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This book provides guidelines to key soil taxa in the deserts of Kuwait and guidance to associated procedures for laboratory analyses of soils, leading to land use planning on informed decisions. Soils are essential to provide food, feed, and fiber in addition to multiple ecosystem services that sustain life on earth. To achieve the above services sustainably, it is essential to use soils rationally based on their potential for specific uses. This requires establishing national soil classification systems to assess soils locally and to provide guidance to other countries where similar soils may be occurring. Once soil classification is established, it becomes easier to adopt technologies established on similar soils and environmental conditions without conducting long-term and expensive experimental trial. The taxa are established based on soil's morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties and climatic factors. It offers opportunities to maintain future soil surveys and their correlation to the soils of Kuwait. The book is useful in other arid region countries where similar soil and environmental conditions are existing, such as Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. The book also has international relevance, as it was prepared by extracting definitions from USDA-NRCS keys to soil taxonomy, and sections related to soils of Kuwait are added in the book. The book is a unique and excellent addition to the international soil literature.

The Mesopotamian marshes are important for economic, social, and biodiversity values and have been home to indigenous human communities for millennia. They are regarded as a legendary site. This multi-authored book contains chapters written by world-renowned experts in their field. Both basic and applied information are made available, making the book a must-have for a wide spectrum of users. For example, an understanding of the natural and the social aspects of the marshes, as described here, is an obvious prerequisite for a pest management plan in this area. Scholars interested in wetlands can use this book as a guide to compare different wetlands areas in Asia. The bibliography section contains valuable references to the marsh areas and research in the field. This book serves as an up-to-date comprehensive source of information on different aspects of the southern marshes of Iraq and is aimed at academic scholars, environmentalists, and decision makers.

This book is a completely revised, substantially extended treatment of the physical and biological factors that drive life in high mountains. The book covers the characteristics of alpine plant life, alpine climate and soils, life under snow, stress tolerance, treeline ecology, plant water, carbon, and nutrient relations, plant growth and productivity, developmental processes, and two largely novel chapters on alpine plant reproduction and global change biology. The book explains why the topography driven exposure of plants to dramatic micro-climatic gradients over very short distances causes alpine biodiversity to be particularly robust against climatic change. Geographically, this book draws on examples from all parts of the world, including the tropics. This book is complemented with novel evidence and insight that emerged over the last 17 years of alpine plant research. The number of figures – mostly in color – nearly doubled, with many photographs providing a vividimpression of alpine plant life worldwide.Christian Körner was born in 1949 in Austria, received his academic education at the University of Innsbruck, and was full professor of Botany at the University of Basel from 1989 to 2014. As emeritus Professor he is continuing alpine plant research in the Swiss Alps.

This book provides an up-to-date account of the current understanding of climate change and global warming related to environment, climate, plant and vegetation growth. The aim of this book is to provide a platform for scientists and academics world-wide to promote, share, and discuss various new issues and developments in the area of plant and vegetation growth related to climate change. Over the next decades, it is predicted that billions of people, particularly those in developing countries, face shortages of water and food and greater risks to health and life as a result of climate change. Concerted global action is needed to enable developing countries to adapt to the effects of climate change that are happening now and will worsen in the future. The book will also enhance the understanding on issues related to climate change, giving a clear indication of a looming global warming crisis. Addressing global climate change is a monumental battle that can only be fought by the leaders of tomorrow, but future leaders are molded through education and shaped by the leaders of today.

Terrestrial hermit crabs are among the most widespread beach-dwelling organisms with key ecological functions but receive only very limited research attention. Sebastian Steibl demonstrates how physical parameters shape their overall distribution, presents a possible mechanism for their speciation and coexistence and shows for the first time how different human activities can have a major impact on their populations. The author points out that terrestrial hermit crabs, due to their conspicuous behavior to utilize shells, are a good model to study mechanisms of competition and coexistence in natural populations. Furthermore, they are suitable indicator organisms to assess human impact, as they respond differently depending on the type of anthropogenic disturbance.About the Author:Sebastian Steibl is a PhD student at the Institute of Animal Ecology at the University of Bayreuth, Germany. In his actual PhD research, he builds up on the presented work to investigate the architecture as well as functionality of small insular ecosystems and to analyze how different anthropogenic disturbances impact those ecosystem processes.

