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Biosaline Agriculture as a Climate Change Adaptation for Food Security
by Ragab Ragab Redouane Choukr-AllahThis book presents recent research work on Biosaline Agriculture presented during First International Forum on Biosaline Agriculture in Laayoune, Morocco from May 3rd to May 4th 2019. The aim of this book is to showcase the global potential of Biosaline agriculture, provide an update on the development of recent innovations in the field of Biosaline agriculture, the best management practices to safely use brackish and saline water, highlight the use of non-conventional water in marginal environment production and the current advanced technologies of desalination of brackish and seawater. The different chapters will also discuss solutions that are adapted to local conditions as part of a sustainable development perspective. The book provides up-to-date technical and scientific data on growing crops under marginal environment so as to encourage the dissemination of this knowledge in the best practices to increase the productivity in Biosaline agriculture, in view of the potential to contribute to food security. The book is expected to stimulate interest in the non-conventional water resources and crops among junior and senior researchers and among those who are increasingly focused on exploiting marginal environments. It will also be of interest to decision-makers and the public and private sectors to jointly address the issues of food security especially of the poor and vulnerable people living in marginal environments worldwide by providing innovative technology transfer.
Biosecurity: The Socio-Politics of Invasive Species and Infectious Diseases (Routledge Environment And Sustainability Handbooks Ser.)
by Andrew Dobson Kezia Barker Sarah L. TaylorBiosecurity is the assessment and management of potentially dangerous infectious diseases, quarantined pests, invasive (alien) species, living modified organisms, and biological weapons. It is a holistic concept of direct relevance to the sustainability of agriculture, food safety, and the protection of human populations (including bio-terrorism), the environment, and biodiversity. Biosecurity is a relatively new concept that has become increasingly prevalent in academic, policy and media circles, and needs a more comprehensive and inter-disciplinary approach to take into account mobility, globalisation and climate change. In this introductory volume, biosecurity is presented as a governance approach to a set of concerns that span the protection of indigenous biological organisms, agricultural systems and human health, from invasive pests and diseases. It describes the ways in which biosecurity is understood and theorized in different subject disciplines, including anthropology, political theory, ecology, geography and environmental management. It examines the different scientific and knowledge practices connected to biosecurity governance, including legal regimes, ecology, risk management and alternative knowledges. The geopolitics of biosecurity is considered in terms of health, biopolitics and trade governance at the global scale. Finally, biosecurity as an approach to actively secure the future is assessed in the context of future risk and uncertainties, such as globalization and climate change.
Biosequestration and Ecological Diversity: Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Environmental Degradation (Social Environmental Sustainability)
by Wayne A. WhiteIncreased throughput of carbon-based fossil energy, the destruction of Earth's forests, and other land use changes have resulted in ever higher levels of waste in the form of greenhouse gases-as well as a diminished capacity of the planet to absorb and store those wastes. This means that to avoid catastrophic global warming and maintain the habitab
Bioshelter Market Garden: A Permaculture Farm (Mother Earth News Books for Wiser Living)
by Darrell Frey&“This well-illustrated case study . . . will help students of permaculture, of sustainability, of earth regeneration and of integrated eco-social design.&” —Prof. Declan Kennedy, Chairman, Advisory Board, gaiauniversity.org To ensure food security and restore the health of the planet, we need to move beyond industrial agriculture and return to the practice of small-scale, local farming. The Bioshelter Market Garden: A Permaculture Farm describes the creation of a sustainable food system through a detailed case study of the successful year-round organic market garden and permaculture design at Pennsylvania&’s Three Sisters Farm. At the heart of Three Sisters is its bioshelter—a solar greenhouse which integrates growing facilities, poultry housing, a potting room, storage, kitchen facilities, compost bins, a reference library and classroom area. The Bioshelter Market Garden examines how the bioshelter promotes greater biodiversity and is an energy efficient method of extending crop production through Pennsylvania&’s cold winter months. Both visionary and practical, this fully illustrated book contains a wealth of information on the application of permaculture principles. Some of the topics covered include: Design and management of an intensive market garden farmEnergy systems and bio-thermal resourcesEcological soil management and pest controlWetlands usageSolar greenhouse design and management Whatever your gardening experience and ambitions, this comprehensive manual is sure to inform and inspire.&“Darrell Frey&’s inspirational book gives you all you need to know to create an energy-saving, food-producing bioshelter . . . [It] covers everything you need to understand, build, or simply admire these important tools for sustainability.&” —Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia&’s Garden
