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This book serves as an introduction to invertebrate conservation biology for agriculturists and to crop protection for conservation biologists. Demonstrating how the two disparate fields may interact for greater collective benefit, it draws on recent literature to reveal how invertebrate conservation in highly altered landscapes may be promoted and enhanced. ... Read more

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In the face of decreasing biodiversity and ongoing global changes, maintaining ecosystem functioning is seen both as a means to preserve biological diversity as well as for safeguarding human wellbeing by securing the services ecosystems provide. The concept today is prominent in many fields of ecology and conservation biology, such as biodiversity research, ecosystem management, or restoration ecology. Although the idea of ecosystem functioning is important, the concept itself remains rather vague and elusive. This book provides a novel analysis and integrated synthesis of different approaches to conceptualizing and assessing ecosystem functioning. It links the natural sciences with methodologies from philosophy and the social sciences, and introduces a new methodology for a clearer and more efficient application of ecosystem functioning concepts in practice. Special emphasis is laid on the social dimensions of the concept and the ways it influences research practice. Several case studies relate theoretical analyses to practical application. ... Read more

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Never Highlight a Book Again! Cram101 Textbook Outlines give the student all of the highlights, notes, and practice-tests for their textbook. Only Cram101 is Textbook Specific, not generic. ... Read more

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Ecology has long been shaped by ideas that stress the sharing of resources and the competition for those resources, and by the assumption that populations and communities typically exist under equilibrium conditions in habitats saturated with both individuals and species. However, much evidence contradicts these assumptions and it is likely that nonequilibrium is much more widespread than might be expected. This book is unique in focusing on nonequilibrium aspects of ecology, providing evidence for nonequilibrium and equilibrium in populations (and metapopulations), in extant communities and in ecological systems over evolutionary time. ... Read more

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There is growing concern over the conservation and management of European wet grasslands. The maintenance of the European wet grassland landscape, including floodplain meadows and coastal grazing marshes or pastures, through traditional low-intensity farming has conserved a habit supporting internationally important plant and animal communities, including many rare species. However,land use changes such as flood defence, land drainage, agricultural intensification and neglect have caused a considerable reduction in the extent and biodiversity of European wet grasslands. The international importance of the habitat for biodiversity conservation has recently been recognised with its inclusion in the European Union Habitats and Species Directive and the Convention on Biological Diversity fostered by the United Nations. This volume thoroughly examines European perspectives of wet grassland ecology in order to encourage an integrated approach to contemporary issues. Important topics covered include the status of wet grasslands in Europe, their biodiversity (plants, invertebrates and birds), hydrology and management (especially for conservation objectives), and the restoration of this threatened habitat. It combines prescriptive, analytical and reviewing contributions, including case studies from across Europe. As such, this book will appeal equally to academic institutions and professional practitioners. ... Read more

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Clearcut forests, endangered species, national parks, loss of crop varieties: in the last decade the common element of these varied concerns has become widely recognized. These are all biodiversity issues: they relate to the variety of life on Earth and our relationship with it. This relationship is now capturing the attention of activists, scientists, policymakers, and the public, from negotiations at the United Nations to concerns about the neighborhood park.

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In temperate areas, grasslands can occupy 50% of the agricultural area, providing up to 75% of fodder for cattle playing an essential role in farming systems. This important book provides comprehensive details of 40 major grass species. For each species included, an anatomical description is given together with full colour photographs and comprehensive details concerning the ecological requirements and agronomic properties species-by-species.

This book provides an invaluable reference source for any scientist involved in work with grass. ... Read more

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This book is many things in one: the story of an American researcher's experiences in India and his country; a thoroughly researched and documented study of the policies, prospects, and pragmatics of ecological and ethical decisions that ought to determine our future. It casts the US in roles seldom seen - as partner an proprietor of global environmental projects. The book carries amply relevant and analytical data besides a fairly detailed chapter on an Indo-US initiative that has borne excellent results - the special relationship in human and scientific terms that developed through the 1950s and 60s between Dillon Ripley (of the Smithsonian Institution) and Salim Ali (of the Bombay Natural History Society). ... Read more

