Download or read book Ecology Soils and the Left written by Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-05-07 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Soil degradation is real and global, even if the evidence is not so easy to glean. Degradation poses comparable risks to greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, and nonhuman animal extinctions. Few have noticed soil degradation as the problem it has become, except most indigenous peoples in their struggles for survival.
Download or read book Ecology and Management of Forest Soils written by Dan Binkley and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2012-11-05 with total page 487 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Forest soils are the foundation of the entire forest ecosystem and complex, long-term interactions between trees, soil animals, and the microbial community shape soils in was that are very distinct from agricultural soils. The composition, structure, and processes in forest soils at any given time reflect current conditions, as well as the legacies of decades (and even millennia) of interactions that shape each forest soil. Reciprocal interactions are fundamental; vegetation alters soil physical properties, which influence soil biology and chemistry, which in turn influence the growth and success of plants. These dynamic systems may be strongly influenced by intentional and unintentional management, ranging from fire to fertilization. Sustaining the long-term fertility of forest soils depends on insights about a diverse array of soil features and changes over space and time. Since the third edition of this successful book many new interests in forest soils and their management have arisen, including the role of forest soils in sequestering carbon, and how management influences rates of carbon accumulation. This edition also expands the consideration of how soils are sampled and characterized, and how tree species differ in their influence on soil development. Clearly structured throughout, the book opens with the origins of forest soil science and ends with the application of soil science principles to land management. This new edition provides: A completely revised and updated Fourth Edition of this classic textbook in the field A coherent overview of the major issues surrounding the ecology and management of forest soils Global in scope with coverage of soil types ranging from the tropical rainforest soils of Latin America to the boreal forest soils of Siberia New chapters on Management: Carbon sequestration; Evidence-based approaches and applications of geostatistics, GIS and taxonomies A clear overview of each topic, informative examples/case studies, and an overall context for helping readers think clearly about forest soils An introduction to the literature of forest soil science and to the philosophy of forest soil science research This coherent overview of the major issues surrounding the ecology and management of forest soils will be particularly useful to students taking courses in soil science, forestry, agronomy, ecology, natural resource management, environmental management and conservation, as well as professionals in forestry dealing with the productivity of forests and functioning of watersheds.
Download or read book Thinking with Soils written by Juan Francisco Salazar and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-06-25 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents a novel and systematic social theory of soil, and is representative of the rising interest in 'the material' in social sciences. Bringing together new modes of 'critical description' with speculative practices and methods of inquiry, it contributes to the exploration of current transformations in socioecologies, as well as in political and artistic practices, in order to address global ecological change. The chapters in this edited volume challenge scholars to attend more carefully to the ways in which they think about soil, both materially and theoretically. Contributors address a range of topics, including new ways of thinking about the politics of caring for soils; the ecological and symbiotic relations between soils; how the productive capacities and contested governance of soils are deployed as matters of political concern; and indigenous ways of knowing and being with soil.
Download or read book Cultural Understanding of Soils written by Nikola Patzel and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-10-24 with total page 539 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cultural understandings of soil are diverse and often ambiguous. Cultural framing of soils is common worldwide and is highly consequential. The implications of what place the earth has in people's world view and everyday life can be in line with or in conflict with natural conditions, with scientific views, or with agricultural practices. The main assumption underlying this work is that soil is inescapably perceived in a cultural context by any human. This gives emergence to different significant webs of meaning influenced by religious, spiritual, or secular myths, and by a wide range of beliefs, values and ideas that people hold in all societies. These patterns and their dynamics inform the human-soil relationship and how soils are cared for, protected, or degraded. Therefore, there is need to deal inter-culturally with different sources and types of knowledge and experience regarding soil; a need to cultivate soil awareness and situationally appropriate care through inter- and intra-cultural dialogues and learning. This project focuses on the human and intangible dimensions of soil. To serve this aim, the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) founded a working group on Cultural Patterns of Soil Understanding that has resulted in this book, which presents studies from almost all continents, written by soil scientists and experts from other disciplines. A major objective of this project is to promote intercultural literacy that gives readers the opportunity to appreciate soil across disciplinary and cultural boundaries in an increasingly globalized world. . .
