A Caribbean Forest Tapestry

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Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0195334698
Total Pages : 483 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (953 download)

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Book Synopsis A Caribbean Forest Tapestry by : Nicholas V. L. Brokaw

Download or read book A Caribbean Forest Tapestry written by Nicholas V. L. Brokaw and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2012-06-28 with total page 483 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explains how to foresee and manage ecosystem changes in the Luquillo Mountains in Puerto Rico, by looking at underlying causes and effects. The lessons from the abiotic and biotic environments, populations, and ecosystems in this region apply to analogous forest biomes in Central and South America, as well as around the world.

Tropical Forest Ecology and Management for the Anthropocene

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Author :
Publisher : MDPI
ISBN 13 : 3039219642
Total Pages : 242 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (392 download)

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Book Synopsis Tropical Forest Ecology and Management for the Anthropocene by : Grizelle González

Download or read book Tropical Forest Ecology and Management for the Anthropocene written by Grizelle González and published by MDPI. This book was released on 2019-12-18 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Special Issue looks forward as well as backward to best analyze the forest conservation challenges of the Caribbean. This is made possible by 75 years of research and applications by the United States Department of Agriculture, International Institute of Tropical Forestry (the Institute) of Puerto Rico. It transforms Holocene-based scientific paradigms of the tropics into Anthropocene applications and outlooks of wilderness, managed forests, and urban environments. This volume showcases how the focus of the Institute’s programs is evolving to support sustainable tropical forest conservation despite uncertain conditions. The manuscripts showcased here highlight the importance of shared stewardship and a long-term, hands-on approach to conservation, research programs, and novel organizations intended to meet contemporary conservation challenges. Policies relevant to the Anthropocene, as well as the use of experiments to anticipate future responses of tropical forests to global warming, are reexamined in these pages. Urban topics include how cities can co-produce new knowledge to spark sustainable and resilient transformations. Long-term results and research applications of topics such as soil biota, migratory birds, tropical vegetation, substrate chemistry, and the tropical carbon cycle are also described in the volume. Moreover, the question of how to best use land on a tropical island is addressed. This volume is intended to be of interest to all actors involved in long-term sustainable forest management and research in light of the historical lessons and future directions that may come out of a better understanding of tropical cities and forests in the Anthropocene epoch.

Long-term Ecological Research

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 019938021X
Total Pages : 465 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (993 download)

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Book Synopsis Long-term Ecological Research by : Michael R. Willig

Download or read book Long-term Ecological Research written by Michael R. Willig and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 465 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the broader impacts arising from collaborative and multidisciplinary participation in the Long-Term Ecological (LTER) Program with regard to personal perspectives, attitudes, and practices. A series of retrospective essays addresses probing questions to uncover the extent to which participation has affected the ways that scientists conduct research, educate students, or provide outreach. Concluding chapters integrate and synthesize the findings from the essays from historical, behavioral, sociological perspectives.

A Caribbean Forest Tapestry

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Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199715114
Total Pages : 483 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (997 download)

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Book Synopsis A Caribbean Forest Tapestry by : Nicholas Brokaw

Download or read book A Caribbean Forest Tapestry written by Nicholas Brokaw and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-06-21 with total page 483 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Global change threatens ecosystems worldwide, and tropical systems with their high diversity and rapid development are of special concern. We can mitigate the impacts of change if we understand how tropical ecosystems respond to disturbance. For tropical forests and streams in Puerto Rico this book describes the impacts of, and recovery from, hurricanes, landslides, floods, droughts, and human disturbances in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico. These ecosystems recover quickly after natural disturbances, having been shaped over thousands of years by such events. Human disturbance, however, has longer-lasting impacts. Chapters are by authors with many years of experience in Puerto Rico and other tropical areas and cover the history of research in these mountains, a framework for understanding disturbance and response, the environmental setting, the disturbance regime, response to disturbance, biotic mechanisms of response, management implications, and future directions. The text provides a strong perspective on tropical ecosystem dynamics over multiple scales of time and space.