This book chronicles the decades-long work of studying, analyzing, and reversing the environmental pressures that threatened India's Chilika Lagoon, the largest brackish-water lagoon in the region, and the second largest in the world. Designated as one of India's first Ramsar Sites in 1981, Chilika Lagoon continued to degrade for a decade longer. Then, the Chilika Development Authority (CDA) was established to gather information and devise a restoration plan that benefits the ecosystems of the lagoon, with sensitivity to the needs and livelihoods of local communities. Expert contributors detail the work of analysis, planning and implementation, including extensive coverage of such topics as: Devising a plan for implementing Ramsar wise use guidelines Sedimentologic, chemical, and isotopic impacts Hydrodynamics and salinity Runoff and sediment in watersheds of the Lagoon's Western Catchment Long-term analysis of water quality and continued water quality monitoring Bio-optical models for cyclone impact assessment Studies of geomorphology, land use, and sedimentary environments Spatiotemporal assessment of phytoplankton communities Creation of a post-restoration scenario for fish and fisheries Assessing status of waterbirds, species diversity and migration patterns The result was a major hydrological intervention to re-establish hydrological and salinity regimes, biodiversity, and fish catches, and help protect the livelihood of lagoon-dependent communities. The story of the rehabilitation and management of Chilika Lagoon demonstrates that it is possible to halt and reverse the encroachment and degradation of wetlands, to restore biodiversity and to provide benefits for large numbers of people. Ecology, Conservation, and Restoration of Chilika Lagoon goes beyond scientific research articles to explore institutional and governance issues, political ecology, and the Ramsar Convention's guidelines for ecosystem restoration. The book will benefit researchers, wetland managers, government policy makers and more general readers concerned with restoration and conservation of wetlands around the planet.

This book provides the first comprehensive assessment of ecosystem services (ES) for the territory of the Slovak Republic. Although the ES approach is widely used for the evaluation of the benefits of natural capital and biodiversity for people, this book has a unique character. It provides an assessment of 18 individual ES, which are divided into three main groups - provisioning, regulatory/supporting and cultural ES. For each of ES, a brief theoretical and methodological overview is given, followed by spatial assessment based on own original methodology and dataset of 40 map layers. Besides, an evaluation of main ES groups and overall ES assessment is realized. This book emphasizes the key role of nature protection areas, large areas of forest ecosystems and mountain and sub-mountain areas, for the preservation of the various functions of the healthy landscape and ecosystems. The complexity of the book guarantees its usefulness - not only as the knowledge base for the territory of Slovakia but also as the methodological tool for worldwide researchers.

This book presents research on precipitation partitioning processes in vegetated ecosystems, putting them into a global context. It describes the processes by which meteoric water comes into contact with the vegetation's canopy, typically the first surface contact of precipitation on land. It also discusses how precipitation partitioning by vegetation impacts the amount, patterning, and chemistry of water reaching the surface, as well as the amount and timing of evaporative return to the atmosphere. Although this process has been extensively studied, this is the first review of the global literature on the partitioning of precipitation by forests, shrubs, crops, grasslands and other less-studies plant types. The authors offer global contextualization combined with a detailed discussion of the impacts for the climate and terrestrial ecohydrological systems. As such, this comprehensive overview is a valuable reference tool for a wide range of specialists and students in the fields of geoscience and the environment.

