based on emission reductions and livelihood trade-offs. Globally, agriculture is directly responsible for about 11% of annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and induces an additional 17% through land use change, mostly in developing countries. Farms in the developing countries of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia are predominately managed by smallholders, with 80% of land holdings smaller than ten hectares. However, little to no information exists on greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation potentials in smallholder agriculture. Greenhouse gas measurements in agriculture are expensive, time consuming, and error prone, challenges only exacerbated by the heterogeneity of smallholder systems and landscapes. Concerns over methodological rigor, measurement costs, and the diversity of approaches, coupled with the demand for robust information suggest it is germane for the scientific community to establish standards of measurements for quantifying GHG emissions from smallholder agriculture. Standard guidelines for use by scientists, development organizations will help generate reliable data on emissions baselines and allow rigorous comparisons of mitigation options. The guidelines described in this book, developed by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS) and partners, are intended to inform anyone conducting field measurements of agricultural greenhouse gas sources and sinks, especially to develop IPCC Tier 2 emission factors or to compare mitigation options in smallholder systems.

This edited volume brings together contributions from experts on a range of food security issues, and examines them through a number of case studies. A Millennium Development goal and important policy concern, food security is experiencing renewed interest due to globalisation, which has led to population affluence, changing consumption, and production and trade patterns. The authors discuss how globalisation brings a new dimension to the discussion on public policy on food security, and consider the extent to which Global Value Chains (GVCs) dominate trade, investment and international agricultural markets. Food Security and Sustainability therefore sheds new light on the nexus of food security and globalization, as well as its implications for investment and financing in the agro-food sector. The volume draws on papers presented at the inaugural Workshop of the Mediterranean Center for Food Security and Sustainable Growth (MED-SEC), an international network of academics focusing on issues of development, sustainability and food security.

This book gathers technical and scientific contributions from leading researchers, academics, and lecturers, focusing on water management, water pollution and water structures in the Czech Republic. It discusses a variety of water resources management issues, from stormwater management in urban areas, water quantity, hydraulics structures and hydrodynamic modeling, to flood protection, presenting state-of-the-art developments for addressing a range of problems. Edited and authored by pioneers in the field who have been at the cutting edge of water management development in the Czech Republic, this book is of interest to environmental professionals, including scientists and policymakers both in the Czech Republic and around the globe.

This book provides an overview of contemporary trends and challenges in maritime energy management (MEM). Coordinated action is necessary to achieve a low carbon and energy-efficient maritime future, and MEM is the prevailing framework aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions resulting from maritime industry activities. The book familiarizes readers with the status quo in the field, and paves the way for finding solutions to perceived challenges. The 34 contributions cover six important aspects: regulatory framework; energy-efficient ship design; energy efficient ship and port operation; economic and social dimensions; alternative fuels and wind-assisted ship propulsion; and marine renewable energy. This pioneering work is intended for researchers and academics as well as practitioners and policymakers involved in this important field.

This unique volume presents up-to-date information and the latest research findings on unconventional water resources in Egypt and their connections to agriculture. It investigates how to cope with the severe shortage of water and how to improve the irrigation system's efficiency. The main aspects addressed include: * History of drainage and drainage projects in Egypt * Towards the integration of irrigation and drainage water * Assessment of drainage systems and environmental impact assessment of irrigation projects * Maximizing the reuse of agricultural drainage water and agricultural waste to improve irrigation efficiency * Developing alternative water resources, such as desalination, for greenhouses * Drainage water quality assessment, microbial hazards and improvement of green and cost-effective technologies for treatment of agricultural drainage water and wastewater for reuse in irrigation * Towards the sustainable reuse of water resources in Egypt * Options for securing water resources in Egypt, and challenges and opportunities for policy planners This book and the companion volume Conventional Water Resources and Agriculture in Egypt are vital resources for researchers, environmental managers and water policy planners - and for all those seeking information on wastewater reuse, green and cost-effective technologies for improving water quality.

This book offers a comprehensive reference guide to intelligence systems in environmental management. It provides readers with all the necessary tools for solving complex environmental problems, where classical techniques cannot be applied. The respective chapters, written by prominent researchers, explain a wealth of both basic and advanced concepts including ant colony, genetic algorithms, evolutionary algorithms, fuzzy multi-criteria decision making tools, particle swarm optimization, agent-based modelling, artificial neural networks, simulated annealing, Tabu search, fuzzy multi-objective optimization, fuzzy rules, support vector machines, fuzzy cognitive maps, cumulative belief degrees, and many others. To foster a better understanding, all the chapters include relevant numerical examples or case studies. Taken together, they form an excellent reference guide for researchers, lecturers and postgraduate students pursuing research on complex environmental problems. Moreover, by extending all the main aspects of classical environmental solution techniques to its intelligent counterpart, the book presents a dynamic snapshot on the field that is expected to stimulate new directions and stimulate new ideas and developments.

