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      • Trusted Partner
        Science & Mathematics
        November 2020

        Urban Ecology

        Its Nature and Challenges

        by Pedro Barbosa

        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.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        April 2016

        University engagement and environmental sustainability

        by Michael Osborne, Patricia Inman, Diana Robinson

        Universities have a key role to play in contributing to environmental development and combating climate change. The chapters within this volume detail the challenges faced by higher education institutions in considering environmental sustainability, and provide both a broad view of university engagement and a detailed examination of various projects. As part of this series in association with the Place and Social Capital and Learning (PASCAL) International Observatory, the three key PASCAL themes of place management, lifelong learning and the development of social capital are considered throughout the book. While universities have historically generated knowledge outside of specific local contexts, this book argues that it is particularly important for them to engage with the local community and to consider diverse perspectives and assets when looking at issues within an ecological context. The chapters in this volume provide new perspectives and frames of reference for transforming universities by engaging in the development of resilient communities.

      • Trusted Partner
        Biology, life sciences
        August 2020

        Key Questions in Ecology

        A Study and Revision Guide

        by Paul A. Rees

        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.

      • Trusted Partner
        Medicine
        October 2020

        Introduction to Environmental Toxicology

        by J P F D'Mello

        Introduction to Environmental Toxicology is designed as a concise text, introducing students to the fundamentals of this important subject. It covers the origin, characterization and environmental distribution of the major pollutants, and provides an explanation of their implications for human morbidity via the development of cancer, cardiovascular disease, pulmonary dysfunction and neurological conditions. Considering impacts on biodiversity, such as effects from acid rain, heavy metals and selected anthropogenic compounds, this book: - Covers biogenic contaminants, gases and particulates, organic pollutants, petroleum, heavy metals, complex polymers and radiation; - Considers the impact of pollutants across human health, biodiversity, water and food safety; - Includes questions, further reading and case studies to spark discussion in tutorials. Covering all the major biological toxins and pollutants, this book forms a true introduction to the subject for undergraduates studying environmental toxicology and related subjects.

      • Trusted Partner
        Geography & the Environment
        August 2022

        Key Questions in Environmental Toxicology

        A Study and Revision Guide

        by J P F D'Mello

        Key Questions in Environmental Toxicology is designed as a self-study tool for undergraduate students. Questions review the origin, characterization and environmental distribution of major pollutants, followed by their absorption and metabolic disposition in living organisms. They address implications for the development of cancer, cardiovascular disease, pulmonary dysfunction and neurological conditions in relation to gaseous pollutants, particulates, persistent organic compounds and radioactive emissions, then cover the impact of pollutants on biodiversity, food safety, and water contamination. This book: - Covers toxicology from human morbidity, ecological impact and biodiversity perspectives, and emphasises the impact of diverse organic pollutants in worsening these interconnected phenomena, leading to wider environmental emergencies; - Provides a selection of fill-in-the-gap, multiple choice and short answer question types for students to vary their learning and enhance motivation; - Includes full answer rationales, allowing students to gain true insight into the subject. Providing support to programmes across environmental science, ecology and human health, and covering all the major biological toxins and pollutants as well as unintended consequences of actions designed to improve outcomes, this book may be used in conjunction with the companion volume Introduction to Environmental Toxicology.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        November 2024

        The political ecology of colonial capitalism

        Race, nature, and accumulation

        by Bikrum Gill

        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.

      • Trusted Partner
        August 2023

        Nanoformulations for Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Risk Mitigation

        by Zeba Khan, Nicoleta Anca Sutan

        Nanotechnology research and its application in agriculture has become a major focus in recent years. Nanoformulations offer the possibility to develop more efficient and less damaging agrochemicals in the environment. Smart delivery systems for nanosensors, molecules that can help to detect biotic or abiotic stresses before they can affect production, are being developed and applied. Nanotechnology also provides new techniques for genetic manipulation and plant breeding. The use of nanoformulations in agriculture is increasingly being used to enhance food values, reduce agricultural inputs, improve nutrient contents and create a longer shelf life for many products. Nanotechnology is also being applied to many aspects of food security, disease treatment, new tools for pathogen detection, effective delivery systems and packaging materials. It is hoped that all these applications will help meet the needs of a growing population, and help mitigate the effects of climate change and other ecological disturbances. This book highlights new applications of these nanoforms in the field of agricultural science.It is written by an international team of experts from across this broad discipline.The book is essential reading for graduate students, researchers and practitioners involved in the application of nanotechnology in agriculture. The book · examines the role of nano-formulations in crop yield improvement whilst reducing reliance on chemical fertilizers and pesticides. · covers specially enabled delivery systems for the release of nanoformulations, field-sensing systems to monitor environmental stresses, and improvement of plant traits against environmental stress and diseases · is well written, unambiguous, simple, lucid, scientific and precise and chapters are supplemented with ample illustrations and case studies to clarify and summarize key points.