Biosignatures for Astrobiology (Advances in Astrobiology and Biogeophysics)
by Barbara Cavalazzi Frances WestallThis book aims at providing a brief but broad overview of biosignatures. The topics addressed range from prebiotic signatures in extraterrestrial materials to the signatures characterising extant life as well as fossilised life, biosignatures related to space, and space flight instrumentation to detect biosignatures either in situ or from orbit. The book ends with philosophical reflections on the implications of life elsewhere. In the 15 chapters written by an interdisciplinary team of experts, it provides both detailed explanations on the nature of biosignatures as well as useful case studies showing how they are used and identified in ancient rocks, for example. One case study addresses the controversial finding of traces of fossil life in a meteorite from Mars. The book will be of interest not only to astrobiologists but also to terrestrial paleontologists as well as any reader interested in the prospects of finding a second example of life on another planet.
Biosphere Reserves and Sustainable Development Goals 1: Scientific and Practical Educational Issues in the Mediterranean
by Angela Barthes Bruno Romagny Catherine CibienSince 1971, UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme has embraced a number of principles that link the political, scientific and academic spheres. Biosphere Reserves and Sustainable Development Goals 1 presents these areas as privileged spaces for experimenting with operating methods specific to cross-cutting objectives and issues. These areas encourage the development of interdisciplinary research, supported by a worldwide network to disseminate experience, approaches and knowhow. The various global and local political scales are linked here, with different consequences for the reconfiguration of local political arenas, for specific modes of development linked to a renewed relationship with knowledge, powers and institutions, and for renewed relationships between the worlds of science, education and territorial governance.
Biosphere Reserves and Sustainable Development Goals 2: Issues, Tensions, Processes and Governance in the Mediterranean
by Angela Barthes Bruno Romagny Catherine CibienSince 1971, UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme has embraced a number of principles that link the political, scientific and academic spheres. Biosphere Reserves and Sustainable Development Goals 2 is a reminder of the fundamental issues involved in governance. The diversity and multiplicity of stakeholders, and the complexity of the interplay between them, as well as their organization, are decisive factors in the proper management of resources and territories. The book also presents a number of case studies demonstrating that, between the strong development aspirations of their populations, the impact of human activities and the need to conserve their biological heritage, the biosphere reserves of the southern Mediterranean are facing major issues: agricultural pollution, forest fires, water use in a context of climate change, etc.
Biosphere and Environmental Safety
by V. I. OsipovThis book analyses the state of the natural environment and the causes of its degradation using the biosphere approach. Further, those issues that must be resolved immediately on the global level are identified following the ideas defined by V.I. Vernadsky, and new principles of Man-Nature interaction are pursued. The modern world currently faces three global trends inducing biosphere degradation and the aggravation of ecological hazards, namely: a) rapid and uncontrolled growth of human population on the Earth and insufficient natural resources to sustain it; (b) technogenesis development; and (c) global climate change and the aggravation of natural disasters. Ecological safety and military security are becoming the crucial conditions for the survival of modern civilization. To mitigate the ecological strain on the Earth, the technogenesis strategy should be changed and many other pressing issues must be resolved. These problems should be addressed using the biosphere approach, because the individual human being is the biosphere constituent, and his or her safety cannot be provided without maintaining the entire natural system on our planet.
