Narrative Landscape Press Ltd
Narrative Landscape Press is an independent publisher and a provider of publishing services and independent authors in Nigeria.
View Rights PortalNarrative Landscape Press is an independent publisher and a provider of publishing services and independent authors in Nigeria.
View Rights PortalWith 86 years publishing books covering a broad range of subject areas, Fondo de Cultura Económica is one of the leading publishing houses in Latin America. Over the course of the last twenty-nine years, the ten series of books for children and young adults published by our Children’s book division have included titles of the highest literary and visual quality, aimed at a critical and demanding readership. Our most innovative books have received important awards such as the New Horizons Award, and some of our titles have been listed in the White Ravens Catalogue and in the AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) 50 Books/50 Covers. Several of our books for children and young adults have been translated into Chinese, Dutch, English, French, Galician, Czech, Slovenian, German, Hindi, Italian, Korean, Swedish, Romanian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Japanese, Arabic, Greek and Turkish.
View Rights PortalLandscape Kāsaka is the first prose collection of Li Xiuwen. Most of the works have been written by Li during the turbulent decade among places such as forest and townlet, temple and studio, inn and train and so forth, all of which constitute Li’s Landscape. He has painstakingly recorded the emotion and dignity of ordinary people: doorkeeper and peddler, umbrella mender and tinker, courier and cleaner, real estate broker and sales representative...Also, there are some chapters about traveling and poetry, traditional Chinese opera and day dream. By writing these, Li Xiuwen finally affirms his destiny: as for himself, writing, is not only the faith leading him out of fatigue, but also the Kāsaka during his wandering life.
This book provides a detailed examination of specific issues in urban ecology which are of great interest to professional ecologists, researchers, students and the general public. Written by a team of international experts the book presents a series of issue-based essays and assumes that urban ecology reflects the natural forces in effect in the habitats described and provides important, succinct, and informative introductions to critical topics. Examples of topics included are: Relative Success of Invasive Species in Urban vs. Non-Urban Habitats, Urban Habitats: Who Like Them More; Vertebrates or Invertebrates?, Unintended Consequences in Urban Habitats Compared to Non-Urban Habitats, Protecting Pollinators in the Urban Environment, Climate Change and Urban Environments, How Urban Conditions Influence Ecological Interactions.
This second edition of Soils for Landscape Development provides a clear, practical and systematic template for specifying landscape soils based on scientific criteria. The soil specifications provide essential information and a universally applicable method for landscape architects and designers, specification writers, landscape contractors and soil supply companies to ensure quality and fit-for-purpose soils. A strong emphasis is placed on reducing environmental impacts by reuse of on-site soil, promoting appropriate minimal soil intervention, and using recycled products. The first edition won the Award of Excellence for Research and Communication in Landscape Architecture at the AILA NSW (Australian Institute of Landscape Architects) Awards in 2014. The authors won a 2nd award for this book through The Australian Institute of Horticulture (AIH) in 2015).
In recent years landscape and wildlife conservation has attracted increased attention from environmentalists and policy-makers. There have been policies within the European Union aimed at conserving wildlife and landscape in Europe for more than a decade and appraisal of these policies is opportune. A workshop was therefore held at the University of Hohenheim in September 1996 to examine critical issues associated with these policies. This workshop was one of a series, each focusing on a key theme as part of the EU Concerted Action, “Policy measures to control environmental impacts from agriculture”. This book presents a selection of revised papers from this workshop. The overall perspective is an economic one, with several chapters reviewing analytical methods, economic valuation of the benefits of agricultural landscapes and the costs and benefits of wildlife conservation. These are set in the context of the Common Agricultural Policy and environmental policies in the EU. The book represents important reading for agricultural and environmental economists, as well as those concerned with ecology and conservation.
An understanding of ecology is an important requirement of a wide range of academic areas, including biology, zoology and environmental science. This book is a study and revision guide for students following programmes of study in which ecology is an important component. It contains 600 multiple-choice questions (and answers) set at three levels - foundation, intermediate and advanced - and grouped into 10 major topic areas: · The history and foundations of ecology · Abiotic factors and environmental monitoring · Taxonomy and biodiversity · Energy flow and production ecology · Nutrient and material cycles · Ecophysiology · Population ecology · Community ecology and species interactions · Ecological genetics and evolution · Ecological methods and statistics The book has been produced in a convenient format so that it can be used at any time in any place. It allows the reader to learn and revise the meaning of ecological terms, the basic processes operating in ecosystems, the dynamics of populations, ecological genetics and the process of evolution, the methods used in ecological surveys, and much more. The structure of the book allows the study of one topic area at a time, progressing through simple questions to those that are more demanding. Many of the questions require students to use their knowledge to interpret information provided in the form of graphs, data or photographs, providing a useful tool for independent study.