      • Trusted Partner
        Business, Economics & Law
        September 2020

        Religious Tourism and the Environment

        by Kiran A Shinde, Daniel H Olsen

        The remarkable growth in religious tourism across the world has generated considerable interest in the impacts of this type of tourism. Focusing here on environmental issues, this book moves beyond the documentation of environmental impacts to examine in greater depth the intersections between religious tourism and the environment. Beginning with an in-depth introduction that highlights the intersections between religion, tourism, and the environment, the book then focuses on the environment as a resource or generator for religious tourism and the environment as a recipient of impacts of religious tourism. Chapters included discuss such important areas as disease, environmental responsibility and host perspectives. Covering as many cultural and environmental regions as possible, this book provides: An in-depth, yet holistic view of the relationships between religious tourism and the environment; A conceptual framework that goes beyond listing potential environment impacts; A strong focus on explaining the universality of the deeper environmental issues surrounding sacredness and sacred places. From a global writing team and featuring case studies spanning Europe and Asia, this book will be of great interest to researchers and students of tourism and religious studies, as well as those studying environmental issues.

      • Trusted Partner
        Horticulture
        March 2016

        Environmental Horticulture

        Science and Management of Green Landscapes

        by Ross Cameron, James Hitchmough

        Environmental horticulture - also referred to as landscape horticulture and amenity horticulture - is the umbrella term for the horticulture that we encounter in our daily lives. This includes parks, botanic gardens, sports facilities, landscape gardens, roundabouts, cemeteries, shopping centres - any public space which has grass, planting and trees. This book reflects contemporary thinking and is supported by scientific evidence to show the role, value and application of horticulture in the landscape. The discipline of environmental horticulture, its importance and impact on the wider environment is explored in the first part, whilst the second part covers practical horticultural management of different categories of environmental horticulture.

      • Trusted Partner
        August 2021

        Ecology of Freshwater Nematodes

        by Walter Traunspurger

        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.

      • Trusted Partner
        January 2018

        Environmental Engineering, Revised Edition

        Designing a Sustainable Future

        by Anne Maczulak, Ph.D.

        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.

      • Trusted Partner
        Applied ecology
        December 2009

        Soil Ecology and Management

        by Joann K Whalen, Luis Sampedro

        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.

      • Trusted Partner
        Medicine
        August 2019

        A Handbook of Environmental Toxicology

        Human Disorders and Ecotoxicology

        by J P F D'Mello

        In Environmental Toxicology the authors focus on two key aspects: human disorders and ecotoxicology as affected by major toxins original from biology sources and pollutants and radiation generated spontaneously or as a result of anthropogenic activity. A diverse array of these potentially harmful agents regularly appear in the atmosphere, soil, water and food, compromising both human health and biodiversity in natural and managed ecosystems. This book: - provides authoritative reviews together with specialist short communications to complement the main chapters and address contemporary issues with important case studies; - explores the cutting edge of research and also indicates the likely direction of future developments; - contains extensive coverage of toxicants that are of significant current interest and will be of increasing concern for many years to come; and - encourages international cooperation in future research on pollution and other environmental agents causing harm to human health and degradation of natural habitats in the ecosystem. Written by an international team of authors from a range of educational, medical and research establishments, this book is an essential reference for advanced students and researchers in the areas of environmental sciences, ecology, agriculture, environmental health and medicine, in addition to industry and government personnel responsible for environmental regulations and directives.

      • Trusted Partner
        Agronomy & crop production
        November 2004

        Environmental Impacts of Sugar Production

        by Oliver Cheesman

        Pressure from conservationists and increasing regulation, means that environmental considerations are increasingly important for the sugar industry. This book examines the environmental impacts of the sugar industry in relation to the cultivation of sugar crops (cane and beet) and the processing of the raw materials that they yield. These include soil erosion, loss of natural habits leading to a reduction in biodiversity, excessive water consumption, water and air pollution, and runoff and leaching of nutrients. Whilst some of these impacts are essentially generic impacts of agriculture, others, such as those relating to irrigation, are more specific to the cultivation of sugar crops. The book also investigates the utilization of waste materials from sugar production, and explores methods of reducing the environmental impacts of sugar production and processing.

