Search

This is methods/tools textbook that covers the fundamental tasks in research and management at the landscape scale. It brings together tools from a range of disciplines and presents them in a natural workflow that a practitioner can appreciate. Alternative texts cover a narrower range of topics and/or present the information without reference to a natural workflow. The book begins with 2 fundamental applications that introduce the scope and challenges of working at the landscape scales (sampling design and species distribution modeling). These motivate several chapters that ‘digress'to cover the primary tools that ecologists use to work with multivariate and spatial data. The book then returns to applications including site prioritization, interpreting (and forecasting) landscape change, and integrated assessment. The tasks themselves follow a logical workflow of collecting and analyzing data, applying the analyses to management decisions, and interpreting the outcomes of these decisions in an integrated framework. This book stems from two graduate-level courses in Landscape Ecology taught at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. The subject has evolved over time, from a concepts-based overview of what landscape ecology is, to a more applied practicum on how one does landscape ecology. As landscape ecology has matured as a discipline, its perspectives on spatial heterogeneity and scale have begun to permeate into a wide range of other fields including conservation biology, ecosystem management, and ecological restoration. Thus, this textbook will bring students from diverse backgrounds to a common level of understanding and will prepare them with the practical knowledge for a career in conservation and ecosystem management.

The book explains the basic concepts of river water quality index, river environments, shifting of river courses, dams and barrages – their merits and demerits, mutual interdependence of river and society etc. in the typical geomorphic set up of West Bengal. In India, West Bengal is a riverine state due to the towering Himalayas to the north and the Bay of Bengal to the south. In between the mountain and sea, due to the location of the Gangetic delta region and its stability with space and time, the rivers of this state are gradually dying. In addition to the stability of the delta, the river channel is being filled with sediments carried along the river course from upstream. The role of dams, barrages and reservoirs in the normal flow of rivers at different geographical locations deserves discussion which is included in the book. It is to be expected that the rivers of West Bengal can be an outstanding example of mutual interdependence of science and society, all of which are included in the book.The use of different physicochemical parameters adopted for the water quality index of different rivers described in this book will provide new directions in this regard. With discussions like water quality index, river environments, shifting of river courses, reservoirs, dams and barrages, and mutual interdependence of river and society, it is the intention that this book, River Systems of West Bengal - Water and Environments, will be useful for the research and higher studies in the river related field. This book will be of interest to students and researchers of riverine environments.

This book is based on the accepted papers for presentation at the 2nd MedGU Annual Meeting, Marrakesh 2022. The book presents a series of newest research studies that are nowadays relevant to Middle East, Mediterranean region, Africa, and surrounding areas. The book gives a general overview on current research, focusing on geoenvironmental issues and challenges in environmental management in these regions. It offers a broad range of recent studies that discuss the latest advances in geography, geomorphology, landslides, and soil science, in addition to geoarchaeology and geoheritage. It also shares insights on some glaciology studies. The book also enhances the understanding of paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental changes based on research studies from the fields of marine geosciences, historical geology, and paleoceanography and paleoclimatology.

This book reviews air pollutants and their effects on human health, biodiversity, and environmental quality in the context of the One Health framework. Written by experts in the field, the book covers topics such as natural and anthropogenic sources of air pollutants, air pollutants classification based on their chemical composition, physical properties, and origins, and consequences of air pollution on ecosystems, wildlife, and human communities. In this book, readers will find a detailed examination of pollutants, such as particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, and greenhouse gases, and will learn about the mechanisms by which pollutants impact, for instance, the respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological systems. The book highlights the need for understanding the different pollutants and their One Health effects as a foundation for developing effective regulations, emission controls, cleaner technologies, and promoting lifestyle changes. The book also offers a global perspective on air pollution, and discusses the disproportionate impacts of air pollution on vulnerable populations. In alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), specifically SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), this book takes a focused approach to the One Health implications of various air pollutants and is an important contribution to the global effort to mitigate the impact of air pollution on human health, biodiversity security, and environmental quality. Together with its companion work “Sustainable Strategies for Air Pollution Mitigation”, this book is a valuable resource for students, researchers, policymakers, and anyone seeking a comprehensive perspective on this critical environmental and public health challenge.