Coastal and estuarine environments at the interface of terrestrial and marine areas are among the most productive in the world. However, since the beginning of the industrial era, these ecosystems have been subjected to strong anthropogenic pressures intensified from the second half of the 20th century, when there was a marked acceleration in the warming (climate change) of the continents, particularly at high latitudes. Coastal ecosystems are highly vulnerable to alteration of their physical, chemical and biological characteristics (marine intrusion, acidification of marine environments, changes in ecosystems, evolution and artificialization of the coastline, etc.).In contact with heavily populated areas, these environments are often the receptacle of a lot of chemical and biological pollution sources that significantly diminish their resilience. In this context of accelerated evolution and degradation of these areas important for food security of many populations around the world, it is necessary to better identify the factors of pressure and understand, at different scales of observation, their effects and impacts on the biodiversity and on the socio-eco-systems, in order to determine the degree of vulnerability of these coastal ecosystems and the risks they face. A transdisciplinary and integrated approach is required to prevent risks. Within this framework, operational coastal oceanography occupies an important place but also the implementation of a true socio-eco-system approach in order to set up an environmentally friendly development.

This up-to-date textbook of global vegetation ecology, which comprises the current state of knowledge, is long overdue and much-needed. It is a translation of the textbook “Vegetation der Erde” (Springer-Spektrum, Heidelberg). A short introductory chapter deals with the fundamentals of vegetation ecology that are of importance for the delimitation and characterization of the global vegetation presented in this book (chorology, evolution of plants, physiognomic and structural characteristics, phytodiversity and the human impact on it as well as general terminology concerning both plant growth forms and on vegetation structure types). In the following chapters the zonal and azonal vegetation from the tropics to the polar regions including high mountains is described and discussed. The main focus is on the characterization of interactions between the spatial location of plants and plant communities on the one hand and site conditions, historic and genetic processes, spatial andtemporal patterns, ecophysiology and anthropogenic influences on the other hand. Additional information on specific topics is provided in 51 boxes.

This book is the sixth and final volume in the Tasks for Vegetation Science book series, and it concludes the most comprehensive scientific documentation dealing with hypersaline ecosystems of the world.

This volume will discuss the state of the art of different observation and measurement techniques useful for ecohydrological studies. The techniques cover the entire spectrum of the water-soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. And the other volumes are'Water and Ecosystems','Water-Limited Environments'and'Integrated Ecohydrological Modeling'etc.

Lakes across the globe require help. The Lake Restoration Handbook: A New Zealand Perspective addresses this need through a series of chapters that draw on recent advances in modelling and monitoring tools, citizen science and First Peoples'roles, catchment and lake-focused restoration techniques, and policy implementation. New Zealand lakes, like lakes across the globe, are subject to multiple pressures that have increased in severity and scale as land use has intensified, invasive species have spread and global climate change becomes manifest. This books builds on the popular Lake Managers Handbook (1987), which provided guidance on undertaking investigations into, and understanding lake ecosystems in New Zealand. The Lake Restoration Handbook: A New Zealand Perspective synthesises contemporary issues related to lake restoration and rehabilitation, integrated with social science and cultural viewpoints, and complemented by authoritative topic-area summaries by renowned scientists and practitioners from across the globe. The book examines the progress of lake restoration and the new and emerging tools available to managers for predicting and effecting change. The book will be a valuable resource for natural and social scientists, policy writers, lake managers, and anyone interested in the health of lake ecosystems.

