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.

Containing papers presented at the 13th International Conference on Urban Regeneration and Sustainability, this volume includes latest research providing solutions that lead towards sustainability. The series maintains its strong reputation and contributions have been made from a diverse range of delegates, resulting in a variety of topics and experiences. Urban areas face a number of challenges related to reducing pollution, improving main transportation and infrastructure systems and these challenges can contribute to the development of social and economic imbalances and require the development of new solutions. The challenge is to manage human activities, pursuing welfare and prosperity in the urban environment, whilst considering the relationships between the parts and their connections with the living world. The dynamics of its networks (flows of energy matter, people, goods, information and other resources) are fundamental for an understanding of the evolving nature of today's cities. Large cities represent a productive ground for architects, engineers, city planners, social and political scientists able to conceive new ideas and time them according to technological advances and human requirements. The multidisciplinary components of urban planning, the challenges presented by the increasing size of cities, the amount of resources required and the complexity of modern society are all addressed. The published papers cover the following fields: Urban strategies; Planning, development and management; The community and the city; Infrastructure and society; Eco-town planning; Spatial conflicts in the city; Urban transportation and planning; Conservation and regeneration; Architectural issues; Sustainable energy and the city; Environmental management; Flood risk; Waste management; Urban air pollution; Health issues; Water resources; Landscape planning and design; Intelligent environment; Planning for risk and natural hazards; Waterfront development; Case studies.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In Walking, Henry David Thoreau talks about the importance of nature to mankind, and how people cannot survive without nature, physically, mentally, and spiritually, yet we seem to be spending more and more time entrenched by society. For Thoreau walking is a self-reflective spiritual act that occurs only when you are away from society, that allows you to learn about who you are, and find other aspects of yourself that have been chipped away by society. This new edition of Thoreau's classic work includes annotations and a biographical essay.