Biostimulants for Crop Production and Sustainable Agriculture
by Masayuki Fujita Mirza Hasanuzzaman Barbara Hawrylak-Nowak Tofazzal IslamAgricultural biostimulants are a group of substances or microorganisms, based on natural resources, that are applied to plants or soils to improve nutrient uptake and plant growth, and provide better tolerance to various stresses. Their function is to stimulate the natural processes of plants, or to enrich the soil microbiome to improve plant growth, nutrition, abiotic and/or biotic stress tolerance, yield and quality of crop plants. Interest in plant biostimulants has been on the rise over the past 10 years, driven by the growing interest of researchers and farmers in environmentally-friendly tools for improved crop performance. Focusing on recent progress on biostimulants and their role in crop production and agricultural sustainability, this book includes: 31 chapters on a wide range of biostimulants and their role in plant growth stimulation and stress tolerance. Mechanism of actions of diverse groups of biostimulants, such as trace elements, plant and seaweed extracts, humic substances, polyamines, osmolytes, vitamins, nanoparticles and microorganisms. New promising biostimulants with novel modes of action. Improved crop production technologies are urgently needed to meet the growing demand for food for the ever-increasing global population by addressing the impacts of changing climate on agriculture. This book is of interest to researchers in agriculture, agronomy, crop and plant science, soil science and environmental science.
Biotechniques for Air Pollution Control: Proceedings of the 3rd International Congress on Biotechniques for Air Pollution Control. Delft, The Netherlands, September 28-30, 2009
by Christian Kennes Piet N.L. Lens Jan BartacekEnergy and feedstock materials for the chemical industry show an increasing demand. With constraints related to availability and use of oil, the energy and chemical industry is subject to considerable changes. The need for the use of cheaper and widely available feedstocks, and the development of sustainable and environmentally friendly c
Biotechnological Approaches for Pest Management and Ecological Sustainability
by Hari C SharmaDue to increasing problems occurring from massive applications of pesticides, such as insect resistance to pesticides, the use of biotechnological tools to minimize losses from insect pests has become inevitable. Presenting alternative strategies for alleviating biotic stresses, Biotechnological Approaches for Pest Management and Ecological Sustain
Biotechnological Innovations in the Mineral-Metal Industry (Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation)
by Sandeep Panda Ata Akcil Eric D. Van Hullebusch Srabani MishraThe book presents the most advanced biotechnological information with respect to microbial applications in the treatment of mineral-metal bearing wastes. With growing interest in practical industrial applications of biomining microbes, of late, a lot of research has been devoted towards exploring their biotechnological potential for processing wastes derived from both primary and secondary resources for metal recovery. The chapters in the book present compiled information on several aspects of this exciting area of mineral biotechnology, that include fundamental, applied, bioprocess engineering and environment in separate chapters. These chapters provide updated information on the microbe-mineral interactions; resource specific bioleaching covering base, precious and rare earth elements leaching from primary and/or secondary resources; processing of leach solutions through biosorption, biomineralization, bio-electrochemical systems for resource recovery; treatment of mine waters, engineering and scale-up aspects of bioreactor systems for bioleaching of specific wastes and environmental challenges related to bio-mining. The book provides a unique platform for the dissemination of the state-of-the-art research on mineral biotechnology and serves as a bridge between academia and industry. Authored by well-renowned experts, it is an appropriate reference for graduate students, scientists, engineers, environmentalists working in the area of mineral biotechnology and industrial technologies.
Biotechnological Intervention in Production of Bioactive Compounds: Biosynthesis, Characterization and Applications (Sustainable Landscape Planning and Natural Resources Management)
by Jyoti DeviThis book provides an overview of the state of our understanding regarding the biosynthesis of bioactive compounds from plant and microbial sources. Additionally, examples of how these compounds have been used in food, agriculture, and human health are provided, as well as the biotechnological approach for screening and characterizing bioactive compounds. In the pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and agrochemicals industries, bioactive molecules are crucial to the production of high-value products. The discovery of bioactive chemicals from diverse sources has supported their use as medications, functional food ingredients, herbicides, and insecticides due to their medicinal advantages, nutritional importance, and protective impacts in healthcare and agriculture. The systematic investigation of biologically active products and the prospective biological activities of these bioactive compounds, comprising their medical uses, standardization, quality control, mode of action, and possible biomolecular interactions, are among the greatest sensational expansions in modern natural medication and healthcare. This book is a useful resource for graduate and undergraduate biomedical chemistry and agriculture students who are interested in learning more about the possibilities of bioactive natural products. This book is useful to researchers in a variety of scientific domains where natural products are important.
