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Books in Environmental sciences

The Environmental Sciences titles present critical research and insights into the complex interactions within natural ecosystems, climate systems, and human impacts on the environment. Covering areas such as biodiversity, sustainability, climate change, and resource management, these titles support scientific discovery and practical solutions for addressing today’s most pressing environmental challenges. This collection is essential for researchers, policymakers, and students dedicated to advancing environmental understanding and stewardship

  • C4 Plant Biology

    • 1st Edition
    • English
    Due to many issues related to long-term carbon dynamics, an improved understanding of the biology of C4 photosynthesis is required by more than the traditional audience of crop scientists, plant physiologists, and plant ecologists. This work synthesizes the latest developments in C4 biochemistry, physiology, systematics, and ecology. The book concludes with chapters discussing the role of C4 plants in the future development of the biosphere, particularly their interactive effects on soil, hydrological, and atmospheric processes.
  • Checklist for Sustainable Landscape Management

    Final Report of the EU Concerted Action AIR3-CT93-1210
    • 1st Edition
    • J.D. van Mansvelt + 1 more
    • English
    This work is an interdisciplinary, cross-cultural, widely-calibrated checklist for EU sustainable landscape management, which is intended to serve both as an analytical tool of reference as well as a design tool for local, regional and European policy making on sustainable developments.The tool has been developed out of a multidisciplinary study in EU countries which was designed to find out what would be the overall requirements for a sustainable management of the landscape of rural areas. Could these stipulations be brought together in a comprehensive system with sufficient consistency to comply with the notion that the landscape is an entity, which should be managed accordingly? Cooperation of the scientific experts with those involved in the practical side, and alternating plenary reporting with subgroup visits to farms in the rural landscapes of the participants' countries, allowed for the development of some truly interdisciplinary teamwork. Organic agriculture has been included to find out how organic agriculture contributes to the rural landscape.
  • Elsevier's Dictionary of Environment

    In English, French, Spanish and Arabic
    • 1st Edition
    • M. Bakr
    • English
    The main objective of Elsevier's Dictionary of Environment is to assist those involved in environmental activities in their attempt to make the world cleaner and to sustain its natural resources for future generations. It will help with the production of documentation for meetings and conferences as well as for drafting papers for training, information and communication purposes.Environment... concerns are important items on the political and economic agendas of most countries, whether developed or developing. In a world conscious of its environmental problems, studies in this domain have become an established discipline. Every new branch of science needs to define relevant terms to be used through the medium of language.The subject of environment is global because it touches everyone. Individuals, specialists or institutions concerned with the health of our planet need to mean the same thing when communicating with each other, notwithstanding language differences. The compilation of a multilingual dictionary on environment is not easy. The inclusion or omission of certain terms is an important question. However, the choice of terms, in this text, is based on two assumptions: (1) the most commonly used terms, (2) their translatability into other languages without losing their intended meaning. Consideration of regional differences of the same languages has been taken into account.This dictionary contains terms covering the following fields and subfields: air pollution, biological diversity, biomass energy, biosafety, biotechnology, climate change, coastal environment, deforestation, desertification, endangered species, energy conservation, environmental economics, environmental impact assessment, forest conservation, freshwater pollution, global warming, greenhouse gases, human settlements, living marine resources, marine environment, mountain ecosystems, ozone layer, resources management, soil degradation, sustainable development, tropical ecosystem, wetland ecosystem.The layout of this dictionary is such that each language included may be used as a target as well as a source language.
  • Macro-Engineering and the Earth

    World Projects for Year 2000 and Beyond
    • 1st Edition
    • U W Kitzinger + 1 more
    • English
    This work delivers ideas, comments and projects on energy, communications, transport, management, human resources, and financial and legal issues which macroengineering can contribute towards the solution of the Earth's environmental problems. Some 20 engineers and scholars identify problems in the next century whose solutions call for international policy planning and a more collaborative, peaceful and prosperous world order.Imaginative concepts employ forward thinking for applying technology in revolutionary projects. The book presents results of research on a triple helical turbine capable of extracting vast amounts of energy from slow-moving water, an invention which could harness rivers and ocean currents, rendering high dams (with their political, social and ecological implications) redundant. These turbines are already in mass production in the USA for use in the Gulf Stream to produce energy and hydrogen fuel, and can also be used to harness power from the wind.Another project, for which the technology is already available, will harvest solar energy by satellites stationed beyond our atmosphere and beam it to the Earth; and yet another calls for planetary defence of Earth against asteroid collisions. The environmental section discusses large projects for changing our climate, planning and costing for a sub-Mediterranean aqueduct connecting the River Rhone in France with Algeria, and plans for intensive fish farming of the oceans. The role of satellites includes telemedicine, and there are Swiss plans for further tunnelling through the Alps. Project management sections include the formation of a military-civilian conservation corps, financial and legal issues, macro-projects in China, and a forecast of 21st century macro-problems.
  • Water Use, Management, and Planning in the United States

