Life itself as well as the entire human economy depends on goods and services provided by earth's natural systems. The processes of cleansing, recycling, and renewal, along with goods such as seafood, forage, and timber, are worth many trillions of dollars annually, and nothing could live without them. Yet growing human impacts on the environment are profoundly disrupting the functioning of natural systems and imperiling the delivery of these services."Nature's Services" brings together world-renowned scientists from a variety of disciplines to examine the character and value of ecosystem services, the damage that has been done to them, and the consequent implications for human society. Contributors including Paul R. Ehrlich, Donald Kennedy, Pamela A. Matson, Robert Costanza, Gary Paul Nabhan, Jane Lubchenco, Sandra Postel, and Norman Myers present a detailed synthesis of our current understanding of a suite of ecosystem services and a preliminary assessment of their economic value. Chapters consider: major services including climate regulation, soil fertility, pollination, and pest control philosophical and economic issues of valuation case studies of specific ecosystems and services implication of recent findings and steps that must be taken to address the most pressing concerns "Nature's Services" represents one of the first efforts by scientists to provide an overview of the many benefits and services that nature offers to people and the extent to which we are all vitally dependent on those services. The book enhances our understanding of the value of the natural systems that surround us and can play an essential role in encouraging greater efforts to protect the earth's basiclife-support systems before it is too late.

In a world where our families are more scattered than ever, true and lasting family connections are hard to forge and even harder to maintain--and they don't happen by accident. For grandparents who long to create a close-knit bond in their family, popular speaker and parenting expert Susan Alexander Yates has a revolutionary new book. Cousin Camp is an inspiring, practical book that outlines how grandparents can plan and host a camp. Grandmother to 21 grandchildren, Yates has been creating cousin camps and family camps for years. Now she passes on what she's learned so you can help your children and grandchildren develop meaningful, lasting connections with each other--and with you! Full of specific, practical ideas and hilarious stories, this book contains everything you need to know from initial planning (who, when, and where) to a daily schedule to specific ways to build friendships among family members. Yates also includes plenty of ideas for family camps and reunions to draw everyone closer.

Maggie Eliot, Appleton Fellow for Global Issues at Merrion College, Oxford, is having an eventful sabbatical year. She has overcome writer's block, fallen in love and gotten married. She is now enjoying summer with her husband Thomas, who is also the 28th Baron Raynham, at Beaumatin, his Cotswolds estate. Thomas takes Maggie to visit St Margaret's House, a residence for Benedictine nuns suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's disease. There she meets Meg, who volunteers at the residence. Meg gives Maggie a sealed envelope and asks her to keep it safe but not open it. Maggie reluctantly agrees to keep Meg's secret. Then Maggie finds Meg murdered in the St Margaret's chapel. Another murder follows and the police think Maggie may know the man the media are calling the "Gloucestershire Garrotter." When Maggie at last opens Meg's mysterious envelope, what she finds inside could well explain the murders. And she can only hope that the killer's identity is discovered before she becomes his next victim.

Professor Maggie Eliot is getting married, even though she has serious qualms. They're not about Thomas, the man she is marrying. She admits she is completely besotted. They're more about the getting married bit. However, Thomas' attitude is, "Let's get married. Then we'll sort out whatever still needs sorting." Of course, Thomas has had practice. He is a widower and also the 28th Baron Raynham, who lives at Beaumatin, his estate in the Cotswolds. Maggie will live there too, at least when she's not at Oxford. The wedding occurs, but within weeks, things begin to go terribly wrong. Thomas becomes attracted to a young magazine writer who bears a striking resemblance to his first wife. And the editor of the book Maggie has produced during a sabbatical year decides to sensationalise the work and use her married name to generate publicity and spur sales. Then a body is found buried in Beaumatin's famous gardens. When a second body is discovered, the police decide that Maggie had motive, means and opportunity for both murders and focus their investigation on her. Maggie knows she didn't kill anyone, even though she may have had to shoot a few people in the past, and suspects she is the victim of some elaborate plot. But what is its purpose? And who is behind it?