Download or read book Ecologically Unequal Exchange written by R. Scott Frey and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-07-04 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At a time of societal urgency surrounding ecological crises from depleted fisheries to mineral extraction and potential pathways towards environmental and ecological justice, this book re-examines ecologically unequal exchange (EUE) from a historical and comparative perspective. The theory of ecologically unequal exchange posits that core or northern consumption and capital accumulation is based on peripheral or southern environmental degradation and extraction. In other words, structures of social and environmental inequality between the Global North and Global South are founded in the extraction of materials from, as well as displacement of waste to, the South. This volume represents a set of tightly interlinked papers with the aim to assess ecologically unequal exchange and to move it forward. Chapters are organised into three main sections: theoretical foundations and critical reflections on ecologically unequal exchange; empirical research on mining, deforestation, fisheries, and the like; and strategies for responding to the adverse consequences associated with unequal ecological exchange. Scholars as well as advanced undergraduate and graduate students will benefit from the spirited re-evaluation and extension of ecologically unequal exchange theory, research, and praxis.
Download or read book Karl Marx s Ecosocialism written by Kohei Saito and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2017-10-24 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Delving into Karl Marx's central works as well as his natural scientific notebooks, published only recently and still being translated, [the author] argues that Karl Marx actually saw the environment crisis embedded in captialism. [The book] shows us that Marx has given us more than we once thought, that we can now come closer to finishing Marx's critique, and to building a sustainable ecosocialist world."--Page [4] of cover.
Download or read book Urban Agroecology written by Monika Egerer and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2020-12-16 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today, 20 percent of the global food supply relies on urban agriculture: social-ecological systems shaped by both human and non-human interactions. This book shows how urban agroecologists measure flora and fauna that underpin the ecological dynamics of these systems, and how people manage and benefit from these systems. It explains how the sociopolitical landscape in which these systems are embedded can in turn shape the social, ecological, political, and economic dynamics within them. Synthesizing interdisciplinary approaches in urban agroecology in the natural and social sciences, the book explores methodologies and new directions in research that can be adopted by scholars and practitioners alike. With contributions from researchers utilizing both social and natural science approaches, Urban Agroecology describes the current social-environmental understandings of the science, the movement and the practices in urban agroecology. By investigating the role of agroecology in cities, the book calls for the creation of spaces for food to be sustainably grown in urban spaces: an Urban Agriculture (UA) movement. Essential reading for graduate students, practitioners, policy makers and researchers, this book charts the course for accelerating this movement.
Download or read book Soil Ecology and Ecosystem Services written by Diana H. Wall and published by . This book was released on 2013-07-18 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This multi-contributor, international volume synthesizes contributions from the world's leading soil scientists and ecologists, describing cutting-edge research that provides a basis for the maintenance of soil health and sustainability. The book covers these advances from a unique perspective of examining the ecosystem services produced by soil biota across different scales - from biotic interactions at microscales to communities functioning at regional and global scales. The book leads the user towards an understanding of how the sustainability of soils, biodiversity, and ecosystem services can be maintained and how humans, other animals, and ecosystems are dependent on living soils and ecosystem services. This is a valuable reference book for academic libraries and professional ecologists worldwide as a statement of progress in the broad field of soil ecology. It will also be of interest to both upper level undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in soil ecology, as well as academic researchers and professionals in the field requiring an authoritative, balanced, and up-to-date overview of this fast expanding topic.
Download or read book Ecology written by J. L. Chapman and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1998-12-10 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ecology: Principles and Applications is a comprehensive textbook for A-level students and first-year undergraduates taking courses in biology, geography and Earth sciences, who require an introduction to ecology. Studies of human ecology are integrated into the text, and the links to related disciplines are emphasised. The text begins with the ecology of individual organisms and moves on, through communities and ecosystems, to global considerations of biogeography, co-evolution and conservation. Case histories, historical perspectives, controversial theories and extension material are highlighted throughout the book. The second edition has been brought up to date with current syllabuses by the addition of further material on the key issue of conservation, giving excellent coverage of the principles of conservation and using case studies to provide examples of conservation policies in practice. The authors are experienced teachers of ecology at sixth form and undergraduate level.
