This open access book provides new perspectives on circular economy and space, explored towards the definition of regenerative territories characterised by healthy metabolisms. Going beyond the mere reuse/recycle of material waste as resources, this work aims to understand how to apply circularity principles to, among others, the regeneration of wastescapes. The main focus is the development over time, and in particular the way how spatial planning and strategies respond to new unpredictable urgencies and opportunities related with territorial metabolisms. The book specifically focuses on living labs environments, where it is possible to tackle complex problems through a multidisciplinary and multi-stakeholder approach - including the use of digital spatial decision support environment - which could be able to include all the involved stakeholders. Through a spatial scope of circularity, this book describes several examples including among others ideas from different contexts such as Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium and Vietnam. Through including reflections on methodology and representation, as well as on solutions for circular and healthy metabolisms, the book provides an excellent resource to researchers and students.

This updated and expanded book first published nearly 20 years ago integrates new and broader studies encompassing more species and increased island coverage. The current synthesis provides a basis for further research and exploration in upcoming years of the biologically fascinating Sea of Cortes region in Mexico. This new edition includes a section on the conservation issues in this area, and past accomplishments and conservation needs as yet outstanding.

Sir Arthur George Tansley (1871 1955) was an English botanist who made significant contributions to the development of ecology and the conservation movement. In this volume, which was first published in 1945, Tansley discusses the ways in which English natural habitats might be preserved in the face of post-war modernisation processes. The book puts forward the thesis that English rural beauty can only be protected through 'the deliberate conservation of much of our native vegetation', a process that must be achieved through a proper understanding of plant ecology. This process, of course, runs in tandem with the aim of protecting the various forms of animal life which find their homes within a diversity of habitats. The text also contains numerous photographic figures and a detailed index. This is a fascinating book that will be of value to anyone with an interest in ecology and botany.

This book highlights new and innovative approaches to archaeological research using computational modeling while focusing on the Neolithic transition around the world. The transformative effect of the spread and adoption of agriculture in prehistory cannot be overstated. Consequently, archaeologists have often focused their research on this transition, hoping to understand both the ecological causes and impacts of this shift, as well as the social motivations and constraints involved. Given the complex interplay of socio-ecological factors, the answers to these types of questions cannot be found using traditional archaeological methods alone. Computational modeling techniques have emerged as an effective approach for better understanding prehistoric data sets and the linkages between social and ecological factors at play during periods of subsistence change. Such techniques include agent-based modeling, Bayesian modeling, GIS modeling of the prehistoric environment, and the modeling of small-scale agriculture. As more archaeological data sets aggregate regarding the transition to agriculture, researchers are often left with few ways to relate these sets to one another. Computational modeling techniques such as those described above represent a critical next step in providing archaeological analyses that are important for understanding human prehistory around the world. Given its scope, this book will appeal to the many interdisciplinary scientists and researchers whose work involves archaeology and computational social science. Chapter "The Spread of Agriculture: Quantitative Laws in Prehistory?" is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via springer.com.

Genera Orchidacearum provides a comprehensive, robust classification of the orchids, with descriptions of individual species and cultural information. It begins wiht introductory chapters outlining the long history of efforts by plant scientists and breeders to provide a scientific classification of the orchids. This is the first fully comprehensive, modern treatment of orchid classification to be published. Volume two looks at 100 genera in subfamily Orchidaceae, many of them with bizarre pollination mechanisms. Recent advances in molecular approaches, especially multigene analyses, combined with several other types of new data, have resulted in a redefinition of many genera. This volume aims to produce a more robust and natural account of the orchids at the generic level, and to incorporate this new molecular data into a truly phylogenetic classification, whilst identifying areas and taxa that require additional study.

To gain a more complete understanding of plant-based ecological community structure requires knowledge of the integration of direct and indirect effects in plant herbivore systems. Trait modification of plants as a result of herbivory is very common and widespread in terrestrial plants, and this initiates indirect interactions between organisms that utilise the same host plant. This 2007 book argues that food webs by themselves are inadequate models for understanding ecological communities, because they ignore important indirect, nontrophic links. This subject is of great importance in understanding not only community organisation but also in identifying the underlying mechanisms of maintenance of biodiversity in nature. This book will be an invaluable resource for researchers and graduate students interested in community and population ecology, evolutionary biology, biodiversity, botany and entomology.