Maggie Eliot has a problem. The American academic is supposed to be writing a book during a sabbatical year from her position at Oxford and has come down with a bad case of writer's block. Her friend Anne arranges for Maggie to borrow a cottage in a picturesque village in the Cotswolds, where she can write without distractions. When even this fails to do the trick, Anne decides what Maggie needs is a complete break and convinces her friend to accompany her to a snowdrop study weekend. The small white flowers have been selling at stratospheric prices and Anne wants to see what all the fuss is about. So off they go to Rochford Manor, home of Lord and Lady Ainswick and their famous snowdrop garden. The two women encounter an odd assortment of supposed galanthophiles-as snowdrop fanciers are called-and hear the first rumours of a priceless snowdrop called "the Ainswick Orange." On a visit to a neighbouring snowdrop garden, Maggie meets Lord Raynham, a widower as well as the 28th Baron. However, while she is admittedly attracted to the man, in the end she decides it is all way too Jane Austen for her and that it is unlikely she will ever see him again. Exploring the Rochford Manor gardens the next morning, Maggie and Anne discover a brutal murder. The corpse's outstretched hand holds a gardening trowel that points to a hole from which a snowdrop has been removed. Lady Ainswick confirms that the Ainswick Orange has been stolen. When a second murder is committed and the police become fixed on Lord Raynham as a suspect, Maggie and Anne join forces with Lady Ainswick to solve the crimes on their own. They discover that several members of the group do indeed have secrets they are trying to hide. But does that make one of them a killer? And what has become of the Ainswick Orange?

It is obvious to Father Bob that the Occupy London movement is coming to an end and soon the protestors will be forced to leave the great square in front of Saint Paul's. The self-styled clergyman has been enjoying the notoriety of the past weeks and is looking for a way to extend the status quo for himself as well as the small band of young followers he has attracted. Then he meets a mysterious Egyptian who makes Father Bob an interesting offer. The stranger points out that not all of the 1% are in the City of London. Just as many of the privileged elite live in the country on their walled estates. He proposes that Father Bob take his group to the countryside and continue their protests there. The Egyptian will provide some vans, a place to camp and money for food and fuel. The Egyptian goes on to tell Father Bob about the current mania for snowdrops. The small white flowers are selling for hundreds of pounds for a single bulb, while school budets are gutted and health care is cut back. He suggests that Father Bob call himself and his followers the Snowdrop Crusade. Meanwhile, Professor Maggie Eliot has managed to break through her writer's block and finish the book she was committed to writing during a sabbatical year from her position at Oxford. The American academic has been supported in her efforts by Thomas, the new man in her life, who also happens to be the 28th Baron Raynham. With her book complete, Thomas asks Maggie to spend the remaining time of her sabbatical at Beaumatin, his Cotswolds estate. He also invites her to accompany him to the annual Snowdrop Ball. At the event, where the Snowdrop Crusaders are also demonstrating, Maggie meets Carlos Castillo, a Mexican shipping magnate who envisions creating a global market for British snowdrops. However, Maggie is suspicious of the man and decides to find out if the Mexican really is who he claims to be. Before the evening ends, a deadly fire breaks out. Did the Snowdrop Crusaders start the blaze? Soon after, Maggie and Thomas find the bodies of two of the young Crusaders dumped on Raynham land. Maggie believes there is a connection between the murders and the Mexican. But what could it be? And just who is Carlos Castillo? The Snwodrop Crusade is the sequal to The Ainswick Orange.

Maggie Eliot Raynham is afraid that she has bitten off more than she can chew. She has agreed to review and update a card catalogue of garden plants. One hundred and thirty years of garden plants. The project was mischievously proposed by her husband, Thomas, and the records pertain to the gardens of Beaumatin, his estate in the Cotswolds. Maggie has hardly started her task when billionaire hi-tech venture capitalist Stanley Einhorn literally crashes into her life. Two days later a second accident results in Stanley's becoming an uninvited houseguest, along with his posse-Axe Man, May Lin and Dobby. Then one of his entourage is killed and, shortly afterwards, a second death occurs. It looks like someone is trying to murder the troublesome billionaire and is either extremely incompetent or cold-heartedly callous. With two down and two to go, and the police baffled, all Maggie wants to do is solve the crimes so she can get back to her own Heraclean labour.