Download or read book Socio Metabolic Perspectives on the Sustainability of Local Food Systems written by Eva Fraňková and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-01-09 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book delves into diverse local food systems and critically assesses their ecological and societal benefits and trade-offs, their limits and opportunities for improving sustainability of food production, and framework conditions which either hinder or promote their development. More and more people with gradually meat heavier diets will demand growth in food production, whilst our increasingly industrialized and globalized agri-food system has already caused serious sustainability problems in the past. This calls for a change in the way we produce, distribute and consume food. A re-emerging debate on food security and food sovereignty seems to support this quest. But what are the promising alternatives to mainstream developments? Such a discussion regarding sustainability of local food systems requires a sound systemic understanding and thus invites a socio-metabolic reading of local cases by analyzing the nexus between material and energy flows as well as land and time use. This approach is needed to complement the so far mostly qualitatively-based local food studies. Applying socio-metabolic approaches to local food systems fosters a better understanding of promises and pitfalls for sustainable pathways in the future.
Download or read book Capitalism in the Anthropocene written by John Bellamy Foster and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2022-08-23 with total page 693 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the last 11,700 years, during which human civilization developed, the earth has existed within what geologists refer to as the Holocene Epoch. Now science is telling us that the Holocene Epoch in the geological time scale ended, replaced by the onset of a new, more dangerous Anthropocene Epoch, which began around 1950. The Anthropocene Epoch is characterized by an “anthropogenic rift” in the biological cycles of the Earth System, marking a changed reality in which human activities are now the main geological force impacting the earth as a whole, generating at the same time an existential crisis for the world’s population. What caused this massive shift in the history of the earth? In this comprehensive study, John Bellamy Foster tells us that a globalized system of capital accumulation has induced humanity to foul its own nest. The result is a planetary emergency that threatens all present and future generations, throwing into question the continuation of civilization and ultimately the very survival of humanity itself. Only by addressing the social aspects of the current planetary emergency, exploring the theoretical, historical, and practical dimensions of the capitalism’s alteration of the planetary environment, is it possible to develop the ecological and social resources for a new journey of hope.
Download or read book Urban Food Production for Ecosocialism written by Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-09-05 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the critical role of urban food production in strengthening communities and in building ecosocialism. It integrates theory and practice, drawing on several local case studies from seven countries across four continents: China, Cuba, Ghana, Italy, Tanzania, the UK, and the US. Research shows that the term "urban agriculture" overstates the limited food-growing potential in cities due to a shortage of land required for growing grains, the basic human food staple. For this reason, the book suggests "urban cultivation" as an appropriate term which indicates social and political progress achieved through combined labours of urbanites to produce food. It examines how these collaborative food-growing efforts help raise local social capital, foster community organisation, and create ecological awareness in order to promote urban food production while also ensuring environmental sustainability. This book illustrates how urban cultivation constitutes a potentially important aspect of urban ecosystems, as well as offers solutions to current environmental problems. It recentres attention to the global South and debunks Eurocentric narratives, challenging capitalist commercial food-growing regimes and encouraging ecosocialist food-growing practices. Written in an accessible style, this book is recommended reading about an emergent issue which will interest students and scholars of environmental studies, geography, sociology, urban studies, politics, and economics.
Download or read book Global Poverty written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2022-11-21 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a critical understanding of the causes of global poverty by international scholars from multiple disciplines. It is theoretical and empirical, dealing with both economic and non-economic aspects of poverty creation, to offer intellectual insights and political prescriptions.
