Integrated pest management (IPM) is a sustainable approach to manage pests through biological, cultural, physical and chemical means in order to minimize economic and environmental injury caused by such pests. Any comprehensive IPM program requires an understanding of the ecological relationships between crops, pests, natural enemies and the environment. This book presents a series of review chapters on ecologically-based IPM. Topics covered range from the ecological effects of chemical control practices to the ecology of predator-prey and parasitoid-host systems.

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...

Vitamin E is an important dietary constituent which helps in the defence against cellular damage. The process of its absorption from food and its utilization by the body is an intricate series of reactions. It is also used therapeutically in treating numerous diseases and conditions such as skin damage and the prevention of pathological lesions in major organs, and has been shown to be an important factor in preventing heart disease and cancer. Over 100 chapters from international contributors make this book the most comprehensive reference work in describing both the positive and negative...

This book presents an overview of the studies conducted by the Netherlands Climate Change Studies Assistance program. The program was set up in recognition of the need for developing countries, in particular, to face the challenges confronting all countries under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The book presents an overview of the main results in 13 countries: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, Ghana, Kazakhstan, Mali, Mongolia, Senegal, Suriname, Vietnam, Yemen and Zimbabwe. It provides a critical evaluation of the methodologies and approaches used, a cross-country synthesis...

Bringing together the latest research from leading experts, this book provides an indispensable reference on the health benefits of drinking tea. It examines the general health giving properties of tea before moving on to a detailed review of the evidence for the beneficial effects of tea on specific ailments including cancer, the common cold, renal disease, cardiovascular disease, antiviral influenza, arthritis, lung and pulmonary ailments, aging, oral health and dementia. The book concludes by challenging misconceptions of the effects of tea.

This book is a much-expanded and updated edition of a previous volume, published in 1996 as No-tillage Seeding: Science and Practice. The base objective remains to describe, in lay terms, a range of international experiments designed to examine the causes of successes and failures in no-tillage. The book summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of no tillage. It highlights the pros and cons of a range of features and options, without promoting any particular product.

Topics added or covered in more detail in the second edition include:
soil carbon and how its...

Fresh concepts in the study of seed dispersal are spurring a host of exciting new questions, new answers to old questions, new methods and approaches, and a reinvigoration of the field.Seed Dispersal: Theory and its Application in a Changing World presents both recent advances and reviews of current knowledge demonstrating the vigour and vibrancy of the field. It provides new perspectives and directions at a time when efforts to meet growing environmental challenges threatening natural systems are of utmost importance.

Tourism, the world's fastest growing industry, is now entering a more mature phase. During the 1970s and 1980s mass tourism, with its rigid, standardized packages, developed rapidly and provided many consumers with their first experiences of international travel. Today, a complex and multi-faceted industry, tourism faces growing pressures - consumer demand for more individually tailored holidays, an increasingly competitive operational environment, opportunities provided by new technology and growing environmental concerns. This book analyzes the major challenges facing tourism today. The...

Nematodes are the most abundant and diversified group in the animal kingdom, with four out of five animals on earth being nematodes. Nematology was first recognized as an independent discipline during the early part of the century and since that time has made unparalleled advances to become an integral part of biological sciences.

Written as two volumes, this title provides a broad overview of our current knowledge of nematology. The first volume addresses basic biology, while the second volume covers applied aspects of nematodes as parasites of plants, humans and other animals, or...

The Common Agricultural Policy and Organic Farming covers how ideational change came about to enhance the understanding of change within the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and to plan and implement change in European agriculture policy. The contents cover institutional change within the CAP and focus on the institutional construction policy concerned with organic farming.