Biotechnological Removal of Emerging Pollutants from Wastewater Systems (Advances in Wastewater Research)
by Maulin P. Shah Satarupa DeyThis book focuses on the most recent developments in bioremediation techniques and what the future holds for bioremediation in order to reduce the amount of pollution in the world. This book serves as a valuable resource for policy makers, teachers, researchers, climatologists, and undergraduate and graduate students of agriculture, forestry, ecology, soil science, and environmental sciences.Both industries and anthropogenic activities generate pollutants of different types which have affected human health and have destroyed biodiversity at multiple levels. They largely consist of personal care and pharmaceuticals products produced by different industries. Most of these emergent contaminants cannot be removed by conventional water treatment procedures and are released in surface water. They further contaminate groundwater, soil, sediments and oceans. More efficient and improved treatment systems are required to remove such emerging contaminants. Various microbes can play crucial role in bioremediation by elimination, degradation, detoxification, and immobilization of pollutants. Most of these microbes are versatile in nature and can survive in a wide range of environmental conditions. Furthermore, they can be applied to different pollutants. Microbial degradation and bioremediation can be considered as useful and effective treatment options for emerging pollutants.
Biotechnological Strategies for Effective Remediation of Polluted Soils
by Bhupendra Koul Pooja Taak<p>This book presents a comprehensive collection of various in situ and ex-situ soil remediation regimes that employ natural or genetically modified microbes, plants, and animals for the biodegradation of toxic compounds or hazardous waste into simpler non-toxic products. These techniques are demonstrated to be functionally effective in connection with physical, chemical, and biological strategies. <p>Soil and water contamination through heavy metals, hydrocarbons and radioactive wastes is of global concern, as these factors have cumulative effects on the environment and human health through food-chain contamination. The book discusses the utilization of algae, plants, plant-associated bacteria, fungi (endophytic or rhizospheric) and certain lower animals for the sustainable bioremediation of organic and inorganic pollutants. In addition, it explores a number of more recent techniques like biochar and biofilms for carbon sequestration, soil conditioning and remediation, and water remediation. It highlights a number of recent advances in nanobioremediation, an emerging technology based on biosynthetic nanoparticles. Lastly, it presents illustrative case studies and highlights the successful treatment of polluted soils by means of these strategies.</p>
Biotechnology And The New Agricultural Revolution
by Joseph J MolnarThe advent of new methods in shaping the performance characteristics of plants, animals, and microbes dramatically expands the possibilities for advances in agriculture -- a new "Green Revolution" in the offing. This book examines the impact of such developments on agricultural institutions, agribusiness, and farmers: What happens when a fundamenta
Biotechnology Business - Concept to Delivery (EcoProduction)
by Arpita SaxenaThis book is an effort to foster the entrepreneurial spirit in young minds. It reviews a wide range of product ideas, opportunities and challenges associated with start-ups. In addition, it discusses popular molecular targets for biotechnology research / the biotech industry such as attenuated microbes, gene sequences, biomarkers, and the latest advance in the sector, CRISPR. These molecular targets can be modified for the production of sufficient quantities of food and fuel. Very often, researchers limit their focus to the proof of concept, and fail to successfully convert it into a finished product. To help young entrepreneurs avoid this pitfall, the book addresses various aspects like intellectual property regulations, commerce and management. The book’s contributing authors hail from various specialized sectors, and from around the globe. Taken together, the respective chapters are intended to overcome the borders between disciplines that otherwise rarely interact.
