Peatlands form important landscape elements in many parts of the world and play significant roles for biodiversity and global carbon balance. This new edition has been fully revised and updated, documenting the latest advances in areas such as microbial processes and relations between biological processes and hydrology. As well as thoroughly referencing the latest research, the authors expose a rich older literature where an immense repository of natural history has accumulated. The Biology of Peatlands starts with an overview of the main peatland types (marsh, swamp, fen, and bog), before examining the entire range of biota present (microbes, invertebrates, plants, and vertebrates), together with their specific adaptations to peatland habitats. Detailed coverage is devoted to the genus Sphagnum, the most important functional plant group in northern peatlands, although tropical and southern hemisphere peatlands are also covered. Throughout the book the interactions between organisms and environmental conditions (especially wetness, availability of oxygen, and pH) are emphasized, with chapters on the physical and chemical characteristics of peat, the role of peat as an archive of past vegetation and climate, and peatland succession and development. Several other key factors and processes are then examined, including hydrology and nutrient cycling. The fascinating peatland landforms in different parts of the world are described, together with theories on how they have developed. Human interactions with peatlands are considered in terms of management, conservation, and restoration. A final chapter, new to this edition, focuses on the role of peatlands as sources or sinks for the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane, and the influences of climate change on peatlands. This timely and accessible text is suitable for students and researchers of peatland ecology, as well as providing an authoritative overview for professional ecologists and conservation biologists.

After the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, societies, economies, countries, and regions face unprecedented challenges in mainly the health, social, economic dimensions simultaneously. Countries need to recover pre-pandemic economic growth quickly, boost productivity and job creation, invest in smart healthcare systems and services, and work towards a climate-neutral and circular economy. On the one hand, companies and economies need to use the opportunities of the transition to a greener economy. The demand for greener products and services can boost the creation of new jobs. On the other hand, circular economy, with its potential impact on the life cycle of products, can contribute to the creation of sustainable growth and jobs. This book explores new and emerging frameworks, tools, strategies to support companies and economies towards the green and digital transformation in Asia, with special focus on ASEAN. It will analyze the role of disruptive technologies, cutting-edge green technologies and in these emerging practices in Asia and how they can boost the creation of new business opportunities, more jobs and economic growth for the recovery of Asian economies in post-covid-19 scenarios. The book aims is an international platform to bring together academics, scholars, researchers, decision makers, policy makers, and practitioners to share new theories, research findings, and case studies, to enhance understanding and collaboration in green growth, digital economy, environmental impact, green public procurement, sustainable performance, the transition to a more circular economy, and more in Asia, with a special focus on ASEAN.

This book reviews the fundamentals of this local climatic phenomenon as a gateway to solving the challenging problems of rapid urbanization in the face of climate change. This work uses the dimensions and principles of urban planning and design, and landscape architecture in conjunction with the competence of environmental design to reduce the impact of this phenomenon. The book focuses on five SDGs to explain the problems that urban residents suffer because of high temperatures or the formation of heat islands. These selected SDGs are Goals 1, 3, 8, 11, and 13. Some of which can be limited to affecting the health status, productive capacity, social and economic well-being, and the feeling of distress and aggressive behavior. This book focuses on five SDGs: poverty (Goal 1), public health and well-being (Goal 3), decent work and economic growth (Goal 8), sustainable cities and societies (Goal 11), and climate action (Goal 13). These goals are associated with the increasing UHI phenomenon that accompanies rapid urbanization, which has changed the way of life of many countries worldwide. Thus, this book aims to reach sustainable cities and societies that do not suffer from poverty and disease due to climatic change and where decent work and social and economic well-being is achieved. The prime audience includes experts working in architecture, site planning and design, urban planning and design, landscape architecture, sustainable urban design, and environmental design. In addition, the book focuses on researchers, academics, practitioners, and urban governance, developers, and policymakers. Significantly, the target audience can get more insights into using new paradigms, methods, techniques, modelings, and research applications.

