Product Description
There is much we can learn about conservation from native peoples, says Gene Anderson. While the advanced nations of the West have failed to control overfishing, deforestation, soil erosion, pollution, and a host of other environmental problems, many traditional peoples manage their natural resources quite successfully. And if some traditional peoples mismanage the environment--the irrational value some place on rhino horn, for instance, has left this species endangered--the fact remains that most have found ways to introduce sound ecological management into their daily lives. Why have they succeeded while we have failed? In Ecologies of the Heart, Gene Anderson reveals how religion and other folk beliefs help pre-industrial peoples control and protect their resources. Equally important, he offers much insight into why our own environmental policies have failed and what we can do to better manage our resources.

A cultural ecologist, Gene Anderson has spent his life exploring the ways in which different groups of people manage the environment, and he has lived for years in fishing communities in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Tahiti, and British Columbia--as well as in a Mayan farmtown in south Mexico--where he has studied fisheries, farming, and forest management. He has concluded that all traditional societies that have managed resources well over time have done so in part through religion--by the use of emotionally powerful cultural symbols that reinforce particular resource management strategies. Moreover, he argues that these religious beliefs, while seeming unscientific, if not irrational, at first glance, are actually based on long observation of nature. To illustrate this insight, he includes many fascinating portraits of native life. He offers, for instance, an intriguing discussion of the Chinese belief system known as Feng-Shui (wind and water) and tells of meeting villagers in remote areas of Hong Kong's New Territories who assert that dragons live in the mountains, and that to disturb them by cutting too sharply into the rock surface would cause floods and landslides (which in fact it does). He describes the Tlingit Indians of the Pacific Northwest, who, before they strip bark from the great cedar trees, make elaborate apologies to spirits they believe live inside the trees, assuring the spirits that they take only what is necessary. And we read of the Maya of southern Mexico, who speak of the lords of the Forest and the Animals, who punish those who take more from the land or the rivers than they need. These beliefs work in part because they are based on long observation of nature, but also, and equally important, because they are incorporated into a larger cosmology, so that people have a strong emotional investment in them. And conversely, Anderson argues that our environmental programs often fail because we have not found a way to engage our emotions in conservation practices.

Folk beliefs are often dismissed as irrational superstitions. Yet as Anderson shows, these beliefs do more to protect the environment than modern science does in the West. Full of insights, Ecologies of the Heart mixes anthropology with ecology and psychology, traditional myth and folklore with informed discussions of conservation efforts in industrial society, to reveal a strikingly new approach to our current environmental crises. ... Read more

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An exploration of the social and environmental consequences of oil extraction in the tropical rainforest. Using northern Veracruz as a case study, the author argues that oil production generated major historical and environmental transformations in land tenure systems and uses, and social organisation. Such changes, furthermore, entailed effects, including the marginalisation of indigenes, environmental destruction, and tense labour relations. In the context of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), however, the results of oil development did not go unchallenged. Mexican oil workers responded to their experience by forging a politicised culture and a radical left militancy that turned 'oil country' into one of the most significant sites of class conflict in revolutionary Mexico. Ultimately, the book argues, Mexican oil workers deserve their share of credit for the 1938 decree nationalising the foreign oil industry - heretofore reserved for President Lazaro Cardenas - and thus changing the course of Mexican history. ... Read more

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Because of the profound effects of the built environment on the availability of natural resources for future generations, those involved with designing, creating, operating, renovating, and demolishing human structures have a vital role to play in working to put society on a path toward sustainability.

This volume presents the thinking of leading academics and professionals in planning, civil engineering, economics, ecology, architecture, landscape architecture, construction, and related fields who are seeking to discover ways of creating a more sustainable built environment. Contributors address the broad range of issues involved, offering both insights and practical examples. In the book:

• Stephen Kellert describes the scope of the looming ecological crisis
• Herman Daly explains the unsustainability of the world's economic system and the dangers inherent in the current movement toward globalization
• John Todd describes the evolution of wastewater processing systems inspired by natural systems
• John Tillman Lyle discusses the importance of landscape in the creation of the human environment
• Randall Arendt argues for a fundamental shift in land development patterns that would not only provide for more green space in new developments, but would also increase the profitability of developers and the quality of life for new home owners
• Thomas E. Graedel proposes the application of lessons learned from the emerging science of industrial ecology to the creation of "green" building.