The Challenges of Long Term Ecological Research: A Historical Analysis

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Author :
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3030669335
Total Pages : 478 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (36 download)

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Book Synopsis The Challenges of Long Term Ecological Research: A Historical Analysis by : Robert B. Waide

Download or read book The Challenges of Long Term Ecological Research: A Historical Analysis written by Robert B. Waide and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-04-07 with total page 478 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume explores the challenges of sustaining long-term ecological research through a historical analysis of the Long Term Ecological Research Program created by the U.S. National Science Foundation in 1980. The book examines reasons for the creation of the Program, an overview of its 40-year history, and in-depth historical analysis of selected sites. Themes explored include the broader impact of this program on society, including its relevance to environmental policy and understanding global climate change, the challenge of extending ecosystem ecology into urban environments, and links to creative arts and humanities projects. A major theme is the evolution of a new type of network science, involving comparative studies, innovation in information management, creation of socio-ecological frameworks, development of governance structures, and formation of an International Long Term Ecological Research Network with worldwide reach. The book’s themes will interest historians, philosophers and social scientists interested in ecological and environmental sciences, as well as researchers across many disciplines who are involved in long-term ecological research.

The Conservation and Biogeography of Amphibians in the Caribbean

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Author :
Publisher : Pelagic Publishing Ltd
ISBN 13 : 178427268X
Total Pages : 568 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (842 download)

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Book Synopsis The Conservation and Biogeography of Amphibians in the Caribbean by : Neftalí Ríos-López

Download or read book The Conservation and Biogeography of Amphibians in the Caribbean written by Neftalí Ríos-López and published by Pelagic Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2023-02-28 with total page 568 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An expansive and detailed review of the biology of Caribbean amphibians, considering their threats, conservation and outlook in a changing world. Amphibians are the group of vertebrates undergoing the fastest rate of extinction; it is urgent that we understand the causes of this and find means of protecting them. This landmark illustrated volume brings together the leading experts in the field. As well as offering an overview of the region as a whole, individual chapters are devoted to each island or island-group and the measures used to protect their amphibians through legislation or nature reserves. The biological background of insular biogeography, including its methods, analysis and results, is reviewed and applied specifically to the problems of Caribbean amphibians – this includes a re-examination of patterns and general ideas about the status of amphibians in the Anthropocene. The Conservation and Biogeography of Amphibians in the Caribbean offers an important baseline against which future amphibian conservation can be measured in the face of climate change, rising sea level and a burgeoning human population. Covers over 300 species.

American Tropics

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Publisher : UNC Press Books
ISBN 13 : 1469635615
Total Pages : 337 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (696 download)

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Book Synopsis American Tropics by : Megan Raby

Download or read book American Tropics written by Megan Raby and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 2017-10-03 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biodiversity has been a key concept in international conservation since the 1980s, yet historians have paid little attention to its origins. Uncovering its roots in tropical fieldwork and the southward expansion of U.S. empire at the turn of the twentieth century, Megan Raby details how ecologists took advantage of growing U.S. landholdings in the circum-Caribbean by establishing permanent field stations for long-term, basic tropical research. From these outposts of U.S. science, a growing community of American "tropical biologists" developed both the key scientific concepts and the values embedded in the modern discourse of biodiversity. Considering U.S. biological fieldwork from the era of the Spanish-American War through the anticolonial movements of the 1960s and 1970s, this study combines the history of science, environmental history, and the history of U.S.–Caribbean and Latin American relations. In doing so, Raby sheds new light on the origins of contemporary scientific and environmentalist thought and brings to the forefront a surprisingly neglected history of twentieth-century U.S. science and empire.

A History of Radioecology

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Author :
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1000828263
Total Pages : 247 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (8 download)

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Book Synopsis A History of Radioecology by : Patrick C. Kangas

Download or read book A History of Radioecology written by Patrick C. Kangas and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-12-26 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents a history of radioecology, from World War II through to the critical years of the Cold War, finishing with a discussion of recent developments and future implications for the field. Drawing on a vast array of primary sources, the book reviews, synthesizes and discusses the implications of the ecological research supported by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) of the United States government, from World War II to the early 1970s. This was a critical period in the history of ecology, characterized by a transition from the older, largely descriptive studies of communities of plants and animals to the modern form of the science involving functional studies of energy flow and mineral cycling in ecosystems. This transition was in large part due to the development of radioecology, which was a by-product of the Cold War and the need to understand and predict the consequences of a nuclear war that was planned but has never occurred. The book draws on important case studies, such as the Pacific Proving Grounds, the Nevada Test Site, El Verde in Puerto Rico, the Brookhaven National Laboratory and recent events such as the nuclear disasters at Chernobyl and Fukushima. By revisiting studies and archived information from the Cold War era, this book offers lessons from the history of radioecology to provide background and perspective for understanding possible present-day impacts from issues of radiation risks associated with nuclear power generation and waste disposal. Post-Cold War developments in radioecology will be also reviewed and contrasted with the AEC-supported ecology research for further perspectives. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of radioecology, environmental pollution, environmental technology, bioscience and environmental history.