    • 1st Edition
    • Stephen A. Thompson
    • English
    Water Use Management, and Planning in the United States is designed with new college classes on water resources in mind. It provides information on hydrology, biology, geology, economics, and geography along with historical water policies and regional regulations. The text reflects the transdisciplinary nature of water resources management, moving between descriptive discussions and quantitative analysis to bridge the social and physical sciences. Also providedare frequent case studies and examples to illustrate real-world applications, and includes sidebars throughout to reinforce major points. This book is a result of the authors years of teaching, giving a prescription for an intelligent integrated systemsapproach to water resources management.
  • Primate Adaptation and Evolution

    • 2nd Edition
    • John G. Fleagle
    • English
    John Fleagle has improved on his 1988 text by reconceptualizing chapters and by bringing new findings in functional and evolutionary approaches to bear on his synthesis of comparative primate data. The Second Edition provides a foundation upon which students can develop an understanding of our primate heritage. It features up-to-date information gained through academic training, laboratory experience and field research. This beautifully illustrated volume provides a comprehensive introductory text explaining the many aspects of primate biology and human evolution.
  • Environmental Soil Physics

    Fundamentals, Applications, and Environmental Considerations
    • 1st Edition
    • Daniel Hillel
    • English
    Environmental Soil Physics is a completely updated and modified edition of the Daniel Hillels previous, successful books, Introduction to Soil Physics and Fundamentals of Soil Physics. Hillel is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, one of the true leaders in the field of environmental sciences. The new version includes a chapter and problems on computational techniques, addresses current environmental concerns and trends.
  • Sperm Competition and Sexual Selection

    • 1st Edition
    • Tim R. Birkhead + 1 more
    • English
    Sperm Competition and Sexual Selection presents the intricate ways in which sperm compete to fertilize eggs and how this has prompted reinterpretations of breeding behavior. This book provides a theoretical framework for the study of sperm competition, which is a central part of sexual selection. It also discusses the roles of females and the relationships between paternal care in sperm competition. The chapters focusing on taxonomic development are diverse and cover all the major animal groups, both vertebrate and invertebrate, and plants. The final chapter provides an overview discussing the relationship between sperm competition and sexual selection in terms of both function and mechanism and how these translate into species fitness. This book will be of prime interest to behaviorists, ecologists and evolutionary biologists, suggesting new avenues of research and new ways of approaching old problems.
  • Monitoring Vertebrate Populations

    • 1st Edition
    • William L. Thompson + 2 more
    • English
    This book is written to serve as a general reference for biologists and resource managers with relatively little statistical training. It focuses on both basic concepts and practical applications to provide professionals with the tools needed to assess monitoring methods that can detect trends in populations. It combines classical finite population sampling designs with population enumeration procedures in a unified approach for obtaining abundance estimates for species of interest. The statistical information is presented in practical, easy-to-understand terminology.
  • Monitoring of Water Quality

    The Contribution of Advanced Technologies
    • 1st Edition
    • F. Colin + 1 more
    • English
    Water can be considered as one of the basic elements supporting life and the natural environment, a primary component for industry, a consumer item for humans and animals and a vector for domestic and industrial pollution. Various European Directives already provide a framework for the control of aquatic substances, the quality of bathing, surface and drinking water and effluent control.Such regulatory measures are closely related to analytical measurements. In order to comply with these regulations on a permanent basis, treatment plants and distribution companies, as well as water users and polluters, need to implement automated measuring techniques, such as sensors and other analytical tools in continuous or sequential mode to obtain suitable alarm systems and facilitate the management of water resources and decision making processes.This approach is in continuous evolution within the European Union. In view of the consequences of wrong measurements, it is vital that reliable quality control systems be achieved and maintained. At present, only a small range of analytical parameters can be measured automatically, it is therefore necessary to develop and validate new methods to extend the list of parameters. The development of new methodologies requires that the most recent know-how in fields such as optics, electrochemistry, biochemistry, chemometrics and others be shared by experts.In order to identify possible actions to be undertaken in the field of standards, measurements and testing for monitoring water quality, the Standards Measurements and Testing (SMT) Programme of the European Union, organised a European workshop that was held in Nancy 29-31 May 1997. This workshop bought together researchers and industrial users with the aim to make an overview of the present state-of-the-art, to consider possible improvements in existing techniques and the need and possibilities of developing new advanced technologies.