Customer Reviews (1)

A comprehensive look at our environment
A comprehensive analysis and commentary on America's physical and social infrastructure, Kilbert has compiled an impressive list of authors/environmental policy specialists. They speak to issues as seeminglydiverse as the moral burdens being placed on future generations by shortsighted environmental policy to practical solutions ( the Brownfieldsinitiative)for reusing old industrial land in the inner city--a valuabletext for anyone involved in shaping public policy in the near future. ... Read more

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Among the most far-reaching effects of the modern environmental movement was the widespread acknowledgment that human beings were inescapably part of a larger ecosystem. With this book, Linda Nash gives us a wholly original and much longer history of "ecological" ideas of the body as that history unfolded in California's Central Valley. Taking us from nineteenth-century fears of miasmas and faith in wilderness cures to the recent era of chemical pollution and cancer clusters, Nash charts how Americans have connected their diseases to race and place as well as dirt and germs. In this account, the rise of germ theory and the pushing aside of an earlier environmental approach to illness constituted not a clear triumph of modern biomedicine but rather a brief period of modern amnesia. As Nash shows us, place-based accounts of illness re-emerged in the postwar decades, galvanizing environmental protest against smog and toxic chemicals. Carefully researched and richly conceptual, Inescapable Ecologies brings critically important insights to the histories of environment, culture, and public health, while offering a provocative commentary on the human relationship to the larger world. ... Read more

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Dharma Gaia explores the ground where Buddhism and ecology meet, with writings by over twenty-five Buddhists and ecologists. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A wide range of views for not just Buddhists
Badiner, ed., Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology, Berkeley, Parallax Press, 1990.
265 pages, $18.00
ISBN: 0938077309

More a collection of meditations or prose poems than essays, this book contains a wide range of short pieces from prominent writers and practitioners in the fields of Buddhism (Thich Nhat Hanh and Robert Aitken, for example), East Asian philosophy and religion (Padmasiri De Silva and Joanna Macy), and the environmental and ecology movements (Bill Devall and John Seed). There are even selections from the Beat poets who introduced Buddhist ideas into the pop culture of the mid-twentieth century, Gary Snyder and Allen Ginsberg.

Some titles of a few essays will provide a good indication of the nature of the contents: "Orphism: the Ancient Roots of Green Buddhism;" "The Perceptual Implications of Gaia;" "Rock Body Tree Limb;" "Animal Dharma;" "Women and Ecocentricity;" "Earth Gathas;" "Haiku & the Ecotastrophe."

As a whole the collection is a little dated only in that one might wonder how recent developments such as acts of global terrorism and the now confirmed understanding of the dire effects of human activity on climate are viewed in the Buddhist ecological context. Otherwise, all the readings are superlative. Care of the earth is a long-established precept among Buddhists; Dharma Gaia offers enlightenment not just to Buddhists but also to anyone of any faith interested in the spiritual ground for environmental awareness. Suzanne Head, one of the contributors, prays that "other human beings of this planet would also find the confidence, courage and integrity to honor inner Nature and outer Nature.... Realizing the sacredness of the Earth that supports us and the sky that inspires us,...we would find ways to live that could be sustained by the biosphere. Instead of poisoning and plundering the Earth until all life expires, we could fulfill our Nature by being warriors for the Earth."

for every thinking person and those who wish to be
Everyone I've recommended this book to has loved it.It will either be an introduction of new ideas that are pleasant to think about or a conformation of thoughts the reader already has worded in a way that makes them more accessable.The list of writers contains many sparkling souls.Anyone can read this without being offended, and everyone should read it at least once.