This book explores current developments in the African energy sector and highlights how these are likely to be affected by the ongoing global efforts to transition to a low-carbon economy. It analyses the legal, regulatory and policy frameworks at the national and regional level as they relate to Energy transition in Africa and discusses how regionalism is increasingly utilized to tackle energy access and climate change challenges. Using case studies from across the continent, several key thematic issues, including gender justice, social license to operate, local content and conflict of energy laws are covered in detail. The authors also uniquely examine the progressive nature of global energy use and introduce the new concept of 'Energy Progression.' This book will be an invaluable reference for researchers and policymakers looking for a comprehensive overview of the field.

This book provides a multilayered analysis of food import dependency and its impact on food security in the Caribbean region. The study analyses the main impact of trade liberalization in the Caribbean within the WTO framework and main policy mechanisms to support domestic food production in order to reduce food import dependency. Moreover, the author evaluates economic and social benefits of food self-sufficiency as a strategy aimed to improve domestic food production by increased availability of locally produced food products.

This book analyzes the relationship between large-scale industrial activity and the carbon footprint, and provides a theoretical framework and tools to calculate the carbon footprint of industrial activities at every stage of their life cycles, including urban-planning master plans, recycling activities, project and building stages as well as managing and manufacturing. Discussing the main preventative and corrective measures that can be utilized, it includes case studies, reports on technological developments and examples of successful policies to provide inspiration to readers. This book collects the contributions of authors from four continents, in order to analyze from as many as possible points of view and using many different approaches, the problem of sustainability in today's globalized world.

This book reports on a public archaeology project carried out at the ancient site of Tilmen Hoeyuk in south-eastern Turkey. The project developed and applied new methodologies and advanced technologies for the planning, design, conservation and management of an archaeological park at a site of high cultural, environmental and touristic interest, representing a significant study case for other archaeological sites in the Mediterranean area and beyond. It highlights state-of-the-art techniques of remote sensing, both for archaeological surveying and for territorial and environmental analysis through the study of high-definition aerial photos and digital photogrammetry. It also takes into account the ecological and environmental characterization data elaborated by environmental and botanic experts, fundamental for the purposes of eco-sustainability and management of the site, through climate and ground measurements aiming at vegetation control and a management model for the archaeological site itself and its green areas of outstanding naturalistic interest. Further, the book comprehensively discusses the analysis of the state of preservation of the archaeological remains and their effective conservation based on a set of measures guided by the principles of minimum intervention, feasibility and low impact on the remains, the site and its landscape. Moreover, it presents novel devices and fixed structures aimed at protecting the fragile archaeological remains and allowing safe access to visitors to the newly created archaeological park. At the intersection of archaeology, architecture and natural sciences, this book appeals to researchers and specialists in archaeology, social sciences, environmental sciences, conservation, architecture and engineering disciplines.

Over the last century, the industrialization of agriculture and processing technologies have made food abundant and relatively inexpensive for much of the world's population. Simultaneously, pesticides, nitrates, and other technological innovations intended to improve the food supply's productivity and safety have generated new, often poorly understood risks for consumers and the environment. From the proliferation of synthetic additives to the threat posed by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the chapters in Risk on the Table zero in on key historical cases in North America and Europe that illuminate the history of food safety, highlighting the powerful tensions that exists among scientific understandings of risk, policymakers' decisions, and cultural notions of "pure" food.

Today there is no place on Earth that does not harbour invasive exotic species. Invasive plants and animals can be found on every continent, including Antarctica, and within all waterbodies, including all oceans. In our increasingly connected world, with speedy commercial and recreational travel and the global movement of biological matter for food, invasive species are showing up at such a fast rate that there is no way to accurately count how many currently exist or how many are likely to emerge in the coming decades. Monitoring these species and controlling their spread is essential, as we increasingly understand the negative impacts they pose: their threat to our health; the toll they take on our commercial production; and the threat they pose to native ecosystems. This Very Short Introduction provides a clear definition of an invasive species, and considers the myriad ways they are moved around the globe, and the ecological, social, and economic impacts they often impose. Exploring the way Earth's biodiversity is being affected by global change, Julie Lockwood also discusses policy and management approaches to combating the ill-effects of invasive species, and how invasive species fit within the broader context of environmental change. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

This Handbook approaches sustainable development in higher education from an integrated perspective, addressing the dearth of publications on the subject. It offers a unique overview of what universities around the world are doing to implement sustainable development (i.e. via curriculum innovation, research, activities, or practical projects) and how their efforts relate to education for sustainable development at the university level. The Handbook gathers a wealth of information, ideas, best practices and lessons learned in the context of executing concrete projects, and assesses methodological approaches to integrating the topic of sustainable development in university curricula. Lastly, it documents and disseminates the veritable treasure trove of practical experience currently available on sustainability in higher education.

