This is a timely volume in view of the considerable interest currently shown in the preservation of our cultural heritage, and the extensive and growing literature on the subject. Unfortunately, the latter is to be found in a wide variety of published sources, some aimed at a very specific readership and therefore not all that accessible to those who need this resource. The present volume draws together a spectrum of biodeterioration work from across the world to provide an overview of the materials examined and the methodologies employed to elucidate the nature of the problems, as well as an extensive and current bibliographical resource on lichen biodeterioration. Biodeterioration of historical and culturally important stone substrata is a complex problem to be addressed. Easy, risk-free solutions are simply not available to be dealt with by other than a wide range of expertise. Successful resolution of this issue will inevitably require a multidisciplinary effort, where biologists work in close cooperation with ecologists, geologists, geochemists, crystallographers, cultural property conservators, archaeologists, anthropologists, and historians in order to recommend the most effective management scheme. The advantage of this approach is obvious: multidisciplinary management teams with good leadership can ask more appropriate questions while developing much more thoughtful and informed decisions.

A superb resource for understanding the diversity of the modern discipline of biogeography, and its history and future, especially within geography departments. I expect to refer to it often. - Professor Sally Horn, University of Tennessee "As you browse through this fine book you will be struck by the diverse topics that biogeographers investigate and the many research methods they use.... Biogeography is interdisciplinary, and a commonly-voiced concern is that one biogeographer may not readily understand another′s research findings. A handbook like this is important for synthesising, situating, explaining and evaluating a large literature, and pointing the reader to informative publications." - Geographical Research "A valuable contribution in both a research and teaching context. If you are biologically trained, it provides an extensive look into the geographical tradition of biogeography, covering some topics that may be less familiar to those with an evolution/ecology background. Alternatively, if you are a geography student, researcher, or lecturer, it will provide a useful reference and will be invaluable to the non-biogeographer who suddenly has the teaching of an introductory biogeography course thrust upon them." - Adam C. Algar, Frontiers of Biogeography The SAGE Handbook of Biogeography is a manual for scoping the past, present and future of biogeography that enable readers to consider, where relevant, how similar biogeographical issues are tackled by researchers in different ′schools′. In line with the concept of all SAGE Handbooks, this is a retrospective and prospective overview of biogeography that will: Consider the main areas of biogeography researched by geographers Detail a global perspective by incorporating the work of different schools of biogeographers Ecplore the divergent evolution of biogeography as a discipline and consider how this diversity can be harnessed Examine the interdisciplinary debates that biogeographers are contributing to within geography and the biological sciences. Aimed at an international audience of research students, academics, researchers and practitioners in biogeography, the text will attract interest from environmental scientists, ecologists, biologists and geographers alike.

Following in the footsteps of the successful first edition, Functional Plant Ecology, Second Edition remains the most authoritative resource in this multidisciplinary field. Extensively revised and updated, this book investigates plant structure and behavior across the ecological spectrum. It features the ecology and evolution of plant crowns and a

Aerobiology is the science that studies the biological component of the atmosphere and its effects on living systems and on the environment. This term was used for the first time in 1935, but the attention of scientists to the biological component of the atmosphere goes back to 1769, when the Italian biologist Spallanzani carried out a series of experiments that disproved the concept of spontaneous generation of life and proved the presence of viable microorganisms in the air. Aerobiology has marked characteristics of interdisciplinarity: its application fields range from respiratory diseases to the airborne outbreak of animal and vegetal diseases and to the biodegradation of substances and materials. The latter is the subject of this book. The purpose of aerobiological research applied to the conservation of cultural heritage is to evaluate the risk of alteration by airborne microorganisms of materials forming artefacts of historical, artistic and archaeological interest. Airborne spores and vegetative structures may develop on different substrates and may be a cause of degradation, in relation to the types of materials, the microclimatic situation and the pollution of the conservation environments. The qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the biological component of air, performed by means of targeted analysis campaigns, and of the characteristics of materials and environments, supplies indispensable information for the evaluation of the actual risk and the planning of interventions. This book is divided into four main parts.