To provide useful and meaningful information, long-term ecological programs need to implement solid and efficient statistical approaches for collecting and analyzing data. This volume provides rigorous guidance on quantitative issues in monitoring, with contributions from world experts in the field. These experts have extensive experience in teaching fundamental and advanced ideas and methods to natural resource managers, scientists, and students. The chapters present a range of tools and approaches, including detailed coverage of variance component estimation and quantitative selection among alternative designs; spatially balanced sampling; sampling strategies integrating design- and model-based approaches; and advanced analytical approaches such as hierarchical and structural equation modelling. Making these tools more accessible to ecologists and other monitoring practitioners across numerous disciplines, this is a valuable resource for any professional whose work deals with ecological monitoring. Supplementary example software code is available online at www.cambridge.org/9780521191548.

Tropical habitats cover over one third of the Earth's terrestrial surface and harbor much of its biodiversity, with many areas rich in endemic species. However, these ecosystems are under significant and growing threat from issues such as deforestation, land degradation and ocean acidification. This introductory textbook provides a comprehensive guide to the major tropical biomes. It is unique in its balanced coverage of both aquatic and terrestrial systems and in its international scope. Each chapter is built around a particular tropical ecosystem, with descriptive case studies providing a framework around which ecological concepts and applied ecological topics are presented. This second edition has been thoroughly updated to reflect recent advances in the field and includes a greater focus on the impact of global climate change. The text is supported throughout by boxes containing supplementary material and is illustrated with over 200 clear, simple line diagrams, maps and photographs.

This book focuses on the application of geospatial technologies to study the land use land cover (LULC) dynamics, agricultural water management, water resources assessment and modeling, and studies on natural disasters. LULC dynamics is one of the major research themes for studying global environmental change using remote sensing data. The section on LULC dynamics covers the multi-variate criteria for land use and land cover classification and change assessment in the mountainous regions. Further, LULC change detection of the Tons river basin and LULC dynamics at decadal frequency are studied to derive adaptation and mitigation strategies. Landscape-level forest disturbance modeling, together with conservation implications, is also included. The watershed management approach is necessary for comprehensive management of land and water resources of any region, where studies on multi-criteria analysis for rainwater harvesting planning and its impact on land use land cover transformations in rain-fed areas using geospatial technologies are presented in this book. The book will be useful for academics, water practitioners, scientists, water managers, environmentalists, and administrators, NGOs, researchers, and students who are actively involved in the application of geospatial technologies in LULC studies, agricultural water management and hydrological modelling and natural disasters for addressing the challenges being posed by climate change while addressing issues of food and water securities

This book informs about knowledge gain in soil and land degradation to reduce or prevent it for meeting the mission of the Sustainable Developments Goals of the United Nations. Essence, extent, monitoring methods and implications for ecosystem functioning of main soil degradation types are characterized in overview chapters and case studies. Challenges, approaches and data towards identification of degradation in the frame of improving functionality, health and multiple ecosystem services of soil are demonstrated in the studies of international expert teams. The book consists of five parts, containing 5-12 single chapters each and 36 in total. Parts are explaining (I) Concepts and Indicators, (II) Soil Erosion and Compaction, (III) Soil Contamination, (IV) Soil Carbon and Fertility Monitoring and (V) Soil Survey and Mapping of Degradation The primary audience of this book are scientists of different disciplines, decision-makers, farmers and further informed people dealing with sustainable management of soil and land.

This book provides a comprehensive monograph of the family Humiraceae. It includes information on economic botany, conservation, phylogenetic relationships, taxonomic history, ecology, cytology, anatomy, and phytochemistry, among other topics. This volume is illustrated with line drawings, black and white photographs, and distribution maps. It was written by the world-leading authority on this plant group and contains a total of eight genera, 65 species, and 15 infraspecific taxa, with two new species described. This work is volume 123 in the Flora Neotropica book series (Lawrence M. Kelly, Editor-in-Chief). Flora Neotropica volumes provide taxonomic treatments of plant groups or families growing in the Americas between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.

