Download or read book Large Predators Limit Herbivore Densities in Northern Forest Ecosystems written by William J. Ripple and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 10 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is a lack of scientific consensus about how top-down and bottom-up forces interact to structure terrestrial ecosystems. This is especially true for systems with large carnivore and herbivore species where the effects of predation versus food limitation on herbivores are controversial. Uncertainty exists whether top-down forces driven by large carnivores are common, and if so, how their influences vary with predator guild composition and primary productivity. Based on data and information in 42 published studies from over a 50-year time span, we analyzed the composition of large predator guilds and prey densities across a productivity gradient in boreal and temperate forests of North America and Eurasia. We found that predation by large mammalian carnivores, especially sympatric gray wolves (Canis lupus) and bears (Ursus spp.), apparently limits densities of large mammalian herbivores. We found that cervid densities, measured in deer equivalents, averaged nearly six times greater in areas without wolves compared to areas with wolves. In areas with wolves, herbivore density increased only slightly with increasing productivity. These predator effects are consistent with the exploitation ecosystems hypothesis and appear to occur across a broad range of net primary productivities. Results are also consistent with theory on trophic cascades, suggesting widespread and topdown forcing by large carnivores on large herbivores in forest biomes across the northern hemisphere. These findings have important conservation implications involving not only the management of large carnivores but also that of large herbivores and plant communities.
Download or read book Issues in Global Environment Biology and Geoscience 2013 Edition written by and published by ScholarlyEditions. This book was released on 2013-05-01 with total page 1086 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Issues in Global Environment—Biology and Geoscience: 2013 Edition is a ScholarlyEditions™ book that delivers timely, authoritative, and comprehensive information about Wildlife Research. The editors have built Issues in Global Environment—Biology and Geoscience: 2013 Edition on the vast information databases of ScholarlyNews.™ You can expect the information about Wildlife Research in this book to be deeper than what you can access anywhere else, as well as consistently reliable, authoritative, informed, and relevant. The content of Issues in Global Environment—Biology and Geoscience: 2013 Edition has been produced by the world’s leading scientists, engineers, analysts, research institutions, and companies. All of the content is from peer-reviewed sources, and all of it is written, assembled, and edited by the editors at ScholarlyEditions™ and available exclusively from us. You now have a source you can cite with authority, confidence, and credibility. More information is available at http://www.ScholarlyEditions.com/.
Download or read book Trophic Cascades written by John Terborgh and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2013-06-25 with total page 487 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Trophic cascades—the top-down regulation of ecosystems by predators—are an essential aspect of ecosystem function and well-being. Trophic cascades are often drastically disrupted by human interventions—for example, when wolves and cougars are removed, allowing deer and beaver to become destructive—yet have only recently begun to be considered in the development of conservation and management strategies. Trophic Cascades is the first comprehensive presentation of the science on this subject. It brings together some of the world’s leading scientists and researchers to explain the importance of large animals in regulating ecosystems, and to relate that scientific knowledge to practical conservation. Chapters examine trophic cascades across the world’s major biomes, including intertidal habitats, coastal oceans, lakes, nearshore ecosystems, open oceans, tropical forests, boreal and temperate ecosystems, low arctic scrubland, savannas, and islands. Additional chapters consider aboveground/belowground linkages, predation and ecosystem processes, consumer control by megafauna and fire, and alternative states in ecosystems. An introductory chapter offers a concise overview of trophic cascades, while concluding chapters consider theoretical perspectives and comparative issues. Trophic Cascades provides a scientific basis and justification for the idea that large predators and top-down forcing must be considered in conservation strategies, alongside factors such as habitat preservation and invasive species. It is a groundbreaking work for scientists and managers involved with biodiversity conservation and protection.
