Human Exploitation and Biodiversity Conservation
The sustainable use of biodiversity is one of the three key objectives of the 1992 "Convention on Biological Diversity". To achieve this, sound conservation practice has to be recognized as beneficial and implemented by all who access, or use it – from subsistence farmers to skiers and pharmaceutical bioprospectors. At the same time, indigenous peoples necessarily utilize enormous numbers of plants, fungi, and fish, particularly for foods and medicines. This book gathers together a wide range of contributions addressing diverse aspects of front-line human involvement in biodiversity exploitation and conservation. Its scope is broad, the organisms explored ranging from birds, invertebrates and mammals – both terrestrial and aquatic – to crops and medicinal plants. Meanwhile, the issues addressed include land use changes, the importance of gardens, hedges and green lanes, housing developments, hunting, invasive species, local community involvement, sacred groves, socioeconomic factors and trade.
Kinship and Demographic Behavior in the Past
This book examines the role of kinship and the family’s influence on the health outcomes of their children, their children’s selection of marriage partners, couples having higher order births or reduced fertility, individual migration and origins of populations. Mortality patterns are examined to determine the influence of fertility patterns on parents’ mortality, the contribution of parents’ longevity to their children’s lifespan, and the whether a family history of disease affects the risk of dying from that same disease.This volume emphasizes the importance of studies that include and compare other factors related to social organization with information on multi-generational families. The authors elucidate previous explanations and provide provocative new results. Such intergenerational research is crucial in understanding long term demographic trends and processes.