An understanding of applied ecology and conservation is an important requirement of a wide range of programmes of study including applied biology, ecology, environmental science and wildlife conservation.This book is a study and revision guide for students following such programmes. It contains 600 multiple-choice questions (and answers) set at three levels - foundation, intermediate and advanced - and grouped into 10 major topic areas:History and foundations of applied ecology and conservationEnvironmental pollution and perturbationsWildlife and conservation biologyRestoration biology and habitat managementAgriculture, forestry and fisheries managementPest, weed and disease managementUrban ecology and waste managementGlobal environmental change and biodiversity lossEnvironmental and wildlife law and policyEnvironmental assessment, monitoring and modellingThe book has been produced in a convenient format so that it can be used at any time in any place. It allows the reader to learn and revise the meaning of terms used in applied ecology and conservation, study the effects of pollution on ecosystems, the management, conservation and restoration of wildlife populations and habitats, urban ecology, global environmental change, environment law and much more. The structure of the book allows the study of one topic area at a time, progressing through simple questions to those that are more demanding. Many of the questions require students to use their knowledge to interpret information provided in the form of graphs, data or photographs.
Landscape today is no longer just a cultural aspect, intended as an elitist phenomenon, but emerges as an essential element in the definition and the application of a modern approach in sustainable development. Historical locally adapted distinctive and ingenious combinations of management practices have contributed and continue to contribute tremendously to the biodiversity of the world, resulting not only in outstanding aesthetic beauty, but, in the sustained provision of multiple goods and services, food and livelihood security and quality of life. The development of policies to preserve and manage landscape resources, has to face both the degradation of cultural landscape due to socio-economic development and the need to develop appropriate methods and approaches. This book presents different methodologies developed to analyse, manage and plan landscape resources. It reports recent research findings and case studies from Europe and North America, suggesting also the revision of some orientations and views of the current policies concerning forestry, rural development and nature conservation, often contributing to degrade cultural landscapes.
For large-scale agroecosystems, patterns of pest population increases (graded increases or abrupt outbreaks) and declines (graded suppression or abrupt crashes) vary considerably and are influenced by factors within crop fields and across broader landscape scales. Better understanding of pest population dynamics and the implications of spatial interactions on the function and development of pest management approaches are the main themes of this important book. The book builds from a 60+ year history of field-based pest management by focusing on the drivers of pest management in large-scale agroecosystems and the landscape-scale processes that affect these drivers and contribute to variation in pest outbreaks and suppression. These drivers include abiotic and biotic influences such as weather, spatial composition and arrangement of landscape elements, and widely applied managed inputs such as planting and crop rotation schedules, crop varietal selection, and land and soil conservation efforts. The book introduces general concepts, opportunities, and challenges of arthropod management in large-scale agroecosystems. Case studies from major field crop-based agroecosystems are used to present research approaches and improve understanding and management of pest and beneficial insects in large-scale agroecosystems. Specific research findings are provided on multi-trophic interactions within the system as influenced by climate, landscape, and other ecological, agricultural, and social/economic components of the agroecosystem. The book concludes with a synthesis of these concepts and prospectus for future research and developments in arthropod management in large-scale, plant-based agroecosystems. The book is essential reading for researchers in applied entomology and ecology and for pest management practitioners.
Decomposition is an ecological process that recycles dead tissues, mainly from primary production, into nutrients in the soil. The Ecology of Soil Decomposition describes trophic interactions between species that carry out the decomposition of organic matter in the soil. Key topics addressed feature functional groups, spatial stratification and succession patterns over time, involving bacteria, protists, fungi and micro-invertebrates. Emphasis is placed on the role of species diversity in functional groups.
