- Table View
- List View
Ecosystem Services, Biodiversity and Environmental Change in a Tropical Mountain Ecosystem of South Ecuador
by Achim Bräuning Erwin Beck Franz Makeschin Jörg Bendix Reinhard Mosandl Stefan Scheu Wolfgang WilckeAn interdisciplinary research unit consisting of 30 teams in the natural, economic and social sciences analyzed biodiversity and ecosystem services of a mountain rainforest ecosystem in the hotspot of the tropical Andes, with special reference to past, current and future environmental changes. The group assessed ecosystem services using data from ecological field and scenario-driven model experiments, and with the help of comparative field surveys of the natural forest and its anthropogenic replacement system for agriculture. The book offers insights into the impacts of environmental change on various service categories mentioned in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005): cultural, regulating, supporting and provisioning ecosystem services. Examples focus on biodiversity of plants and animals including trophic networks, and abiotic/biotic parameters such as soils, regional climate, water, nutrient and sediment cycles. The types of threats considered include land use and climate changes, as well as atmospheric fertilization. In terms of regulating and provisioning services, the emphasis is primarily on water regulation and supply as well as climate regulation and carbon sequestration. With regard to provisioning services, the synthesis of the book provides science-based recommendations for a sustainable land use portfolio including several options such as forestry, pasture management and the practices of indigenous peoples. In closing, the authors show how they integrated the local society by pursuing capacity building in compliance with the CBD-ABS (Convention on Biological Diversity - Access and Benefit Sharing), in the form of education and knowledge transfer for application.
Ecosystem Services for Spatial Planning: Innovative Approaches and Challenges for Practical Applications (Green Energy and Technology)
by Silvia RonchiThe book investigates the relationship between ecosystem services (ES) and spatial planning, and explores potential means of integrating the two concepts to support the decision-making process. In addition, it presents case studies demonstrating the outcomes, limitations, opportunities and further new developments in ES assessment/mapping for planning support. Then it describes the “Restart from Ecosystem Services” (RES) methodology, which is aimed at integrating ES into the planning process using an ecological balance, and at promoting new planning parameters for the transformation areas. RES ensures the inclusion of ES in planning processes using the incremental measures of limiting, mitigating and compensating soil sealing and land take process promoting operational strategies in applying it. The implementation of RES is associated with strategic environmental assessment and provides valuable support in the definition of strategies across the entire planning process, especially for the evaluation of alternative scenarios.
Ecosystem Services for Urban Water Security: Concepts and Applications in Sub-Saharan Africa (SpringerBriefs in Geography)
by Blal Adem Esmail Davide GenelettiThe book addresses the challenges of urban water security and adaptive management in Sub-Saharan Africa, exploring and interlinking novel concepts of ecosystems services, watershed investments, and boundary work. Specifically, the book’s goals are to (i) present a conceptual framework for the urban water sector from an ecosystem services perspective, highlighting the specificities of the Sub-Saharan context; (ii) develop an operational approach to designing and assessing the impacts of watershed investments, based on ecosystem services and boundary work; and (iii) test the approach through a case study in Asmara, Eritrea, and discuss the findings and lessons learned that can be applied in other contexts. Through a fully worked out case study, from identification of water challenges and opportunities to spatially explicit modelling, the book offers a sound and accessible, coverage of issues and proposed solutions to better operationalize ecosystem services, watershed investments and boundary work, to promote adaptive management, and achieve water security in the context of rapidly developing cities in Sub-Saharan Africa. The book is an effective tool for capacity building of diverse stakeholders on the urban water sector, including water managers, local and national policy-makers as well as a suitable resource for both undergraduate and post-graduate courses in planning and geography.