This book outlines how Germans convinced their politicians to pass laws allowing citizens to make their own energy, even when it hurt utility companies to do so. It traces the origins of the Energiewende movement in Germany from the Power Rebels of Schoenau to German Chancellor Angela Merkel's shutdown of eight nuclear power plants following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident. The authors explore how, by taking ownership of energy efficiency at a local level, community groups are key actors in the bottom-up fight against climate change. Individually, citizens might install solar panels on their roofs, but citizen groups can do much more: community wind farms, local heat supply, walkable cities and more. This book offers evidence that the transition to renewables is a one-time opportunity to strengthen communities and democratize the energy sector - in Germany and around the world.

This edited volume is devoted to the examination of the implications of the inevitable changes wrought by global change on the welfare and livelihoods of tens of millions of people who live in dryland regions. Global change is more than just climate change and the ramifications of changing trade patterns (geopolitical and economic aspects), the shift to the market economy, demographic factors (population growth, urbanization and re-settlement), receive attention here. Land use change specialists, policy makers and natural resource management agencies will find the book very useful. Chapters focus on examples that are drawn from a number of sources including previously unpublished studies on the impact of climate change, markets and economics on pastoralist and dryland farming households. The key focus is to provide readers with insights into the real world implications of change (including an analysis of the drivers of change) on these vulnerable groups within dryland societies. The role of humans as agents of these changes is canvassed. A regional analysis of the world's drylands is also performed including those in Australia, Argentina, India, North America, China, North Africa, Central Asia and Southern Africa.

This book highlights the concept and applications of Remanufactured Fashion. The first book on this subject, it covers reverse logistics, exemplars, and case studies of remanufactured fashion design. Textile waste is a major issue for all countries, and converting that waste into useful products offers a sensible solution. Remanufactured Fashion is one such sustainable waste management strategy. It involves the conversion of discarded garments into useful retail products, without which they would be dumped at landfills, posing a number of environmental issues. Remanufacturing recovers a product's inherent value once that product no longer fulfills the user's desired needs. The application and use of discarded clothing in remanufacturing processes could greatly reduce the percentage of clothing waste (and mitigate related waste management issues), while also contributing to resource conservation. There has been scant research investigating what is actually involved in the fashion remanufacturing process and how the process could be up-scaled to the mass market in order to achieve greater environmental gains. This book addresses that gap in the literature and examines all aspects pertaining to the concept and applications of Remanufactured Fashion.

This volume addresses the latest results of the Major Water Program of the Chinese Government which aims at the restoration of polluted water environments and sustainable management of water resources in China. It specifically summarizes the results of the BMBF-CLIENT project "Management of Water Resources in Urban Catchments" and the related MoST project "Key Technologies and Management Modes for the Water Environmental Rehabilitation of a Lake City from the Catchment Viewpoint" in Chaohu. The project is conducted by the Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research UFZ, Technische Universitat Dresden, German and Chinese companies (WISUTEC, AMC, bbe Moldaenke, itwh, OpenGeoSys e.V., HC System and EWaters) in close cooperation with Tongji University, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology of Academy of Sciences, Institute for Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chaohu Lake Management Authority. The book explains the development of concepts and solutions for sustained water quality improvement in Chaohu, combining urban water resource management, decentralized sanitation solutions, methods in water quality assurance, environmental information systems and groundwater modeling.

The development of sustainable agricultural systems is an imperative aspect of any country, but particularly in the context of developing countries. Lack of progress in these initiatives can have negative effects on the nation as a whole. Agricultural Development and Food Security in Developing Nations is a pivotal reference source for the latest scholarly material on promoting advancements in agricultural systems and food security in developing economies. Highlighting impacts on citizens, as well as on political and social environments of a country, this book is ideally designed for students, professionals, policy makers, researchers, and practitioners interested in recent developments in the areas of agriculture.

This work analyses key issues of a European policy and future regulation for natural gas. The structure and performance of gas markets and the organizational characteristics of gas supply, transmission and distribution are considered. The work examines how the regulatory policies of Member States differ substantially from one another and from most determinants of a European energy policy: differences in system of ownership on all levels of the industry; in degrees of concentration and integration; in market structures of supply and demand especially in access to natural gas sources; in regulatory policies and priorities especially regarding gas-to-gas and substitute competition; in regulatory instruments; in motions of national interest, optimal use and preservation of resources and investments; and in dependence on foreign supplies. The development of Community law benefits from an appreciation of these factors, and experts from most EC member states provide a rigorous and thorough analysis of the issues.

This book details the experiences gained by the Catalan Water Agency (ACA) in a Mediterranean watershed - the Catalan River Basin District - following the launch of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) in the year 2000. Experts in rivers, reservoirs, lakes, wetlands and estuaries present 13 chapters defining tools for water-status assessment specially adapted to Mediterranean conditions. The content of this and the companion volume Experiences from Ground, Coastal and Transitional Water Quality Monitoring: The EU Water Framework Directive Implementation in the Catalan River Basin District (Part II) are the result of an excellent collaboration between the ACA and several Catalan universities and research centers to cope with new challenges provided by the WFD monitoring requirements. The volume serves as a useful guide for environmental managers and scientists engaged in other European as well as Non-European river basins.