Conserving Biodiversity
Conserving Biodiversity

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1992-02-01

Total Pages: 138

ISBN-13: 0309046831

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The loss of the earth's biological diversity is widely recognized as a critical environmental problem. That loss is most severe in developing countries, where the conditions of human existence are most difficult. Conserving Biodiversity presents an agenda for research that can provide information to formulate policy and design conservation programs in the Third World. The book includes discussions of research needs in the biological sciences as well as economics and anthropology, areas of critical importance to conservation and sustainable development. Although specifically directed toward development agencies, non-governmental organizations, and decisionmakers in developing nations, this volume should be of interest to all who are involved in the conservation of biological diversity.

Urban Biodiversity
Urban Biodiversity

Author: Alessandro Ossola

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-11-28

Total Pages: 471

ISBN-13: 1315402564

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Urban biodiversity is an increasingly popular topic among researchers. Worldwide, thousands of research projects are unravelling how urbanisation impacts the biodiversity of cities and towns, as well as its benefits for people and the environment through ecosystem services. Exciting scientific discoveries are made on a daily basis. However, researchers often lack time and opportunity to communicate these findings to the community and those in charge of managing, planning and designing for urban biodiversity. On the other hand, urban practitioners frequently ask researchers for more comprehensible information and actionable tools to guide their actions. This book is designed to fill this cultural and communicative gap by discussing a selection of topics related to urban biodiversity, as well as its benefits for people and the urban environment. It provides an interdisciplinary overview of scientifically grounded knowledge vital for current and future practitioners in charge of urban biodiversity management, its conservation and integration into urban planning. Topics covered include pests and invasive species, rewilding habitats, the contribution of a diverse urban agriculture to food production, implications for human well-being, and how to engage the public with urban conservation strategies. For the first time, world-leading researchers from five continents convene to offer a global interdisciplinary perspective on urban biodiversity narrated with a simple but rigorous language. This book synthesizes research at a level suitable for both students and professionals working in nature conservation and urban planning and management.

Understanding Marine Biodiversity
Understanding Marine Biodiversity

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1995-02-24

Total Pages: 129

ISBN-13: 0309052254

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The diversity of marine life is being affected dramatically by fishery operations, chemical pollution and eutrophication, alteration of physical habitat, exotic species invasion, and effects of other human activities. Effective solutions will require an expanded understanding of the patterns and processes that control the diversity of life in the sea. Understanding Marine Biodiversity outlines the current state of our knowledge, and propose research agenda on marine biological diversity. This agenda represents a fundamental change in studying the oceanâ€"emphasizing regional research across a range of space and time scales, enhancing the interface between taxonomy and ecology, and linking oceanographic and ecological approaches. Highlighted with examples and brief case studies, this volume illustrates the depth and breadth of undescribed marine biodiversity, explores critical environmental issues, advocates the use of regionally defined model systems, and identifies a series of key biodiversity research questions. The authors examine the utility of various research approachesâ€"theory and modeling, retrospective analysis, integration of biotic and oceanographic surveysâ€"and review recent advances in molecular genetics, instrumentation, and sampling techniques applicable to the research agenda. Throughout the book the critical role of taxonomy is emphasized. Informative to the scientist and accessible to the policymaker, Understanding Marine Biodiversity will be of specific interest to marine biologists, ecologists, oceanographers, and research administrators, and to government agencies responsible for utilizing, managing, and protecting the oceans.

Research to Protect, Restore, and Manage the Environment
Research to Protect, Restore, and Manage the Environment

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1993-02-01

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 0309049296

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book assesses the strengths and weaknesses of current environmental research programs, describes the desirable characteristics of an effective program, and recommends cultural and organizational changes to improve the performance of environmental research. Research areas in need of greater emphasis are identified, and overall directions for environmental research are recommended. The book also comments on the proposal to establish a National Institute for the Environment and on the elevation of the Environmental Protection Agency to cabinet status.

Focus on Biodiversity Research
Focus on Biodiversity Research

Author: Jan Schwartz

Publisher: Nova Publishers

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13: 9781600213724

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Biological diversity, or "biodiversity," refers to the variety of all life on earth, and the complex relationships among living things, and between living things and their environment. Biodiversity includes genetic variety, species diversity, and variability in communities, ecosystems and landscapes. Biodiversity sustains the environments in which we live and on which our lives and those of every other living creature on Earth depend. Thanks to biodiversity, we are able to obtain such necessary goods as food, clothing, medicine, and fuel. Equally important are the ecosystem services that biodiversity provides, such as clean air and drinkable water. Conservation scientists have identified a number of universal threats to biodiversity: habitat loss and degradation, invasive species, pollution, overpopulation, overexploitation and consumption, and global climate change. This book examines critical issues in this field from researchers around the globe.

Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change
Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change

Author: Melissa R. Marselle

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-06-11

Total Pages: 494

ISBN-13: 3030023184

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This open access book identifies and discusses biodiversity’s contribution to physical, mental and spiritual health and wellbeing. Furthermore, the book identifies the implications of this relationship for nature conservation, public health, landscape architecture and urban planning – and considers the opportunities of nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation. This transdisciplinary book will attract a wide audience interested in biodiversity, ecology, resource management, public health, psychology, urban planning, and landscape architecture. The emphasis is on multiple human health benefits from biodiversity - in particular with respect to the increasing challenge of climate change. This makes the book unique to other books that focus either on biodiversity and physical health or natural environments and mental wellbeing. The book is written as a definitive ‘go-to’ book for those who are new to the field of biodiversity and health.

Ecosystems and Human Well-being
Ecosystems and Human Well-being

Author: Carlos Corvalán

Publisher: World Health Organization

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 65

ISBN-13: 9241563095

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Approximately 60% of the benefits that the global ecosystem provides to support life on Earth (such as fresh water, clean air and a relatively stable climate) are being degraded or used unsustainably. In the report, scientists warn that harmful consequences of this degradation to human health are already being felt and could grow significantly worse over the next 50 years.

The Revenge of Gaia
The Revenge of Gaia

Author: James Lovelock

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 2007-08-02

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13: 0465008666

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In The Revenge of Gaia , bestselling author James Lovelock- father of climate studies and originator of the influential Gaia theory which views the entire earth as a living meta-organism-provides a definitive look at our imminent global crisis. In this disturbing new book, Lovelock guides us toward a hard reality: soon, we may not be able to alter the oncoming climate crisis. Lovelock's influential Gaia theory, one of the building blocks of modern climate science, conceives of the Earth, including the atmosphere, oceans, biosphere and upper layers of rock, as a single living super-organism, regulating its internal environment much as an animal regulates its body temperature and chemical balance. But now, says Lovelock, that organism is sick. It is running a fever born of the combination of a sun whose intensity is slowly growing over millions of years, and an atmosphere whose greenhouse gases have recently spiked due to human activity. Earth will adjust to these stresses, but on time scales measured in the hundreds of millennia. It is already too late, Lovelock says, to prevent the global climate from "flipping" into an entirely new equilibrium state that will leave the tropics uninhabitable, and force migration to the poles. The Revenge of Gaia explains the stress the planetary system is under and how humans are contributing to it, what the consequences will be, and what humanity must do to rescue itself.

In the Light of Evolution
In the Light of Evolution

Author: National Academy of Sciences

Publisher:

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Arthur M. Sackler Colloquia of the National Academy of Sciences address scientific topics of broad and current interest, cutting across the boundaries of traditional disciplines. Each year, four or five such colloquia are scheduled, typically two days in length and international in scope. Colloquia are organized by a member of the Academy, often with the assistance of an organizing committee, and feature presentations by leading scientists in the field and discussions with a hundred or more researchers with an interest in the topic. Colloquia presentations are recorded and posted on the National Academy of Sciences Sackler colloquia website and published on CD-ROM. These Colloquia are made possible by a generous gift from Mrs. Jill Sackler, in memory of her husband, Arthur M. Sackler.

Current State and Future Impacts of Climate Change on Biodiversity
Current State and Future Impacts of Climate Change on Biodiversity

Author: Rathoure, Ashok Kumar

Publisher: IGI Global

Published: 2019-11-29

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 1799812286

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Understanding the balance of society and nature is imperative when researching ecosystems and their global influence. A method of studying the health of these ecosystems is biodiversity. The more diverse the species that live in an ecosystem, the healthier it is. As the climate continues to transform, small-scale ecosystems are affected, altering their diversity. Environmentalists need a book of research that studies the specific impacts of climate change and how it affects the future of the environment. Current State and Future Impacts of Climate Change on Biodiversity is a pivotal reference source that provides vital research on biological systems and how climate change influences their health. While highlighting topics such as genetic diversity, economic valuation, and climatic conditions, this publication explores the effects of climate change as well as the methods of sustainable management within ecosystems. This book is ideally designed for environmental scientists, environmental professionals, scientists, ecologists, conservationists, government officials, policymakers, agriculturalists, environmentalists, zoologists, botanists, entomologists, urban planners, researchers, scholars, and students seeking research on current and future developments of various ecosystems.