Encyclopedia of the Anthropocene

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Author :
Publisher : Elsevier
ISBN 13 : 012813576X
Total Pages : 2290 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (281 download)

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Book Synopsis Encyclopedia of the Anthropocene by :

Download or read book Encyclopedia of the Anthropocene written by and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2017-11-27 with total page 2290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Encyclopedia of the Anthropocene, Five Volume Set presents a currency-based, global synthesis cataloguing the impact of humanity’s global ecological footprint. Covering a multitude of aspects related to Climate Change, Biodiversity, Contaminants, Geological, Energy and Ethics, leading scientists provide foundational essays that enable researchers to define and scrutinize information, ideas, relationships, meanings and ideas within the Anthropocene concept. Questions widely debated among scientists, humanists, conservationists, politicians and others are included, providing discussion on when the Anthropocene began, what to call it, whether it should be considered an official geological epoch, whether it can be contained in time, and how it will affect future generations. Although the idea that humanity has driven the planet into a new geological epoch has been around since the dawn of the 20th century, the term ‘Anthropocene’ was only first used by ecologist Eugene Stoermer in the 1980s, and hence popularized in its current meaning by atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen in 2000. Presents comprehensive and systematic coverage of topics related to the Anthropocene, with a focus on the Geosciences and Environmental science Includes point-counterpoint articles debating key aspects of the Anthropocene, giving users an even-handed navigation of this complex area Provides historic, seminal papers and essays from leading scientists and philosophers who demonstrate changes in the Anthropocene concept over time

Social-Ecological-Technological Effects of Hurricane María on Puerto Rico

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Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3030023877
Total Pages : 116 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (3 download)

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Book Synopsis Social-Ecological-Technological Effects of Hurricane María on Puerto Rico by : Ariel E. Lugo

Download or read book Social-Ecological-Technological Effects of Hurricane María on Puerto Rico written by Ariel E. Lugo and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-12-06 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book deals with the immediate effects of, and response to, Hurricane María on the social, ecological, and technological systems (SETS) of Puerto Rico. The SETS approach to analyzing hurricane effects places into historical context the role of social and technological factors, and compares social and ecological resilience on the same temporal scales. Written from the perspective of a Puerto Rican scientist who experienced Maria's wrath first-hand, the book uses extensive empirical knowledge of the ecological effects of hurricanes on Caribbean forests and combines that knowledge with a detailed analysis of the effects of Hurricane María on the social and technological fabric of Puerto Rico. The comparison suggests that the effects of extreme events are dictated not only by the strength of the physical event, but also by the conditions of affected SETS at the time when the event exerts influence over them. Moreover, SETS have historical legacies that influence how resilient they can be when affected by an extreme event. Therefore, preparation and response to extreme events require an integrated social, ecological, and technological effort, known as the SETS response. The SETS response requires an understanding of the energetics of extreme events and their effects on the economy, which in turn determines social and technological resilience. Hurricane María demonstrated that the social and technological systems of Puerto Rico were not adapted to dealing with extreme events, in contrast with the ecological systems, which were. Hurricane María’s effect on Puerto Rico can be used as an example from which valuable lessons emerge for making SETS more adaptable and resilient to extreme events.

Mangrove Ecosystem Restoration

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Author :
Publisher : BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN 13 : 1839627999
Total Pages : 182 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (396 download)

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Book Synopsis Mangrove Ecosystem Restoration by : Sahadev Sharma

Download or read book Mangrove Ecosystem Restoration written by Sahadev Sharma and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2021-09-29 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mangroves serve as one of the nature-based solutions for coastal communities. We are now almost at the tipping point where we can restore mangroves ecologically to mitigate climate change and enhance other important ecosystem services under the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Mangrove Ecosystem Restoration focuses on mangrove ecosystem restoration, the ecosystem services mangroves provide, and how to manage and conserve mangroves. The three sections include eight chapters that cover such topics as evaluating mangrove degradation, forest recovery through seedling recruitment, natural regeneration of mangroves, advanced molecular biology for restoring mangroves, and more.

