Download or read book Changing Ecosystems and Their Services written by Levente Hufnagel and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2020-03-11 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Changing Ecosystems and their Services provides a very interesting account of the frontiers of biodiversity and ecological research. It consists of seven chapters covering mass extinctions: the "Big Five" and "The Sixth", which are recent global ecological crises, Caribbean biodiversity, acoustic habitat degradation due to shipping in the world's oceans, methane production of microbes in Amazonian floodplains, African mangrove forests, pollination as ecosystem services in Ethiopia, and climate change management. I am sure that this book will be very useful for everybody-researchers, teachers, students, or others interested in the field-who would benefit from insight into biodiversity research.
Download or read book Advancing the Science of Climate Change written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2011-01-10 with total page 526 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for-and in many cases is already affecting-a broad range of human and natural systems. The compelling case for these conclusions is provided in Advancing the Science of Climate Change, part of a congressionally requested suite of studies known as America's Climate Choices. While noting that there is always more to learn and that the scientific process is never closed, the book shows that hypotheses about climate change are supported by multiple lines of evidence and have stood firm in the face of serious debate and careful evaluation of alternative explanations. As decision makers respond to these risks, the nation's scientific enterprise can contribute through research that improves understanding of the causes and consequences of climate change and also is useful to decision makers at the local, regional, national, and international levels. The book identifies decisions being made in 12 sectors, ranging from agriculture to transportation, to identify decisions being made in response to climate change. Advancing the Science of Climate Change calls for a single federal entity or program to coordinate a national, multidisciplinary research effort aimed at improving both understanding and responses to climate change. Seven cross-cutting research themes are identified to support this scientific enterprise. In addition, leaders of federal climate research should redouble efforts to deploy a comprehensive climate observing system, improve climate models and other analytical tools, invest in human capital, and improve linkages between research and decisions by forming partnerships with action-oriented programs.
Download or read book Ecosystems and Human Well being written by Joseph Alcamo and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ecosystems and Human Well-Being is the first product of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, a four-year international work program designed to meet the needs of decisionmakers for scientific information on the links between ecosystem change and human well-being. The book offers an overview of the project, describing the conceptual framework that is being used, defining its scope, and providing a baseline of understanding that all participants need to move forward. The Millennium Assessment focuses on how humans have altered ecosystems, and how changes in ecosystem services have affected human well-being, how ecosystem changes may affect people in future decades, and what types of responses can be adopted at local, national, or global scales to improve ecosystem management and thereby contribute to human well-being and poverty alleviation. The program was launched by United National Secretary-General Kofi Annan in June 2001, and the primary assessment reports will be released by Island Press in 2005. Leading scientists from more than 100 nations are conducting the assessment, which can aid countries, regions, or companies by: providing a clear, scientific picture of the current sta
Download or read book Routledge Handbook of Ecosystem Services written by Marion Potschin and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-01-22 with total page 929 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The idea that nature provides services to people is one of the most powerful concepts to have emerged over the last two decades. It is shaping our understanding of the role that biodiverse ecosystems play in the environment and their benefits for humankind. As a result, there is a growing interest in operational and methodological issues surrounding ecosystem services amongst environmental managers, and many institutions are now developing teaching programmes to equip the next generation with the skills needed to apply the concepts more effectively. This handbook provides a comprehensive reference text on ecosystem services, integrating natural and social science (including economics). Collectively the chapters, written by the world's leading authorities, demonstrate the importance of biodiversity for people, policy and practice. They also show how the value of ecosystems to society can be expressed in monetary and non-monetary terms, so that the environment can be better taken into account in decision making. The significance of the ecosystem service paradigm is that it helps us redefine and better communicate the relationships between people and nature. It is shown how these are essential to resolving challenges such as sustainable development and poverty reduction, and the creation of a green economy in developing and developed world contexts.
