Agroforestry in Europe : Current Status and Future Prospects
Brings together some of the most important current research in European agroforestry, and evaluates the current scope and future potential of agroforestry across the EU.While the majority of Europe’s agroforestry practices are currently focused in the Mediterranean, this volume draws together examples from a wide range of countries – including Greece, Spain, the UK, Hungary, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, France and Slovenia. The book also covers a range of agroforestry types, including silvopastoralism – Europe’s predominant form of agroforestry – as well as alley cropping, forest farming, silvoarable systems and the use of trees for shelter. Through these examples the book also discusses the potential roles for these traditional land management systems in addressing both environmental issues such as water quality, biodiversity conservation, desertification, ecosystem services and socioeconomic issues such as rural population stabilization.
African Biodiversity : molecules, organisms, ecosystems
BIOTA is an interdisciplinary research project focusing on sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity in Africa (http://www.biote-africa.de). Session titles were Biogeography and Speciation Processes, Phylogenetic Patterns and Systematics, Diversity Declines and Conservation, and Applied Biodiversity Informatics
Advances in Urban Ecology : Integrating Humans and Ecological Processes in Urban Ecosystems
The future of Earth’s ecosystems is increasingly influenced by the pace and patterns of urbanization. One of the greatest challenges for natural and social scientists is to understand how urbanizing regions evolve through the complex interactions between humans and ecological processes. Questions and methods of inquiry specific to our traditional disciplinary domains yield partial views that reflect different epistemologies and understandings of the world. In order to achieve the level of synthesis required to see the urban ecosystem as a whole we must change the way we pose questions and search for answers. Cities are the result of human and ecological processes occurring simultaneously in time and in space and the legacy of the simultaneous processes of the past. Urban ecology is the study of the co-evolution of human-ecological systems. Scholars of both urban systems and ecology must challenge the assumptions and world views within their disciplines and work towards a hybrid theory that builds on multiple world views.
Advances in Integrated Soil Fertility Research in sub-Saharan Africa : Challenges and Opportunities
Food insecurity is a central concern and a fundamental challenge for human welfare and economic growth in Africa. Low agricultural production, results in low incomes, poor nutrition, vulnerability to risks and lack of empowerment. Land degradation and soil fertility depletion are considered the major threats to food security and natural resource conservation in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Investments in technology, policy and institutional reforms are needed to increase agricultural productivity to ensure food security and sustained national economies. Past research has generated numerous soil fertility management technologies which if adopted could propel the African continent out of the poverty trap. However, these technologies have had little, if any, impact due to low adoption by the smallholder farmers.
Advances in Algal Biology : A Commemoration of the Work of Rex Lowe
Advances in Algal Biology: A Commemoration of the Work of Rex Lowe was written by students and colleagues of Rex Lowe to acknowledge his esteemed career that included exceptional contributions to research and teaching. Papers in the book cover a variety of topics in algal ecology, focusing on benthic algal ecology in freshwater ecosystems. The studies provide an unusual combination of small-scale experiments and large-scale regional surveys that bridge both basic and applied ecology. Ecologists, limnologists, phycologists, and environmental scientists will find valuable contributions to the development and application of algal research.
Advanced science and technology for biological decontamination of sites affected by chemical and radiological nuclear agents
This book about Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Advanced Science and Technology for Biological Decontamination of Sites Affected by Chemical and Radiological Nuclear Agents, held in Zhitomir, Ukraine, 17-28 August 2005
Acid Rain - Deposition to Recovery
Acid rain is still with us. Although it is a problem that people have worked diligently to solve, there are still many problem areas throughout the world. In reality the focus of acid rain research has shifted, and this book adds new vision to the topic. It contains papers, selected from Acid Rain 2005, the 7th International Conference on Acid Deposition, that take a broad perspective of the issues, emphasizing a number of themes: - the emission, concentration and deposition of pollutants / - nitrogen and trace elements in ecosystems and their effects on forests, water and soil / - studies of material damage and recovery - critical loads / The book is aimed at scientists and researchers who are working in the area of acid rain and its effects, and on nutrient cycling. This latest research will be of value to those concerned with the mitigation of acid rain effects.
Acid in the Environment : Lessons Learned and Future Prospects
This book is the result of a conference held biannually at the Goodwin-Niering Center for Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies at Connecticut College.is a collection of essays that blends the research findings and the policy analyses of individuals from different academic disciplines with the positions advanced by representatives of NGOs. Acid in the Environment: Lessons Learned and Future Prospects presents a broad approach to the study of acid deposition, exposing readers with a scientific background to significant policy issues and those with a policy orientation to important ecological impacts. The book raises important questions that will serve as a springboard for discussion between diverse groups of teachers and students, concerned citizens and legislators, and scientists and policy makers.
About Life : Concepts in Modern Biology
This book uses modern biological knowledge to tackle the question: "What distinguishes living organisms from the non-living world?" In the first few chapters, the authors draw on recent advances in cell and molecular biology to develop an account of the "living state" that applies to all organisms, but only to organisms. Subsequent chapters use this account to explore questions about evolution, the origin of life and the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Towards the end of the book the authors consider human evolution, intelligence and the extent to which our species can be regarded as biologically unique. About Life is written as far as possible in non-technical language; all scientific terms are explained straightforwardly when they are introduced. It is aimed at the general, non-specialist reader, but the novel approach that it takes to general issues in biology will also interest students of the life sciences.
A Sea Change: The Exclusive Economic Zone and Governance Institutions for Living Marine Resources
A Sea Change in a Changing Sea The oceans, seas and coastal areas encompass over 70% of the earth’s surface. They are a critical driver of the earth’s hydrologic cycle and climate system, important for c- merce, transport, and tourism, a source of economically important living marine resources, minerals such as hydrocarbons, as well as new pharmaceutical compounds. The marine environment provides essential habitats for thousands of marine living 1 2 resources, which in turn contribute significantly to global food security, employment, 3 and trade. Overall, the sea’s contribution to human welfare, in terms of market and non-market resources and environmental services, has been estimated at US$21 trillion/year (Costanza, 2000). However, despite the importance of the ocean realm to humans, there is a growing sense that human impacts are destabilizing this system. Some experts believe that current fishing levels are approaching or exceeding the total 4 productivity of the ocean ecosystem (National Research Council, 1999).
A History of Atmospheric CO2 and Its Effects on Plants, Animals, and Ecosystems
The authors address the future role of atmospheric CO2 and its likely effects on ecosystems. This book incorporates the advances of various earth science, environmental, and ecological fields into an overall account of global change and the changing dynamics of life on Earth.