This book is the first in a series of planned synthesis volumes from sites funded by the National Science Foundation's Long-term Ecological Research Program. This volume focuses on over 15 years of research at the Konza Prairie in NE Kansas and provides a unique perspective on the structural and functional ecology of a grassland ecosystem that once covered most of central North America.

Fungi are an essential, fascinating and biotechnologically useful group of organisms with an incredible biotechnological potential for industrial exploitation. Knowledge of the world's fungal diversity and its use is still incomplete and fragmented. There are many opportunities to accelerate the process of filling knowledge gaps in these areas. The worldwide interest of the current era is to increase the tendency to use natural substances instead of synthetic ones. The increasing urge in society for natural ingredients has compelled biotechnologists to explore novel bioresources which can be exploited in industrial sector. Fungi, due to their unique attributes and broad range of their biological activities hold great promises for their application in biotechnology and industry. Fungi are an efficient source of antioxidants, enzymes, pigments, and many other secondary metabolites. The large scale production of fungal pigments and their utility provides natural coloration without creating harmful effects on entering the environment, a safer alternative use to synthetic colorants. The fungal enzymes can be exploited in wide range of industries such as food, detergent, paper, and also for removal toxic waste. This book will serve as valuable source of information as well as will provide new directions to researchers to conduct novel research in field of mycology. Volume 2 of "Industrially Important Fungi for Sustainable Development" provides an overview to understanding bioprospecting of fungal biomolecules and their industrial application for future sustainability. It encompasses current advanced knowledge of fungal communities and their potential biotechnological applications in industry and allied sectors. The book will be useful to scientists, researchers, and students of microbiology, biotechnology, agriculture, molecular biology, and environmental biology.

Bryophytes, especially mosses, represent a largely untapped resource for monitoring and indicating effects of climate change on the living environment. They are tied very closely to the external environment and have been likened to 'canaries in the coal mine'. Bryophyte Ecology and Climate Change is the first book to bring together a diverse array of research in bryophyte ecology, including physiology, desiccation tolerance, photosynthesis, temperature and UV responses, under the umbrella of climate change. It covers a great variety of ecosystems in which bryophytes are important, including aquatic, desert, tropical, boreal, alpine, Antarctic, and Sphagnum-dominated wetlands, and considers the effects of climate change on the distribution of common and rare species as well as the computer modeling of future changes. This book should be of particular value to individuals, libraries, and research institutions interested in global climate change.

This volume represents a uniquely comprehensive overview of our current knowledge on tropical montane cloud forests. 72 chapters cover a wide spectrum of topics including cloud forest distribution, climate, soils, biodiversity, hydrological processes, hydrochemistry and water quality, climate change impacts, and cloud forest conservation, management, and restoration. The final chapter presents a major synthesis by some of the world's leading cloud forest researchers, which summarizes our current knowledge and considers the sustainability of these forests in an ever-changing world. This book presents state-of-the-art knowledge concerning cloud forest occurrence and status, as well as the biological and hydrological value of these unique forests. The presentation is academic but with a firm practical emphasis. It will serve as a core reference for academic researchers and students of environmental science and ecology, as well as practitioners (natural resources management, forest conservation) and decision makers at local, national, and international levels.

Medicinal flora plays an important role in health care systems across the world. Out of the half million flowering plants, around 50.000 species are valued for their therapeutic properties. During the last few decades, 20% of the world's population used plants and/or their derived products as a source of medicine. WHO stated that 80% population around the globe, specifically the rural communities, depend on medicinal plants for their basic healthcare needs. To this end, plant-based phytochemicals are known to have hepato-protective, anti-carcinogenic, anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant actions. This book is a guide to ~280 plant species of medicinal flora that demonstrates global relevance. Our goal is to share local knowledge about phytomedicines to a worldwide audience. It is an illustrated reference that documents and preserves the existing knowledge on these plant taxa, with a social and cultural (ethnobotanical) emphasis. This book also provides comprehensive and useful information about traditional uses of medicinal plants by the local communities for the treatment of various prevalent diseases. It contains comprehensive descriptions of each species including family, synonyms, English name, distribution, altitude, habitat, morphological description, life form, part used, mode of utilization, diseases category, recipes, other medicinal uses, phytochemical activity and toxicity.