Download or read book Loss and Damage from Climate Change written by Reinhard Mechler and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-11-28 with total page 563 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides an authoritative insight on the Loss and Damage discourse by highlighting state-of-the-art research and policy linked to this discourse and articulating its multiple concepts, principles and methods. Written by leading researchers and practitioners, it identifies practical and evidence-based policy options to inform the discourse and climate negotiations. With climate-related risks on the rise and impacts being felt around the globe has come the recognition that climate mitigation and adaptation may not be enough to manage the effects from anthropogenic climate change. This recognition led to the creation of the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage in 2013, a climate policy mechanism dedicated to dealing with climate-related effects in highly vulnerable countries that face severe constraints and limits to adaptation. Endorsed in 2015 by the Paris Agreement and effectively considered a third pillar of international climate policy, debate and research on Loss and Damage continues to gain enormous traction. Yet, concepts, methods and tools as well as directions for policy and implementation have remained contested and vague. Suitable for researchers, policy-advisors, practitioners and the interested public, the book furthermore: • discusses the political, legal, economic and institutional dimensions of the issue• highlights normative questions central to the discourse • provides a focus on climate risks and climate risk management. • presents salient case studies from around the world.
Download or read book Mapping Ecosystem Services written by Benjamin Burkhard and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The new book Mapping Ecosystem Services provides a comprehensive collection of theories, methods and practical applications of ecosystem services (ES) mapping, for the first time bringing together valuable knowledge and techniques from leading international experts in the field." (www.eurekalert.org).
Download or read book Wetlands Management written by Didem Gokce and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2019-01-23 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wetlands include mangroves, peatlands and marshes, rivers and lakes, deltas, floodplains, rice fields, and even coral reefs. It is known that wetlands are ecologically sensitive systems and the most vulnerable of habitats. Anthropogenic activities (urbanization, water uses, land cover changes, industrial activity, pollution, climatic change, etc.) have direct and indirect effects on wetlands. The evaluation of wetlands with a multidisciplinary perspective in environmental sciences and social sciences provides efficient results. Each chapter takes a crucial look at different approaches to the solution by analyzing wetland problems in the laboratory or in the field and collecting data. The purpose of this book is to help researchers, scientists, and decision-makers utilize a methodology appropriate for a specific problem.
Download or read book Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2012-03-17 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon platform drilling the Macondo well in Mississippi Canyon Block 252 (DWH) exploded, killing 11 workers and injuring another 17. The DWH oil spill resulted in nearly 5 million barrels (approximately 200 million gallons) of crude oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). The full impacts of the spill on the GoM and the people who live and work there are unknown but expected to be considerable, and will be expressed over years to decades. In the short term, up to 80,000 square miles of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) were closed to fishing, resulting in loss of food, jobs and recreation. The DWH oil spill immediately triggered a process under the U.S. Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) to determine the extent and severity of the "injury" (defined as an observable or measurable adverse change in a natural resource or impairment of a natural resource service) to the public trust, known as the Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA). The assessment, undertaken by the trustees (designated technical experts who act on behalf of the public and who are tasked with assessing the nature and extent of site-related contamination and impacts), requires: (1) quantifying the extent of damage; (2) developing, implementing, and monitoring restoration plans; and (3) seeking compensation for the costs of assessment and restoration from those deemed responsible for the injury. This interim report provides options for expanding the current effort to include the analysis of ecosystem services to help address the unprecedented scale of this spill in U.S. waters and the challenges it presents to those charged with undertaking the damage assessment.
