Kategoria BISAC: Science >> Life Sciences - Ecology

Marine, coastal and wetland habitats are threatened, not only through exploitation, but also by the prospect of climate change as ocean currents change course, sea levels rise, and rainfall patterns change. Even the once-common cod is now under threat from the combined effects of over-fishing and a dramatic change-induced decrease in the plankton that cod larvae feed on. Meanwhile, coral reefs remain especially vulnerable to rapid sea-level changes exacerbated by the effects of tourism and disease.

This book gathers together a wide range of papers reporting on key research into the...

Chemical ecology is the ecology of body odour. Every organism uses chemical information in intra- and inter-specific interactions. Animals emit chemicals to attract a mate or to prevent a competitor from mating with the partner they just mated with. Plants emit chemicals to recruit other organisms to take care of their sex life or to attract bodyguards to defend them against their enemies. Chemical cues mediate a whole gamut of interactions in plant and animal communities. Chemical cues are used to communicate, but can also be exploited in espionage or eavesdropping. To understand the...

Chemical ecology is the ecology of body odour. Every organism uses chemical information in intra- and inter-specific interactions. Animals emit chemicals to attract a mate or to prevent a competitor from mating with the partner they just mated with. Plants emit chemicals to recruit other organisms to take care of their sex life or to attract bodyguards to defend them against their enemies. Chemical cues mediate a whole gamut of interactions in plant and animal communities. Chemical cues are used to communicate, but can also be exploited in espionage or eavesdropping. To understand the...

Exploring a topic of vital and ongoing importance, Traditional Forest Knowledge examines the history, current status and trends in the development and application of traditional forest knowledge by local and indigenous communities worldwide. It considers the interplay between traditional beliefs and practices and formal forest science and interrogates the often uneasy relationship between these different knowledge systems.

The contents also highlight efforts to conserve and promote traditional forest management practices that balance the environmental, economic and social...

Homegardens are integrated tree crop animal production systems, often in small parcels of land surrounding homesteads, and primarily found in tropical environments. These agroforestry systems, developed and nurtured by farmers through generations of innovation and experiment, are often cited as the epitome of sustainability, yet have been long neglected by the scientific community. Today, however, these age-old systems are receiving increasing attention owing to their perceived potential to mitigate environmental problems such as loss of biodiversity and rising levels of atmospheric...

Steppes form one of the largest biomes. Drastic changes in steppe ecology, land use and livelihoods came with the emergence, and again with the collapse, of communist states. Excessive ploughing and vast influx of people into the steppe zone led to a strong decline in nomadic pastoralism in the Soviet Union and China and in severely degraded steppe ecosystems. In Mongolia nomadic pastoralism persisted, but steppes degraded because of strongly increased livestock loads. After the Soviet collapse steppes regenerated on huge tracts of fallow land. Presently, new, restorative steppe land...

Mycological studies of yeasts are entering a new phase, with the sequencing of multiple fungal genomes informing our understanding of their ability to cause disease and interact with the host. At the same time, the ongoing use of traditional methods in many clinical mycology laboratories continues to provide information for the diagnosis and treatment of patients. This volume reviews various aspects of pathogenic yeasts and what is known about their molecular and cellular biology and virulence, in addition to looking at clinical and laboratory findings. As each chapter is written by a...

In this book, scientists from eleven countries summarize the results of an EU project (CLIME) that explored the effects of observed and projected changes in the climate on the dynamics of lakes in Northern, Western and Central Europe. Historical measurements from eighteen sites were used to compare the seasonal dynamics of the lakes and to assess their sensitivity to local, regional and global-scale changes in the weather. Simulations using a common set of water quality models, perturbed by six climate-change scenarios, were then used to assess the uncertainties associated with the...

This book brings together a selection of 22 original studies submitted to Biodiversity and Conservation that address aspects of methods and practice in biodiversity conservation. The contributions deal with a wide variety of approaches to site selection and management, especially the use of bioindicators, surrogates, and other approaches to site selection. As no complete inventory of all taxa in any one site has yet been achieved, alternative strategies are essential and bioindicators or surrogates come to the fore. The articles included cover a wide range of organisms used in such...