This edited book is based on the accepted papers for presentation at the 1st MedGU Annual Meeting, Istanbul, 2021. With two parts spanning a large spectrum of environmental, geomorphological and geoarcheological topics and a third part on caves and karst, which includes research studies gathered on the occasion of the International Year of Caves and Karst (2021), this book presents a series of newest research studies that are nowadays relevant to Middle East, Mediterranean region, and Africa.The book gives a general overview on current research, focusing on geoenvironmental issues and challenges in environmental management in the Middle East and Mediterranean region and surrounding areas. It offers a broad range of recent studies that discuss the latest advances in geomorphology, landslides, soil science, paleoclimate, and geoarcheology. It also shares insights on cave and karst studies including speleology, cave and karst explorations, geomorphology, hydrogeology,geoethics, prehistoric eras in karst, geotectonics, and the nexus between human activities and karst sustainability.

Rising concern about climate change and strong societal expectations with increasing complexities of mineral deposits being mined, call for more innovative exploration and exploitation technologies with higher productivity and recovery including eco-friendly strategies and policies in place for long term sustainability of the mineral Industry. It is now ardently necessary to identify and define the best mining practices addressing societal needs.In view of these, The Mining, Geological and Metallurgical Institute of India (MGMI), established way back on 16th January 1906, and one of the oldest institutions of this kind in the world, is organizing the 10th Asian Mining Congress (AMC) during November 06-09, 2023 in Kolkata, India with the Theme, “Roadmap for Best Mining Practices vis-à-vis Global Transformation”. The AMC and International Mining Exhibition (IME), held concurrently, are flagship international events organized by MGMI biennially since its centenary year. This series have provided ample opportunities to all stakeholders including practicing engineers, machinery manufacturers, planners, regulators, academicians, scientists and policy makers, for sharing their knowledge, experience and expertise and exhibit their products that can benefit the mining and mineral industries not only in the Asian region but also globally.This proceeding of 10th AMC contains the articles written by eminent persons and stalwarts in their respective domains. It is a collection of contemporary articles narrating recent advancements in mining sector.

This book provides the advance research results of environmental pollution and governance and covers the main research field of environmental remediation, environmental monitoring, sanitation and so on. Nowadays, environmental pollution, as one of the most important problems in the world, has seriously affected the global ecology, temperature, water resources and so on. Therefore, the research on environmental governance can better help us comprehend the methods and measures of environmental protection and protect our ecology more scientifically and effectively. This book also aims to promote scientific information interchange between scholars from the top universities, research centers and high-tech enterprises working all around the world. It is beneficial to scholars, engineers and researchers in the field of environmental engineering and environmental governance.

Discover The Geographic Approach to help restore, preserve, and protect the environment.As we continue to uncover and learn about ecological challenges facing our planet, the job of environmental and natural resource management organizations is becoming increasingly difficult. Finding a Sustainable Balance: GIS for Environmental Management explores a collection of real-life stories about how environmental and natural resource management organizations successfully use geographic information systems (GIS) to monitor environmental assets in real time and provide transparency for better outcomes for all, to track environmental assets, and to prevent environmental hazards from becoming disasters.Learn how GIS can help improve operations acrossland and wildlife management,outdoor recreation, andenvironmental regulation.The book also includes a section on next steps that provides helpful ideas, strategies, tools, and actions to help jump-start your use of GIS for environmental management. A collection of online resources, including additional stories, videos, new ideas and concepts, and downloadable tools and content, complements this book.

This volume offers expert contributions proposing new and recently set scientific standards for smart air quality (AQ) networks data processing, along with results obtained during field deployments of pervasive and mobile systems. The book is divided into 5 main sections; 1) future air quality networks, 2) general data processing techniques, 3) field deployments performances, 4) special applications, and 5) cooperative and regulatory efforts. The authors offer different sources of data for the production of trustworthy insights, including spatio-temporal predictive AQ maps meant to boost citizen awareness, and informed participation in remediation and prevention policies. Readers will learn about the best and most up-to-date practices for measuring and assessing air quality, while also learning about current regulatory statuses regarding air quality technology design and implementation. The book will be of interest to air quality regulatory agencies, citizen science groups, city authorities, and researchers and students working with air quality sensors and geostatistics.

Debates around agroecology most often focus on the depth and radicality of the change and relate to different visions of agroecology, which tends to eclipse the ontological relationships of actors (or researchers) to the very ‘change process'itself. This book is an endeavor to explicate relationships to change in agroecological transitions, referring to two contrasting and ideal-typical ontological relationships to change, the determinist perspective and the open-ended perspective. These conceptions or interpretations of the change process are based respectively on whether objectives and means are predetermined, or defi ned during the change process and while accounting for the uncertainty and complexity of mechanisms of change as well as for the diversity of actors'visions. Many diverse cases of agroecological transitions are discussed in this book, in order to highlight the fact that these perspectives are not always exclusive in transition process but that they can be articulated successively or combined complementarily, in different ways – thus reinforcing the potential diversity of transition pathways.