This textbook presents a comprehensive process-oriented approach to biogeochemistry that is intended to appeal to readers who want to go beyond a general exposure to topics in biogeochemistry, and instead are seeking a holistic understanding of the interplay of biotic and environmental drivers in the cycling of elements in forested watersheds. The book is organized around a core set of ecosystem processes and attributes that collectively help to generate the whole-system structure and function of a terrestrial ecosystem. In the first nine chapters, a conceptual framework is developed based on distinct soil, microbial, plant, atmospheric, hydrologic, and geochemical processes that are integrated in the element cycling behavior of watershed ecosystems. With that conceptual foundation in place, students then proceed to the final three chapters where they are challenged to think critically about integrated element cycling patterns; roles for biogeochemical models; the likely impacts ofdisturbance, stress, and management on watershed biogeochemistry; and linkages among patterns and processes in watersheds experiencing novel environmental changes. Included with the text are figures, tables of comparative data, extensive literature citations, a glossary of terms, an index, and a set of 24 biogeochemical problems with answers. The problems are intended to support chapter concepts and to demonstrate how critical thinking skills, simple algebra, and thoughtful human logic can be used to solve applied problems in biogeochemistry that might be encountered by a research scientist or a resource manager. Using this book as an introduction to biogeochemistry, students will achieve a level of subject mastery and disciplinary perspective that will permit them to see and to interpret the individual components, interactions, and synergies that are represented in the dynamic element cycling patterns of watershed ecosystems.

Since the publication of the 2nd edition, there have been substantial developments in the field of litter decomposition. This fully revised and updated 3rd edition of Plant Litter reflects and discusses new findings and re-evaluates earlier ones in light of recent research and with regard to current areas of investigation. The availability of several long-term studies allows a more in-depth approach to decomposition patterns and to the later stages of decomposition, as well as to humus formation and accumulation. The latest information focuses on three fields: - the effects of manganese on decomposition and possibly on carbon sequestration, - new findings on decomposition dynamics, and- the new analytical technique using 13C-NMR.

Wetlands are very sensitive ecosystems, functioning as a habitat for many organisms. Protection and regeneration of wetlands are of great importance in ecological research and in nature conservation. A huge amount of research has been done on the hydrology, plants and animals in wetlands. Knowledge about soil organisms and soil ecological processes of wetlands is still lacking. This knowledge is a prerequisite for landscape planning purposes or climate change predictions. In the case of climate change, trace gas emissions from wetlands are of great interest. The authors provide an overview of the state-of-the-art on soil ecology in wetlands. The book is divided into the following main chapters:'Wetlands as habitats for soil organisms','Soil ecological processes in fens and floodplains','Carbon and nitrogen dynamics in soils with different water regimes'and'Trace gas emissions'.

Earth is home to an estimated 8 million animal species, 600,000 fungi, 300,000 plants, and an undetermined number of microbial species. Of these animal, fungal, and plant species, an estimated 75% have yet to be identified. Moreover, the interactions between these species and their physical environment are known to an even lesser degree. At the same time, the earth's biota faces the prospect of climate change, which may manifest slowly or extremely rapidly, as well as a human population set to grow by two billion by 2045 from the current seven billion. Given these major ecological changes, we cannot wait for a complete biota data set before assessing, planning, and acting to preserve the ecological balance of the earth. This book provides comprehensive coverage of the scientific and engineering basis of the systems ecology of the earth in 15 detailed, peer-reviewed entries written for a broad audience of undergraduate and graduate students as well as practicing professionals in government, academia, and industry. The methodology presented aims at identifying key interactions and environmental effects, and enabling a systems-level understanding even with our present state of factual knowledge.

How does life on our planet respond to--and shape--climate? This question has never been more urgent than it is today, when humans are faced with the daunting task of guiding adaptation to an inexorably changing climate. This concise, accessible, and authoritative book provides an unmatched introduction to the most reliable current knowledge about the complex relationship between living things and climate. Using an Earth System framework, David Schimel describes how organisms, communities of organisms, and the planetary biosphere itself react to and influence environmental change. While much about the biosphere and its interactions with the rest of the Earth System remains a mystery, this book explains what is known about how physical and chemical climate affect organisms, how those physical changes influence how organisms function as individuals and in communities of organisms, and ultimately how climate-triggered ecosystem changes feed back to the physical and chemical parts of the Earth System. An essential introduction, Climate and Ecosystems shows how Earth's living systems profoundly shape the physical world.

