It has been reported that up to 95% of all flowering plants require the services of other organisms to move pollen from male to female flower parts during the pollination process. These organisms, including bees, are collectively known as pollinators. However, in light of the growing evidence of global declines in pollinator species, the management, ecology and conservation of wild and managed pollinators is a subject of growing importance and research activity. Promoting pollination and pollinators in farming reviews the wealth of research on our current understanding of existing pollination processes and their importance to our global ecosystems. The book considers how pollinators interact with plants, as well as the major threats to pollinator species, including climate change, diseases and pesticide exposure. Through its comprehensive exploration of the current status of pollinators in farming, the book provides its readers with the knowledge required to promote pollination by protecting the world's pollinators species and the ecosystem services they deliver using techniques such as habitat conservation.

Historically Japan has alternated between periods of celebration of a diverse, multicultural society and severe spells of xenophobia and persecution of the Other. This collection of multidisciplinary essays re-introduces the idea of Japan as a multicultural society and reflects a rapidly changing Japan as the Japanese confront a new range of diversity in their midst.

Shedding new light on the manifestations of difference in Japan from a diverse range of authors and perspectives, this extraordinary book is a study of those persons who are very much part of Japanese society today, but whose voices have long been neglected, silenced or oppressed.

Written in accessible language, this broad-based volume is an attractive and useful resource for students and academics, as well as being a timely and revealing contribution to research scholars and for those interested in the phenomena of cultural identities and transformations.

Transcultural Japan provides a critical examination of being Other in Japan. Portraying the multiple intersections of race, ethnicity, class, and gender, the book suggests ways in which the transcultural borderlands of Japan reflect globalization in this island nation. The authors show the diversity of Japan from the inside, revealing an extraordinarily complex new society in sharp contrast to the persistent stereotypical images held of a regimented, homogeneous Japan. Unsettling as it may be, there are powerful arguments here for looking at the meanings of globalization in Japan through these diverse communities and individuals. These are not harmonious, utopian communities by any means, as they are formed in contexts, both global and local, of unequal power relations.

Yet it is also clear that the multiple processes associated with globalization lead to larger hybridizations, a global melange of socio-cultural, political, and economic forces and the emergence of what could be called trans-local Creolized cultures. Transcultural Japan reports regional, national, and cosmopolitan movements. Characterized by global flows, hybridity, and networks, this book documents Japan's new lived experiences and rapid metamorphosis.

Accessible and engaging, this broad-based volume is an attractive and useful resource for students of Japanese culture and society, as well as being a timely and revealing contribution to research scholars and for those interested in race, ethnicity, cultural identities and transformations.

"I listen and gather people's stories. Then I write them down in a way that I hope will communicate something to others, so that seeing these stories will give readers something of value. I tell myself that this isn't going to be done unless I do it, just because of who I am. It's a way of making my mark, leaving something behind . . . not that I'm planning on going anywhere right now."
So explains Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu in this touching, introspective, and insightful examination of mixed race Asian American experiences. The son of an Irish American father and Japanese mother, Murphy-Shigematsu uses his personal journey of identity exploration and discovery of his diverse roots to illuminate the journeys of others. Throughout the book, his reflections are interspersed among portraits of persons of biracial and mixed ethnicity and accounts of their efforts to answer a seemingly simple question: Who am I?
Here we meet Norma, raised in postwar Japan, the daughter of a Japanese woman and an American serviceman, who struggled to make sense of her ethnic heritage and national belonging. Wei Ming, born in Australia and raised in the San Francisco of the 1970s and 1980s, grapples as well with issues of identity, in her case both ethnic and sexual. We also encounter Rudy, a Mexipino; Marshall, a Jewish, adopted Korean; Mitzi, a Blackinawan; and other extraordinary people who find how connecting to all parts of themselves also connects them to others.
With its attention on people who have been regarded as half this or half that throughout their lives, these stories make vivid the process of becoming whole.

"I listen and gather people's stories. Then I write them down in a way that I hope will communicate something to others, so that seeing these stories will give readers something of value. I tell myself that this isn't going to be done unless I do it, just because of who I am. It's a way of making my mark, leaving something behind . . . not that I'm planning on going anywhere right now." So explains Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu in this touching, introspective, and insightful examination of mixed race Asian American experiences. The son of an Irish American father and Japanese mother, Murphy-Shigematsu uses his personal journey of identity exploration and discovery of his diverse roots to illuminate the journeys of others. Throughout the book, his reflections are interspersed among portraits of persons of biracial and mixed ethnicity and accounts of their efforts to answer a seemingly simple question: Who am I? Here we meet Norma, raised in postwar Japan, the daughter of a Japanese woman and an American serviceman, who struggled to make sense of her ethnic heritage and national belonging. Wei Ming, born in Australia and raised in the San Francisco of the 1970s and 1980s, grapples as well with issues of identity, in her case both ethnic and sexual. We also encounter Rudy, a "Mexipino"; Marshall, a "Jewish, adopted Korean"; Mitzi, a "Blackinawan"; and other extraordinary people who find how connecting to all parts of themselves also connects them to others. With its attention on people who have been regarded as "half" this or "half" that throughout their lives, these stories make vivid the process of becoming whole.