      • Trusted Partner
        Animal husbandry
        November 2008

        Environmental Impacts of Pasture-based Farming

        by Edited by Richard McDowell

        Focusing on the different types of pastoral farming and their impact on the environment, Environmental Impacts of Pasture-based Farming takes a broad view of the subject, whose treatment in texts is often biased towards confined animal or grain based systems. The text is organised into two sections, the first addressing issues facing environmental quality, namely soil, water and air quality and socio-economic impacts. The second section offers commentary on how pastoral sectors influence environmental issues. With highly tuned farm productive systems comes the risk of environmental impacts, and the purpose of this text is to highlight the areas in which these risks are associated and how best to mitigate them. An approach is taken that highlights these problems, but also keeps in mind that mitigation may be too restrictive on the farming system and make farming impractical.

      • Trusted Partner
        Forestry & related industries
        October 2005

        Forestry and Environmental Change

        Socioeconomic and Political Dimensions

        by Edited by John L Innes, G Hickey, H F Hoen

        Considerable emphasis has been placed on the interactions between environmental change and forests in recent years. Reports have been produced detailing scenarios of forest development associated with particular changes in climate. Similarly, scenarios have been produced looking at likely trends in air quality. However, many studies have failed to recognize that some of the biggest changes for forests are related to the socioeconomicenvironment rather that the physical environment. This book considers the interactions between forestry and environmental (climatic) change, from social and economic perspectives.

      • Trusted Partner
        Botany & plant sciences
        October 2010

        Principles of Ecology in Plant Production

        by Albert Weiss. Edited by Thomas R Sinclair, Franklin P Gardner.

        Production of food fibre and fuel is vital for humanity, and as the world population continues to rise, demands on these resources is ever increasing. In a context of growing worldwide concern about sustainability and environmental impacts of cropland, grassland and forestry practices, this textbook provides an introduction to the processes that define the ecology and environment of plant production. Core principles are examined such as soil-plant relationships, genetic manipulation and diversity, yield and water requirements, as well as physical factors such as solar radiation, temperature and weather. Fully updated with new chapters on climate change and biofuels, this edition is an important text for students and researchers in agronomy, forestry, botany, ecology and environmental sciences. Praise for the first edition: 'I highly recommend this book for undergraduate students in plant production courses. It is easy to read, well-structured and of high scientific level…also useful for a more general readership' Scientia Horticulturae

      • Trusted Partner
        Business, Economics & Law
        August 2020

        Tourism Planning and Development in Latin America

        by Carlos Monterrubio, Konstantinos Andriotis, Dimitrios Stylidis

        Despite the significance of tourism to the economic, social and environmental structures of Central and South America, little has been documented in the English literature about tourism in this sub-region, which in terms of population size, ranks fourth in the world with 652 million inhabitants. The first of its kind, this book focuses exclusively on tourism development, planning and their impacts in a wide number of Central and South American countries. It covers experiences, challenges, successful and unsuccessful stories, specific cases, and other tourism related issues of twelve countries in total. Each chapter is authored by scholars who have done extensive research on tourism in the countries covered. This book:Examines the impact of tourism development and planning within Latin American countries.Takes a multidisciplinary approach including Anthropology, Development, Economics, Ecology, Policy, Sociology and Tourism Planning and Management.Is the first book in English to offer an insight into extensive research undertaken within the region.This book will provide a valuable insight for tourism researchers, practitioners and decision-makers in private and public organisations, not only from the regions of Central, South and North America, but also individuals from other parts of the world who want a more encompassing view of global tourism. Table of contents Chapter 1: Strategies for regional tourism development in Argentina. A path with new initiatives for tourism dispersal policies Chapter 2: The commitment to sustainable tourism and the development of indigenous tourism in Chile Chapter 3: Tourism development in Colombia: between conflict and peace Chapter 4: Ecotourism development in Costa Rica Chapter 5: The challenges of natural and cultural heritages of Galapagos and Quito, Ecuador Chapter 6: Tourism development in Mexico Chapter 7: Panama, the "affordable exotic destination": planned tourism success and its unplanned consequences Chapter 8: The impacts of tourism in economic growth and development in Uruguay Chapter 9: Peru and Nicaragua: tourism development in postconflict eras Chapter 10: Ecuador and Panama: Lifestyle mobilities, the golden years and the quest for paradise

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