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Explores how systematists are in a unique position to identify critical areas of endemism and additional criteria for the identification of habitats and species most urgently in need of protection. ... Read more

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Outside Russia very little is known about the terrestrial ecology, vegetation, biogeographical patterns, and biodiversity of the enormously extensive ecosystems of Yakutia, Siberia. These systems are very special in that they function on top of huge layers of permafrost and are exposed to very severe and extreme weather conditions, the range between winter and summer temperatures being more than 100 degrees C. The soils are generally poor, and human use of the vegetation is usually extensive. Main vegetation zones are taiga and tundra, but Yakutia also supports a special land and vegetation form, caused by permafrost, the alas: more or less extensive grasslands around roundish lakes in taiga. All these vegetation types will be described and their ecology and ecophysiological characteristics will be dealt with. Because of the size of Yakutia, covering several climatic zones, and its extreme position on ecological gradients, Yakutia contains very interesting biogeographical patterns, which also will be described. Our analyses are drawn from many years of research in Yakutia and from a vast body of ecological and other literature in Russian publications and in unpublished local reports. The anthropogenic influence on the ecosystems will be dealt with. This includes the main activities of human interference with nature: forestry, extensive reindeer herding, cattle and horse grazing, etc. Also fire and other prominent ecological factors are dealt with. A very important point is also the very high degree of naturalness that is still extant in Yakutia’s main vegetation zones.

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The cause of global change has been the subject of heated debate in the past few years, especially in relation to climate change and biodiversity decline. However, a systematic explanation for changes in the biosphere at the global level has still not been found. In this volume, a wide range of viewpoints from ecology and economics are surveyed to see if some light can be shed on this problem. Economists analyze how economic growth predictably alters the earth, and ecologists consider how the drive for fitness and consequent population growth changes the globe. Both look at the institutional interface between humans and biosphere, and explain global change as the consequence of human noncooperation and conflict. The object of this volume is to initiate debate among economists, ecologists and conservationists on global change at this most fundamental level. ... Read more

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Scattered over several continents, the ancient lakes of the world have a unique uninterrupted history dating back beyond 100,000 years.
Ancient lakes are, in effect, aquatic islands in which a complex of ecology, genetics and evolutionary constraints have shaped in isolation their biotas over hundreds of thousands to millions of years. The diverse faunas achieve some of the highest levels of diversity known to any habitat, offering unique opportunities as 'natural laboratories' for studying the mechanisms of evolution and speciation in situ.
This internationally authored volume contains the latest research results and theories to emerge from a diverse range of studies in these lakes.
Containing exciting new findings in the ecology, evolution and systematic studies of ancient lake biotas together with many suggested areas for future research, it will be essential reading for all those with a general interest in ecology, evolution and natural history.
In this volume expert scientists present the latest results and perspectives from their research on the organisms of the ancient lakes. Diverse in its taxonomic coverage and themes, and international in its authorship and coverage, Ancient Lakes will appeal to all biologists interested in evolution, ecology and biodiversity.

Key Features
* Ancient lakes are increasingly recognised as important models of evolution and speciation
* This volume presents a diverse range of exciting new hypotheses and perspectives on ancient lake biotas
* Information is included on Russian and Chinese faunas, available in English here for the first time ... Read more

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Insects are the most diverse and abundant animals that share our world, and conservation initiatives are increasingly needed and being implemented globally, to safe guard the wealth of individual species. This book provides sufficient background information, illustrated by examples from many parts of the world, to enable more confident and efficient progress towards the conservation of these ecologically indispensable animals. Writing for graduate students, academic researchers and professionals, Tim New describes the major ingredients for insect species management and conservation, and how these may be integrated into effective practical management and recovery plans. ... Read more

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Pollution has accompanied polar exploration since Captain John Davis’ arrival on the Antarctic continent in 1821 and has become an unavoidable consequence of oil spills in our polar regions. Fortunately, many of the organisms indigenous to Polar ecosystems have the ability to degrade pollutants. It is this metabolic capacity that forms the basis for bioremediation as a potential treatment for the hydrocarbons that contaminate the pristine polar environments.