Earth Stewardship

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Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3319121332
Total Pages : 464 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (191 download)

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Book Synopsis Earth Stewardship by : Ricardo Rozzi

Download or read book Earth Stewardship written by Ricardo Rozzi and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-03-26 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book advances Earth Stewardship toward a planetary scale, presenting a range of ecological worldviews, practices, and institutions in different parts of the world and to use them as the basis for considering what we could learn from one another, and what we could do together. Today, inter-hemispheric, intercultural, and transdisciplinary collaborations for Earth Stewardship are an imperative. Chapters document pathways that are being forged by socio-ecological research networks, religious alliances, policy actions, environmental citizenship and participation, and new forms of conservation, based on both traditional and contemporary ecological knowledge and values. “The Earth Stewardship Initiative of the Ecological Society of America fosters practices to provide a stable basis for civilization in the future. Biocultural ethic emphasizes that we are co-inhabitants in the natural world; no matter how complex our inventions may become” (Peter Raven).

Neotropical Gradients and Their Analysis

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Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3031228480
Total Pages : 474 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (312 download)

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Book Synopsis Neotropical Gradients and Their Analysis by : Randall W. Myster

Download or read book Neotropical Gradients and Their Analysis written by Randall W. Myster and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-03-31 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The importance of the Neotropics to the world's climate, biogeochemical cycling and biodiversity cannot be questioned. This book suggests that gradients are key to understanding both these issues and Neotropical ecosystem structure, function and dynamics in general. Those gradients are either spatial, temporal or spatio-temporal, where many temporal and spatio-temporal gradients are initiated by disturbances (e.g., tree-fall, landslide, cultivation). And in particular for the Neotropics, three large spatial gradients - latitude, longitude, altitude (elevation) - are of critical importance. The editor has over 30 years of experience investigating Neotropical gradients in Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Peru and Ecuador, and has published 5 previous books on different aspects of the Neotropics. Once again he has assembled top-shelf Neotropical scientists and researchers, here to focus on gradients: their nature, interactions and how they structure ecosystems.

Insect Ecology

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Publisher : Academic Press
ISBN 13 : 0323856748
Total Pages : 942 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (238 download)

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Book Synopsis Insect Ecology by : Timothy D. Schowalter

Download or read book Insect Ecology written by Timothy D. Schowalter and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2022-02-24 with total page 942 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Insect Ecology: An Ecosystem Approach, Fifth Edition provides the most updated and comprehensive knowledge of the diversity of insect responses to environmental changes and their effects on ecosystem properties and services. Written by an expert in the field, this book addresses ways in which insect morphology, physiology and behavior tailor their adaptation to particular environmental conditions, how those adaptations affect their responses to environmental changes, and how their responses affect ecosystem properties and the ecosystem services on which humans depend for survival. This edition also addresses recent reports of global declines in insect abundance and how these declines could affect human interests. Insect Ecology: An Ecosystem Approach, Fifth Edition is an important resource for researchers, entomologists, ecologists, pest managers and conservationists who want to understand insect ecology and to manage insects in ways that sustain the delivery of ecosystem services. Graduate and advanced undergraduate students may also find this as a useful resource for entomology and specifically insect ecology courses. - The only insect ecology text that emphasizes insect effects on ecosystem properties and services, as well as evolutionary adaptations to environmental conditions - Includes new material on long-term trends in insect abundance, addressing the so-called "insect apocalypse - Offers crucial updates on mechanisms by which insects affect, and potentially regulate, ecosystem structure and function - Applies ecological principles to improved management of insects for the sustainable delivery of ecosystem services

The Coastal Everglades

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190869011
Total Pages : 317 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (98 download)

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Book Synopsis The Coastal Everglades by : Daniel L. Childers