Download or read book THE STATE OF THE WORLD s FOREST GENETIC RESOURCES written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2018-05-25 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The publication was prepared based on information provided by 86 countries, outcomes from regional and subregional consultations and commissioned thematic studies. It includes: •an overview of definitions and concepts related to Forest Genetic Resources (FGR) and a review of their value; •a description of the main drivers of changes; •the presentation of key emerging technologies; •an analysis of the current status of FGR conservation, use and related developments; •recommendations addressing the challenges and needs. By the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
Download or read book Introduction to Population Ecology written by Larry L. Rockwood and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2015-03-23 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Introduction to Population Ecology, 2nd Edition is a comprehensive textbook covering all aspects of population ecology. It uses a wide variety of field and laboratory examples, botanical to zoological, from the tropics to the tundra, to illustrate the fundamental laws of population ecology. Controversies in population ecology are brought fully up to date in this edition, with many brand new and revised examples and data. Each chapter provides an overview of how population theory has developed, followed by descriptions of laboratory and field studies that have been inspired by the theory. Topics explored include single-species population growth and self-limitation, life histories, metapopulations and a wide range of interspecific interactions including competition, mutualism, parasite-host, predator-prey and plant-herbivore. An additional final chapter, new for the second edition, considers multi-trophic and other complex interactions among species. Throughout the book, the mathematics involved is explained with a step-by-step approach, and graphs and other visual aids are used to present a clear illustration of how the models work. Such features make this an accessible introduction to population ecology; essential reading for undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in population ecology, applied ecology, conservation ecology, and conservation biology, including those with little mathematical experience.
Download or read book Wilderness Protection in Europe written by Kees Bastmeijer and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-04-01 with total page 659 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Europe still retains large areas which play host to numerous native and free-functioning ecosystems and lack roads, buildings, bridges, cables and other permanent manifestations of modern society. In the past such areas were considered wastelands, whose value lay only in their potential for cultivation and economic exploitation. Today, these wilderness areas are increasingly cherished as places for rest and recreation, and as important areas for scientific research, biodiversity conservation and the mitigation of and adaptation to certain climate change effects. This book provides the first major appraisal of the role of international, European and domestic law in protecting the remaining wilderness areas and their distinguishing qualities in Europe. It also highlights the lessons that can be learned from the various international, regional and national approaches, identifies obstacles to wilderness protection in Europe and considers whether and how the legal protection of wilderness can be further advanced.
Download or read book Routledge Handbook of Rewilding written by Sally Hawkins and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-11-30 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This handbook provides a comprehensive overview of the history, theory, and current practices of rewilding. Rewilding offers a transformational paradigm shift in conservation thinking, and as such is increasingly of interest to academics, policymakers, and practitioners. However, as a rapidly emerging area of conservation, the term has often been defined and used in a variety of different ways (both temporally and spatially). There is, therefore, the need for a comprehensive assessment of this field, and the Routledge Handbook of Rewilding fills this lacuna. The handbook is organised into four sections to reflect key areas of rewilding theory, practice, and debate: the evolution of rewilding, theoretical and practical underpinnings, applications and impacts, and the ethics and philosophy of rewilding. Drawing on a range of international case studies the handbook addresses many of the key issues, including land acquisition and longer-term planning, transitioning from restoration (human-led, nature enabled) to rewilding (nature-led, human enabled), and the role of political and social transformational change. Led by an editorial team who have extensive experience researching and practising rewilding, this handbook is essential reading for students, academics and practitioners interested in rewilding, ecological restoration, natural resource management and conservation.
Download or read book Large Carnivores and the Conservation of Biodiversity written by Justina Ray and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2013-04-09 with total page 544 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Large Carnivores and the Conservation of Biodiversity brings together more than thirty leading scientists and conservation practitioners to consider a key question in environmental conservation: Is the conservation of large carnivores in ecosystems that evolved with their presence equivalent to the conservation of biological diversity within those systems? Building their discussions from empirical, long-term data sets, contributors including James A. Estes, David S. Maehr, Tim McClanahan, Andrès J. Novaro, John Terborgh, and Rosie Woodroffe explore a variety of issues surrounding the link between predation and biodiversity: What is the evidence for or against the link? Is it stronger in marine systems? What are the implications for conservation strategies? Large Carnivores and the Conservation of Biodiversity is the first detailed, broad-scale examination of the empirical evidence regarding the role of large carnivores in biodiversity conservation in both marine and terrestrial ecosystems. It contributes to a much more precise and global understanding of when, where, and whether protecting and restoring top predators will directly contribute to the conservation of biodiversity. Everyone concerned with ecology, biodiversity, or large carnivores will find this volume a unique and thought-provoking analysis and synthesis.