The purpose of risk assessment is to support science-based decisions about how to solve complex societal problems. Indeed, the problems humankind faces in the 21st century have many social, political, and technical complexities. Environmental risk assessment in particular is of increasing importance as health and safety regulations grow and become more complicated.Environmental Risk Assessment: A Toxicological Approach, 2nd Edition looks at various factors relating to exposure and toxicity, human health, and risk. In addition to the original chapters being updated and expanded upon, four new chapters discuss current software and platforms that have recently been developed and provide examples of risk characterizations and scenarios.Features: Introduces the science of risk assessment—past, present, and future Provides environmental sampling data for conducting practice risk assessments Considers how bias and conflict of interest affect science-based decisions in the 21st century Includes fully worked examples, case studies, discussion questions, and suggestions for additional reading Discusses new software and computational platforms that have developed since the first edition Aimed at the next generation of risk assessors and students who need to know more about developing, conducting, and interpreting risk assessments, the book delivers a comprehensive view of the field, complete with sufficient background to enable readers to probe for themselves the science underlying the key issues in environmental risk.

This book presents selected articles from the International Conference on Asian and Pacific Coasts (APAC 2019), an event intended to promote academic and technical exchange on coastal related studies, including coastal engineering and coastal environmental problems, among Asian and Pacific countries/regions. APAC is jointly supported by the Chinese Ocean Engineering Society (COES), the Coastal Engineering Committee of the Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE), and the Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers (KSCOE).APAC is jointly supported by the Chinese Ocean Engineering Society (COES), the Coastal Engineering Committee of the Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE), and the Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers (KSCOE).

This manual describes the wide range of electromechanical, electrochemical and electro-optical transducers at the heart of current field-deployable ocean observing instruments. Their modes of operation, precision and accuracy are discussed in detail. Observing platforms ranging from the traditional to the most recently developed are described, as are the challenges of integrating instrument suits to individual platforms. Technical approaches are discussed to address environmental constraints on instrument and platform operation such as power sources, corrosion, biofouling and mechanical abrasion. Particular attention is also given to data generated by the networks of observing platforms that are typically integrated into value-added data visualization products, including numerical simulations or models. Readers will learn about acceptable data formats and representative model products. The last section of the book is devoted to the challenges of planning, deploying and maintaining coastal ocean observing systems. Readers will discover practical applications of ocean observations in diverse fields including natural resource conservation, commerce and recreation, safety and security, and climate change resiliency and adaptation. This volume will appeal to ocean engineers, oceanographers, commercial and recreational ocean data users, observing systems operators, and advanced undergraduate and graduate students in the field of ocean observing.

This book provides an overview of beach management tools, including carrying capacity, beach nourishment, environmental and tourism awards (like Blue Flag or others), bathing water quality, zoning, beach typologies, quality index, user's perception, interdisciplinary beach monitoring, coastal legislation, shore protection, social and economic indicators, ecosystem services, and coastal governance (applied in beach case studies). Beaches are one of the most intensely used coastal ecosystems and are responsible for more than half of all global tourism revenues, and as such the book introduces a wide range of state-of-the-art tools that can be used to deal with a variety of beach challenges. Each chapter features specific types of tools that can be applied to advantage in beach management practices. With examples of local and regional case studies from around the globe, this is a valuable resource for anyone involved in beach management.

The natural environment is complex and changes continuously at varying paces. Many, like the weather, we notice from day to day. However, patterns and rhythms examined over time give us the bigger picture. These weather statistics become climate and help us build an understanding of the patterns of change over the long term. Real-Time Environmental Monitoring: Sensors and Systems introduces the fundamentals of environmental monitoring, based on electronic sensors, instruments, and systems that allow real-time and long-term data acquisition, data-logging, and telemetry. The book details state-of-the-art technology, using a practical approach, and includes applications to many environmental and ecological systems. In the first part of the book, the author develops a story of how starting with sensors, you can progressively build more complex instruments, leading to entire systems that end with databases and web servers. In the second part, he covers a variety of sensors and systems employed to measure environmental variables in air, water, soils, vegetation canopies, and wildlife observation and tracking. This is an emerging area that is very important to some aspects of environmental assessment and compliance monitoring. Real-time monitoring approaches can facilitate the cost effective collection of data over time and, to some extent, negate the need for sample, collection, handling, and transport to a laboratory, either on-site or off-site. It provides the tools you need to develop, employ, and maintain environmental monitors.

