Book Description
Penetration of light into aquatic ecosystems is greatly affected by the absorption and scattering processes that take place within the water.Thus within any water body, the intensity and color of the light field changes greatly with depth and this has a marked influence on both the total productivity of, and the kinds of plant that predominate in, the ecosystem.This study presents an integrated and coherent treatment of the key role of light in aquatic ecosystems.It ranges from the physics of light transmission within water, through the biochemistry and physiology of aquatic photosynthesis, to the ecological relationships that depend on the underwater light climate. ... Read more

Book Description
This law school casebook defines biodiversity, outlines factors in choosing among different policy approaches for it's protection, and finding appropriate levels of administration for implementing those policies. Also features original notes and questions to stimulate class discussion. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Resource management in the United States is undergoing a fundamental change. Traditional sustained-yield approaches that focus on commodity-production and human resource use are steadily giving way to ecological approaches, often referred to as ecosystem management, that have long-term ecological sustainability as their primary goal. To achieve that goal, ecosystem management emphasizes socially defined goals and objectives, integrated and holistic science, collaborative decision making, and adaptable institutions. Political considerations are an essential component of ecosystem management, yet its socio-political context has been largely ignored by those studying and writing on the subject.

The Politics of Ecosystem Management is the first book to focus entirely on the political challenges facing ecosystem management as it moves from theory to practice.

The authors examine:

• the history of natural resource management in the United States
• the theory behind ecosystem management
• potential inconsistencies and contradictions in the themes of ecosystem management
• political philosophies that undergird traditional resource management
• alternative political principles inherent in ecosystem management
• opportunities and barriers for achieving collaborative ecosystem management

The Politics of Ecosystem Management considers the sweeping and profound changes that will be required of the American governance system-its political philosophy, institutions, notions of citizenship, and politics, as well its resource management practices-if the shift to ecosystem management is to be realized. It is a lucid and accessible volume that represents a vital contribution to the literature for students, researchers, and professionals involved with any aspect of developing and implementing ecosystem-based approaches to resource management. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Good read, accessible and covers a lot
I found this book to pretty well cover the issues without being overwhelming. It is intended to be an overview and the authors provide plenty of cited material for those wishing to delve deeper. I was not familiar with ecosystem management and the book gives a good presentation of the basic tenets, challenges, and suggested prescriptives in a well-organized fashion. I do not believe the authors meant the book to be anything more than a introductory text--it fills this purpose well.

The Politics of Ecosystem Management
This book provides a lot of information for a person not familar with politics and natural resources.Unfortunately, I do not think that this was the authors' intent.For a person familar with this subject, the book just repeats ideas you probably are currently familiar with in a choppy fashion.On top of this, the book seems biased with statements such as "traditional resource managemetn is pragmatic, seeing in nature a collection of resources that can be manipulated and harvested, with humans in control" while ecosystem management "views nature with some reverence and respect for the awsome complexity with which its components are interwoven."Overall, the book is an easy read, but does not provide the reader with much thought or new ideas. ... Read more

Book Description

This book has been developed as a forest inventory textbook for students and can also serve as a handbook for practical foresters. The book is divided into four sections. The first section deals mostly with sampling issues. First, we present the basic sampling designs at a fairly non-technical mathematical level. In addition, we present some more advanced sampling issues often needed in forest inventory. Those include for instance problems with systematic sampling, and methods for sampling vegetation or rare populations. Forest inventory also includes issues that are unique to forestry, like problems in measuring sample plots in the field, or utilising sample tree measurements. These issues include highly sophisticated methodology, but we try to present these also such that forestry students can grasp the ideas behind them. Each method is presented with examples. For foresters who need more details, references are given to more advanced scientific papers and books in the fields of statistics and biometrics.

Book Description

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

Customer Reviews (3)

A classic and a must-read
Are you interested in environmental issues, natural resource policy, or understanding how ecosystems silently enable our society to function? If so you must read this book.

Almost 10 years has passed since this edited volume was published (edited by Gretchen Daily), and there has been considerable progress on some fronts. Accordingly and expectedly, some of the estimates of the values of services are out-dated, but there are crucial contributions here in the framework for understanding and characterizing such ecosystem services (the flow of benefits from ecosystems to people). This book sparked an immense scholarly and public interest in ecosystem services that has not even begun to peak. In order to enable our society to persist sustainably, we *must* understand our dependence on ecosystem services and incorporate this understanding into societal decision-making.

Top-notch scholars contributed to this excellent volume, which continues to be cited frequently in first-rate academic papers and to cause ripples in broader society.

Francisco gets badly translated.
I haven't read this book.But I think that maybe it would be good if the only review --which is in spanish-- were translated.I'm supposed to be a native speaker, but I'm more like Tarzan...be that as it may, here's Francisco's review:

This edition is important on the themes of environmental economy and the underestimation of the health of ecosystems, for humanity surges to break the little known of the ecosystems, of the synergies, and the diverse benefits they bring, much of which we don't know.
So, this book approaches the important elements, for the process of optimizing the utilization of the ecosystems, from philosophic, environmental, and economic perspectives.