Ecosystem Services for Well-Being in Deltas: Integrated Assessment For Policy Analysis
by W. Neil Adger Robert J. Nicholls Craig W. Hutton Susan E. Hanson Md. Munsur Rahman Mashfiqus SalehinThis book answers key questions about environment, people and their shared future in deltas. It develops a systematic and holistic approach for policy-orientated analysis for the future of these regions. It does so by focusing on ecosystem services in the world’s largest, most populous and most iconic delta region, that of the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta in Bangladesh. The book covers the conceptual basis, research approaches and challenges, while also providing a methodology for integration across multiple disciplines, offering a potential prototype for assessments of deltas worldwide. Ecosystem Services for Well-Being in Deltas analyses changing ecosystem services in deltas; the health and well-being of people reliant on them; the continued central role of agriculture and fishing; and the implications of aquaculture in such environments.The analysis is brought together in an integrated and accessible way to examine the future of the Ganges Brahmaputra delta based on a near decade of research by a team of the world’s leading scientists on deltas and their human and environmental dimensions. This book is essential reading for students and academics within the fields of Environmental Geography, Sustainable Development and Environmental Policy focused on solving the world’s most critical challenges of balancing humans with their environments.This book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Ecosystem Services from Forest Landscapes: Broadscale Considerations
by Louis R. Iverson Guillermo Martínez Pastur Urmas Peterson Ajith H. PereraOver the last two decades, the topic of forest ecosystem services has attracted the attention of researchers, land managers, and policy makers around the globe. The services rendered by forest ecosystems range from intrinsic to anthropocentric benefits that are typically grouped as provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural. The research efforts, assessments, and attempts to manage forest ecosystems for their sustained services are now widely published in scientific literature. This volume focuses on broad-scale aspects of forest ecosystem services, beyond individual stands to large landscapes. In doing so, it illustrates the conceptual and practical opportunities as well as challenges involved with planning for forest ecosystem services across landscapes, regions, and nations. The goal here is to broaden the scope of land use planning through the adoption of a landscape-scale approach. Even though this approach is complex and involves multiple ecological, social, cultural, economic, and political dimensions, the landscape perspective appears to offer the best opportunity for a sustained provision of forest ecosystem services.
Ecosystem Services in Agricultural and Urban Landscapes
by Steve WrattenEcosystem services are the resources and processes supplied by natural ecosystems which benefit humankind (for example, pollination of crops by insects, or water filtration by wetlands). They underpin life on earth, provide major inputs to many economic sectors and support our lifestyles. Agricultural and urban areas are by far the largest users of ecosystems and their services and (for the first time) this book explores the role that ecosystem services play in these managed environments. The book also explores methods of evaluating ecosystem services, and discusses how these services can be maintained and enhanced in our farmlands and cities. This book will be useful to students and researchers from a variety of fields, including applied ecology, environmental economics, agriculture and forestry, and also to local and regional planners and policy makers.
Ecosystem Services in Azerbaijan: Value and Losses
by Rovshan Abbasov Rovshan Karimov Natavan JafarovaThis book aims to draw readers' attention to the benefits once present nature in Azerbaijan. Over the past hundred years, much of this has been lost because of the neglect of the intrinsic values of nature by both managers and local authorities, and the overuse of natural resources. For example, oil pollution and overfishing in the Caspian Sea have almost destroyed its fish and caviar resources. In this volume, the authors distinguish between the concepts of "gain" and "income" and show readers that short-term benefits based solely on monetary income deprive people and nature itself of long-term, lasting value. The book provides readers with real historical information, discusses the interactions between humans and nature, and shows, with real data and trends, the consequences of anthropogenic activity on natural resources in Azerbaijan. The authors cover fish, water, forest, mountain, and pasture ecosystems, draw attention to the impacts that pollution and other forms of environmental degradation have had on these resources, and the show the impact that resource depletion on people’s livelihoods. The book is intended primarily for managers, policymakers, students, and academics, and will be of interest to natural scientists, historians, and students of culture.
Ecosystem Services in Patagonia: A Multi-Criteria Approach for an Integrated Assessment (Natural and Social Sciences of Patagonia)
by Pablo L. Peri Guillermo Martínez Pastur Laura NahuelhualThis book aims to quantify and discuss how societies have directly and indirectly benefited from ecosystem services in Patagonia; not only in terms of provisioning and cultural services, but also regulating and supporting services. Patagonia, a region that stretches across two countries (ca. 10% in Chile and 90% in Argentina), is home to some of the most extensive wilderness areas on our planet. Natural grasslands comprise almost 30% of the Americas, including the Patagonian steppe, while Patagonian southern temperate forests are important for carbon sequestration and storage, play a pivotal role in water regulation, and have become widely recognized for their ecotourism value. However, profound changes are now underway that could affect key ecosystem functions and ultimately human well-being. In this context, one major challenge we face in Patagonia is that ecosystem services are often ignored in economic markets, government policies and land management practices. The book explores the synergies and trade-offs between conservation and economic development as natural landscapes and seascapes continue to degrade in Patagonia. Historically, economic markets have largely focused on the provisioning services (forest products, livestock) while neglecting the interdependent roles of regulating services (erosion and climate control), supporting services (nutrient cycling) and cultural services (recreation, local identity, tourism). Therefore, the present work focuses on ecosystem functions and ecosystem services, as well as on trends in biodiversity and the interactions between natural environments and land-use activities throughout Patagonia.
