Capitalizing on forty years of intensive ecological studies, this anthology presents a collection of widely dispersed major publications on theoretical and practical Mediterranean, global environmental and landscape issues. Each chapter features a comprehensive study of ecological and landscape issues, synthesized in the introduction, and woven with autobiographical experiences. The concluding chapter calls for a transdisciplinary shift in all environmental scientific fields and particularly in landscape and restoration ecology, to cope with the complex, closely interwoven ecological, socio-economical, political and cultural crises facing human society during the present crucial transition from the industrial to the post-industrial, global information age. Updating and broadening the scope of the groundbreaking Springer book on Landscape Theory and Applications by the author and Lieberman (1994), this is a unique transdisciplinary attempt based on advanced systems complexity theories, which link the natural and human sciences.

Never so pleased, sir. 'Twas an excellent dance, And for a preface, I never heard a better. Two Noble Kinsmen, Act III, Sc.S This volume is based mostly on the lectures delivered at an Advanced Study Institute (ASI) of the same title held in July 1977. One lecture given is not in the volume and three chapters, although not based on lectures delivered, have been added to better balance the book. A chapter on the ecosensory functions in crustaceans could not be put in due to time contingency. This absence is deeply regretted. The idea to hold an ASI on Sensory Ecology evolved slowly, main ly due to my own research interest in the past and partly to the discussions I had with a number of colleagues, particularly Dr. John Lythgoe of the University of Sussex. The purpose was to interface Sensory Physiology with Ecology so that workers in those fields will develop a greater awareness for each other. Sense organs have of course evolved to keep their possessors.~ware of the environment and changes in it. Thus, normally one could expect that a study of their functions will be undertaken in relation to environmental parameters.

It is more and more evident that our living system is completely disturbed by human intrusion. Such intrusion affects the functioning of entire systems in ways we do not yet fully understand. We use paradigms such as the disturbance to cover large and deep gaps in our scienti?c knowledge. Human ecology is an uncertain terrain for anthropologists, geographers, and ecologists and rarely is expanded to include the social and economic realms. The integration of different disciplines and the application of their many paradigms to problems of environmental complexity remains a distant goal despite the many efforts that have been made to achieve it. Philosophical and semantic barriers are erected when such integration is pursued by pioneering scientists. Recently, evolutionary ecology has shown great interest in the spatial processes well described by the emerging discipline of landscape ecology. But this interest takes the form of pure curiosity or at worst, of skepticism toward the real capacity of landscape ecology to contribute to the advancement of ecological science. The past two centuries have been characterized by huge changes occurring in the entire ecosphere. Global changes are the effects of human intervention at a planetary scale, with consequent degradation of the environment creating an e- logical debt for future generations. On the other side of the issue, new technologies have improved the welfare of billions of people and have given hope to many other billions that they may also see such improvement in the near future.

Capitalizing on forty years of intensive ecological studies, this anthology presents a collection of widely dispersed major publications on theoretical and practical Mediterranean, global environmental and landscape issues. Each chapter features a comprehensive study of ecological and landscape issues, synthesized in the introduction, and woven with autobiographical experiences. The concluding chapter calls for a transdisciplinary shift in all environmental scientific fields and particularly in landscape and restoration ecology, to cope with the complex, closely interwoven ecological, socio-economical, political and cultural crises facing human society during the present crucial transition from the industrial to the post-industrial, global information age. Updating and broadening the scope of the groundbreaking Springer book on Landscape Theory and Applications by the author and Lieberman (1994), this is a unique transdisciplinary attempt based on advanced systems complexity theories, which link the natural and human sciences.

This book describes the underlying water conditions and geologies that support viable riparia, illustrates the ecological characteristics of riparia, and discusses how riparia are used by human cultures as well as how riparia can be used to sustain environmental quality. In recent years riparian management has been widely implemented as a means of improving fisheries, water quality, and habitat for endangered species. This book provides the basic knowledge necessary to implement successful, long-term management and rehabilitation programs. - Treats riparian patterns & processes in a holistic perspective, from ecological components to societal activities - Contains over 130 illustrations and photos that summarize this complex ecological system - Synthesizes the information from more than 6,000 professional articles - Sidebars provide a look into ongoing research that is at the frontiers of riparian ecology and management

This book offers the first guide to landscape ecologists on the art and science of doing experiments, both observational and manipulative. How do you conduct an experiment when your study subject is as big as a landscape? Issues of scale, spatial heterogeneity and limitations on replication may challenge scientists seeking to carry out robust experiments in landscape ecology. Beginning with an overview of the history and philosophy of the scientific method, and tracing the development of experimental approaches in ecology broadly, the first half of the book discusses the broader issues of what makes a good experiment. Individual chapters describe unique aspects of landscape ecology that present challenges to experimentation, with suggestions for solutions on issues of scale, and how to apply controls, randomization and adequate replication in a landscape setting. The second half of the book describes different kinds of landscape ecology experimental approaches including: large-scale manipulations experimental model landscapes mesocosms and microcosms in silico experiments novel landscapes Each chapter describes the advantages and disadvantages of each approach, and identifies the types of landscape ecology concepts and questions that a research can address. Examples from around the world, in a myriad of different environments, help to illustrate the ideas in each chapter. Together with an annotated resources section, this book aims to stimulate ideas and inspire creativity for graduate students and early career researchers who want to conduct better experiments in landscape ecology.