Download or read book The Coastal Everglades written by Daniel L. Childers and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-09-25 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Coastal Everglades presents a broad overview and synthesis of research on the coastal Everglades, a region that includes Everglades National Park, adjacent managed wetlands, and agricultural and urbanizing communities. Contributors for this volume are all collaborators on the Florida Coastal Everglades Long-Term Ecological Research Program (FCE LTER). The FCE LTER began in 2000 with a focus on understanding key ecosystem processes in the coastal Everglades, while also developing a platform for and linkages to related work conducted by an active and diverse Everglades research community. The program is based at Florida International University in Miami, but includes scientists and students from numerous other universities as well as staff scientists at key resource management agencies, including Everglades National Park and the South Florida Water Management District. Though the Everglades landscape spans nearly a third of the State of Florida, the focus on the coastal Everglades has allowed the contributors to examine key questions in social-ecological science in the context of ongoing restoration initiatives. As this book demonstrates, the long-term research of the FCE LTER has facilitated a better understanding of the roles of sea level rise, water management practices, urban and agricultural development, and other disturbances, such as fires and storms, on the past and future dynamics of this unique coastal environment. By comparing properties of the Everglades with other subtropical and tropical wetlands, the book challenges ideas of novelty while revealing properties of ecosystems at the ends of gradients that are often ignored. It also provides insights from, and encouragement for, long-term collaborative studies that inform resource management in similarly threatened coastal wetland landscapes.

Principles and Dynamics of the Critical Zone

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Author :
Publisher : Elsevier
ISBN 13 : 0444634126
Total Pages : 674 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (446 download)

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Book Synopsis Principles and Dynamics of the Critical Zone by :

Download or read book Principles and Dynamics of the Critical Zone written by and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2015-06-18 with total page 674 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Principles and Dynamics of the Critical Zone is an invaluable resource for undergraduate and graduate courses and an essential tool for researchers developing cutting-edge proposals. It provides a process-based description of the Critical Zone, a place that The National Research Council (2001) defines as the "heterogeneous, near surface environment in which complex interactions involving rock, soil, water, air, and living organisms regulate the natural habitat and determine the availability of life-sustaining resources." This text provides a summary of Critical Zone research and outcomes from the NSF funded Critical Zone Observatories, providing a process-based description of the Critical Zone in a wide range of environments with a specific focus on the important linkages that exist amongst the processes in each zone. This book will be useful to all scientists and students conducting research on the Critical Zone within and outside the Critical Zone Observatory Network, as well as scientists and students in the geosciences – atmosphere, geomorphology, geology and pedology. - The first text to address the principles and concepts of the Critical Zone - A comprehensive approach to the processes responsible for the development and structure of the Critical Zone in a number of environments - An essential tool for undergraduate and graduate students, and researchers developing cutting-edge proposals

The Ecology of Agricultural Landscapes

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199773483
Total Pages : 449 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (997 download)

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Book Synopsis The Ecology of Agricultural Landscapes by : Stephen K. Hamilton

Download or read book The Ecology of Agricultural Landscapes written by Stephen K. Hamilton and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2015-03-03 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Evidence has been mounting for some time that intensive row-crop agriculture as practiced in developed countries may not be environmentally sustainable, with concerns increasingly being raised about climate change, implications for water quantity and quality, and soil degradation. This volume synthesizes two decades of research on the sustainability of temperate, row-crop ecosystems of the Midwestern United States. The overarching hypothesis guiding this work has been that more biologically based management practices could greatly reduce negative impacts while maintaining sufficient productivity to meet demands for food, fiber and fuel, but that roadblocks to their adoption persist because we lack a comprehensive understanding of their benefits and drawbacks. The research behind this book, based at the Kellogg Biological Station (Michigan State University) and conducted under the aegis of the Long-term Ecological Research network, is structured on a foundation of large-scale field experiments that explore alternatives to conventional, chemical-intensive agriculture. Studies have explored the biophysical underpinnings of crop productivity, the interactions of crop ecosystems with the hydrology and biodiversity of the broader landscapes in which they lie, farmers' views about alternative practices, economic valuation of ecosystem services, and global impacts such as greenhouse gas exchanges with the atmosphere. In contrast to most research projects, the long-term design of this research enables identification of slow or delayed processes of change in response to management regimes, and allows examination of responses across a broader range of climatic variability. This volume synthesizes this comprehensive inquiry into the ecology of alternative cropping systems, identifying future steps needed on the path to sustainability.