This report tracks and analyzes 44 trends that are shaping our future, and includes graphs and charts to provide a visual comparison over time. Categories of trends include: Food, Agricultural Resources, Energy and Climate, Global Economy, Resource Economics, Environment, Conflict and Peace, Communications and Transportation, Population and Society, and Health and Disease.

This volume is the result of an invited symposium titled'Integrated Land-Use and Environmental Models: A Survey of Current Applications and Research'that was held in October 2000 at Arizona State University. The idea for the symposium arose from a belief held by many academics that we are at the watershed of a new generation of models that are more dynamic, more pragmatic, more interdiscipli­ nary, and more amenable to collaborative decision making. Several academics and professionals engaged in urban research had long realized that domain-specific knowledge was inadequate for understanding and managing urban growth. While interdisciplinary approaches have become critical in most social research, one general area of knowledge that stands out as having the most wide-ranging impact on current urban modeling efforts is the field comprised of environmental sciences and ecology. The symposium offered a forum for academics and professionals engaged in urban and ecological modeling to exchange ideas and experiences, specifically in areas that overlapped urban and environmental issues. The contri­ butions to this volume highlight the progress made in the various efforts to build integrated urban and environmental models. More importantly, each chapter shows how ideas have diffused across disciplinary boundaries to create better policy-relevant models. In addition, this book outlines some promising areas of research that could make important contributions to the field of urban and envi­ ronmental modeling. Integrated thinking about urban and environmental issues has been fundamental to the concept of sustainability.

Die vorliegende Publikation thematisiert aktuelle Probleme integrativer Modellierung vor dem Hintergrund des Ziels der Forschung zum globalen Wandel. Dabei werden insbesondere Fragen der Modellbildung und Szenarienentwicklung wie auch die Beurteilung ihrer qualitätssichernden Kriterien erörtert. Das Ziel ist eine umfassende Analyse von Chancen und Limitationen integrativer Forschungs- und Modellierungsarbeit, die im Rahmen der Global Change-Forschung geleistet wird. Durch Einbringung von Erfahrungen aus der Forschungspraxis, ihrer theoretischen Fundierung und methodischen Reflexion soll dieses Ziel erreicht werden. Die resultierenden Erkenntnisse sollen der Standortbestimmung und dem Fortschritt integrativer Forschung zum globalen Wandel dienen - auf strategischer Ebene auch der Gewinnung von Perspektiven für die weitere Entwicklung und Schwerpunktsetzung in Deutschland.

This is the first book to summarize all aspects of allergenic pollen: production, atmospheric distribution, and health impacts, as well as the means of monitoring and forecasting these phenomena. Based on a four-year effort by a large group of leading European scientists, this book highlights the new developments in research on allergenic pollen, including the modelling prospects and effects of climate change. The multidisciplinary team of authors offers insights into the latest technology of detection of pollen and its allergenic properties, forecasting methods, and the influence of allergenic pollen on the population. The comprehensive coverage in this book makes it an indispensible volume for anyone dealing with allergenic pollen worldwide. Readers involved in environmental health, aerobiology, medicine, and plant science will find this book of interest.

Das Buch enthält ausgewählte Beiträge von Workshops zur Theorie und Modellierung von Ökosystemen, die von der BTU Cottbus veranstaltet wurden. Schwerpunkte des Buches sind systemtheoretische Grundlagen und dynamische Eigenschaften ökologischer Systeme, Modellierungskonzepte und Anwendungen mathematischer Modelle auf Fließgewässer, Kläranlagen und Agroökosysteme. Insbesondere wird die Verwendung von Informatikwerkzeugen zur Lösung von Umweltaufgaben betont. Dabei spielen neue physikalische und mathematische Sichtweisen zur Ökosystemanalyse und zur Bewertung von Umweltproblemen eine wichtige Rolle.