Fabulous, it will expand your mind
The book's premise is that buddhism is the perfect religion for an eco-centric based society & culture. It does very well in proving the compatibility and similarities between buddhism & ecology. The sectionon shifting views of perception is highly enlightening. The variety in thisbook is amazing, there are over 30 contributors. Books like this one, inwhich the book is merely a collection of essays on the same topic are greatbecause you can read it in one sitting, or read an essay at a time. As youfinish the last essay of the book, you will never see Smokey the Bear inthe same light again, now there's a teaser!. But seriously folks, this bookis great.

Well written, insightful, thought provoking
Dharma Gaia is a collection of essays offering different perspectives on human/Gaia interaction. These perspectives tie in with Buddhist philosophies to offer readers a sane and well reasoned spiritual approachto ecology. Short introduction by the Dalai Lama, essays and some poetry.

An excellent and original read
Overall, this is an easy read which addresses some complex issues.By the end of the book I developed a greater understanding of both environmental conservation and buddhism.Too many books jump on the"buddha-chic" or "eco-cool" bandwagon, but offer littlemore than a rehash of general facts - this isn't one of them. ... Read more

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Accessible and engaging, The Environment in Anthropology presents ecology and current environmental studies from an anthropological point of view. From the classics to the most current scholarship, this book connects the theory and practice of ecological anthropology, giving readers a strong intellectual foundation as well as offering practical tools for solving environmental problems.

Haenn and Wilk pose the most urgent questions of environmental protection-What are the environmental effects of urbanization? How do environmentalists represent indigenous peoples? How can we assess the impact of global, "environmentally correct" businesses such as the Body Shop? They also cover the fundamental topics of population growth, large scale development, biodiversity conservation, sustainable environmental management, indigenous groups, and consumption and globalization. A careful selection of chapters leads readers through the interactions among environmental, political, and economic forces in modern environmental anthropology. Introductory essays put this material in historical context, while a mix of academic writing, popular reporting, polemical essays, and ethical reflections frames the issues in accessible and compelling ways.

Balancing landmark essays with cutting-edge scholarship, bridging theory and practice, and offering suggestions for further reading and new directions for research, The Environment in Anthropology is the ideal introduction to a burgeoning field.

Contributors include: Julian Steward, Robert Netting, Virginia Nazarea, Vandana Shiva, Arturo Escobar, Susan Stonich, Billie Dewalt, Akhil Gupta, Bonnie McCay, David Maybury-Lewis, Caren Kaplan, Conrad Kottak, Kay Milton, J. Peter Brosius. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Human world view of Earth
I bought this book after reading a review in the academic journal American Anthropologist, December 2007, Vol. 109, Iss. 4; p 767-768 by F. Wyndham.This book is an excellent addition to my library.My other Ecology text is written by a Biology Professor, R. Ricklefs, so this Anthropolgy text gives a Social Science perspective on the environment.It was a positive review in American Anthropologist. ... Read more

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Text offers a unique, integrative perspective on the political and ecological processes shaping landscapes and resource use across the global North and South. Summarizes important developments and debates in the field. Softcover. DLC: Political ecology. ... Read more

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Unique and accessible, this book offers a novel approach to learning ecology. Emphasizing the "big picture", it concentrates on the ideas and techniques that separate six different approaches to the study of ecology, focusing on the kinds of questions ecologists ask about their world. It discusses the history of ecology and also enables readers to apply concepts to new organisms, locations, or applications. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

I like it
I really like the way they organize this book. For me, a environmental management study person, this book gives a very clear sketch of Ecology. It also very good to read articles from so many good ecologist from diferent angles. I strongly recommand this book to those who want to know what have been discussed and covered in the subject of Ecology, and how we can link these ideas and knowledge to our life or other studies.

A fine and readable survey of academic ecology
This book presents a survey of the academic subdivisions of the science of ecology. Gives some general information and then a chapter on each of 6 different specializations in the science, viz., landscape, ecosystem, physiological, behavioral, population and community ecology, written by pofessional ecologists. Especially valuable for someone wishing to study ecology in school who wonders what exactly the various subfields deal with and consist of. Also enjoyable for anyone wanting to learn about the aims, problems, approaches and results of ecology as an academic endeavor. Includes sections on how the subfields are linked together. Includes a glossary and many references.