Ecosystem Services Valuation for Sustainable Development
by Sabu Joseph A. P. PradeepkumarThis book discusses state-of-the-art techniques for ecosystem service valuation of forests, rivers, wetlands, lakes and coastal ecosystems, for their sustainable development and management. An ecosystem service valuation can be used to address environmental degradation of natural resources. Numerous natural and man-made factors like climate change, pollution, encroachment, and over-exploitation, have put ecosystems under threat worldwide. These ecosystems provide a lot of services to human beings but many of these services are not taken into account in the market prices for products and services, and their ecological functions are not economically valued. The valuation of these ecosystems' services will help to shed light on their sustainable management. This book offers a fresh and innovative resource that captures the latest advancements, addresses emerging challenges, and propels the field forward, making it a must-have for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. This book is also useful for stakeholders to achieve United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals 6 (Sustainability of water resources) and 13 (Climate action). The most relevant target audiences are hydrologists, hydrogeologists, environmental scientists, ecologists, biologists, and academicians. This book can be useful to post-graduate students, researchers, academicians, policy makers, NGOs in these fields. It also appeals to professionals in the fields of urban planning, agriculture, forestry, water resources management and environmental policy.
Ecosystems: A Functional Approach (Routledge Introductions to Environment: Environmental Science)
by Kevin Murphy Gordon DickinsonIn examining both theory and applications, this book, through useful examples, provides a stimulating introduction to ecosystems. It examines the nature, types and characteristics of ecosystems as well as investigating the interactions between various systems and human actions. Using functional ecology as the basis for applying the ecosystem concept in contemporary environmental science and ecology, this second edition of this highly successful volume has been updated to reflect the latest research. It incorporates a strengthened theme in the use of functional ecology in explaining how ecosystems work and how the ecosystem concept may be used in science and applied science, and coverage of the interactions between humans and ecosystems has been substantially bolstered with the addition of chapters on human impacts and large scale impacts on ecosystems, and global environmental change and the consequences for ecosystems.Presented in a student-friendly format, this book features boxed definitions, examples, case studies, summary points, discussion questions and annotated further reading lists. It provides a concise and accessible synthesis of both ecosystem theory and its applications, and will be a valuable resource for students of environmental studies, ecology and geography.
Ecosystems
by National Science Resources CenterEcosystems get students thinking about ecosystems¿what they are, what threatens them, and what scientists and others are doing to keep them in balance. The first section of the book introduces students to basic concepts about ecosystems, from a brief ecological vocabulary lesson to information about the interrelationships of animals with the land and plants in their habitat. One story presents the theory that a global catastrophe led to the extinction of dinosaurs. Other stories discuss threats to Earth's ecosystems and ways that people can minimize those threats. The final section of the book relates the stories of three environmental pioneers: Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, and Rachel Carson.
Ecosystems and Human Health
by Crescentia Y. DakuboEcosystems and Human Health introduces Ecohealth as an emerging field of study, traces its evolution, and explains its applications in cross-disciplinary and holistic programs. Its integrative approach not only focuses on managing the environment to improve health, but also analyzes underlying social and economic determinants of health to develop innovative, people-centered interventions.
Ecosystems and Human Health: Toxicology and Environmental Hazards, Third Edition
by Richard B. PhilpSince the second edition of this text was published, many new environmental incidents have occurred, including another nuclear disaster, a mine disaster in the United States, and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Updated throughout the text, Ecosystems and Human Health: Toxicology and Environmental Hazards, Third Edition explores the broad range of env
Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: A Manual for Assessment Practitioners (Five Volume Set Ser.)
by Thomas Tomich Monika Zurek Neville Ash Hernán Blanco Keisha Garcia Bhaskar ViraDesigned by a partnership of UN agencies, international scientific organizations, and development agencies, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) is the most extensive study ever of the linkages between the world's ecosystems and human well-being. The goal of the MA is to establish the scientific basis for actions needed to enhance the contribution of ecosystems to human well-being without undermining their long-term productivity. With contributions by more than 500 scientists from 70 countries, the MA has proven to be one of the most important conservation initiatives ever undertaken, and the ecosystem services paradigm on which it is based provides the standard for practice. This manual supplies the specific tools that practitioners of the paradigm need in order to extend their work into the future. The manual is a stand-alone "how to" guide to conducting assessments of the impacts on humans of ecosystem changes. In addition, assessment practitioners who are looking for guidance on particular aspects of the assessment process will find individual chapters of this manual to be useful in advancing their understanding of best practices in ecosystem assessment. The manual builds on the experiences and lessons learned from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment global and sub-global assessment initiatives, with chapters written by well-known participants in those initiatives. It also includes insights and experiences gained from a wider range of ecosystem service-focused assessment activities since the completion of the MA in 2005.