Fast alle Energieszenarien stützen sich auf Trends, die auf ein enormes Wachstum des Energiebedarfs in den nächsten Jahrzehnten hinauslaufen. Auf internationalen Konferenzen beschäftigt man sich indes mit dem Gegenteil: einer massiven Verringerung der Treibhausgasemissionen, vor allem der durch den Verbrauch von Energie verursachten CO2-Emissionen. Experten verweisen auch auf das politische Risiko der Abhängigkeit vom Erdöl und die Erschöpflichkeit von Ressourcen. Wie soll diese Kluft überbrückt werden? Wie lässt sich das bestehende Energiesystem nachhaltiger gestalten? Die Hoffnungen richten sich vor allem auf den technischen Fortschritt und Innovationen. Bislang liegen jedoch keine konkreten Vorschläge vor, inwieweit Innovationen tatsächlich dazu beitragen können, einen ständig wachsenden Energieverbrauch mit den Limitierungen im Hinblick auf die Ressourcenverfügbarkeit und die Umwelt sowie den strukturellen Anforderungen an ein Energiesystem in Einklang zu bringen. Die vorliegende Studie führt wirtschaftswissenschaftliche, juristische, naturwissenschaftliche und philosophische Kompetenzen im Hinblick auf derartige Vorschläge zusammen. Aufbauend auf einer soliden Rekonstruktion der mitunter verwirrenden Vielfalt der Begriffe werden Beurteilungen des bestehenden Energiesystems vorgelegt und Nachhaltigkeitspotenziale aufgezeigt. Die strategisch gebündelten Handlungsempfehlungen berücksichtigen die vielfältigen Zielkonflikte umwelt- und energiepolitischen Handelns und werden durch Implementierungsvorschläge ergänzt.

A balanced review of differing approaches based on remote sensing tools and methods to assess and monitor biodiversity, carbon and water cycles, and the energy balance of terrestrial ecosystem. Earth Observation of Ecosystem Services highlights the advantages Earth observation technologies offer for quantifying and monitoring multiple ecosystem fun

Die menschliche Gesellschaft ist durch moderne wissenschaftliche Verfahren der Klimamodellierung in der Lage, Vorhersagen des zukünftigen Klimas zu treffen. Ebenso lassen sich anhand der aktuellen Klimaforschung mögliche menschliche Ursachen für Klimaänderungen ausmachen. Damit wird das Klima im gesellschaftlichen Bewusstsein zur Sphäre menschlicher Handlungsfolgen. Menschliches'Klimahandeln'wird somit notwendig. Dabei berücksichtigt werden muss sowohl die Risikolage durch unwünschbare Klimawirkungen als auch die Verhältnismäßigkeit vorgeschlagener Maßnahmen oder zu entwickelnder Strategien in der Klimavorsorge. Diese Fragen versucht die vorliegende Studie zu klären. Dabei wird eine kritische Bestandsaufnahme des wissenschaftlichen Kenntnisstands aus den relevanten Disziplinen, eine Beurteilung des methodischen Instrumentariums der Klimaforschung und eine Überprüfung der in Anspruch genommenen Grundsätze, Ziele und Strategien der Klimapolitik vorgenommen.

Environmental Chemistry is a relatively young science. Interest in this subject, however, is growing very rapidly and, although no agreement has been reached as yet about the exact content and limits of this interdisciplinary discipline, there appears to be increasing interest in seeing environmental topics which are based on chemistry embodied in this subject. One of the first objectives of Environmental Chemistry must be the study of the environment and of natural chemical processes which occur in the environment. A major purpose of this series on Environmental Chemistry, therefore, is to present a reasonably uniform view of various aspects of the chemistry of the environment and chemical reactions occurring in the environment. The industrial activities of man have given a new dimension to Environmental Chemistry. We have now synthesized and described over five million chemical compounds and chemical industry produces about hundred and fifty million tons of synthetic chemicals annually. We ship billions of tons of oil per year and through mining operations and other geophysical modifications, large quantities of inorganic and organic materials are released from their natural deposits. Cities and metropolitan areas ofup to 15 million inhabitants produce large quantities of waste in relatively small and confined areas. Much of the chemical products and waste products of modern society are released into the environment either during production, storage, transport, use or ultimate disposal. These released materials participate in natural cycles and reactions and frequently lead to interference and disturbance of natural systems.

An important purpose of The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry is to aid the understanding of distribution and chemical reaction processes which occur in the environment. Volume 1, Part E of this series is dedicated to Environmental Systems, Physical Properties of the Atmosphere, Global Transport and the Thermodynamics of Ecosystems.

