While the European Landscape Convention adopted in Florence in 2000 by the European Council offers a public-action framework through a normative definition, the marine and submarine dimensions of landscapes are attracting growing interest from researchers worldwide. At a time when marine-conservation objectives are strongly endorsed by the Convention on Biological Diversity, the French Marine Protected Areas Agency, a public institution under the governance of the French Ministry of the Environment, has gathered prominent experts to draft the very first interdisciplinary overview of underwater seascapes, so as to initiate and lend direction to a wider reflection on this emerging research topic.
Seascape Ecology provides a comprehensive look at the state-of-the-science in the application of landscape ecology to the seas and provides guidance for future research priorities. The first book devoted exclusively to this rapidly emerging and increasingly important discipline, it is comprised of contributions from researchers at the forefront of seascape ecology working around the world. It presents the principles, concepts, methodology, and techniques informing seascape ecology and reports on the latest developments in the application of the approach to marine ecology and management. A growing number of marine scientists, geographers, and marine managers are asking questions about the marine environment that are best addressed with a landscape ecology perspective. Seascape Ecology represents the first serious effort to fill the gap in the literature on the subject. Key topics and features of interest include: The origins and history of seascape ecology and various approaches to spatial patterning in the sea The links between seascape patterns and ecological processes, with special attention paid to the roles played by seagrasses and salt marshes and animal movements through seascapes Human influences on seascape ecology—includes models for assessing human-seascape interactions A special epilogue in which three eminent scientists who have been instrumental in shaping the course of landscape ecology offer their insights and perspectives Seascape Ecology is a must-read for researchers and professionals in an array of disciplines, including marine biology, environmental science, geosciences, marine and coastal management, and environmental protection. It is also an excellent supplementary text for university courses in those fields.
Seascape studies have developed in response to questions arising from composite correlations such as coastal, island and marine research, social requirements, landscape design and planning, marine ecology, and environment and resource management. This global volume is the first comprehensive overview to provide a solid foundation on the concept of seascape, with the latest research findings from leading experts across a variety of fields, offering a holistic approach to seascape linking nature with culture, and theory with practice. Divided into six parts, it includes over 30 chapters from contributors around the world. Pioneering methods with illustrated case studies from the Mediterranean, Scandinavia, North Sea, North America and Asia serve as examples for future seascape development, conservation and governance. An important and extremely timely resource, the Routledge Handbook of Seascapes provides academics, practitioners, NGOs, consultants and government officials with a broad overview of current research and practice for future application and advance worldwide.
Landscape ecology has been a discrete, established discipline since at least 1980. Its marine counterpart, seascape ecology, is barely a decade old, its first applications dating from the early 2010s. Lack of perception of the marine environment hampers the adoption of many landscape ecology approaches to the sea. Seascape ecology relies on special technologies such as remote sensing (either acoustic or optical), robotics, and scuba diving. Both disciplines deal with the spatial configuration of ecosystems and consider environmental heterogeneity and dynamics as the main subjects of study and the key for ecosystem functioning and persistence. Seascape is here intended as the totality of natural and anthropogenic characters of a marine region. To the geologist, it is defined by sedimentology and underwater geomorphology, to the biologist by the nature of the living cover of the seafloor, to the ecologist by the relationships among functional processes and the spatial organization of ecosystems. The goal of this research topic is to encourage original research, case studies, reviews, and viewpoints to identify research priority gaps and possibly contribute to filling them in. We will appreciate, in particular, manuscripts dealing with recent advances such as high-resolution habitat mapping; underwater soundscape and biophony; development, application and validation of biotic indices to assess seafloor integrity (as requested, for instance, by recent European Directives). Papers of interest may discuss the multivarious facets of stability and describe resistance and resilience patterns, the role of stress and disturbance, regime shift and phase shift, or may take up the challenge of integrating coastal landscape and seascape analyses. Studies of long-term series are welcome, as well as methodological improvements, and macroecological approaches on the importance of species diversity and connectivity in seascape organization.