Download or read book Vital Decomposition written by Kristina M. Lyons and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2020-04-17 with total page 147 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Colombia, decades of social and armed conflict and the US-led war on drugs have created a seemingly untenable situation for scientists and rural communities as they attempt to care for forests and grow non-illicit crops. In Vital Decomposition Kristina M. Lyons presents an ethnography of human-soil relations. She follows state soil scientists and peasants across labs, greenhouses, forests, and farms and attends to the struggles and collaborations between farmers, agrarian movements, state officials, and scientists over the meanings of peace, productivity, rural development, and sustainability in Colombia. In particular, Lyons examines the practices and philosophies of rural farmers who value the decomposing layers of leaves, which make the soils that sustain life in the Amazon, and shows how the study and stewardship of the soil point to alternative frameworks for living and dying. In outlining the life-making processes that compose and decompose into soil, Lyons theorizes how life can thrive in the face of the violence, criminalization, and poisoning produced by militarized, growth-oriented development.
Download or read book The Social Lives of Land written by Michael Goldman and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2024-06-15 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the shaping of new homelands in the Cherokee Nation to the export of sand from Cambodia to shore up urban expansion in Singapore, The Social Lives of Land reveals the dynamics of contemporary social and political change. The editors of this volume bring together contributions from across multiple disciplines and geographic locations. The contributions showcase novel theoretical and empirical insights, analyzing how people are living on, with, and from their land. From Mozambique to India, Indonesia, Ecuador, and the colonial United States, the scholars in this collection uncover histories and retell stories with a focus on the lived experiences of rural and urban land dispossession and repossession. Contributors: Kati Álvarez, Clint Carroll, Flora Lu, Richard Mbunda, Gregg Mitman, Paul Nadasdy, Robert Nichols, Andrew Ofstehage, Laura Schoenberger, Kirsteen Shields, Emmanuel Sulle, Erik Swyngedouw, Gabriela Valdivia, Katherine Verdery, Callum Ward, Ciara Wirth, Emmanuel King Urey Yarkpawolo
Download or read book The Routledge Handbook of Development and Environment written by Brent McCusker and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-11-29 with total page 521 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The handbook seeks to illuminate the key concepts in the study of development-environment through showcasing some of the Majoritarian (formerly "Developing") world’s scholars in order to explore theoretical connections through critical/radical theory, “small” theory, various conceptual frameworks, and non-Western and subaltern viewpoints. The volume examines the themes around the study of the relationship between economic and social development and the environment. Part 1 covers theoretical and conceptual approaches to the study of development and environment by examining the diverse ways in which people perceive, understand, and act upon the world around them. Cross-scalar topics such as neo-liberalism and globalization, human rights, climate change, sustainability, and technology are covered in Part 2. The book shifts to examinations of resources and production in Part 3, where authors with a focus on one or more environmental resources or types of economic production are presented. Topics range from water, agriculture, and food, to energy, bioeconomy, and mining. The fourth section presents chapters where people are at the center of the development-environment nexus through topics such as gender relations, children, health, and cities. Finally, policy and governance of development and environment are explored in Part 5. The section includes both academics and practitioners who have worked with policy makers and are policy makers themselves. The book is primarily intended for scholars and graduate students in geography, environmental studies, and development studies for whom it will provide an invaluable and up-to-date guide to current thinking across the range of disciplines, which converge in the study of development and environment.
Download or read book Earth Is Not For Sale The A Path Out Of Fossil Capitalism To The Other World That Is Still Possible written by Schwartzman David and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2018-08-29 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a thought provoking outline of the solutions already in hand to the challenges now facing humanity with respect to prevalent gross social and economic inequalities, ecological thresholds and tipping points, and the ever-looming threat of climate catastrophe. The authors find these solutions in the arenas of renewable energy systems, agroecological methods, and reimagined social organization. Clarity is brought to the political economic obstacles standing in the way as well as the false solutions and alleged barriers that pervade the discourse thereby delaying and obstructing progress to the solutions advanced.The authors provoke readers to face up to these challenges by demonstrating how people, all over the world, have already begun this effort through collective action ranging from the local to the global community. Drawing on their own and many other scholar's research, they reject a reliance on the 'business as usual' approach trusting the capitalist market and existing global institutions, and provide an accessible popular account with thoroughly footnoted endnotes that contain technical details and references to the scientific literature.The Earth is Not for Sale informs its readers and provides well-documented solutions in a bid to inspire readers to think critically, and potentially become more active in society.