Download or read book Bringing Good Even Out of Evil written by B. Kyle Keltz and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2022-11-01 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The question of whether the existence of evil in the world is compatible with the existence of an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-good God has been debated for centuries. Many have addressed classical arguments from evil, and while recent scholarship in analytic philosophy of religion has produced newer formulations of the problem, most of these newer formulations rely on a conception of God that is not held by all theists. In Bringing Good Even Out of Evil: Thomism and the Problem of Evil, B. Kyle Keltz defends classical theism against contemporary problems of evil through the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas and his interpreters. Keltz discusses Aquinas’s thought on God, evil, and what kind of world God would make, then turns to contemporary problems of evil and shows how they miss the mark when it comes to classical theism. Some of the newer formulations that the book considers include James Sterba’s argument from the Pauline principle, J. L. Schellenberg’s divine hiddenness argument, Stephen Law’s evil-god challenge, and Nick Trakakis’s anti-theodicy.
Download or read book Carnivores of Australia written by Alistair Glen and published by CSIRO PUBLISHING. This book was released on 2014-11-05 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Australian continent provides a unique perspective on the evolution and ecology of carnivorous animals. In earlier ages, Australia provided the arena for a spectacular radiation of marsupial and reptilian predators. The causes of their extinctions are still the subject of debate. Since European settlement, Australia has seen the extinction of one large marsupial predator (the thylacine), another (the Tasmanian devil) is in danger of imminent extinction, and still others have suffered dramatic declines. By contrast, two recently-introduced predators, the fox and cat, have been spectacularly successful, with devastating impacts on the Australian fauna. Carnivores of Australia: Past, Present and Future explores Australia's unique predator communities from pre-historic, historic and current perspectives. It covers mammalian, reptilian and avian carnivores, both native and introduced to Australia. It also examines the debate surrounding how best to manage predators to protect livestock and native biodiversity. Readers will benefit from the most up-to-date synthesis by leading researchers and managers in the field of carnivore biology. By emphasising Australian carnivores as exemplars of flesh-eaters in other parts of the world, this book will be an important reference for researchers, wildlife managers and students worldwide.
Download or read book The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index written by Nathalie Pettorelli and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2013-10-10 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There has been a recent surge of interest in remote sensing and its use in ecology and conservation but this is the first book to focus explicitly on the NDVI (Normalised Difference Vegetation Index), a simple numerical indicator and powerful tool that can be used to assess spatio-temporal changes in green vegetation. The NDVI opens the possibility of addressing questions on scales inaccessible to ground-based methods alone; it is mostly freely available with global coverage over several decades. This novel text provides an authoritative overview of the principles and possible applications of the NDVI in ecology, environmental and wildlife management, and conservation. NDVI data can provide valuable information about temporal and spatial changes in vegetation distribution, productivity, and dynamics; allowing monitoring of habitat degradation and fragmentation, or assessment of the ecological effects of climatic disasters such as drought or fire. The NDVI has also provided ecologists with a promising way to couple vegetation with animal distribution, abundance, movement, survival and reproductive parameters. Over the last few decades, numerous studies have highlighted the potential key role of satellite data and the NDVI in macroecology, plant ecology, animal population dynamics, environmental monitoring, habitat selection and habitat use studies, and paleoecology. The chapters are organised around two sections: the first detailing vegetation indices and the NDVI, the principles behind the NDVI, its correlation with climate, the available NDVI datasets, and the possible complications and errors associated with the use of this satellite-based vegetation index. The second section discusses the possible applications of the NDVI in ecology, environmental and wildlife management, and conservation.
Download or read book High Mountain Conservation in a Changing World written by Jordi Catalan and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-08-03 with total page 413 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides case studies and general views of the main processes involved in the ecosystem shifts occurring in the high mountains and analyses the implications for nature conservation. Case studies from the Pyrenees are preponderant, with a comprehensive set of mountain ranges surrounded by highly populated lowland areas also being considered. The introductory and closing chapters will summarise the main challenges that nature conservation may face in mountain areas under the environmental shifting conditions. Further chapters put forward approaches from environmental geography, functional ecology, biogeography, and paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Organisms from microbes to large carnivores, and ecosystems from lakes to forest will be considered. This interdisciplinary book will appeal to researchers in mountain ecosystems, students and nature professionals. This book is open access under a CC BY license.