Among global environments, the undersea is unique in the challenges it poses – and the opportunities it affords – for sensation, perception, inquiry, and fantasy. The Aesthetics of the Undersea draws case studies in such potencies from the subaqueous imaginings of Western culture, and from the undersea realities that have inspired them. The chapters explore aesthetic engagements with underwater worlds, and sustain a concern with submarine "sense," in several meanings of that word: when submerged, faculties and fantasies transform, confronting human subjects with their limitations while enlarging the apparent scope of possibility and invention. Terrestrially-established categories and contours shift, metamorphose, or fail altogether to apply. As ocean health acquires an increasing share of the global environmental imaginary, the histories of submarine sense manifest ever-greater importance, and offer resources for documentation as well as creativity. The chapters deal with the sensory, material, and formal provocations of the underwater environment, and consider the consequences of such provocations for aesthetic and epistemological paradigms. Contributors, who hail from the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, include scholars of literature, art, new media, music and history. Cases studies range from baroque and rococo fantasies to the gothic, surrealism, modernism, and contemporary installation art. By juxtaposing early modern and Enlightenment contexts with matters of more recent – and indeed contemporary – importance, The Aesthetics of the Undersea establishes crucial relations among temporally remote entities, which will resonate across the environmental humanities.
This comprehensive guide is your passport to the mesmerizing realm of underwater exploration, designed especially for those taking their first plunge into snorkeling and diving. Whether you're a novice adventurer seeking to unlock the secrets of the ocean or an aspiring diver ready to embark on a thrilling journey, this book is your essential companion. Join us as we unravel the mysteries of the aquatic world, providing insights, tips, and techniques to make your underwater experience unforgettable. From equipment essentials to safety protocols, "Snorkeling" is your go-to manual for mastering the art of exploring the ocean's wonders. Get ready to submerge yourself in an exhilarating adventure and discover the magic that lies beneath the surface. Exploring the underwater world through snorkeling and diving offers a myriad of physical, mental, and emotional benefits. Immersing yourself in the aquatic realm not only provides a unique and awe-inspiring experience but also contributes to overall well-being. As you delve into the crystal-clear waters, the rhythmic act of breathing through a snorkel or regulator induces a sense of calm and relaxation. The underwater environment acts as a natural stress reliever, promoting mental clarity and mindfulness.
Tourism studies and media studies both address key issues about how we perceive the world. They raise acute questions about how we relate local knowledge and immediate experience to wider global processes, and they both play a major role in creating our map of national and international cultures. Adopting a multidisciplinary approach, this book explores the interactions between tourism and media practices within a contemporary culture in which the consumption of images has become increasingly significant. A number of common themes and concerns arise, and the contributions included are divided between those: written from media studies awareness perspective, concerned with the way the media imagines travel and tourism written from the point of view of the study of tourism, considering how tourism practices are affected or altered by the media that attempt a direct comparison between the practices of tourism and the media. Incorporating case study material from the UK, the Caribbean, Australia, the US, France and Switzerland, this significant text - ideal for students of culture, media and tourism studies - discusses tourism and the media as separate processes through which identity is constructed in relation to space and place.
Peters defines media expansively as elements that compose the human world. Drawing from ideas implicit in media philosophy, Peters argues that media are more than carriers of messages: they are the very infrastructures combining nature and culture that allow human life to thrive. Through an encyclopedic array of examples from the oceans to the skies,The Marvelous Clouds reveals the long prehistory of so-called new media. Digital media, Peters argues, are an extension of early practices tied to the establishment of civilization such as mastering fire, building calendars, reading the stars, creating language, and establishing religions. New media do not take us into uncharted waters, but rather confront us with the deepest and oldest questions of society and ecology: how to manage the relations people have with themselves, others, and the natural world.
This is a special volume on ocean biogeography containing chapters bringing the wealth of knowledge of Russian scientists to a global audience. Ocean biogeography was the subject of much marine research carried out by the former USSR, where extensive facilities were provided on a world-wide scale. Volume 32 is devoted to the geographical and vertical distribution of life in the open oceans, including the great depths. The contributions range widely from plankton and squid to the bottom fauna of the bathyal, abyssal, and hadal zones. This volume will help bridge the gap between Russian and western marine biogeographers and will be of interest to a wide range of marine biologists. Advance in Marine Biology contains up-to-date reviews of all areas of marine science, including fisheries, science and macro/micro fauna. Each volume contains peer reviewed papers detailing the ecology of marine regions.