Bringing together reasons for why and where weeds occur and the ecological importance of weed management, this updated edition (previously entitled "Weed Ecology") provides an in-depth study of plant ecology with greater coverage of invasive plant biology and more concise statistics. In a new, larger format, printed in two colors, and illustrated throughout with figures, tables and case studies, it is an essential text for students in plant ecology, agriculture and horticulture.

Japan's Diversity Dilemmas: Ethnicity, Citizenship, and Education reveals how Japanese society is now in the midst of dramatic transformation brought on by demographic change and globalization. Foreigners are coming to Japan and many more will come in the near future to meet the demands of an economy that needs workers to compensate for an extremely low birth rate. The ramifications of this influx of foreigners into a society that has based its identity on a mythical ethnic purity are enormous. This book examines the effects of globalization on both new and older ethnic communities. It shows the ways in which minorities, in particular Koreans, are changing their conceptions and practices regarding nationality. It explores issues of human rights and emerging conceptions of citizenship in Japan. It also looks at how forces of globalization are affecting the state ideology of homogeneity and how a new image of diversity and multiculturalism is slowly developing. Several authors focus their attention on implications for education in citizenship education, ethnic education, and international education. of diversity that impact Japan as a nation in three areas: ethnicity, citizenship, and education. As the population diversifies, the linking of ethnicity and citizenship is being challenged and education is a battleground where these struggles occur. This collection of papers by an interdisciplinary group of authors helps readers to understand Japan's evolving conceptions of the nation and its attempts to balance tensions of unity and diversity. 'Japan's Diversity Dilemmas looks at precisely the kind of issues that need examination and discussion, as Japan stands on the cusp of potentially huge demographic and social changes. This collection of studies will enrich and inform classroom and public discourse and those who follow these issues will find this book essential. -Sharon Noguchi, San Jose Mercury News and former Fulbright Fellow, University of Tokyo

Japan's Diversity Dilemmas: Ethnicity, Citizenship, and Education reveals how Japanese society is now in the midst of dramatic transformation brought on by demographic change and globalization. Foreigners are coming to Japan and many more will come in the near future to meet the demands of an economy that needs workers to compensate for an extremely low birth rate. The ramifications of this influx of foreigners into a society that has based its identity on a mythical ethnic purity are enormous. This book examines the effects of globalization on both new and older ethnic communities. It shows the ways in which minorities, in particular Koreans, are changing their conceptions and practices regarding nationality. It explores issues of human rights and emerging conceptions of citizenship in Japan. It also looks at how forces of globalization are affecting the state ideology of homogeneity and how a new image of diversity and multiculturalism is slowly developing. Several authors focus their attention on implications for education in citizenship education, ethnic education, and international education. of diversity that impact Japan as a nation in three areas: ethnicity, citizenship, and education. As the population diversifies, the linking of ethnicity and citizenship is being challenged and education is a battleground where these struggles occur. This collection of papers by an interdisciplinary group of authors helps readers to understand Japan's evolving conceptions of the nation and its attempts to balance tensions of unity and diversity. 'Japan's Diversity Dilemmas looks at precisely the kind of issues that need examination and discussion, as Japan stands on the cusp of potentially huge demographic and social changes. This collection of studies will enrich and inform classroom and public discourse and those who follow these issues will find this book essential. -Sharon Noguchi, San Jose Mercury News and former Fulbright Fellow, University of Tokyo

Lawyer Dutch Francis faces an impossible situation— search for your missing wife or defend your high-profile client Dutch Francis is a defense attorney in the case of a judge accused of killing his wife. Just as the trial is about to begin, Ginnie Turner, Dutch’ s wife and TV news broadcaster, goes missing. Under extreme duress, Dutch tries to extricate himself as the judge’ s attorney— or at least postpone the trial. The judge insists that the trial proceed without delay and that Dutch remain his attorney. Exhausted by the murder trial, Dutch confronts an ineffectual police department, suspicious that he is involved in his wife’ s disappearance. He takes matters into his own hands as he struggles to balance both responsibilities— the trial and finding his wife— pushing him to the brink of losing everything he holds dear. At first Dutch suspects that Ginnie was kidnapped in retaliation for her recent stories about sex scandals. But after receiving bits of her in the mail— fingernails, hair— he realizes the kidnapper’ s intent may be to punish him. Could his defense of the judge be the reason? Fans of John Grisham and Scott Turow will love the courtroom drama