For those that like to be Confused
What a terrible book - not only is it difficult to read - but missing much of common Ecology viewpoints and basics.Worthless, absolutely worthless - anyone want to by mine - cost of postage. If not, I'll just burn it. ... Read more

Product Description
Forces of nature and human intervention lead to innumerable local, regional and sometimes global changes in plant community patterns. Regardless of the causes and the intensity of change, ecosystems are often naturally able to recover most of their attributes through natural succession. In this thoughtful and provocative new book, Fakhri Bazzaz integrates and synthesizes information on how disturbance changes the environment, how species function, coexist, and share or compete for resources in populations and communities, and how species replace each other over successional time. It illustrates how a diverse array of plant species have been used to examine fundamental questions in plant ecology by integrating physiological, population and community ecology. Graduate students and research workers in plant ecology, global change, conservation and restoration will find the perspective and analysis offered by this book an exciting contribution to the development of our understanding of plant successional change. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

AGuide to the Study of Freshwater Ecology
In William A. Andrews' A Guide to the Study of Freshwater Ecology, topics ranging from the issue of pollution, to environmental encounters, to niches, to aquatic organisms are discussed thoroughly. AGuide to the Study of Freshwater Ecology provides the reader with an excellent resource for both information, as well as experiment designs targeted at the classroom environment.
In Andrews' book, which is designed just like a textbook - gives definitions, explanations, examples, and questions, yet the author throws in his own style, which can be perceived as either good or bad, depending on the reader's interests. In the beginning of the first chapter - needless emotional outbursts are intertwined with the information presented, taking away from the focus on the important aspects of the chapter. Andrews added captions to aide in the release of the tension presented in the information, yet at the same time it makes the reader realize the intensity of the situation at the same time. "Does this look like freshwater to you?" was a question proposed to the reader under a picture of a littered pond. The author ineffectively attempts to persuade the reader by linking humans and the present generation to the problem. Although these accusations are apparently true, Andrews uses strict authority against the reader, which may slightly offend the reader.
Intellectual, well thought out examples are presented in order to link information with evidential reality. At the close of each chapter, recommendations for further exploration of the topics are given, which helps the reader with guidance towards investigations. The diagrams presented in the book are helpful, yet are not labeled to the extent at which they could have been - which makes following the textual evidence in a diagram more difficult. Overall, the book is simple and easy to understand, but at the same time manages to be informative.
The author also personalizes the information being handed out, and places everything into an example, similar to those found in a classroom atmosphere. The author, though, gets to the point where his personalizations cross the line, and he begins to make bold assumptions. He gets off on tangents and gets too in-depth when it comes to role-playing examples that he sets up.
There are no summarizing concepts at the closing of the book, which leaves the reader hanging - which is not acceptable in a book about science.
Although the author gives ludicrous examples and personalizations, he manages to get away with writing on tangents, and passes by a book that would be very helpful as a guide for a teacher to work into their lesson plans.
... Read more

Product Description
In Liberation Ecologies, some of the most exciting theorists in the field explores the impact of political ecology in today's developing world, question what we understand by development and raise questions about change on global change. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A must read
This book has helped me analyze social and ecological issues in a whole new way. I am forever changed because of the complexities brought out by the Liberation Ecologies authors. For anyone in the social sciences but with an interest in ecology or the environment, this is a must read.