Biotechnology and Agricultural Development: Transgenic Cotton, Rural Institutions and Resource-poor Farmers (Routledge Explorations in Environmental Economics)
by Robert TrippThis book addresses the continuing controversy over the potential impact of genetically modified (GM) crops in developing countries. Supporters of the technology claim it offers one of the best hopes for increasing agricultural production and reducing rural poverty, while opponents see it as an untested intervention that will bring corporate control of peasant farming. The book examines the issues by reviewing the experience of GM, insect-resistant cotton, the most widely grown GM crop in developing countries. The book begins with an introduction to agricultural biotechnology, a brief examination of the history of cotton production technology (and the institutions required to support that technology), and a thorough review of the literature on the agronomic performance of GM cotton. It then provides a review of the economic and institutional outcomes of GM cotton during the first decade of its use. The core of the book is four country case studies based on original fieldwork in the principal developing countries growing GM cotton (China, India, South Africa and Colombia). The book concludes with a summary of the experience to date and implications for the future of GM crops in developing countries. This review challenges those who have predicted technological failure by describing instances in which GM cotton has proven useful and has been enthusiastically taken up by smallholders. But it also challenges those who claim that biotechnology can take the lead in agricultural development by examining the precarious institutional basis on which these hopes rest in most countries. The analysis shows how biotechnology’s potential contribution to agricultural development must be seen as a part of (and often secondary to) more fundamental policy change. The book should be of interest to a wide audience concerned with agricultural development. This would include academics in the social and agricultural sciences, donor agencies and NGOs.
Biotechnology and Future Cities: Towards Sustainability, Resilience and Living Urban Organisms
by Zaheer AllamThis book explores how biotechnology can lead to the reimagination of cities. In a time where the increasing adoption of technology by cities is leading to unsustainable environmental and economic concerns, biotechnology has enabled new ways of envisioning data and energy storage. Zaheer Allam thus revisits the popular concept of Smart Cities -and its associated Internet of Things (IoT) to explore how the biological sciences, coupled with technology, can be applied to cities; and in doing so, create living urban organisms on an unprecedented scale. This new concept will open up exciting avenues to providing novel solutions for climate change mitigation. The book goes on to address various potential concerns and discusses what regulatory frameworks would be needed to safely implement such a concept. It will be a useful tool for planners, policy makers and engineers as well as for researchers with in interest in the future of our cities.
Biotechnology of Major Cereals
by Huw D. JonesBiotechnology of Major Cereals will focus on the recent advances and future prospects in cereal biotechnology. The first part of the book will cover the world's major cereals and focus on new developments and trends. The second part will be technology rather than species-led, detailing fundamental developments in technologies and significant target traits.
Biotechnology, Agriculture, Environment and Energy: Proceedings of the 2014 International Conference on Biotechnology, Agriculture, Environment and Energy (ICBAEE 2014), May 22-23, 2014, Beijing, China.
by Fangli ZhengThe 2014 International Conference on Biotechnology, Agriculture, Environment and Energy (ICBAEE 2014) was held May 22-23, 2014 in Beijing, China. The objective of ICBAEE 2014 was to provide a platform for researchers, engineers, academics as well as industry professionals from all over the world to present their research results and development act
Biotectonics of Neotropical Transition Zones (SpringerBriefs in Evolutionary Biology)
by Malte C. Ebach Bernard Michaux Lize Hermógenes de MendonçaThis book offers an up-to-date review and synthesis of the role of tectonics in Neotropical bioregionalisation, in particular transition zones. The main questions are "What are transition zones?", "How would we identify them?" and, "What are the tectonic drivers of transition zones?" These questions are pertinent as they may reveal a new transition zone within the Caribbean (Antillean sub-region), and provides an up-to-date account of the biotectonics of the Caribbean. In addition, the book contains a detailed tectonic summary of the development of the Andes and the bioregionalisation of the South American Transition Zone.
Biotectonics: Tectonics as the Driver of Bioregionalisation (SpringerBriefs in Evolutionary Biology)
by Malte C. Ebach Bernard MichauxTectonic plates are constantly moving, either crashing into one another creating a mosaic of mountains and shallow seas, or tearing apart and isolating large swathes of land. In both cases plate tectonics separates populations leading to the evolution of biota. Tectonics is also responsible for the destruction life, for instance when large coral reefs or shallow seas are compressed to form mountain peaks. Could recent research into these processes provide enough evidence to show that tectonics may be the ultimate driver of life on Earth? Our book delves into the current research in tectonics, particularly neotectonics, and its impact on rapid changes on biogeographical classification, also known as bioregionalisation. We also introduce a new term biotectonics that studies the impact of tectonics on biogeoregionalisation. The question we ask is how tectonics directly influences the distribution of biota in four case studies: the Mesozic and early Palaeogene Australides, which spans the Proto-Pacific coast of the South America, Antaractica and Australiasia; and the Neogene of Australia. To conclude we examine the role of neotectonics on tranistion zones and the Amazon Basin and make a case for biotectonic extinction.
