Resilience and the Behavior of Large-Scale Systems
Resilience and the Behavior of Large-Scale Systems

Author: Lance H. Gunderson

Publisher: Island Press

Published: 2012-06-22

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 1610913132

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Scientists and researchers concerned with the behavior of large ecosystems have focused in recent years on the concept of "resilience." Traditional perspectives held that ecological systems exist close to a steady state and resilience is the ability of the system to return rapidly to that state following perturbation. However beginning with the work of C. S. Holling in the early 1970s, researchers began to look at conditions far from the steady state where instabilities can cause a system to shift into an entirely different regime of behavior, and where resilience is measured by the magnitude of disturbance that can be absorbed before the system is restructured. Resilience and the Behavior of Large-Scale Systems examines theories of resilience and change, offering readers a thorough understanding of how the properties of ecological resilience and human adaptability interact in complex, regional-scale systems. The book addresses the theoretical concepts of resilience and stability in large-scale ecosystems as well as the empirical application of those concepts in a diverse set of cases. In addition, it discusses the practical implications of the new theoretical approaches and their role in the sustainability of human-modified ecosystems. The book begins with a review of key properties of complex adaptive systems that contribute to overall resilience, including multiple equlibria, complexity, self-organization at multiple scales, and order; it also presents a set of mathematical metaphors to describe and deepen the reader's understanding of the ideas being discussed. Following the introduction are case studies that explore the biophysical dimensions of resilience in both terrestrial and aquatic systems and evaluate the propositions presented in the introductory chapters. The book concludes with a synthesis section that revisits propositions in light of the case studies, while an appendix presents a detailed account of the relationship between return times for a disturbed system and its resilienc. In addition to the editors, contributors include Stephen R. Carpenter, Carl Folke, C. S. Holling, Bengt-Owe Jansson, Donald Ludwig, Ariel Lugo, Tim R. McClanahan, Garry D. Peterson, and Brian H. Walker.

Successes, Limitations, and Frontiers in Ecosystem Science
Successes, Limitations, and Frontiers in Ecosystem Science

Author: Michael L. Pace

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-12-01

Total Pages: 515

ISBN-13: 1461217245

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Ecosystem research has emerged in recent decades as a vital, successful, and sometimes controversial approach to environmental science. This book emphasizes the idea that much of the progress in ecosystem research has been driven by the emergence of new environmental problems that could not be addressed by existing approaches. By focusing on successes and limitations of ecosystems studies, the book explores avenues for future ecosystem-level research.

Implementing the Endangered Species Act on the Platte Basin Water Commons
Implementing the Endangered Species Act on the Platte Basin Water Commons

Author: David M. Freeman

Publisher: University Press of Colorado

Published: 2012-10-15

Total Pages: 512

ISBN-13: 1457109670

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Water users of the Platte River Basin have long struggled to share this scarce commodity in the arid high plains, ultimately organizing collectively owned and managed water systems, allocating water along extensive stream systems, and integrating newer groundwater with existing surface-water uses. In 1973, the Endangered Species Act brought a new challenge: incorporating the habitat needs of four species-the whooping crane, piping plover, least tern, and pallid sturgeon-into its water-management agenda. Implementing the Endangered Species Act on the Platte Basin Water Commons tells of the negotiations among the U.S. Department of the Interior, the environmental community, and the states of Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska that took place from the mid-1970s to 2006. Ambitious talks among rival water users, environmentalists, state authorities, and the Department of the Interior finally resulted in the Platte River Habitat Recovery Program. Documenting how organizational interests found remedies within the conditions set by the Endangered Species Act, describing how these interests addressed habitat restoration, and advancing sociological propositions under which water providers transcended self-interest and produced an agreement benefiting the environment, this book details the messy process that took place over more than thirty years. Presenting important implications for the future of water management in arid and semi-arid environments, this book will be of interest to anyone involved in water management, as well as academics interested in the social organization of common property.