liberation ecologies
In the years since Piers Blaikie published his radical studiesof soil erosion in the mid 1980s and coined the term "regionalpolitical ecology" with Harold Brookfield, human- environmental interactions in developing countries have become increasingly sophisticated. Geographers have taken a central role in debates about the social and economic causation of land degradation and hazards, and explored environmentally- inspired social movements, NGOs, and other resource management institutions. One landmark contribution was a special issue of Economic Geography on the theme of "Environment and Development", published in 1993. The papers from that journal issue helped to inspire a healthy debate that has echoed through the left- environmental journals and conference networks.In this edited volume, Dick Peet and Michael Watts have taken several re-worked papers from that special issue, and added new contributions. Their aim in Liberation Ecologies is to "integrate critical approaches to political economy with notions derived from post-structural philosophy" (p260), thereby critiquing and extending the political ecology framework. The book offers ten chapters, and an introduction and a conclusion by the editors. All the contributors are academics teaching in the United States, although at least seven are non-Americans. All but two (Escobar and Moore) were trained as geographers.All have some connection with the universities of Clark and Berkeley, and some with both. Four studies deal with Asia: three with Latin America, and four with Africa, with a strong bias towards rural environments. The long gestation period of the book, the theoretical mastery of its editors, and the credentials of its contributors add up to a polished and wide ranging survey of a vibrant and challenging field. In their Introduction, Peet and Watts provide an interesting reading of current debates in environment and development theory. They also criticize Blaikie's political ecology for its "plurality" (p7) , and they see its "voluntarist" explanations as largely "without politics or an explicit sensitivity to class interest and social struggle" (p8). Their own Liberation Ecology approach should operate from a wider epistemological base. It should tackle politics, including the actions of peoples' movements built around environmental justice and land rights. It should also show how local environmental knowledge is incorporated into alternative development strategies, look at the social construction of environment and development language and debates, and forge new forms of environmental history and ecology. It is a "discursive arena" (p38) which broadens debates about the environment to tackle the three domains of livelihood, entitlement, and social justice. Liberation ecology, therefore, adds neglected components to a "regional political ecology" analysis.Each chapter differs in its adoption of Peet and Watts' agenda, and none embraces every aspect of Liberation Ecology. The first two papers show how established environmental debates are socially constructed, emerging from a established, commercialized western orthodoxy. Escobar demolishes the aims and methods of sustainable development and biodiversity conservation, approaches that view the environment as a relatively unproblematic arena for technical interventions. Instead he promotes a postmodern view which sees nature as "socially constructed" by people and their intellectual and technical labors. Yapa's paper places the scientific response to poverty, and particularly Green Revolution improved seed varieties, as a reaction to another "construct" - an erroneous view of poverty. Poverty, he argues, resulted from these programs, rather than being solved by them. Bebbington takes on this line of thinking to challenge the vague support given by western writers to alternative development and indigenous organizations...As environments have been transformed, so have social relations. This theme also emerges in the work of Schroeder and Suryanata, who look at the potential of agroforestry to change the economic landscape and tenure relations. Agroforestry receives international praise, but can be wholly inappropriate to local needs, as in the case of pesticide-laden apple orchards in Java. Rangan takes on an example of what Robin Mearns and Melissa Leach call an "environmental orthodoxy" - the widespread belief in the successes of the Indian Chipko movement. She argues this movement is, unwittingly, a part of western development discourse, and it has held back social development by insisting on forest extraction legislation to the benefit of a small minority of traders and loggers.Other voices calling for tree-felling to supply local fuelwood, rather than tree-hugging, have been drowned out. Muldavin shows how Chinese agrarian restructuring now involves similar processes to capitalist industrial restructuring - "communal capital" is being destroyed under the new Chinese regime, and there are many localized environmental effects resulting from commercial agro- complexes. Three issues emerged in my reading of the book. Firstly, in attempting to re-fashion political ecology as a research tool and an epistemology, theoretical coherence is proposed around the notion of liberation ecology. Yet the contributors show great variety in research styles and in their conceptions of justice and development scenarios, and they are less strong in their support of post-structural theory and discourse analysis than the editors. The papers by Bebbington and Escobar, for example, sit far apart in their methods and their implications for policy. The editors never insisted on a on a unified voice, and recognise this eclecticism in the closing chapter (p262).However it is evident that the contributors' theoretical approaches are as diverse as the locations and societies they have investigated. This leads me to wonder if "liberation ecology" is actually an umbrella for disparate analytical forms. Secondly, despite promoting new and better forms of ecological analysis and environmental history in the Introduction (p12), few of the contributors then document, or explain, bio-physical processes or discuss recent advances in scientific or ethno- scientific evidence for environmental transformations. I think it is legitimate to ask why ecological analysis is lacking in this important book, especially since papers with a systems framework or natural science component did appear in the original 1993 Economic Geography collection. Writers in the "new ecology" tradition including Leach, Rocheleau and Scoones are well aware of the need to understand non- equilibrium ecological systems alongside the social, political and economic issues stressed in Liberation Ecologies. Instead, "environmental imaginaries", a term drawn from the work of Castoriadis, is used approvingly by Peet and Watts to describe the unique world-views of particular societies. These collective visions, or "social constructions" of nature, frame social action and development. But they do not, I would argue, provide the hard evidence ... Read more