It has been evident from many years of research work in the geohydrologic sciences that a summary of relevant past work, present work, and needed future work in multivariate statistics with geohydrologic applications is not only desirable, but is necessary. This book is intended to serve a broad scientific audience, but more specifi­ cally is geared toward scientists doing studies in geohydrology and related geo­ sciences.lts objective is to address both introductory and advanced concepts and applications of the multivariate procedures in use today. Some of the procedures are classical in scope but others are on the forefront of statistical science and have received limited use in geohydrology or related sciences. The past three decades have seen a significant jump in the application of new research methodologies that focus on analyzing large databases. With more general applications being developed by statisticians in various disciplines, multivariate quantitative procedures are evolving for better scientific applica­ tion at a rapid rate and now provide for quick and informative analyses of large datasets. The procedures include a family of statistical research methods that are alternatively called'multivariate analysis'or'multivariate statistical methods'.

Modern Earth System Monitoring represents a fundamental change in the way scientists study the Earth System. In Oceanography, for the past two centuries, ships have provided the platforms for observing. Expeditions on the continents and Earth's poles are land-based analogues. Fundamental understanding of current systems, climate, natural hazards, and ecosystems has been greatly advanced. While these approaches have been remarkably successful, the need to establish measurements over time can only be made using Earth observations and observatories with exacting standards and continuous data. The 19 peer-reviewed contributions in this volume provide early insights into this emerging view of Earth in both space and time in which change is a critical component of our growing understanding.

This volume comprises the proceedings of the International Workshop on Eco­ logical Goal Functions, held at the Schleswig-Holstein Cultural Center of Salzau, August 30 -September 4, 1996. The conference - first in a series - intended to be convened at Salzau at 1 -2 year intervals to address various aspects of theo­ retical and application-oriented ecology, was initiated, organized and carried out under the auspices of the Ecology Center of the Kiel University. It featured key­ note addresses, invited lectures, submitted papers, and posters. 32 contributions written by authors from eight countries, were selected to be presented in this book. From the very rich discussions of the workshop, some general characteristics emerged which might become important for a deeper understanding of the nature of evolving systems or, in other words, systems with a history, described by variables with a high degree of interdependence. These characteristics include the following: Speaking of'goal functions'is a convenient'fa~on de parler', since a logical analysis of the formal structure of teleological and causal explanations shows that both are analogous with regard to the inherent structural typology and the basic mode of explanation. Teleological interpretations introduce motives or objectives of actors into the set of'antecedens'conditions relevant for system evolution, and are consequently a subset of causal interpretations.

This book synthesizes knowledge from several fields that are crucial to sustainable rural development: the physical environment, biological and agricultural production, rural sociology and economics. It takes a systems perspective incorporating systems analysis, landscape analysis and soil, water, and land planning. Directed toward graduate students and professionals, it provides a source of information and concepts for those concerned with land and water policies and practice. It presents an integrated approach using practical and applicable models and methods and takes a middle position between an elementary conceptual approach to land and water management and a highly mathematically advanced treatise based exclusively on system modeling. The book is based on almost twenty years of experience in teaching a course on rural planning and the environment, the authors being specialists from universities, research institutions and companies in Europe and North America.

Monitoring has become fashionable. Business now talks about monitoring its activities, efficiency, costs and profits. The National Health Service is monitoring general practices and hospitals; it is keen to have more information about efficiency and the duration of stay of patients in different hospitals undergoing different types of treatment. These activities are usually carried out in relation to specific objectives with the aim of making activities more cost effective and competitive. Does the same apply in biology, ecology and nature conservation? Or, are we still enjoying conducting field surveys for the fun of it, at best with rather vague objectives and saying to our colleagues that we do our work because we need to know what is there? This book is an opportunity to consider some of the reasons why monitoring is important, how it differs from survey, how it may be able to answer specific questions and help with site management or problem solving. It will explore some of the taxa that are suitable for recording and how you may actually set about doing it. It is not intended as a catalogue of techniques but we will in each chapter give you sources of material so that with the minimum of effort you will be able to proceed with an efficient, relevant and not too time­ consuming monitoring programme. Some of the points that you need to consider before starting are also set down in the synthesis at the end of the book.

This eighteenth volume of the Worldwatch Institute series makes it clear that the Great Recession affects many of the world's leading economic, social, and environmental trends—but that the impact can be very different by country.

This seventeenth edition of the Worldwatch Institute series shows that climate change continues to cast a long shadow over the world's leading economic, social, and environmental trends.