Conceptual Innovation in Environmental Policy
Conceptual Innovation in Environmental Policy

Author: James Meadowcroft

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2017-09-29

Total Pages: 387

ISBN-13: 0262534088

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Concepts and their role in the evolution of modern environmental policy, with case studies of eleven influential concepts ranging from “environment” to “sustainable consumption.” Concepts are thought categories through which we apprehend the world; they enable, but also constrain, reasoning and debate and serve as building blocks for more elaborate arguments. This book traces the links between conceptual innovation in the environmental sphere and the evolution of environmental policy and discourse. It offers both a broad framework for examining the emergence, evolution, and effects of policy concepts and a detailed analysis of eleven influential environmental concepts. In recent decades, conceptual evolution has been particularly notable in environmental governance, as new problems have emerged and as environmental issues have increasingly intersected with other areas. “Biodiversity,” for example, was unheard of until the late 1980s; “negative carbon emissions” only came into being over the last few years. After a review of concepts and their use in environmental argument, chapters chart the trajectories of a range of environmental concepts: environment, sustainable development, biodiversity, environmental assessment, critical loads, adaptive management, green economy, environmental risk, environmental security, environmental justice, and sustainable consumption. The book provides a valuable resource for scholars and policy makers and also offers a novel introduction to the environmental policy field through the evolution of its conceptual categories. Contributors Richard N. L. Andrews, Karin Bäckstrand, Karen Baehler, Daniel J. Fiorino, Yrjö Haila, Michael E. Kraft, Oluf Langhelle, Judith A. Layzer, James Meadowcroft, Alexis Schulman, Johannes Stripple, Philip J. Vergragt

Fisheries Bioeconomics
Fisheries Bioeconomics

Author: J. C. Seijo

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 9789251040454

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book is presented in seven Chapters. Chapter 1 describes the basic assumptions underlying the optimal allocation of natural resources and the inherent characteristics of fisheries that determine, under unrestricted access, the failure to allocate resources, economic inefficiency and overfishing. To mitigate these undesired effects, the bioeconomic literature invokes the allocation of property rights, which in turn must be implemented within a management context. Thus, in this Chapter we suggest some guidelines to conduct management plans. Static and dynamic bioeconomic models are presented in Chapter 2 as a theoretical framework for the design of intelligent management schemes aiming at sustainable use of fish stocks. Classic models are shown, such as the Gordon-Schaefer based on the logistic. We also develop new bioeconomic approaches, such as a distributed-delay model to add realism to Smith's fleet dynamics approach. Chapter 2 also includes an introductory version of a bioeconomic yield-mortality model, and dynamic age-structured models. A comparison of the dynamic and static trajectories is stressed. The price of time and its implications for optimal resource allocation over time is also discussed. For the sake of adding realism to the above models, the systems approach is used in Chapter 3 to model different technological and ecological complexities that occur in marine fisheries. Ecological interdependencies (competition, predation), as well as technological interdependencies resulting from fleets with different fishing power and/or gear types, operating on components of a stock, or on different target species of a "mixed stock", are specified and modelled.

Reinventing Fisheries Management
Reinventing Fisheries Management

Author: T.J. Pitcher

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 440

ISBN-13: 9401144338

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Judged by a dismaying track record and a consequent downturn in the reputation of fisheries scientists, fisheries management is certainly a candidate for calls for reinvention, with many of the world leaders in this area holding the view that no fishery has ever been properly understood or managed. With fisheries science in a state of flux, this extremely important book seeks a new paradigm that will place this flux of ideas in perspective and help us to choose those that will make fisheries management work. The book was planned at a symposium of over 100 fishery researchers at the Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada and is organized into five parts: Why does Fisheries Science Need Reinventing?; New Policies; The Role of the Social Sciences; Ecology; Modelling. Carefully integrated and edited by three of the world's leading fishery scientists, this stimulating book should find a place on the shelves of all fishery scientists throughout the world. It will be an invaluable reference source to those studying fish biology, fisheries and oceanography and all those involved in fisheries policy decisions in government and university research establishments.

Coral Reef Fishes
Coral Reef Fishes

Author: Peter F. Sale

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2002-06-12

Total Pages: 566

ISBN-13: 008053001X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Coral Reef Fishes is the successor of The Ecology of Fishes on Coral Reefs. This new edition includes provocative reviews covering the major areas of reef fish ecology. Concerns about the future health of coral reefs, and recognition that reefs and their fishes are economically important components of the coastal oceans of many tropical nations, have led to enormous growth in research directed at reef fishes. Coral Reef Fishes is much more than a simple revision of the earlier volume; it is a companion that supports and extends the earlier work. The included syntheses provide readers with the current highlights in this exciting science. - An up-to-date review of key research areas in reef fish ecology, with a bibliography including hundreds of citations, most from the last decade - Authoritative, up-to-date, provocative chapters written to suggest future research priorities - An important companion and successor to The Ecology of Fishes on Coral Reefs - Includes discussions of regulation of fish populations, dispersal or site fidelity of larval reef fishes, sensory and motor capabilities of reef fish larvae, and complexities of management of reef species and communities