From earlier ecological studies it has become apparent that simple univariate or bivariate statistics are often inappropriate, and that multivariate statistical analyses must be applied. Despite several difficulties arising from the application of multivariate methods, community ecology has acquired a mathematical framework, with three consequences: it can develop as an exact science; it can be applied operationally as a computer-assisted science to the solution of environmental problems; and it can exchange information with other disciplines using the language of mathematics. This book...

These are the proceedings of an Advanced Research Workshop (ARW), sponsored by the NATO Science Panel, entitled "Pest Control: Operations and Systems Analysis in Fruit Fly Management". The ARW was held in Bad Windsheim, Germany during the week of 5 August 1985. The purpose of the ARW was to bring together scientists who are interested in fruit fly problems, but who usually do not have an opportunity to speak with each other, for an intense week of interdisciplinary collaboration. In particular, the group present at the ARW contained a mix of biologists, field ecologists, mathematical...

Over the last decade or two marine scientists have become more aware of the role of freshwater outflow in coastal waters. Some have raised the question whether or not regulation of river flow may change the biological productivity in coastal marine ecosystems. The idea of organising a workshop to deal with this problem, arose from parallel concern in Norway and Canada, but it was soon recognised that the scientific interests were also shared by research groups in other countries. After the initial contacts had been made, it was agreed to establish a committee which should assist the workshop...

Although sponges are one of the major components of littoral ecosystems, their systematics obviously lags behind that of the majority of other groups of marine invertebrates. Also the evolutionary trends in these most primitive of the Metazoans are poorly understood. The confused state of their taxonomy and the difficulties with their identification prevent their use in ecological studies. The emphasis of interest presently seems to have shifted towards chemistry, but many of the hundreds of interesting chemicals recently described in sponges pro bably have been found in mistakenly or...

May I first congratulate, inconditionally, the Association MEDMARAVIS for organizing this symposium and for inviting me re presenting the Sardinian Ministry of the Environment. I would like to assert that such initiatives help a great deal and in a concrete way, Heads of government departments in charge of land use and natural resources. At this first symposium of the Mediterranean Marine Avifau na I must congratulate the scientific faculty for proposing such an ample spectrum of high quality papers dealing with diverse parts of the Mediterranean and beyond. I am sure that their con...

Environmental stresses represent the most limiting factors to agricultural productivity worldwide. Their impact is not only on presently cultivated crops, they are also significant barriers to the introduction of crop plants in noncultivated areas. A significant global problem in the improvement of agriculture is the major variation in annual crop yields due to variations in environmental stresses such as drought, flooding, salinity, and temperature variations. This summary presents current background and research knowledge on all important environmental stresses and their respective...

The purpose of this book is to investigate the suitability and applicability of available methods for analyzing the human and ecological risks involved in the release of genetically-modified microorganisms. Main topics include: - risk analysis and assessment; approach to safety assurance; - inventory of available scientific risk assessment methods for biotechnology; - identification of methodology gaps and research needs in biology, ecology or other disciplines; - development of a general framework to guide future biotechnology risk assessment efforts; - international regulatory activities.

Metal Speciation in the Environment is a multidiscipliary treatment of the occurrence, mobility and detection of metal compounds within different environments as well as their interaction with life. Special emphasis is given to the complexation of metals, to the state of the art of trace analytical methodology available for metal speciation (including atomic absorption spectrometry, plasma emission and mass spectrometry, neutron activation analysis, electrochemical methods, chemical sen- soring, a.o.), and environmental chemistry of elements such as the actinides and heavy metals (e.g....

Seasonal Snowpacks examines the processes which control the chemistry of seasonal snowcover and provides detailed information on the biogeographical distribution of snow (e.g. urban, alpine snowpacks), snow composition (e.g. micropollutants, stable isotopes) or the physical and biological processes which influence the chemical changes in snow (e.g. wind, microbiological activity). The fluxes of chemicals at the snow-atmosphere and snow-soil interfaces are examined, as are processes which modify composition within the snowcover. It is the first book in which the reader will find a...

Algal systematists, geologists and evolutionary biologists provide a synthesis of the evolutionary biogeography of red, brown, and green algae of the North Atlantic Ocean also considering their relationships with species and genera in the Arctic and Pacific Oceans as well as other subtropical and tropical seas. The history of the Atlantic Basin and its connections to other ocean basins is treated from the geological, paleontological and paleoclimatic perspective. This is contrasted with biogeographic analyses of marine animal systems and the role of plant/animal interactions in evolution....