The only book to cover the breadth of microbial ecology and diversity in polar regions with an emphasis on bioremediation, Polar Microbiology: The Ecology, Biodiversity, and Bioremediation Potential of Microorganisms in Extremely Cold Environments examines the diversity of polar microorganisms and their ability to degrade petroleum hydrocarbon contaminants in polar terrestrial and aquatic environments. Providing a unique perspective of these microorganisms in extremely cold temperatures, the book focuses on their taxonomy, physiology, biochemistry, population structure, bioremediation potential, and potential for biotechnology applications. Leading investigators in the field provide complete coverage of the microbiology relevant to the study of biodiversity and biodegradation of pollutants in the Arctic and Antarctic, including:

• Microbial extremophiles living in cold and subzero temperature environments
• Genetics and physiology of cold adaptation of microorganisms
• Biodegradative microbial consortia in a defined closed environment
• Molecular characterization of biodegradative microbial populations
• Molecular approaches to assess biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons
• Environmental impact of hydrocarbon contamination
• Microbial biodiversity across Antarctic deserts

By bringing together the current state of scientific knowledge and research on microbial community structures in extremely cold temperatures, this thought provoking resource is the ideal starting point for the research that must be done if we are to effectively reduce human’s eco-footprint on our polar regions.

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This practical handbook describes sampling and laboratory assessment methods for the biodiversity of a number of key functional groups of soil organisms, including insects, earthworms, nematodes, fungi and bacteria. The methods have been assembled and the protocols drafted by a number of scientists associated with the UNEP-GEF funded Conservation and Sustainable Management of Below-Ground Biodiversity project, executed by the Tropical Soil Biodiversity and Fertility (TSBF) institute of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).

The methods provide a standardized basis for characterizing soil biodiversity occurring in terrestrial natural and agro-ecosystems in the tropics and current land uses in forest and forest margin areas. The aim is to assess soil biodiversity against current and historic land use practices both at plot and landscape scales and further to identify opportunities for improved sustainable land management through the introduction and/or management of soil biota, thus reducing the need for external inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides. The book does not contain identification keys as such, but there is extensive advice on the handling of specimens and the allocation of organisms to strain or functional group type.

Published with TSBF-CIAT. ... Read more

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Our planet, with all its spectacular diversity, is a source of endless fascination-the stunning success of books like Earth from Above is proof of that. Now comes this spellbinding volume, filled with glorious images from the world's greatest nature photographers. This breathtaking work celebrates the amazing variety of species and ecosystems and how various forces affect them positively and negatively. In his absorbing, informative text, journalist Nicolas Hulot presents a lucid portrait of eight ecosystems (forests, oceans, deserts, poles, mountains, wetlands, grasslands, and cities), the species that inhabit them, and the role humans play in each. One Planet, just in time for Earth Day, is a loving photographic tribute to the beauty of the earth-it will remind us all how important it is to preserve this exquisite planet. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Lovely
This is a lovely book. Over sized photographs of nature's beauty make this book a joy and an inspiration to look through.

Highly recommended top pick.
Eight biological ecosystems of the Earth are described in full here, but with a difference: an oversized presentation and vivid full-page color photos are as much the emphasis as natural history text, lending to a format which will please coffee table collectors of fine art and photography as much as natural history readers. OUR PLANET: A CELEBRATION OF BIODIVERSITY gathers a striking abundance of close-up images of flora and fauna alike, presenting gorgeous shots which are extraordinarily artistic and well detailed. While the natural history explanations are very well done, it's the vivid color photos which makes for a unique, highly recommended top pick.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch ... Read more

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Biospeleology, the study of organisms that live in caves, has a tremendous potential to inform many aspects of modern biology; yet this area of knowledge remains largely anchored in neo-Lamarckian views of the natural world in both its approaches and jargon. Written for graduate students and academic researchers, this book provides a critical examination of current knowledge and ideas on cave biology, with emphasis on evolution, ecology, and conservation. Aldemaro Romero provides a historical analysis of ideas that have influenced biospeleology, discusses evolutionary phenomena in caves, from cave colonization to phenotypic and genotypic changes, and integrates concepts and knowledge from diverse biological viewpoints. He challenges the conventional wisdom regarding the biology of caves, and highlights urgent questions that should be addressed in order to get a better and more complete understanding of caves as ecosystems. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