Download or read book Ecosystem Services for Well Being in Deltas written by Robert J. Nicholls and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-05-29 with total page 615 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book answers key questions about environment, people and their shared future in deltas. It develops a systematic and holistic approach for policy-orientated analysis for the future of these regions. It does so by focusing on ecosystem services in the world’s largest, most populous and most iconic delta region, that of the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta in Bangladesh. The book covers the conceptual basis, research approaches and challenges, while also providing a methodology for integration across multiple disciplines, offering a potential prototype for assessments of deltas worldwide. Ecosystem Services for Well-Being in Deltas analyses changing ecosystem services in deltas; the health and well-being of people reliant on them; the continued central role of agriculture and fishing; and the implications of aquaculture in such environments.The analysis is brought together in an integrated and accessible way to examine the future of the Ganges Brahmaputra delta based on a near decade of research by a team of the world’s leading scientists on deltas and their human and environmental dimensions. This book is essential reading for students and academics within the fields of Environmental Geography, Sustainable Development and Environmental Policy focused on solving the world’s most critical challenges of balancing humans with their environments. This book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Download or read book Ecosystem Services and Poverty Alleviation OPEN ACCESS written by Kate Schreckenberg and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-04-27 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understanding how to sustain the services that ecosystems provide in support of human wellbeing is an active and growing research area. This book provides a state-of-the-art review of current thinking on the links between ecosystem services and poverty alleviation. In part it showcases the key findings of the Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) programme, which has funded over 120 research projects in more than 50 countries since 2010. ESPA’s goal is to ensure that ecosystems are being sustainably managed in a way that contributes to poverty alleviation as well as to inclusive and sustainable growth. As governments across the world map how they will achieve the 17 ambitious Sustainable Development Goals, most of which have poverty alleviation, wellbeing and sustainable environmental management at their heart, ESPA’s findings have never been more timely and relevant. The book synthesises the headline messages and compelling evidence to address the questions at the heart of ecosystems and wellbeing research. The authors, all leading specialists, address the evolving framings and contexts for the work, review the impacts of ongoing drivers of change, present new ways to achieve sustainable wellbeing, equity, diversity, and resilience, and evaluate the potential contributions from conservation projects, payment schemes, and novel governance approaches across scales from local to national and international. The cross-cutting, thematic chapters challenge conventional wisdom in some areas, and validate new methods and approaches for sustainable development in others. The book will provide a rich and important reference source for advanced students, researchers and policy-makers in ecology, environmental studies, ecological economics and sustainable development. The Open Access version of this book, available at https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780429016295, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.
Download or read book America s Climate Choices written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2011-06-11 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change is occurring. It is very likely caused by the emission of greenhouse gases from human activities, and poses significant risks for a range of human and natural systems. And these emissions continue to increase, which will result in further change and greater risks. America's Climate Choices makes the case that the environmental, economic, and humanitarian risks posed by climate change indicate a pressing need for substantial action now to limit the magnitude of climate change and to prepare for adapting to its impacts. Although there is some uncertainty about future risk, acting now will reduce the risks posed by climate change and the pressure to make larger, more rapid, and potentially more expensive reductions later. Most actions taken to reduce vulnerability to climate change impacts are common sense investments that will offer protection against natural climate variations and extreme events. In addition, crucial investment decisions made now about equipment and infrastructure can "lock in" commitments to greenhouse gas emissions for decades to come. Finally, while it may be possible to scale back or reverse many responses to climate change, it is difficult or impossible to "undo" climate change, once manifested. Current efforts of local, state, and private-sector actors are important, but not likely to yield progress comparable to what could be achieved with the addition of strong federal policies that establish coherent national goals and incentives, and that promote strong U.S. engagement in international-level response efforts. The inherent complexities and uncertainties of climate change are best met by applying an iterative risk management framework and making efforts to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions; prepare for adapting to impacts; invest in scientific research, technology development, and information systems; and facilitate engagement between scientific and technical experts and the many types of stakeholders making America's climate choices.