Many countries experience lack of harmony among economic development, environmental management and human health. As a consequence, public health, the integrity of ecosystems, and the efforts to reach environmental sustainability, have been adversely affected. The complexity, frequency and magnitude of those impacts is increasingly parallel to the t

The Siberian environment is a unique region of the world that is both very strongly affected by global climate change and at the same time particularly vulnerable to its consequences. The news about the melting of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean and the prospect of an ice-free shipping passage from Scandinavia to Alaska along the Russian north coast has sparked an international debate about natural resource exploitation, national boundaries and the impacts of the rapid changes on people, animals and plants. Over the last decades Siberia has also witnessed severe forest fires to an extent that is hard to imagine in other parts of the world where the po- lation density is higher, the fire-prone ecosystems cover much smaller areas and the systems of fire control are better resourced. The acceleration of the fire regime poses the question of the future of the boreal forest in the taiga region. Vegetation models have already predicted a shift of vegetation zones to the north under s- narios of global climate change. The implications of a large-scale expansion of the grassland steppe ecosystems in the south of Siberia and a retreat of the taiga forest into the tundra systems that expand towards the Arctic Ocean would be very signi- cant for the local population and the economy. I have studied Russian forests from remote sensing and modelling for about 11 years now and still find it a fascinating subject to investigate.

This sixteenth volume of Worldwatch's Vital Signs series makes it clear that climate change is both a growing driver of and an increasingly important motivator behind the world's leading economic, social, and environmental trends.

As in the terrestrial environment, most data collection from freshwater habitats to date falls into the survey, surveillance or research categories. The critical difference between these exercises and a monitoring project is that a monitoring project will clearly identify when we need to make a management response. A Model for Conservation Management and Monitoring Monitoring (as defined by Hellawell) is essentially a tool of practical conservation management, and Fig. 1.1 shows a simple, but effective, model for nature conser- tion management and monitoring. The need for clear decision-making is implicit in this model. First we must decide what would represent a favourable state for the key habitat or species, and then we must decide when to intervene if the state is (or becomes) unfavourable. A third, often overlooked, but equally important, decision concerns when we would consider the habitat or species to have recovered; this is unlikely to be the same point that we became concerned about it. This decision not only has resource imp- cations, it can also have major implications for other habitats and species (prey species are an obvious example). All of these decisions are essential to the devel- ment of an efficient and effective monitoring project.

The book reviews the current state of knowledge on the chemical and physical processes occurring in the environmental media (i) the atmosphere, (ii) the aqueous phase and (iii) soil and identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the chemical mechanisms (both explicit and condensed) currently available to simulate the multimedia environmental chemistry of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulate matter in these media. Contributions examine how well this knowledge has been incorporated into different types of CT models and appraise the current status and significant issues in the development and usage of the models. Model simulations of some real world chemical perturbations to the Earth system are presented which appraise the performance of the models in relation to'real world'observations. Serious caveats in our understanding of chemical processes and their simulation in the various compartments of the Earth system are highlighted and areas are identified that need urgent improvement, in particular with respect to environmental security.

A characteristic of the present global ecological situation is increasing instability or— put another way—a crisis in the civilization system, the global scale of which is expressed through a deterioration of human and animal habitats. The most sub­ stantial features of global ecodynamics of the late 20th and early 21st centuries include the rapid increase in world population (mainly in developing countries), increase in the size of the urban population (considerable growth in the number of megalopolises), and increase in the scales of such dangerous diseases as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, tuberculosis, etc. With growing population size the problems of providing people with food and improving their living conditions in many regions will not only not be resolved but will become even more urgent. Any possible benefit from decrease in per capita consumption as a result of increased efficiency of technologies will be outweighed by the impact of such a growth in population size. Despite the predom­ inant increase of population in developing countries, their contribution to the impact on the environment will not necessarily exceed that of developed countries. Key to ensuring sustainable development of the nature/society system (NSS) is the relation­ ship between production and consumption, as mentioned at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg (2002). As civilization has developed, so the problem of predicting the scale of expected climate change and associated change in human habitats has become more urgent.

This report tracks and analyzes 44 trends that are shaping our future, and includes graphs and charts to provide a visual comparison over time. Categories of trends include: Food, Agricultural Resources, Energy and Climate, Global Economy, Resource Economics, Environment, War and Conflict, Communications and Transportation, Population and Society, and Health and Disease.