a different cave biology book
Cave biology seems to be suddenly popular with British university presses. This book was published almost simultaneously with Culver and Pipan's The Biology of Caves and other Subterranean Habitats, Oxford University Press, with the same list price of $60. Romero's book is somewhat unusual. One nice feature is the first chapter, a lengthy and interesting history of biospeleology and evolutionary theories. This is followed by an unusually wide-ranging survey of cave life, including things like the flora and fauna of sea caves, which are not (reasonably enough) generally considered the subject of biospeleology. The last major chapter is a survey of threats to caves and their ecology, pretty conventional although no doubt valuable to someone who has not already well-read on the subject.

Unfortunately, the main thrust of the middle of the book, on evolution and ecology, seems to be to attack other work in the field as too narrowly based. This becomes tiresome, as it consists largely of wantonly misinterpreting things. Nobody ever claimed that the principles that seem to govern evolution and ecology of troglobites in Kentucky and Virginia also apply to bat caves in the tropics. When authors write about the stability of the cave environment, they mean from day to day and season to season, not over evolutionary or geological time scales. Certainly cave biology looks a lot different when one considers all the life that has ever been seen in caves. That's why such life has traditionally been divided into troglobites and others, with the troglobites getting the most research attention for obvious reasons. That there are a lot of cave animals that don't show troglomorphic traits is hardly surprising when one includes everything. Romero does have a favorite cave-life-origin theory of his own, that of phenotypic plasticity, although I didn't get a clear notion of just how that relates to the genetic changes that define new species. On first reading, it smells like Lamarckism.

The color plates in Romero's book don't add much, as they are just color versions of photographs that appear in black and white elsewhere in the book.

I recommend Culver and Pipan as a more main-stream survey of biospeleology. Borrow a copy of Romero's book to read the historical chapter.--Bill Mixon ... Read more

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Writing for researchers, professionals and graduate students, the authors summarize the collapse of populations of many farmland bird species in the 20th century, one of the biggest conservation problems of the day. They firstly set the historical context of change in agriculture and bird communities since the 18th century, and introduce the bird communities of agricultural land today. They then provide an overview of this very active area of applied conservation science, including in-depth case studies of 16 species that, taken together, illustrate the many ways that agricultural intensification has affected bird populations. Moreover, they show how this evidence base, coupled with recent greening of agriculture policy, has provided opportunities to manage agricultural land to better integrate the needs of food production and bird conservation. They conclude by looking forward to challenges that the conservation of bird populations on agricultural land is likely to face in the near future. ... Read more

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Despite its supreme importance and the threat of its global crash, biodiversity remains poorly understood both empirically and theoretically. This ambitious book presents a new, general neutral theory to explain the origin, maintenance, and loss of biodiversity in a biogeographic context.

Until now biogeography (the study of the geographic distribution of species) and biodiversity (the study of species richness and relative species abundance) have had largely disjunct intellectual histories. In this book, Stephen Hubbell develops a formal mathematical theory that unifies these two fields. When a speciation process is incorporated into Robert H. MacArthur and Edward O. Wilson's now classical theory of island biogeography, the generalized theory predicts the existence of a universal, dimensionless biodiversity number. In the theory, this fundamental biodiversity number, together with the migration or dispersal rate, completely determines the steady-state distribution of species richness and relative species abundance on local to large geographic spatial scales and short-term to evolutionary time scales.

Although neutral, Hubbell's theory is nevertheless able to generate many nonobvious, testable, and remarkably accurate quantitative predictions about biodiversity and biogeography. In many ways Hubbell's theory is the ecological analog to the neutral theory of genetic drift in genetics. The unified neutral theory of biogeography and biodiversity should stimulate research in new theoretical and empirical directions by ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and biogeographers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Very thorough book on neutral theory in ecology by the man himself
The author presents a thorough case for his neutral theory of biogeography. He gives a full historical account of its development, and presents plenty of results from publications and simulations, essentially expounding point for point the search for more precise answers to the questions, why are there so many species, and why are they distributed they way they are? Full of interesting insights, and many points are applicable to other sciences as well - economics come to mind. One thing that might have been useful is a more explicit discussion of other neutral theories, say the theories of genetic drift, which predate Hubbell's equal named "ecological drift".But within its stated scope the book is very complete and highly readable as well. Maybe I should mention that I am writing as a scientist - it is not a typical pop science book to read on the train. It truly is a science book. It does not demand much prior knowledge but it does demand attention.