The book contains detailed descriptions of the unique desert environment with particular emphasis on vegetation and survival strategies of plants. Nine expeditions through the Southwest of Western Australia over a period of 15 years triggered the interest of the authors to explore also some deserts in the region, which leads to three further excursions into the sandy dunes of the desert. Observations of plant life in the deserts focused not only on identifying plants, but also on gaining some understanding of the aboriginal desert people of centuries past, and their own survival strategies in such extreme conditions. Also part of the Canning Stock Route was followed and explored, but the most rewarding and interesting finds were done criss-crossing the desert away from highways, tracks, and paths. The most remote areas showed species richness and surviving strategies which by far exceeded expectations.

Ferns are an integral part of the world's flora, appreciated for their beauty as ornamentals, problematic as invaders and endangered by human interference. They often dominate forest understories but also colonize open areas, invade waterways and survive in nutrient-poor wastelands and eroded pastures. Presented here is the first comprehensive summary of fern ecology, with worldwide examples from Siberia to the islands of Hawaii. Topics include a brief history of the ecological study of ferns, a global survey of fern biogeography, fern population dynamics, the role of ferns in ecosystem nutrient cycles, their adaptations to xeric environments and future directions in fern ecology. Fully illustrated concepts and processes provide a framework for future research and utilization of ferns for graduate students and professionals in ecology, conservation and land management.

In the modern world, to meet increasing energy demands we need to develop new technologies allowing us to use eco-friendly carbon-neutral energy sources. Solar energy as the most promising renewable source could be the way to solve that problem, but it is variable depending on day time and season. From this side, the understanding of photosynthesis process could be of significant help for us to develop effective strategies of solar energy capturing, conversion, and storage. Plants, algae, and cyanobacteria perform photosynthesis, annually producing around 100 billion tons of dry biomass. Presently, the detailed studies of photosynthetic system structure make functional investigations of the photosynthetic process available, allowing scientists to construct artificial systems for solar energy transduction. This book summarizes exciting achievements in understanding of photosynthetic structures and mechanisms of this process made by world leaders in photosynthesis field, and contains information about modern ideas in development of revolutionary new technologies of energy conversion. Organized according to the natural sequence of events occurring during photosynthesis, the book includes information of both photosynthetic structures and mechanisms and its applications in bioenergetics issues.

This open access book explores a new conceptual framework for the sustainable management of the boreal forest in the face of climate change. The boreal forest is the second-largest terrestrial biome on Earth and covers a 14 million km2 belt, representing about 25% of the Earth's forest area. Two-thirds of this forest biome is managed and supplies 37% of global wood production. These forests also provide a range of natural resources and ecosystem services essential to humanity. However, climate change is altering species distributions, natural disturbance regimes, and forest ecosystem structure and functioning. Although sustainable management is the main goal across the boreal biome, a novel framework is required to adapt forest strategies and practices to climate change. This collaborative effort draws upon 148 authors in summarizing the sustainable management of these forests and detailing the most recent experimental and observational results collected from across the boreal biome. It presents the state of sustainable management in boreal forests and highlights the critical importance of this biome in a context of global change because of these forests' key role in a range of natural processes, including carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, and the maintaining of biodiversity. This book is an essential read for academics, students, and practitioners involved in boreal forest management. It outlines the challenges facing sustainable boreal forest management within the context of climate change and serves as a basis for establishing new research avenues, identifying future research trends, and developing climate-adapted forest management plans.