Product Description
Assembled here for the first time in one volume are forty classic papers that have laid the foundations of modern ecology.Whether by posing new problems, demonstrating important effects, or stimulating new research, these papers have made substantial contributions to an understanding of ecological processes, and they continue to influence the field today.

The papers span nearly nine decades of ecological research, from 1887 on, and are organized in six sections: foundational papers, theoretical advances, synthetic statements, methodological developments, field studies, and ecological experiments.Selections range from Connell's elegant account of experiments with barnacles to Watt's encyclopedic natural history, from a visionary exposition by Grinnell of the concept of niche to a seminal essay by Hutchinson on diversity.

Six original essays by contemporary ecologists and a historian of ecology place the selections in context and discuss their continued relevance to current research.This combination of classic papers and fresh commentaries makes Foundations of Ecology both a convenient reference to papers often cited today and an essential guide to the intellectual and conceptual roots of the field.

Published with the Ecological Society of America. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

A vluable resource book
A book with a wealth of information If a book like this had been availablewhen I was a student it would have saved huddreds of hours of library research, and I wouldn't have found half the information available in one book.

Foundations of Ecology
Excellent compendium of seminal articles in the field of ecology.It has very nicely complemented the textbook for the course I am now taking, Introduction to Ecology, which mentions many of the articles reprinted in this fine collection.

Some very hard to find papers included
This is a great collection of papers. Some of the papers included in this volume are not easily available online in the PDF format, nor are they available in too many libraries for loan, making this, in my opinion, a must-have for the serious ecology/evolution academic.

You get a pretty good idea of the evolution [sic] of ecological thought thanks to the way the papers have been organized, where you can literally see concepts grow, develop, gain momentum, and then either get worshiped or completely rubbished.

And the book really is well-organized. It is divided into several sections, peppered with insightful commentary that enhances the whole experience. What really makes this book such a pleasure to read, personally, is the emphasis in the first section of the book on old, descriptive ecological papers, which is a type of publication that (for better or for worse) seems to be completely missing from modern ecological discourse.

I recommend this book to academic and armchair ecologists alike.

A must have for an ecologist
A nice compilation of papers that historically leads you through Ecology as a scientific discipline. The commentaries are useful and educational. It is timeless and a fundamental instrument for any ecologist, particularly at the early post-graduate level. The only drawback is that it could be more comprehensive (the editors state that they had to define criteria to cut out some papers from their initial selection), but the information in it can be complemented with good Ecology textbooks.

Must have for any ecologist
This book is a great compilation of some of the most fundamental papers in ecology.Every ecologist should own a copy.As a student, it provides a well-rounded insight into the history of ecological though.I highly recommend! ... Read more

Product Description

The scientific, political, and economic policy debates about the global environmental crisis have tended to ignore its historical, ethical, religious, and aesthetic dimensions. This book redresses that omission by highlighting these humanistic components that are integral to the fabric of our ecological understanding and, consequentially, essential to a broad, multidisciplinary approach to environmental studies and public policy initiatives.