Good theory, poor explication
Hubbell's work is interesting and thought-provoking. Unfortunately, his writing ability leaves a lot to be desired. As an applied mathematician working with biologists personally I think you should:
1. Specify your (mathematical) model *without* examples or justifications first.
Hubbell mixes his models with examples and rambling justifications. Poorly constructed ones if you ask me. This makes it hard to pull out what exactly the model is sometimes.
2. Make derivations clear and concise and if complicated put them in appendices. Hubbell does none of these. His mathematical reasoning and writing is far below the standard in science and although impressive for an ecologist, substandard for anyone else. He would have strongly benefitted from having a trained mathematician co-write or at least edit his mathy sections. Many of the results are either well known or would be explained differently by someone trained in the explication of mathematics. The importance of this is huge since the result is sometimes his statements are totally unclear. For example, on page 124 he says "as the sample size increase towards infinity..." This is a sample from a finite sized population. So he should be clear and say either sample with replacement, or also taking the population size to infinity, (which is it!) otherwise it doesn't make sense.

I also find his egoism (common in my experience with ecologists) disappointing. While he may have come up with a new theory of biodiversity, he did not come up with many of the underlying models. Unfortunately, he barely pays any respect to the countless other people who paved the way for his results. For example, his species abundance distribution is just the Ewen's sampling formula from population genetics, derived in 1972. In fact, the model side of the entire theory comes straight out of population genetics. Yes it explains something different, but it would be nice to see something at least some acknowledgement of that (something he is clearly aware of since he cites many of the popgen papers).

Also, the reference list is incomplete and the index is one of the worst I have come across recently. Paying for a good indexer is always worth the money.

In short, the ideas in this book are important, but the book itself is cluttered and not as clear as it could be. So I average 5 stars and 1 star and get 3 stars.

Towards a unified thoery, but not there yet
A couple of years ago, Dr. Jim Brown (Univ. New Mexico) wrote an article in the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) website indicating that he had not seen any really significant new ideas in ecology during the last few year. Well, we have one.
In the hierarchy of biological systems, ecology deals with the highest and most complex levels. Explanation for patterns of abundance and distribution of organisms have been either too specific that only applies to a few species or even one, or too general that can not be tested (remember the ghost of competition's past).
Ecologists working at the community level have mostly been guided by the general principle that interactions tend to determine the diversity of communities. On the larger scale of biogeography, researchers considered that local diversity tends to be a function of a regional species pool. This debate became very contested in the early 1980's and continued for almost a decade, without any meaningful progress.Nonetheless, significant achivements in both areas of inquiry were made.
Hubbell takes advantage of the increased large-scale reasearch in community ecology (like the Smithsonian-MAB biodiversity network of plots) coupled with the ever more manipulative and reductionist approach to biogeography. Is important to add here Hubbell's own contribution to biodiversity research is substantial.Furthermore, the originality of the work is what sets this monograph appart from the last few in the series. The application of random walk models (i.e., ecological drift) to the organization of communities is not a truly new approach. What make is unique is that then he incorporates immigration and extinction rates across space (classical MacArthur-Wilson), and can then predict a range of abundances and distributions.He supplies ample data from tropical systems that agree with model's predictions. The more interesting aspect is when the data doesn't agree.Here there is plenty of productive work to be performed.
One point that Hubbell makes concerning the "triviality" of the nuetrality assumption.Can there be cases when the differential survival of individuals lead to deviations from the theory's prediction?I think that the assumption of neutrality is not as trivial as Hubbell makes it.
Overall, is probably one of the most intriguing and original works of the last decade.If you are interested in ecology, biogeography, and even conservation, this book will challenge what you know and how should we look at patterns and process of biodiversity. ... Read more