Urbanization drastically alters the ecosystems structure and functions, disrupts cycling of C and other elements along with water. It alters the energy balance and influences climate at local, regional and global scales. In 2008, urban population exceeded the rural population. In 2050, 70% of the world population will live in urban centers. The number of megacities (10 million inhabitants) increased from three in 1975 to 19 in 2007, and is projected to be 27 in 2025. Rapid urbanization is altering the ecosystem C budget. Yet, urban ecosystems have a large C sink capacity in soils and biota. Judicious planning and effective management can enhance C pool in urban ecosystems, and off-set some of the anthropogenic emissions. Principal components with regards to C sequestration include home lawns and turfs, urban forests, green roofs, park and recreational/sports facilities and urban agriculture.

Exploring the potential use of bivalves as indicators and monitors of ecosystem health, this book describes live and computer simulated experiments, mesocosm studies, and field manipulation experiments. This second edition discusses major new developments, including phase shifts in many coastal and estuarine ecosystems dominated by suspension-feeding bivalves, the invasion or introduction of alien bivalve species, the rapid growth of environmental restoration focused on bivalves, and the examination of geological history with regard to global climate change and its impact on bivalve-dominated systems.

The fossil record contains unique long-term insights into how ecosystems form and function which cannot be determined simply by examining modern systems. It also provides a record of endangered species through time, which allow us to make conservation decisions based on thousands to millions of years of information. The aim of this book is to demonstrate how palaeontological data has been or could be incorporated into ecological or conservation scientific studies. This book will be written by palaeontologists for modern ecologists and conservation scientists. Manuscripts will fall into one (or a combination) of four broad categories: case studies, review articles, practical considerations and future directions. This book will serve as both a ‘how to guide'and provide the current state of knowledge for this type of research. It will highlight the unique and critical insights that can be gained by the inclusion of palaeontological data into modern ecological or conservation studies.

Chapter 1 - Ecosystem Chapter 2 - Biodiversity Hotspot Chapter 3 - Terrestrial Ecozone Chapter 4 - Ecoregion Chapter 5 - Biome Chapter 6 - Tundra Biome Chapter 7 - Taiga Biome Chapter 8 - Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests Chapter 9 - Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands and Scrub Chapter 10 - Riparian Zone Chapter 11 - Biotope Chapter 12 - Landform Chapter 13 - Body of Water

It is well known that the biochemical processes of life on Earth are maintained by the external solar radiation and can be reduced to the synthesis and decomposition of organic matter. Man has added the synthesis and decomposition of various in­ dustrial products to these natural processes. On one hand, biological synthesis may only be conducted within the rather narrow margins of parameters of the environ­ ment, including temperature, humidity, concentrations of the inorganic substances used by life (such as carbon dioxide, oxygen, etc.) On the other hand, the physical and chemical composition of the environment suffers significant changes during those processes of synthesis and decomposition. The maximum possible rate of such change due to the activity of living beings can exceed the average geophysical rates of change of the environment due to activity ofterrestrial depths and cosmic processes by a factor often thousand. In the absence of a rigid correlation between the biological synthesis and decomposition, the environment would be greatly disturbed within a decade and driven into a state unfit for life. A lifeless Earth, however would suffer similar changes only after about a hundred thousand years. Preservation of the existing state of the environment is only possible with strict equality between the rates of biological synthesis and decomposition, that is, when the biochemical cycles of matter are virtually closed.