To maintain a healthy ecosystem for contemporary society and for future generations, policies must be implemented to protect the environment. This can be achieved by consistent evaluation of new initiatives and strategies. The Handbook of Research on Renewable Energy and Electric Resources for Sustainable Rural Development is a critical scholarly resource that examines efficient use of electric resources and renewable energy sources which have a positive impact on sustainable development. Featuring coverage on cogeneration thermal modules, photovoltaic (pv) solar, and renewable energy systems (RES) application practices, this publication is geared towards academics, practitioners, professionals, and upper-level students interested in the latest research on renewable energy and electric resources for sustainable rural development.

The recent Brexit debates present leaving the European Union largely as a threat to environmental protection, and to environmental law. This exciting and important new work argues that Brexit represents a real opportunity for environmental protection in the United Kingdom, freeing it from a pan-European framework not necessarily fit for UK domestic purposes. Central to the argument is the belief that environmental protection, in the United Kingdom, can most effectively be pursued through established domestic institutions, looking inwards at 'local' challenges and outwards at more global ones, all the while drawing on considerable historical experience. The book is designed to address rather than dismiss those concerns raised by environmental lawyers after the outcome of the referendum. Provocative and compelling, it offers an alternative vision of the UK environmental law framework outside of the European Union.

The Role of Functional Food Security in Global Health presents a collective approach to food security through the use of functional foods as a strategy to prevent under nutrition and related diseases. This approach reflects the views of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the World Heart Federation and the American Heart Association who advise Mediterranean, Paleolithic, plant food based diets, and European vegetarian diets for the prevention of cardiovascular disease. In addition, the book also emphasizes the inclusion of spices, herbs and millets, as well as animal foods. This book will be a great resource to the food industry as it presents the most efficient ways to use technology to manufacture slowly absorbed, micronutrient rich functional foods by blending foods that are rich in healthy nutrients.

Advances in Food Security and Sustainability, Volume Three, takes a scientific look at the challenges, constraints and solutions necessary to maintain a healthy and accessible food supply in different communities. This ongoing series addresses a wide range of issues on food sustainability and security, exploring challenges related to protecting environmental resources while also meeting human nutritional requirements. Chapters included in this release include "A Food Systems perspective on food and nutrition security in Australia," "The potential, and limits, of agricultural intensification to improve the welfare of rural households in semi-arid areas," "Food supply chain fraud: the economic, environmental and social consequences" and much more.

Advanced Tools for Integrated Water Resources Management, Volume Three, explores a wide breadth of emerging and state-of-the-art technologies used to study advanced tools for integrated water resources management. The book provides insights in chapters relating to How to involve the public - citizen science approaches for IWRM, Urban forestry as a management tool for urban water, Applying water accounting methods in Mediterranean areas, The Jucar River case, Valuation of Guadalquivir River Basin water resources (southern Spain) using SEEA Water Account, Applying water accounting methods through statistical data and simulation models, and much more.

Green Matters offers a fascinating insight into the regenerative function of literature with regard to environmental concerns. Based on recent developments in ecocriticism, the book demonstrates how the aesthetic dimension of literary texts makes them a vital force in the struggle for sustainable futures. Applying this understanding to individual works from a number of different thematic fields, cultural contexts and literary genres, Green Matters presents novel approaches to the manifold ways in which literature can make a difference. While the first sections of the book highlight the transnational, the focus on Canada in the last section allows a more specific exploration of how themes, genres and literary forms develop their own manifestations within a national context. Through its unifying ecocultural focus and its variegated approaches, the volume is an essential contribution to contemporary environmental humanities.

LiDAR Principles, Processing and Applications in Forest Ecology introduces the principles of LiDAR technology and explains how to collect and process LiDAR data from different platforms based on real-world experience. The book provides state-of the-art algorithms on how to extract forest parameters from LiDAR and explains how to use them in forest ecology. It gives an interdisciplinary view, from the perspective of remote sensing and forest ecology. Because LiDAR is still rapidly developing, researchers must use programming languages to understand and process LiDAR data instead of established software. In response, this book provides Python code examples and sample data. Sections give a brief history and introduce the principles of LiDAR, as well as three commonly seen LiDAR platforms. The book lays out step-by-step coverage of LiDAR data processing and forest structure parameter extraction, complete with Python examples. Given the increasing usefulness of LiDAR in forest ecology, this volume represents an important resource for researchers, students and forest managers to better understand LiDAR technology and its use in forest ecology across the world. The title contains over 15 years of research, as well as contributions from scientists across the world.