An important guide to assessing and managing the environment from a landscape perspective Ecological relationships are nested within the landscape. Identifying the relevant spatial and temporal scales is critical for an effective understanding of ecological functions that human societies depend upon. Moreover, human encroachment into natural areas, or changes in climate, can alter spatial relationships, which in turn can negatively affect vital plant and wildlife patterns—and weaken economic structures needed to sustain human societies. This book is the first to combine multiple disciplines into one cohesive strategy to study these crucial connections, and looks toward building a social paradigm that embraces the dynamics of ecological systems. This book: Integrates landscape ecology, environmental risk assessment, valuation of ecological goods and services, and environmental management decision processes into one single source Includes chapters on quantitative measures, Bayesian modeling,¿economic analysis, and sustainable landscapes Covers marine, forest, agricultural, and pharmaceutical risk assessment Has a chapter on predicting climate change risk to ecosystems Has a companion ftp site with color graphics, animations, and risk assessment tools With material that is accessible across all knowledge levels, Environmental Risk Assessment and Management from a Landscape Perspective moves beyond looking solely at chemical contaminants to diagnose environmental threats, and aims to accomplish practical risk assessment in a manner that supports long-term sustainable management.

Ecotoxicology Essentials: Environmental Contaminants and Their Biological Effects on Animals and Plants provides a fundamental understanding of this area for students and professionals in ecotoxicology, ecology, conservation, chemistry, public health, wildlife management, fisheries, and many other disciplines. Although new chemicals and potential problems are developed every year, a basic education is essential to address these new challenges, and this work gives such training. Written with the regulatory framework in mind, the material guides readers on modelling, how to conduct assessments, and human and wildlife risk, focusing on effects on animals rather than transport of chemicals. Simple discussions of chemistry are complemented by coverage on the behavior of the animal, dynamics of the ecosystem, real-life situations like drought, and predators in the system – i.e., the natural system versus the lab setting. The book's first section contains chapters on the principles of contaminant toxicology including a brief history of the science of ecotoxicology, basic principles of the science, testing methods, and ways of determining if animals have been exposed to either acute or chronic concentrations of contaminants. The second section deals with the primary classes of contaminants including their chemical characteristics, sources, uses, and effects on organisms. The third section focuses on more complex issues such as the regulation of pollution, population and community effects, risk assessment and modelling. - Uses examples from both aquatic and terrestrial environments and species - Includes a Terms to Know section and a list of study questions in each chapter, fostering a greater understanding of the issues - Focuses on the effects of contaminants on wildlife while providing enough chemistry to allow a detailed understanding of the various contaminant groups - Emphasizes natural examples and 'real' species, rather than laboratory studies on only a handful of organisms - Features case histories, detailing actual events that include aspects of how the contamination occurred and its effects on wildlife - Provides material from a wide variety of international sources

The growing impacts of economic activities and climate change on the conditions of rivers throughout the world, require a new, integrated approach towards river basin management, an approach that can also cope with an uncertain future. In this volume, leading European scientists and representatives of major stakeholder groups present risk-informed management as this new approach, as developed in the European Commission-funded project RISKBASE. It aims to improve the ecological quality of river basins and thus to sustain the goods and services they provide for the benefit of society. Risk-informed management involves the integrated application of three key-principles: · Being well informed · Managing adaptively · Pursuing a participatory approach The authors explain and underpin these principles in detail, offer inspiring examples from practice and connect them to the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). This book is intended for scientists, consultants and practitioners concerned about river basins, world-wide, as well as the drafters and implementers of the WFD River Basin Management Plans.

Encyclopedia of Ecology, Second Edition, Four Volume Set continues the acclaimed work of the previous edition published in 2008. It covers all scales of biological organization, from organisms, to populations, to communities and ecosystems. Laboratory, field, simulation modelling, and theoretical approaches are presented to show how living systems sustain structure and function in space and time. New areas of focus include micro- and macro scales, molecular and genetic ecology, and global ecology (e.g., climate change, earth transformations, ecosystem services, and the food-water-energy nexus) are included. In addition, new, international experts in ecology contribute on a variety of topics. Offers the most broad-ranging and comprehensive resource available in the field of ecology Provides foundational content and suggests further reading Incorporates the expertise of over 500 outstanding investigators in the field of ecology, including top young scientists with both research and teaching experience Includes multimedia resources, such as an Interactive Map Viewer and links to a CSDMS (Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System), an open-source platform for modelers to share and link models dealing with earth system processes

This comprehensively updated third edition explores the nature and role of environmental management and offers an introduction to this rapidly expanding and changing field. It focuses on challenges and opportunities, and core concepts including sustainable development. The book is divided into five parts: Part I (Introduction to Environmental Management): four introductory chapters cover the justification for environmental management, its theory, scope, goals and scientific background Part II (Practice): explores environmental management in economics, law and business and environmental management’s relation with environmentalism, international agreements and monitoring Part III (Global Challenges and Opportunities): examines resources, challenges and opportunities, both natural and human-caused or human-aggravated Part IV (Responses to Global Challenges and Opportunities): explores mitigation, vulnerability, resilience, adaptation and how technology, social change and politics affect responses to challenges Part V (The Future): the final chapter considers the way ahead for environmental management in the future. With its well-structured coverage, effective illustrations and foundation for further, more-focused interest, this book is easily accessible to all. It is an essential reference for undergraduates and postgraduates studying environmental management and sustainability, and an important resource for many students on courses including environmental science, environmental studies and human geography.

This book offers an introduction to the theory and practice of ecological wisdom (EW). EW is the integration of robust contemporary science with proven cultural and historical practices to identify long-term, sustainable solutions to problems of environmental management and urban design. The book combines theoretical concepts with specific case studies, illustrating the opportunities for interdisciplinary approaches combining historical experience, cultural context, and contemporary science as effective strategies for addressing complex problems confronting metropolitan and rural environmental and resource management in areas such as land use, water management, materials and building engineering, urban planning, and architecture and design. EW transcends the limitations in these fields of the normative approaches of modernity or traditional wisdom by offering a new, synthetic strategy to address socio-ecological issues. By presenting these ideas both theoretically and through existing case studies, the book provides researchers, practitioners and students with a powerful new perspective in developing long-term, resilient solutions to existing socio-environmental challenges. It is intended mainly for those working or interested in the fields of sustainable environmental and resource management, city and regional planning, architecture and design, civil engineering, landscape architecture, and the philosophy of science, particularly those with an ecological or sustainability focus.

Data Science Applied to Sustainability Analysis focuses on the methodological considerations associated with applying this tool in analysis techniques such as lifecycle assessment and materials flow analysis. As sustainability analysts need examples of applications of big data techniques that are defensible and practical in sustainability analyses and that yield actionable results that can inform policy development, corporate supply chain management strategy, or non-governmental organization positions, this book helps answer underlying questions. In addition, it addresses the need of data science experts looking for routes to apply their skills and knowledge to domain areas. - Presents data sources that are available for application in sustainability analyses, such as market information, environmental monitoring data, social media data and satellite imagery - Includes considerations sustainability analysts must evaluate when applying big data - Features case studies illustrating the application of data science in sustainability analyses