Soil ecology is the study of interactions between the physio-chemical components of the soil and organisms living within the soil. Humans are highly dependent upon the soil ecosystem, which provides food, fiber, fuel and ecological services, such as the recycling of atmospheric gases. It is therefore important to understand the function and nature of the soil ecosystem in order to predict and mitigate the long term consequences of present day actions. Soil Ecology and Management describes the organisms inhabiting the soil, their functions and interactions and the dimensions of human impact on the activity of soil organisms and soil ecological function. Chapters discuss basic soil characteristics and biogeochemical cycling, key soil flora and fauna, community-level dynamics (soil food webs) and the ecological and pedological functions of soil organisms. Unlike other soil biology and ecology textbooks, the authors also convey a better understanding of how human activities impact upon soil ecology in a section on ecosystem management and its effects on soil biota and provide a unique perspective on the utility of soil organisms.
This book presents a horticultural overview of the main plant families of trees and shrubs from temperate regions that are cultivated in urban and rural landscape schemes. Most of the plants used come from a limited number of plant families and within these families, certain genera contribute very significantly.The largest chapter in the book describes 37 plant families according to their identification, functional use and management in landscape schemes. With this information readers will be able to assess the suitability of species and prepare planting designs for prevailing sites.
It is a widely held belief that a climax vegetation of closed forest systems covered the lowlands of Central and Western Europe before humans intervened in prehistoric times to develop agriculture. If this intervention had not taken place, it would still be there and so if left, the grassland vegetation and fields we see today would revert to its natural closed forest state, although with a reduced number of wild species. This book challenges this view, using examples from history, pollen analyses and studies on the ecology of tree and shrub species such as oak and hazel. It tests the hypotheses that the climax vegetation is a closed canopy forest against the alternative one in which species composition and succession of vegetation were governed by herbivores and that the Central and Western European lowlands were covered by a park-like landscape consisting of grasslands, scrub, solitary trees and groves bordered by a mantle and fringe vegetation. Comparative information from North America is also included, because the forests there are commonly regarded as being analogous to the primeval vegetation in Europe. This title is a revised, updated and expanded translation of book published in Dutch.
Nematodes are incontestably the most numerous and the most diverse metazoans in freshwater habitats, and these properties bestow exceptional significance to their role in the environment. An array of functional roles has been attributed to them: they are grazers on bacteria and primary producers, regulators of decomposition of plant material, predators, prey for other animals, and closely associated symbionts of bacteria and other organisms. Freshwater nematodes are central in the context of environmental monitoring, pollution assessments, global warming and food webs, and this is increasingly being recognized. Moreover, the short generation time (a few days to months) of many species makes nematodes ideal for laboratory studies. This book: Provides a follow-up to Freshwater Nematodes: Ecology and Taxonomy (2006). Offers guidelines for studying the ecology of free-living nematodes, including detailed protocols and case studies. Promotes free-living nematodes as model organisms for studies in a broad range of research fields. Despite the recognized importance of nematodes across ecosystems, many species of free-living nematodes have yet to be discovered, and essential knowledge gaps remain. Ecology of Freshwater Nematodes provides an overview of research efforts in this field, and is an important resource for researchers in the field of nematology and ecology.
Environmental engineering's future seems boundless because it is based in the myriad ways in which nature solves its own engineering challenges. People have yet to design a system that pumps water 200 feet straight up toward the sky in a system that is silent, requires no mechanical pumps, and never malfunctions, yet giant sequoia trees do this every day. Environmental engineering has a distance to go to mimic nature's activities, but fortunately, nature provides endless examples of processes like the sequoias' that maximize energy conservation. Environmental engineering represents a discipline that will be required for almost all future technologies in energy conservation. This eBook shows how some engineering projects turn out to be quite complex endeavors, while a good number draw on the simplicity of natural systems by following nature's theme of "less is more." It also discusses the ways in which environmental engineering blends the best aspects of art and design with the sciences of physics, geology, ecology, and the chemistry of matter. Chapters include: New Directions in Civil Engineering Designing Transit Systems Innovations in Personal Vehicles Sustainable Manufacturing Energy Efficient Electronics Ecological Landscape Design Sustainable Wastewater Treatment.