Download or read book In the Name of Sharks written by François Sarano and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2023-10-17 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Twenty metres below water, the oceanographer François Sarano came face to face with a five-and-a-half metre great white shark. Seduced by the gentle elegance of this majestic creature, Sarano experienced a profound sense of affinity with her as they swam side by side, shoulder to shoulder, eye to eye, cutting a single figure through the ocean depths. It was an experience which made him realize the depth of our ignorance of the lives of sharks, leading him to become a passionate advocate for their protection. Drawing on the latest scientific research on the biology and ethology of sharks and their exceptional characteristics, this book aims to break through the barrier of prejudice and to pay homage to their true nature. Representing a last vestige of wildness, their populations are nevertheless under threat – like so many species, they have been hunted and exploited by humans. Sarano argues for a change of mindset in which we lose ourselves in the world of the other, so that each living entity, human and non-human, can take their rightful place in the broader global ecosystem.
Download or read book Science and Politics written by Brent S. Steel and published by CQ Press. This book was released on 2014-04-21 with total page 1477 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent partisan squabbles over science in the news are indicative of a larger tendency for scientific research and practice to get entangled in major ideological divisions in the public arena. This politicization of science is deepened by the key role government funding plays in scientific research and development, the market leading position of U.S.-based science and technology firms, and controversial U.S. exports (such as genetically modified foods or hormone-injected livestock). This groundbreaking, one-volume, A-to-Z reference features 120-150 entries that explore the nexus of politics and science, both in the United States and in U.S. interactions with other nations. The essays, each by experts in their fields, examine: Health, environmental, and social/cultural issues relating to science and politics Concerns relating to government regulation and its impact on the practice of science Key historical and contemporary events that have shaped our contemporary view of how science and politics intersect Science and Politics: An A to Z Guide to Issues and Controversies is a must-have resource for researchers and students who seek to deepen their understanding of the connection between science and politics.
Download or read book Large Predators and Trophic Cascades in Terrestrial Ecosystems of the Western United States written by Robert L. Beschta and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 14 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Large predators potentially can help shape the structure and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, yet strong evidence of top-down herbivore limitation has not been widely reported in the scientific literature. Herein we synthesize outcomes of recent tri-trophic cascades studies involving the presence and absence of large predators for five national parks in the western United States, including Olympic, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Zion, and Wind Cave. Historical observations by park biologists regarding woody browse species and recently compiled age structure data for deciduous trees indicate major impacts to woody plant communities by ungulates following the extirpation or displacement of large predators. Declines in long-term tree recruitment indexed additional effects to plant communities and ecological processes, as well as shifts towards alternative ecosystem states. The magnitude and consistency of vegetation impacts found within these five parks, in conjunction with other recent North American studies, indicate that broad changes to ecosystem processes and the lower trophic level may have occurred in other parts of the western United States where large predators have been extirpated or displaced. Thus, where ungulates have significantly altered native plant communities in the absence of large predators, restoration of native flora is urgently needed to recover former ecosystem services. Following the reintroduction of previously extirpated gray wolves Canis lupus into Yellowstone National Park, a spatially patchy recovery of woody browse species (e.g., aspen Populus tremuloides, willow Salix spp., cottonwood Populus spp.) has begun, indicating that large predator recovery may represent an important restoration strategy for ecosystems degraded by wild ungulates.
Download or read book Large Herbivore Ecology Ecosystem Dynamics and Conservation written by Kjell Danell and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2006-05-25 with total page 489 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most large herbivores require some type of management within their habitats. Some populations of large herbivores are at the brink of extinction, some are under discussion for reintroduction, whilst others already occur in dense populations causing conflicts with other land use. Large herbivores are the major drivers for forming the shape and function of terrestrial ecosystems. This 2006 book addresses the scientifically based action plans to manage both the large herbivore populations and their habitats worldwide. It covers the processes by which large herbivores not only affect their environment (e.g. grazing) but are affected by it (e.g. nutrient cycling) and the management strategies required. Also discussed are new modeling techniques, which help assess integration processes in a landscape context, as well as assessing the consequences of new developments in the processes of conservation. This book will be essential reading for all involved in the management of both large herbivores and natural resources.
Download or read book White tailed Deer in Eastern Ecosystems written by William F. Porter and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