In this slim volume, seven world-class scholars discuss the wide range of perspectives that the fields of literature, history, religion, philosophy, environmental ethics, and anthropology bring to the natural environment and our place in it. The preface summarizes the development of the religion and ecology movement; the editor’s critical introduction highlights the essays’ major themes. Bringing insights from the humanities to bear on ecological concerns, this volume will appeal to a wide audience in the humanities and environmental studies, policy makers, and the general public. The book represents a continuation of the Center for the Study of World Religions’ highly regarded Religions of the World and Ecology series.

Product Description

Sacred Ecology examines bodies of knowledge held by indigenous and other rural peoples around the world, and asks how we can learn from this knowledge and ways of knowing. Berkes explores the importance of local and indigenous knowledge as a complement to scientific ecology, and its cultural and political significance for indigenous groups themselves. This second edition is expanded and updated throughout, and places greater emphasis on "knowledge as process". It has two new chapters, Chapter 8 on climate change, demonstrating how indigenous communities "read" environmental signals, and Chapter 9 on how indigenous knowledge deals with complexity.

Customer Reviews (1)

A Bridge between Worldviews

Over the past couple decades a quiet conceptual revolution has been taking place in various academic outposts around the world. As someone who has been away from academia for more than thirty years, I find this new multi-disciplinary way of thinking about natural resources, complexity, and the human future, to be highly exhilarating--even to the point of generating hope. This new Second Edition of Sacred Ecology brings into focus the author's own lifetime of work while also highlighting that of like-minded colleagues, many of whom Berkes has collaborated with over the years, together turning out dozens ofbooks and learned articles, all in some way concerned with sustainability. To give an idea of the book's scope, here is a list of Berkes' academic interests (found in his curriculum vitae online). All find play in the book:

--Common property resources
--Traditional ecological knowledge
--Co-management
--Community based resource management
--Sustainable development, northern Canada
--Sustainable development, international
--Human ecology and conservation
--Ecology of living resources
--Small scale fisheries
--Resource and environmental policy
--Ecological economics

Many of the points covered in the book are complex (including complexity theory itself), but Berkes avoids the high levels of abstraction and convoluted prose common to academic writing. Here is a quote to give a sense of the book. "Adaptive Management is a good match for traditional ecological knowledge, and a potential bridge between Western and indigenous ways of knowing in the areas of ecology and resource management. It is part of the holistic tradition in Western science, not the mainstream tradition, but significant nonetheless. This holistic tradition includes systems theory, gestalt psychology, quantum physics, and ecology (Capra, 1996). Systems theory is often equated with complex adaptive systems. Fuzzy logic (not mentioned by Capra) may also be added to the list. Many of these holistic sciences are potentially suitable to provide frameworks for integrating Western and indigenous knowledge." (p 269-70).

Sacred Ecology offers a possible way out of the resource pickle we find ourselves in today, by constructing a bridge between our own failed reductuinist paradigm and one that has proven itself over time.
... Read more

Product Description
The new edition of this introductory ecology text, previously published as Ecology and Our Endangered Life-Support Systems , preserves its predecessor's 'big picture' approach while incorporating the latest concepts and research. It is suited to anyone seeking to become more environmentally literate, including students and professionals alike. The organization of the text is 'top down,' beginning with experimental life-support systems and ending with development and evolution. The relevance of ecological principles and the need for long-term solutions to environmental problems are stressed throughout. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Quite the best ecology text.
Eugene Odum was the first person to put together plant and animal ecology in a satisfying synthesis, in his Fundamentals of Ecology of 1953.That could have remained the prime textbook for the past five decades, but he eventually tired of producing new editions. Also, he was keen to reach a wider audience, and this is the latest version of the more accessible book that he wrote for the general reader. Two things in particular make the book special. First, Odum focuses on the whole living planet, working down to the level of the individual organisms and populations; most ecology textbooks work from the bottom up, giving a fragmentary view of the overall situation. Second, Odum is almost alone among ecologists in integrating humans completely into his account. The result is a clear and readable book with an urgent and important message for all of us who share the earth. ... Read more