We know that our gas-guzzling cars are warming the planet, the pesticides and fertilizers from farms are turning rivers toxic, and the earth has run out of space for the mountains of unrecycled waste our daily consumption has left in its wake. We've heard copious accounts of our impact—as humans, as a society—on the natural world. But this is not a one-sided relationship. Lost in these dire and scolding accounts has been the impact on us and our well-being. You sense it while walking on a sandy beach, or in a wild, woody forest, or when you catch sight of wildlife, or even while gardening in your backyard. Could it be that the natural environment is an essential part of our happiness? Yes, says Eric Lambin emphatically in An Ecology of Happiness. Using a very different strategy in addressing environmental concerns, he asks us to consider that there may be no better reason to value and protect the health of the planet than for our own personal well-being. In this clever and wide-ranging work, Lambin draws on new scientific evidence in the fields of geography, political ecology, environmental psychology, urban studies, and disease ecology, among others, to answer such questions as: To what extent do we need nature for our well-being? How does environmental degradation affect our happiness? What can be done to protect the environment and increase our well-being at the same time? Drawing on case studies from Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America, Lambin makes a persuasive case for the strong link between healthy ecosystems and happy humans. Unique in its scope and evenhanded synthesis of research from many fields, An Ecology of Happiness offers a compelling human-centered argument that is impossible to overlook when we marvel at murmurations of starlings or seek out the most brilliant fall foliage: nature makes our steps a little lighter and our eyes a little brighter. What better reason to protect an ecosystem or save a species than for our own pleasure?

The Guayana Highlands in northeastern tropical America, rising from lowland rain forests and savannas up to 3000 m elevation, are characterized by ancient tablelands called tepuis. The peatlands that developed on the tepuis constitute unique and fascinating ecosystems and are the focus of this volume, which starts with an overview of tropical and subtropical peats, followed by an introduction to the geo-ecological features of the Guayana region as a whole, with special emphasis on the diversity of the vegetation cover from lowlands to uplands to highlands. The core subject centers on the properties and dating of the peat deposits and the interpretation of the chronological record in terms of past environmental changes. The well illustrated book will appeal to a broad range of scientists interested in tropical highland peats, including quaternarists, soil scientists, geomorphologists, geographers, geologists, ecologists, botanists, hydrologists, conservationists, and land use planners.

This international rigorously peer-reviewed volume critically synthesizes current knowledge in forest hydrology and biogeochemistry. It is a one-stop comprehensive reference tool for researchers and practitioners in the fields of hydrology, biogeoscience, ecology, forestry, boundary-layer meteorology, and geography. Following an introductory chapter tracing the historical roots of the subject, the book is divided into the following main sections:· Sampling and Novel Approaches· Forest Hydrology and Biogeochemistry by Ecoregion and Forest Type· Hydrologic and Biogeochemical Fluxes from the Canopy to the Phreatic Surface· Hydrologic and Biogeochemical Fluxes in Forest Ecosystems: Effects of Time, Stressors, and HumansThe volume concludes with a final chapter that reflects on the current state of knowledge and identifies some areas in need of further research.

In examining both theory and applications, this book, through useful examples, provides a stimulating introduction to ecosystems. It examines the nature, types and characteristics of ecosystems as well as investigating the interactions between various systems and human actions. Using functional ecology as the basis for applying the ecosystem concept in contemporary environmental science and ecology, this second edition of this highly successful volume has been updated to reflect the latest research. It incorporates a strengthened theme in the use of functional ecology in explaining how ecosystems work and how the ecosystem concept may be used in science and applied science, and coverage of the interactions between humans and ecosystems has been substantially bolstered with the addition of chapters on human impacts and large scale impacts on ecosystems, and global environmental change and the consequences for ecosystems.Presented in a student-friendly format, this book features boxed definitions, examples, case studies, summary points, discussion questions and annotated further reading lists. It provides a concise and accessible synthesis of both ecosystem theory and its applications, and will be a valuable resource for students of environmental studies, ecology and geography.

Nutrient Cycling in Terrestrial Ecosystems presents a comprehensive overview of nutrient cycling processes and their importance for plant growth and ecosystem sustainability. The first part of the book presents the fundamentals of nutrient cycling. Topics included are cycling of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur and micronutrients. Particular attention is paid to the role of root exudates and rhizosphere microorganisms in facilitating nutrient cycling. The second part discusses nutrient cycling at an ecosystem scale, covering cropping systems, pastures, natural grasslands, arid lands, tundras and forests. The final chapter reviews current models of nutrient cycling. By comprehensively covering nutrient cycling at a range of scales and emphasising multidisciplinary approaches, this volume will support scientists and practitioners alike, providing links between those involved in improving sustainable economic output from managed ecosystems and those interested in conservation of natural ecosystems.