Download or read book Pure and Applied Biogeography written by Levente Hufnagel and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2018-01-24 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book, Pure and Applied Biogeography, gives a very interesting report and overview about the frontiers of such parts of recent biogeographical research, which plays important roles in solving our most pressing global problems (biodiversity crisis, climate change, water issues, and sustainable agriculture). Our book consists of three sections: "Introduction", "Pure Biogeography and Global Patterns" and "Applied Biogeography and Regional Issues." After the introductory chapter, which is about the main branches and aims of biogeography in service of solving global problems, - we can find three chapters as parts of the first section. First chapter in this section is in close relation with the origin of biodiversity and conservation. The second and third chapters are about the biogeograhical aspects of climate change and biodiversity. In the second section of this book three applied biogeographical chapters can be found, which are related to agriculture, theoretical background of biological plant protection against herbivores, and regional patterns in ecological biogeography.
Download or read book Ecosystem Services and Global Ecology written by Levente Hufnagel and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2018-09-19 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The aim of Ecosystem Services and Global Ecology is to give an overview and report from the frontiers of research of this important and interesting multidisciplinary area. Ecosystem services as a concept plays a key role in solving global environmental and human ecological crises and associated other problems, especially today when the sixth major extinction event of the history of the biosphere is in progress, and humanity can easily become a victim of it. Human activity is rapidly transforming the surface of the Earth, its biosphere, atmosphere, soil, and water resources. Ecological processes happen over a long time scale, thus damage caused by human activity will be perceptible after decades or even centuries. We hope that our book will be interesting and useful for researchers, lecturers, students, and anyone interested in this field.
Download or read book Ecosystem Services Concept Methods and Case Studies written by Karsten Grunewald and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-05-18 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nature provides us with many services seemingly for free: recharged groundwater, fertile soil and plant biomass created by photosynthesis. We human beings draw extensive benefits from these “ecosystem services,” or ES – food, water supply, recreation and protection from natural hazards. Major international studies, such as the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, have addressed the enormous role of biodiversity and ecosystems to human well-being, and they draw particular attention to the consequences resulting from the reduction or loss of these services. These very topical issues are being addressed by authors/scientists in a wide variety of disciplines – and their approaches, terminologies and methodological specifics are just as diverse. What, for example, does the efficacy of nature or natural capital mean? Which values of nature are particularly important, how are they distributed in space and time and how can they be assessed and the relevant knowledge promoted? Can all ecosystem services be quantified and even monetarised? What should be done to ensure that the multiple services of nature will be available also in future? This book explains the multifaceted concept of ecosystem services, provides a methodological framework for its analysis and assessment, and discusses case examples, particularly from Germany. It is addressed to scientists and practitioners in the administrative, volunteer and professional spheres, especially those who deal with environment, landscape management and nature conservation and regional and land-use planning. The target group includes experts from the business community, politicians and decision makers, students and all those interested in fundamental ecological, economic, ethical and environmental issues.
Download or read book Climate Change and Cities written by Cynthia Rosenzweig and published by . This book was released on 2018-03-29 with total page 855 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate Change and Cities bridges science-to-action for climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts in cities around the world.
Download or read book Ecosystem Services written by Mark Everard and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-03-27 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The concept of ecosystem services has emerged in recent years as one of the most powerful guiding principles for ecology, biodiversity conservation and the management of natural resources. It provides the basis of assessing the multiple values and services that ecosystems can provide to humankind, including such diverse issues as carbon sequestration, flood control, crop pollination and aesthetic and cultural services. This introductory textbook sets out the key aspects of ecosystem services. The book details the historical roots of ecosystem services in the second half of the twentieth century and through initiatives such as the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. It shows how ecosystem goods and services can be categorised and valued in economic as well as non-monetary terms, while also highlighting some of the difficulties and limitations of valuation techniques. The author describes how themes such as systems thinking, social-ecological resilience and natural capital relate to ecosystem services, and how these can contribute to more sustainable and equitable development. The book assumes limited prior knowledge and is aimed at a wide interdisciplinary audience of students across the social, environmental and life sciences. It is illustrated by a wide range of international case studies and includes learning objectives and guidance for further reading.
Download or read book Convenient Solutions to an Inconvenient Truth written by World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2010 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biodiversity is the foundation and mainstay of agriculture, forests, and fisheries.