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Examines the relationship between spiritual disciplines and the natural world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Classic on population and the environment
With the current death of the frog population the diagram about the food web on the Long Island estuary becomes very important. Global warming shows that less than moderate attention was paid to these great teachers!
The advantage of having the population figures for 2000 to compare to the
with the appendix 2 U.N. projections, shows that the "medium" Variant
actually happened ( this after both China and India had major political and unpopular population programs).If the human race continues on the current course of environmental violation and mostly uncontrolled population expansion,
there is a big 'correction' / black swan event on the way. ... Read more

Product Description
6X9 In, 266 Pp, Bibliography, Footnotes, < Appendices < Practicing Is Simple. Nothing Forced, < Nothing Violent, Just Settling Into Our < Place. Deep Ecology, A Term Originated < In1972 By Norwegian Philosopher Arne < Naess, Is Emerging As A Way To Develop < Harmony Between Individuals, Communities < and Nature. Deep Ecology--The Term and < The Book--Unfolds The Path To Living < Simple, Rich Life and Shows How To < Participate In Major Environmental < Issues In A Positive ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An excellent resource for the already converted.
As a long time environmental activist and graduate student in philosophy I found the book wonderfully comprehensive in its analysis and explanation of deep ecology.The book delves nicely into the sources of deep ecology and its response to other perspectives on environmental issues.I found it a quick read (I read it at the gym, but then, I read Heidegger for fun) and well put together.

It will not, however, make someone who is coming from a perspective far from deep ecology change their mind.For that I would recommend Muir or Jeffers or better yet, spend some time in the real wilderness yourself.What it does is provide extensive background material and elucidation of the philosophy to someone who already believes in the importance of wilderness preservation.

A ponderous classic of the environmental movement.
This classic text of the environmental movememt has influenced groups as diverse as The Nature Conservancy, Greenpeace, and Earth First!Devall and Sessions explore the emotional and spiritual underpinnings of hamanity'sties to the earth in this deeply philosophical work.They link a plethoraof sources in their exploration of Deep Ecology, including numerousreligions, the words of such notables as David Brower, Aldo Leopold, andEdward Abbey, and the perspectives of many cultures.Despite all of this,though, I found it somewhat lacking.Not present is the graceful beauty ofAldo Leopold, nor the raw passion of John Muir.Perhaps this book mightgrow dog-eared with use in the library of a Philosophy Professor or acareer activist, but I suspect that most people, like me, will find thisbook a bit dull.Call me simpleminded, but I was more deeply moved byLeopold's heartfelt musings on the chickadee in "A Sand CountyAlmanac" than by Devall and Sessions' philosophical ruminations. ... Read more

Product Description
This new practical guide provides a "hands-on" approach to learning the essential concepts and techniques of landscape ecology. The fundamental knowledge gained will enable students to usefully address landscape-level ecological and management issues. It is an ideal companion to the text, Landscape Ecology in Theory and Practice by Monica G. Turner, Robert H. Gardner, and Robert V. O'Neill, also published by Springer-Verlag. The book is organized into nine sections comprising 20 chapters, each of which consists of a lab focusing on an important point in the text. A variety of approaches are presented: group discussion, thought problems, written exercises, and modeling. Each exercise is categorized as to whether it is for individual, small group, or whole class study. Appendices of additional exercises using specialized technical tools of landscape ecology (for example, GIS) are supplied for instructors with appropriate equipment. The book includes a CD-ROM containing spatial data sets and modeling software for use with a number of the exercises.

About the Included CD: Many of the labs use only Excel (.xls) files or Adobe (.pdf) files (or no files at all) and as such are compatible with computers running on either Mac or Windows platforms, as long as the computers have Excel and/or Adobe Acrobat Reader installed.Chapters 1, 2, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18 and part of 7 fall into this category. Several other programs require a PC running Windows: Markov, HarvestLite, Rule, Fragstats, ReserveDesign and Folio are DOS executables; ArcExplorer and Bachmap must be installed on a Windows PC. These programs require a Windows emulator for use on a Macintosh platform. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Interesting book
Great introduction and resource on field of landscape ecology. Presents both concepts and methodology to study relationship between pattern and ecological process. ... Read more