Biomonitoring—a method for measuring amounts of toxic chemicals in human tissues—is a valuable tool for studying potentially harmful environmental chemicals. Biomonitoring data have been used to confirm exposures to chemicals and validate public health policies. For example, population biomonitoring data showing high blood lead concentrations resulted in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) regulatory reduction of lead in gasoline; biomonitoring data confirmed a resultant drop in blood lead concentrations. Despite recent advances, the science needed to understand the implications of the biomonitoring data for human health is still in its nascent stages. Use of the data also raises communication and ethical challenges. In response to a congressional request, EPA asked the National Research Council to address those challenges in an independent study. Human Biomonitoring for Environmental Chemicals provides a framework for improving the use of biomonitoring data including developing and using biomarkers (measures of exposure), research to improve the interpretation of data, ways to communicate findings to the public, and a review of ethical issues.

Economic dimensions have been somewhat neglected in research on nature policy and management of marine ecosystem exploitation. The current book aims to?ll this gap. It examines the mismatches of natural, socio-economic, and regulatory processes and regimes in time and space. This involves dealing with the complexity and uncertainty that are inherent to the interaction of marine ecosystems and economic systems. The approach adopted is based on the idea that the design of sustainability policies requires an integration of insights from resource, environmental, and ecological economics on theonehandandmarinebiologyandenvironmentalsciencesontheotherhand.Forthis purpose, use is made of integrated assessment on the basis of theoretical and applied mathematical models. The book is the result of a large project, hosted by the Department of Spatial E- nomics of the Free University in Amsterdam, under the supervision of the?rst author. TheprojectreceivedfundingfromtheNetherlandsOrganisationforScienti?cResearch (NWO), through a “priority program”titled“SustainableUseandConservationof- rine Living Resources,” which was initiated and coordinated by Prof. Wim Wolff of the University of Groningen. The work reported here has greatly bene?ted from external advice given by marine biologists who participated in this research program.

Large-scale natural catastrophes are environmental phenomena. Numerous studies in recent years have concluded that the frequency of occurrence of such natural disasters have been incereasing. leading to an enhanced risk of very considerable human and economic losses and the widespread destruction and pollution of habitats, settlements and infrastructure. In 2001 over 650 natural disasters happened around the globe with economic losses exceeding $35 billion. 2004 ended with the South East Asian tsunami on 26th December with its huge toll on life and local economics and this demonstrated that the efffects of such disasters are most keenly felt in poorer or developing regions. The problem of natural disaster prediction and the implementation of environmental monitoring systems to receive, store and process the information necessary for solutions of specific problems in this area, have been analysed by the three authors of this book, all of whom are internationally respected experts in this field.

This much-anticipated edition of Vital Signs covers 35 global trends that are shaping our future. From carbon emissions to loss of wetlands, each trend provides a brief status report on the topic plus graphs and charts that offer a visual comparison over time. Categories include Food, Economics, Transportation, Health, Governance, Energy and Climate, and Conflict and Peace.

The world consists of many complex systems, ranging from our own bodies to ecosystems to economic systems. Despite their diversity, complex systems have many structural and functional features in common that can be effectively si- lated using powerful, user-friendly software. As a result, virtually anyone can - plore the nature of complex systems and their dynamical behavior under a range of assumptions and conditions. This ability to model dynamic systems is already having a powerful influence on teaching and studying complexity. The books in this series will promote this revolution in “systems thinking” by integrating computational skills of numeracy and techniques of dynamic mod- ing into a variety of disciplines. The unifying theme across the series will be the power and simplicity of the model-building process, and all books are designed to engage the reader in developing their own models for exploration of the dyn- ics of systems that are of interest to them. Modeling Dynamic Systems does not endorse any particular modeling paradigm or software. Rather, the volumes in the series will emphasize simplicity of lea- ing, expressive power, and the speed of execution as priorities that will facilitate deeper system understanding.

This report provides a critical review of toxicologic, epidemiologic, and other relevant data on jet-propulsion fuel 8, a type of fuel in wide use by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), and an evaluation of the scientific basis of DOD's interim permissible exposure level of 350 mg/m3

With Vital Signs 2003, you'll have the cogent analysis you need to prepare for tomorrow's challenges.

The 2002 edition features more than 50 key indicators of long-term trends—from the growth of fish farms and bicycle production to the increase in solar cell and Internet use.

The global trends documented in Vital Signs 2001—from the rapid increase in the use of wind power to the continued warming of the planet—will play a large role in determining the quality of our lives and our children's lives in this new century.