I made it sound like stereo instrucions, sigh.

un aporte a lavaloracion de los servicios ambientales
Es bien importante que se editen textos en estos temas de economía ambiental pues la subestimación del valor de los ecosistemas para la humanidad surge a partir del poco conocimiento de los ecosistemas, de sussinergias y los diversos beneficios que brindan, muchos de ellos noreconocidos. Así, este libro aporta elementos importantes, para el procesode optimización de la utilización de los ecosistemas,desde la perpectivaambiental, filosófica y económica. ... Read more

Book Description
This book highlights the importance to ecological studies of incorporating humans and their effects on ecosystems. In Humans as Components of Ecosystems, leading experts from a variety of disciplines address a number of important issues, including: The prominent role of humans in the function of ecosystems on Earth; Why humans have been ignored in ecological studies; approaches taken by social scientists, historians, geographers, economists, and anthropologists in the study of human activities; the emergence of a new ecological paradigm accommodating human activities; methods for studying subtle human effects, and human-populated ecosystems; future research and training required to include humans effectively as components of ecological systems. ... Read more

Book Description
The last few decades have seen a rapid growth of interest in the mangrove ecosystems. This is due, on the one hand, to the perception that mangrove ecosystems are valuable resources, and, on the other hand, due to vested economic interests. There is an accelerated rate of destruction of mangroves worldwide. Almost all nations of the world tropical belt are concerned with the conservation of this natural wealth, but surreptitiously permit the misuse of mangroves for quick monetary returns unabatedly. The scientific community and decision makers of many nations are now in a state of alert, requesting sound directives for the sustainable use of mangroves worldwide. The present publication is an attempt to present in an organized manner the present state of knowledge which could be useful for decision makers and of interest to all those who see the ecological and economical potential of the various types of mangrove ecosystems. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description
Archaeological data now show that relatively intense human adaptations to coastal environments developed much earlier than once believed--more than 125,000 years ago. With our oceans and marine fisheries currently in a state of crisis, coastal archaeological sites contain a wealth of data that can shed light on the history of human exploitation of marine ecosystems. In eleven case studies from the Americas, Pacific Islands, North Sea, Caribbean, Europe, and Africa, leading researchers working in coastal areas around the world cover diverse marine ecosystems, reaching into deep history to discover how humans interacted with and impacted these aquatic environments and shedding new light on our understanding of contemporary environmental problems. ... Read more

Product Description
In graphic novel format, follows the adventures of Max Axiom, a science teacher and super-cool super-scientist, as he explains the science behind ecosystems. ... Read more

Book Description

Generations of plant scientists have been fascinated by alpine plant life - with the exposure of organisms to dramatic climatic gradients over a very short distance.
This comprehensive text treats a wide range of topics: alpine climate and soils, plant distribution and the treeline phenomenon, physiological ecology of water-, nutritional- and carbon relations of alpine plants, plant stress and plant development, biomass production, aspects of reproductive biology, and human impacts on alpine vegetation. Geographically the book covers all parts of the world including the tropics.
This new edition of Alpine Plant Life has been fully updated. It now includes over a hundred new references, new diagrams, revised and extended chapters, and a geographic index.

Book Description
Sustainability is arguably the most vital concern in architectural design today. As the world becomes ever more densely populated, with the majority of people now living in cities, it is essential for architects, engineers and urban planners to be fully aware of the impact of their activities on the natural environment, as well as the effects of buildings on their occupants.
Sustainable Ecosystems and the Built Environment offers guidelines for professional practice and highlights the potential of radical new technologies to increase and maintain the quality of life on this planet. Compiled from a series of articles which appeared in the cutting-edge journal Architectural Design, it examines topics related to the effect of buildings on both their immediate environment and the global ecosystem, as well as methods of making buildings healthy places to live and work - from heating, lighting and air circulation to the use of colour and odour to affect mood. All the key issues of sustainability are discussed, and backed up with evidence from 'green' projects in which the authors' sustainable engineering firm Battle McCarthy has been involved.
This book offers an informative, practical and thought-provoking read for anyone involved in the design of the built environment. ... Read more

Book Description

The greatest challenge for urban ecologists in the next few decades is to understand the role that humans play in urban ecosystems. So far, research on the dynamics of urban development and ecosystems has proceeded separately; neither disciplinary approach has adequately addressed the processes and variables that couple them. The development of an integrated urban ecological approach is crucial to advance ecological research and to help planners and managers to solve complex urban environmental issues. This book seeks to meet these needs by providing a conceptual framework to synthesize urban and ecological dynamics into a common framework.

Book Description
This book provides basic information on butterfly anatomy and natural history, as well as the proper way to catch and release butterflies--though with a stern reminder that netting butterflies is not permitted in the national parks. ... Read more

Book Description

Often a commitment to large ecosystem initiatives is linked both conceptually and legally with requirements for ecological monitoring as a means of evaluating the effectiveness of management actions. Programs to determine ecosystem status and trends can contribute significantly to the resolution of difficult and contentious management questions, and can play a key role both in sharpening the focus of research questions and in developing adaptive approaches to resource management.

Monitoring Ecosystems brings together leading scientists and researchers to offer a groundbreaking synthesis of lessons learned about ecological monitoring in major ecoregional initiatives around the United States. Contributors?Donald L. DeAngelis, Lance H. Gunderson, Barry R. Noon, John C. Ogden, Craig J. Palmer, Keith M. Reynolds, Paul L. Ringold, John R. Sauer, Lawrence E. Stevens, and many others?present insights and experiences gained from their work in designing, developing, and implementing comprehensive ecosystem monitoring programs in the Pacific Northwest, the lower Colorado River Basin, and the Florida Everglades. The book:

• outlines the conceptual and scientific underpinnings for regional-scale ecosystem monitoring
• examines the role and importance of data management, modeling, and integrative analyses
• considers techniques for and experience with monitoring habitats, populations, and communities

Monitoring Ecosystems presents a critical examination of the lessons learned from direct experience along with generalized conclusions that can be applied to monitoring programs in the United States and around the world. It is a vital contribution to science-based monitoring efforts that will allow those responsible for developing and implementing ecoregional initiatives to make use of knowledge gained in previous efforts, enabling them to focus their energies on system-specific questions and problems. ... Read more