The years 2021 to 2030 have been designated as "The United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration". Ecological restoration and biodiversity conservation efforts face unprecedented challenges, especially in developing countries and areas, such as the Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region. This huge HKH region, which includes areas in eight separate countries (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, India, China, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan), is a biodiversity hotspot with a vast array of ecosystems, landscapes, peoples and cultures. It is known as one of 'the pulses of the world'. However, the HKH is also the world's largest and poorest mountain region, where landscapes and environments have been severely damaged as a result of climate change and human activities. Coordinating conservation and restoration policies, sharing knowledge and funds, and maintaining livelihoods are major challenges and are in urgent need of improvement. This book details the past and current ecological problems in the HKH region, and the threats and challenges that ecosystems and local people face. It pays special attention to developments of transformative adaptations and presents examples of sustainable conservation and ecological restoration management practices. Three primary questions are addressed: (1) Do the existing conservation strategies of international organizations and government policies really protect ecosystems and solve biodiversity problems? (2) Can these management measures be one-time solutions? and (3) What is the strategic framework and scenario prognosis for the future based on the historical trajectory of ecological conservation and restoration in the region? This book is essential reading for ecologists and conservation biologists involved in large-scale ecological restoration projects, along with practitioners, graduate students, policy makers and international development workers.
Plants are the foundation of ecosystems. They convert energy from sunlight into carbohydrates, direct the cycling of nutrients, shape the hydrologic cycle, and influence weather. Many other ecologically important phenomena are the result of the interactions between plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria, and these natural processes reveal an amazing array of traits and strategies that have allowed plants to survive through the years. Plant Ecology, Second Edition explores these major ecological roles and dynamics of plants and their place in the environment. This reference is a vital tool for students and teachers of plant biology.
This book situates the post financial crisis phenomenon of the "global land grab" within the longue duree of the capitalist world system. It does so by advancing a theoretical and historical framework, called the political ecology of colonial capitalism, that clarifies the key role played by the co-production of race and nature in provisioning the "ecological surplus" that has historically secured the emergence and reproduction of capitalist development. The key premise of this book is that the global land grab constitutes another such attempted moment of re-securing the cheap food premise through racialized frontier appropriation. The argument advanced here is that, within the neoliberal crisis conjuncture, the hegemonic resolution of capital's escalating social-ecological contradictions necessitates, through the practice of "global primitive accumulation," the racialized construction of frontiers of unused nature in emergent zones of appropriation.
Bringing together reasons for why and where weeds occur and the ecological importance of weed management, this updated edition (previously entitled "Weed Ecology") provides an in-depth study of plant ecology with greater coverage of invasive plant biology and more concise statistics. In a new, larger format, printed in two colours, and illustrated throughout with figures, tables and case studies it is an essential text for students in plant ecology, agriculture and horticulture. Praise for the first edition: "As an undergraduate text [the book] does a superb job of traversing the wide expanse of ecology... several chapters should be key components of any course on understanding weed ecology" - Biological Invasions "The information is provided in short chapters, which are very well written, have their own comprehensive reference lists, and contain many excellent examples from around the world. The book will be an extremely valuable textbook for undergraduate and graduate students studying weed science and agriculture" - Biological Agriculture and Horticulture
Three quarters of the world’s population live in cities. One in eight people lives in a metropolitan area. Megacities swallow up land, energy and resources – and at the same time are particularly hard hit by the current climate crisis that they fuel. However, in the metropolises of the overcrowded world plenty of committed people have heard the warning signals and establish networks to use the potential of cities to reorganize the participative and social-ecological activity that is urgently needed. The contributions to this Yearbook for Ecology focus on the present and future of cities from wide-ranging viewpoints and highlight perspectives for their creative transformation towards liveable sustainability.
This new, updated 3rd edition of The Ecology and Silviculture of Oaks examines the new challenges in sustaining oak forest ecosystems in a changing world. It is essential reading for forest ecologists, silviculturists, environmentalists and wildlife managers Oak forests are the result of extensive and frequently occurring disturbances that have occurred over hundreds of years such as exploitative timber harvesting, land clearing for agriculture, recurrent burning, and free-range livestock grazing. These disturbances, perhaps counterintuitively, have created conditions favorable for sustaining oaks. But today, as those disturbances have largely disappeared and as oak forests have matured, a new problem has arisen: the widespread failure of oaks to regenerate. Oak regeneration failures and other ecological issues have become increasingly problematic under the social and economic constraints of contemporary forest management. Moreover, emerging forces such as climate change now threaten to further alter the ecological dynamics of oak forests in unpredictable ways. · - Comprehensive text which examines the many problems associated with sustaining oak forests in a changing world · - Emphasizes a view of oak forests as responsive ecosystems · - Essential reading for forest ecologists, silviculturists, environmentalists and wildlife managers