The demand for advanced management methods and tools for marine ecosystems is increasing worldwide. Today, many marine ecosystems are significantly affected by disastrous pollution from industrial, agricultural, municipal, transportational, and other anthropogenic sources. The issues of environmental integrity are especially acute in the Mediterranean and Red Sea basins, the cradle of modern civilization. The drying of the Dead Sea is one of the most vivid examples of environmental disintegration with severe negative consequences on the ecology, industry, and wildlife in the area. Strategic management and coordination of international remedial and restoration efforts is required to improve environmental conditions of marine ecosystems in the Middle East as well as in other areas. The NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) held in Nice in October 2003 was designed to: (1) provide a discussion forum for the latest developments in the field of environmentally-conscious strategic management of marine environments, and (2) integrate expertise of ecologists, biologists, economists, and managers from European, American, Canadian, Russian, and Israeli organizations in developing a framework for strategic management of marine ecosystems. The ASI addressed the following issues: Key environmental management problems in exploited marine ecosystems; Measuring and monitoring of municipal, industrial, and agricultural effluents; Global contamination of seawaters and required remedial efforts; Supply Chain Management approach for strategic coastal zones management and planning; Development of environmentally friendly technologies for coastal zone development; Modeling for sustainable aquaculture; and Social, political, and economic challenges in marine ecosystem management.

Following the exciting exploration of hot vent and cold seep ecosystems, the rediscovery of cold-water coral ecosystems with high-technology instrumentation is currently another hot topic in multidisciplinary marine research. Conventionally, coral reefs are regarded as restricted to warm and well-illuminated tropical seas, not associated with cold and dark waters of higher latitudes. However, ongoing scientific missions have shed light on the global significance of this overlooked ecosystem. Cold-water coral ecosystems are involved in the formation of large seabed structures such as reefs and giant carbonate mounds, and they represent unexploited paleo-environmental archives of earth history. Like their tropical cousins, cold-water coral ecosystems harbour rich species diversity. Despite the great water depths, commercial interests overlap more and more with the coral occurrences. Human activities already impinge directly on cold-water coral reefs causing severe damage to this vulnerable ecosystem. In this volume, the current key institutions involved in cold-water coral research have contributed 62 state-of-the-art articles from geology and oceanography to biology and conservation.

Coastal East and Southeast Asia are characterized by wet growing seasons, and species-rich forest ecosystems develop throughout the latitudinal and altitudinal gradients. In this region, the Global Change Impacts on Terrestrial Ecosystems in Monsoon Asia (TEMA) project was carried out as a unique contribution to the international project Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems. TEMA aimed to integrate forest ecosystem processes, from leaf physiology to meteorological budget and prediction of long-term change of vegetation composition and architecture through demographic processes. Special attention was given to watershed processes, where forest ecosystem metabolism affects the properties and biogeochemical budgets of freshwater ecosystems, and where rivers, wetlands, and lakes are subject to direct and indirect effects of environmental change. This volume presents the scaling-up concept for better understanding of ecosystem functioning.

Nutrient recycling, habitat for plants and animals, flood control, and water supply are among the many beneficial services provided by aquatic ecosystems. In making decisions about human activities, such as draining a wetland for a housing development, it is essential to consider both the value of the development and the value of the ecosystem services that could be lost. Despite a growing recognition of the importance of ecosystem services, their value is often overlooked in environmental decision-making. This report identifies methods for assigning economic value to ecosystem services—even intangible ones—and calls for greater collaboration between ecologists and economists in such efforts.