Plant Strategies, Vegetation Processes, and Ecosystem Properties, Second Edition, is a thoroughly updated and comprehensive new edition of the very successful Plant Strategies and Vegetative Processes, which controversially proposed the existence of widely-recurring plant functional types with predictable relationships to vegetation structure and dynamics.
This second edition uses evidence from many parts of the world to re-examine these concepts in the light of the enormous expansion in the literature.
Features include:
* A new section covering all aspects of ecosystem properties
* New chapters on
Assembling of Communities
Rarification and Extinction
Colonisation and Invasion
* Principles and methodologies of a range of international tests including case study examples
* Chapter summaries for a quick reference guide
* Index of species names
Written in a very readable style, this book is an invaluable reference source for researchers in the areas of plant, animal, and community ecology, conservation and land management.
'Written by one of the foremost authorities in the field, summarising over 35 years of research. A book all plant ecologists will want to read.' - Jonathan Silvertown, Department of Biological Sciences, The Open University, UK.
'The coverage is outstanding and comprehensive.' - Simon A. Levin, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton
University, USA

This book includes contributions from scientists and representatives from government and non-governmental organisations working in the field of land management and use and on management of fires. The book is truly interdisciplinary and has both a research and application-oriented dimension. The list of topics includes sustainability and water management; sustainability and biodiversity conservation; the future sustainability of nature-based industries such as agriculture, mining, tourism, fisheries and forestry; sustainability, people and livelihoods; sustainability and landscapes planning; sustainability and land use planning; handling and managing forest fires. The papers are innovative and cross-cutting, and many have practice-based experiences. Also, this 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 use of land resources today.

This book provides a comprehensive and systematic analysis of the morphodynamic process of the Changjiang River from upstream to estuary in the Anthropocene. As the longest river in China, the Changjiang River has nurtured Chinese civilization with ample natural resources for thousands of years. Evidence highlights that the Changjiang River has experienced intensive human interference and indicated dramatic changes in the Anthropocene, including "no flood in flood season, no dry in dry season" in discharge; "less flood in flood season, more dry in dry season" in sediment; riverbed shifts from accretion to erosion; lakes in the middle-lower reach turn from sediment sink to source; estuarine tidal flat exhibits self-organization characteristics and maintains the current accretion state; estuarine branches that connect to the sea show district morphodynamic patterns; and depocenters of the submerged delta indicate periodic shifts. The book stresses that dam construction upstream, practically the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydraulic engineering project, has significant influences on the hydrology and geomorphology of the middle-lower reach but has a slight effect on estuarine delta development. The geomorphological structure of the estuarine channel is dominated by local land reclamation, navigation, and dredging. This book clarifies the river-estuary morphodynamics of the Changjiang River and indicates the general features of global mega rivers under human interference as well as their own response mechanisms. This book also exhibits the potential risk of river-estuary deltas in the future, as both material and dynamics are experiencing acceleration adjustment.

Wetlands are unique and fragile environments that provide a transition between aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Focusing on freshwater wetlands with emergent vegetation, this book considers productivity in relation to communities of animals and plants and their environments, mineral cycling, hydrology, and management. The contributors emphasize the biological interactions and processes underlying the structure and functioning of wetlands, revealing the need to appreciate the dynamics of the system to establish appropriate management and conservation practices. Based largely on research carried out during the International Biological Programme, this unique synthesis brings together a wealth of information, which until now had been widely dispersed in the literature and often difficult to locate. This comprehensive volume will be an important resource for all those concerned with the ecology, management and conservation of these sensitive natural habitats.

Bryophytes were a pivotal step in land plant evolution, and their significance in the regulation of ecosystems and the conservation of biodiversity is becoming increasingly acknowledged. This introductory textbook assumes no prior knowledge of bryophyte biology, making it ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, as well as amateur botanists. The authors expertly summarise the diversity of bryophytes and outline recent advances in our understanding of their evolutionary history, their ecological roles and preferences, their distribution patterns and conservation needs. The text is highly illustrated throughout, with boxed summaries of topics of current relevance in bryophyte biology, and a glossary of technical terms.