Download or read book Carnivore Ecology in Arid Lands written by Jacobus du P. Bothma and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-06-29 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Arid lands require that organisms inhabiting them be well-adapted to thrive or even just to survive. This book provides a review of the ecological adaptations - be they behavioural, physiological or morphological - of carnivores to arid environments. Following a general introduction into aridity and arid lands in Africa, the major carnivore families are presented. Ecological adaptations of carnivores in arid lands reveal the amplitude and resilience of the ecology of these animals. In setting up conservation measures, the nature and extent of such adaptations are important facets in determining the effective area and degree of heterogeneity required as habitat by a carnivore population so as to produce a viable unit.
Download or read book The Arid Zones written by Kenneth Walton and published by Transaction Publishers. This book was released on with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Arid Zones written by Hilton Kramer and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-05 with total page 175 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The hot and temperate deserts and their marginal steppe lands comprise one-third of the land surface of the world and are an increasingly critical area for the economic wellbeing of world populations. The remarkable mechanisms of floral, faunal, and human adaptation to the distinct and difficult environment of these arid zones, as well as the potential of modern technology for facilitating adaptation, are described and explained by Walton in the light of our most recent knowledge of the phenomena and processes involved.Beginning with a clarification of the definitions of arid and semi-arid regions and with the delineation of techniques for measuring the degree of aridity in these areas, the author shows that there is wide variation among the arid zones in landscape and climate and that there are numerous local and microclimates within any single arid region. The life cycles of the plants and animals of the arid zones are described and the water resources, including problems of salinity, mineral contamination, and the construction of reservoirs, are examined. Extensive treatment is given to potential agricultural adaptations and to pastoralism as the most widespread response to dry land. A final chapter summarizes attempts at adaptation to prevailing drought and discusses the kinds of future development that the author deems most likely in arid zones.Throughout the book emphasis is placed on specific, detailed analysis, with adequate tables and formulas for in-depth understanding of particular aspects of aridity. Examples from both Old and New Worlds are used to demonstrate the spheres in which progress is being made and to show the mistakes in past and present land use in arid areas. An essential supplement for courses in physical geography, the book will be useful in many area studies and in studies of economic development.
Download or read book Native Plants and Animals as Resources in Arid Lands of the Southwestern United States written by American Association for the Advancement of Science. Southwestern and Rocky Mountain Division and published by . This book was released on 1965 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Biotic Interactions in Arid Lands written by John L. Cloudsley-Thompson and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The exigencies of life in the desert environment have resulted in the se lection of a diversity of adaptations, both morphological and physiologi cal, in the flora and fauna. At the same time, many plants and most small animals are able not merely to exist but even to thrive under desert conditions - mainly by avoiding thermal extremes and by the refine ment of pre-existing abilities to economise in water. In the same way, the biotic interactions of the flora and fauna of the desert do not involve many new principles. Nevertheless, conditions in arid regions frequently do invoke refinements of the complex interrelations between predators and their prey, parasites and their hosts, as well as between herbivores and the plants upon which they feed. In this book, I shall discuss not only such interactions and their feedback effects, but also community processes and population dynamics in the desert. The physical conditions of the desert that principally affect predators and their prey are its openness and the paucity of cover. This is re stricted to scattered plants, occasional rocks, holes, and crevices in the ground. Furthermore, nightfall does not confer relative invisibility, as it does in many other ecobiomes, because of the clarity of the atmosphere. The bright starlight of the desert renders nearby objects visible even to the human eye, while an incandescent moon bathes the empty landscape with a flood of silver light. Consequently, adaptive coloration is func tional at all hours of the day and night.
Download or read book Arid Land Ecosystems Volume 1 written by R. A. Perry and published by CUP Archive. This book was released on 1979-03-08 with total page 920 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive account of arid-land ecosystems will be of importance to university teachers and professional ecologists throughout the world.
Download or read book Our Arid Environment written by Keith Davey and published by Raupo. This book was released on 1983 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Constraints of an arid environment - Invertebrates - Frogs - Fish - Lizards - Snakes - Birds - Marsupials - Rodents - Bats - Pests, conflict and conservationon__
Download or read book ARID LANDS written by E.S. HILLS and published by . This book was released on 1966 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Desert Animals written by and published by . This book was released on 1974 with total page 117 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Man and the Biology of Arid Zones written by J. L. Cloudsley-Thompson and published by . This book was released on 1977 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Arid Lands written by E. S. Hills and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2024-03-01 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1951 UNESCO launched an Arid Zone Programme with the object of promoting research into arid regions from every relevant scientific point of view. This book, originally published in 1966, represents the range of research undertaken and gives a general conspectus of arid zone geography. 17 authors from 8 countries contributed and the book deals comprehensively with all the main areas, with specific examples used to illustrate arguments. There are chapters on meteorology, geology, geomorphology, botany and zoology and almost 50% of the book is devoted to man’s activities: irrigation and agriculture; industry; animal breeding and human survival in the desert
Download or read book Arid Land Ecosystems Volume 2 Structure Functioning and Management written by D. W. Goodall and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2009-03-19 with total page 628 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume was first published in 1981. The history of man's use of arid lands is a sad record of deterioration of the natural resource base and of low and declining living standards for the 300 million people who live in them. One prerequisite to meeting the challenge of reversing the deterioration and of raising living standards is a sound knowledge of the natural ecosystems.