Bioética: Manifiesto por la Tierra
by Arnoldo KrausA 50 años de la publicación de Bioethics, nuevas voces se suman al discurso en pro de nuestro planeta. Saúl Alcántara Onofre • Ana Barahona • Mauricio Beuchot Rolando Cordera Campos • Sergio García Ramírez Ángeles González Gamio • Arnoldo Kraus Eduardo Matos Moctezuma • Silvia Molina Herminia Pasantes • Jacqueline Peschard José Sarukhán • Fernando Serrano Migallón • Sergio Vela «En 2021 se cumplieron 50 años de la publicación de Bioethics: Bridge to the Future, texto indispensable cuando se cavila acerca de la salud de nuestra casa, la Tierra. Van Rensselaer Potter -1911-2001-, bioquímico estadounidense, profesor de Oncología en la Universidad de Wisconsin-Madison, retomó el término bioética, acuñado previamente por Fritz Jahr, cuyo propósito fundamental consiste en sumar las voces de humanistas y científicos a favor de la Tierra. [ Cincuenta años después de la publicación de Bioethics: Bridge to the Future, la salud de la Tierra ha empeorado.Cada día la prensa informa sobre nuevos desastres ecológicos. Día tras día científicos y humanistas advierten sobre los peligros latentes debidos al uso irracional de la tecnología sobre la Tierra, y subrayan que de no modificarse elpapel depredador del ser humano en el corto plazo la humanidad entera corre peligro. Las voces aquí reunidas, intranquilas por la continuidad de nuestra especie, celebramos la lúcida iniciativa de Potter e instamos a la sociedad para contagiar la idea seminal de la bioética, cuyo leitmotiv se encuadra en la palabra supervivencia. Convencer a políticos y empresarios de sus acciones nocivas es función de la sociedad. De no modificarse el rumbo depredador contra la naturaleza, el futuro y el de nuestros descendientes se encuentra amenazado.>> -Arnoldo Kraus
Bioökonomie und regionaler Strukturwandel: Wertschöpfung, Innovation und Nachhaltigkeit planen und umsetzen (SDG - Forschung, Konzepte, Lösungsansätze zur Nachhaltigkeit)
by Steffen Fleßa Daniel Schiller Angela-Verena Hassel Stefan Seiberling Christian TheelBioökonomie ist eine neue branchenübergreifende Form des Wirtschaftens, die das Potenzial hat, die bisherige Ökonomie und einzelne Regionen grundlegend zu verändern. Dieser Überzeugung folgend stellen die Herausgeber und Autoren dieses Buches den aktuellen Wissenstand aus Theorie und Praxis der Bioökonomie zusammen, entwickeln neue Methoden für einen bioökonomischen Strukturwandel und reflektieren bestehende Bioökonomiekonzepte. Der komplexe und vielschichtige Prozess einer pflanzenbasierten Bioökonomie in ländlichen Räumen wird aus unterschiedlichen Perspektiven betrachtet. Zunächst werden ökonomische Grundlagen sowohl aus gesamt- als auch aus einzelwirtschaftlicher Sicht diskutiert. Dem schließen sich Beispiele an, wie regionale Innovationsnetzwerke und Wertschöpfungsketten der Bioökonomie einen Beitrag zur nachhaltigen Regionalentwicklung und zum gesellschaftlichen Wandel leisten können. Die darauf aufbauende Analyse legt dar, wie verschiedene Akteure und Prozesse eine regionale Bioökonomie in der Praxis etablieren können. Ausgewählte Anwendungs- und Umsetzungsbeispiele für Innovationen pflanzenbasierter Bioökonomie im nordöstlichen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern runden das Buch ab und zeigen das Potenzial für eine Transformation der Wirtschaft in der Region und darüber hinaus.