Ecosystems and Living Resources of the Baltic Sea
by Evald OjaveerThis volume presents a reconstruction of the formation of the environmental conditions and biota in the present-day Baltic Sea area during the last glacial cycle and thereafter under the influence of extra-terrestrial, climatic and geological factors. Abiotic conditions in the contemporary Baltic Sea (water salinity, temperature, oxygen and light conditions, currents and other water movements) are characterized and in this background the natural regional system of the sea has been generated. Important issues are considered such as life forms in the Baltic and their dependence on the natural environment (both in the conditions of the relative stable environment and during the regime shifts), as well as anthropogenic influences and the basic differences between the areas of the World Ocean and the brackish Baltic Sea. This book also equips readers with basic principles of assessments and management of ecosystems and fish resources (including the long-term assessment and forecast on ecosystems and fish resources) and provides information on the structures of international collaboration developed in the Baltic Sea.
Ecosystems and Their Interactions, Student Guide
by Carolina Biological Supply Company/Smithsonian Science Education CenterNIMAC-sourced textbook
Ecosystems Student Activity Book: Science and Technology for Children
by The National Academy of SciencesThe contents of this book are: Thinking about Ecosystems, Setting Up the Terrarium and adding animals to it, Setting Up the Aquarium and adding animals to it, Observing the Completed Aquarium, Joining the Terrarium and Aquarium, Upsetting the Stability, Reporting on Pollutants, Planning and Setting Up Our Pollution Experiments, Observing Early Effects of Pollution, Where Do the Pollutants Go?, Drawing Conclusions about Our Experiment, Examining a Real Environmental Problem, etc.
Ecosystems Without Borders: Opportunities and Challenges (Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems #474)
by Ruslan PolyakovThis book presents selected papers from the II International Conference "Ecosystems without Borders 2021", held at Kaliningrad State Technical University in Kaliningrad, Russia on October 5–7, 2021.Materials of the book "Ecosystems without Borders - Opportunities and Challenges" include theoretical and spatial aspects of ecosystems, features of the formation of a creative class in these conditions, as well as studies reflecting transformation of ecosystems, both in terms of innovations and in science, technology and business.This book will be of interest to a wide range of readers, such as practicing economists, students, graduate students and researchers, as well as government employees and company managers.
Ecosystems Without Borders 2023: Opportunities and Challenges (Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems #705)
by Ruslan PolyakovThe book in your hands is a collection of papers delivered at the II International Conference "Ecosystems Without Borders: Opportunities and Challenges" held at Kaliningrad State Technical University in February 2023.The materials include studies reflecting the transformation of ecosystems, both in innovative development and in science, technology and business, as well as the spatial aspects of ecosystems and features of the formation of a creative class in ecosystem conditions. In addition, the book includes theoretical articles, which aim to implement the ideas of sustainable development and circular economy. The book is intended for a wide range of readers, including practicing economists, students, graduate students and researchers, as well as government officials and company managers. We are confident that our book serves as an important source of information and knowledge that leads to scientific and innovative progress in the field of sustainable development of society.
Ecosystems Without Borders 2024: Opportunities and Challenges (Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems #1092)
by Ruslan PolyakovThis book is a continuation of a series of presentations given at the III International Conference "Ecosystems Without Borders: Opportunities and Challenges" held at the Kaliningrad State Technical University in September 2023. The book presents research reflecting the transformation of ecosystems in the context of innovative development, science, technology and business. It also considers spatial aspects of ecosystems and the peculiarities of the formation of the creative class in the context of ecosystems. Theoretical articles aimed not only at the realization of the ideas of sustainable development in the economy but also at the realization of the ideas of structural transformation of innovation processes. The book is useful to a wide range of readers: practicing economists, students, graduate students and researchers, as well as government officials and company managers. The authors are confident that this book will serve as an important source of information and knowledge that will contribute to scientific and innovative progress in the field of sustainable development of society.