Download or read book Conserving Biodiversity in Arid Regions written by J. Lemons and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the eve of the World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD), held in autumn 2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan recommended five specific areas as focal points of discussion for the global forum: Water, energy, health, agriculture and biodiversity. In his address, "Towards a Sustainable Future," delivered just four months before the WSSD, Secretary General Annan contended that concrete progress in each of these areas, often referred to by their acronym WEHAB, would be key to improving the quality of life not only in the developing world but across the globe. For most people, I think it is fair to say that the inclusion of biodiversity in a list that focuses on basic human needs may not be self-evident. Water, energy, health and agriculture, yes. But why biodiversity? The truth is that biodiversity is just as critical to global well-being as water, energy, agriculture and health. This is because biodiversity both drives and shapes nature's intricate and dynamic structure in an enduring form and force that enables both current and future generations to enjoy its bounty.
Download or read book The Arid Lands written by R. L. Heathcote and published by Longman Publishing Group. This book was released on 1983 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Arid Zones written by Hilton Kramer and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-05 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The hot and temperate deserts and their marginal steppe lands comprise one-third of the land surface of the world and are an increasingly critical area for the economic wellbeing of world populations. The remarkable mechanisms of floral, faunal, and human adaptation to the distinct and difficult environment of these arid zones, as well as the potential of modern technology for facilitating adaptation, are described and explained by Walton in the light of our most recent knowledge of the phenomena and processes involved.Beginning with a clarification of the definitions of arid and semi-arid regions and with the delineation of techniques for measuring the degree of aridity in these areas, the author shows that there is wide variation among the arid zones in landscape and climate and that there are numerous local and microclimates within any single arid region. The life cycles of the plants and animals of the arid zones are described and the water resources, including problems of salinity, mineral contamination, and the construction of reservoirs, are examined. Extensive treatment is given to potential agricultural adaptations and to pastoralism as the most widespread response to dry land. A final chapter summarizes attempts at adaptation to prevailing drought and discusses the kinds of future development that the author deems most likely in arid zones.Throughout the book emphasis is placed on specific, detailed analysis, with adequate tables and formulas for in-depth understanding of particular aspects of aridity. Examples from both Old and New Worlds are used to demonstrate the spheres in which progress is being made and to show the mistakes in past and present land use in arid areas. An essential supplement for courses in physical geography, the book will be useful in many area studies and in studies of economic development.
Download or read book Management of Semi Arid Ecosystems written by B.H. Walker and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2012-12-02 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Extensive regions of the world have a climate which, whilst permitting development of a continuous vegetative cover, is too dry for successful annual cropping. These are the semi-arid areas where land use is based on the natural vegetation. Easily degraded and difficult to maintain, they are under increasing pressure as expanding human populations move in and endeavour to force a living from them. As a result they contain some of the worst examples of resource degradation. This book examines the problems and opportunities involved in man's use of semi-arid areas. The authors are all actively involved in research and land management in the areas discussed. Each chapter begins with a detailed, up-to-date account of the ecology of the region (its climate, soils, vegetation, fauna and main ecological characteristics). This is followed by a history of land use, problems involved in its management, a review of current research and recommended land use practices. The common features of semi-arid ecosystems are brought together in a final section.
Download or read book Desert Biology written by G. W. Brown and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2013-10-02 with total page 654 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Desert Biology: Special Topics on the Physical and Biological Aspects on Arid Regions, Volume I covers the biology, geophysical characteristics, and ways of life in arid regions. This book is composed of 11 chapters, and begins with a brief description of a desert community, the Merkhiyat Jebels, with its diverse fauna and flora. The subsequent chapters look into the climate, geographical distribution, geologic and geomorphic aspects, and the evolution of desert community. These topics are followed by intensive discussions on desert plants, animals, and limnology. The last chapter describes the adaptive processes and human adaptation capacity to arid environments. This book will prove useful to upper division and graduate students in desert biology.
