Living with Biodiversity in an Island Ecosystem PDF Download

Author: Takuo Furusawa
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9812879048
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
This book presents a detailed case study of ecological and cultural interactions between the people and their natural environment at Roviana Lagoon, Solomon Islands, a land of rich biodiversity. This volume documents the subsistence lifestyle of the people and their indigenous ecological knowledge, analyzes the effects of recent socioeconomic changes on the people and ecosystem, and proposes future directions for sustainability. The contents have been designed to answer questions such as, “What kinds of factors have determined whether current human actions are sustainable or will result in a collapse of biocultural diversity in the Solomon Islands?”; “How do Solomon Islanders recognize nature and biodiversity conservation in traditional ways or under socioeconomic changes?”; and “How can harmony between humans and nature be achieved in the Solomon Islands under changing socioeconomic conditions?” A truly transdisciplinary approach is applied, integrating theories of human ecology, quantitative ethnobiology, and folk ecology and methods of vegetation surveys, ethnographic fieldwork, remote sensing, and health surveys, in order to link different domains of humans and the natural world. In addition, this work focuses on the importance of understanding of diversity not only in natural environments, but also in human societies, and will be a valuable source for many, especially ecologists, anthropologists, conservation practitioners, and rural development planners.

Author: Osvaldo E. Sala
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 1610911253
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
Biodiversity Change and Human Health brings together leading experts from the natural science and social science realms as well as the medical community to explore the explicit linkages between human-driven alterations of biodiversity and documented impacts of those changes on human health. The book utilizes multidisciplinary approaches to explore and address the complex interplay between natural biodiversity and human health and well-being. The five parts examine health trade-offs between competing uses of biodiversity (highlighting synergistic situations in which conservation of natural biodiversity actually promotes human health and well-being); relationships between biodiversity and quality of life that have developed over ecological and evolutionary time; the effects of changing biodiversity on provisioning of ecosystem services, and how they have affected human health; the role of biodiversity in the spread of infectious disease; native biodiversity as a resource for traditional and modern medicine Biodiversity Change and Human Health synthesizes our current understanding and identifies major gaps in knowledge as it places all aspects of biodiversity and health interactions within a common framework. Contributors explore potential points of crossover among disciplines (both in ways of thinking and of specific methodologies) that could ultimately expand opportunities for humans to both live sustainably and enjoy a desirable quality of life.

Author: Chandrakasan Sivaperuman
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0128130652
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 808

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Book Description
Biodiversity and Climate Change Adaptation in Tropical Islands provides comprehensive information on climate change, biodiversity, possible impacts, adaptation measures and policy challenges to help users rehabilitate and preserve the natural resources of tropical islands. While biodiversity and climate change of tropical islands has previously received less attention, it is ironically one of the most vulnerable regions in this regard. The core content of the work derives largely from the ideas and research output from various reputed scientists and experts who have recorded climate change impacts on aquatic and coastal life in tropical regions. Contributors have direct working experience with the tribes in some of the tropical islands. All of their expertise and information is compiled and presented in the work, including coverage related to climate change. This work highlights the ever-growing need to develop and apply strategies that optimize the use of natural resources, both on land and in water and judicious use of biodiversity. It functions as a critical resource on tropical island biodiversity for researchers, academicians, practitioners and policy makers in a variety of related disciplines. - Covers a huge range of biodiversity documentation, conservation measures and strategies that can be applied to various sectors, from forests to agriculture - Brings together expertise from researchers in the area who have direct experience in the regions described - Contains a wealth of field research related to biodiversity conservation and its applications from a variety of tropical islands

Author: Elliott A. Norse
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 502

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Book Description
'Marine Conservation Biology' brings together leading experts from around the world to apply the lessons and thinking of conservation biology to marine issues. The contributors cover what is threatening marine biodiversity and what humans can do to recover the biological integrity of the world's oceans.

Author: Alfonso Alonso
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 9781422399996
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 32

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Book Description
Biodiversity is the extraordinary variety of life on Earth -- from genes & species to ecosystems & the valuable functions they perform. Life as we know it will not be the same if our rich biodiversity heritage is dramatically altered. And the signs indicate that this is precisely what is happening. Biodiversity is threatened, & not because of catastrophic events. The current threat to biodiversity, & thus to the tapestry of life, stems primarily from expanding human populations & increased human consumption of natural resources. Fortunately, we can take steps to protect our rich biodiversity. This report explains what biodiversity is, why it is so important, why it is threatened, & what can be done to conserve this valuable resource. Illustrations.

Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309046831
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 138

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Book Description
The loss of the earth's biological diversity is widely recognized as a critical environmental problem. That loss is most severe in developing countries, where the conditions of human existence are most difficult. Conserving Biodiversity presents an agenda for research that can provide information to formulate policy and design conservation programs in the Third World. The book includes discussions of research needs in the biological sciences as well as economics and anthropology, areas of critical importance to conservation and sustainable development. Although specifically directed toward development agencies, non-governmental organizations, and decisionmakers in developing nations, this volume should be of interest to all who are involved in the conservation of biological diversity.

Author: Eric Wolanski
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0128140046
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 730

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Book Description
Coasts and Estuaries: The Future provides valuable information on how we can protect and maintain natural ecological structures while also allowing estuaries to deliver services that produce societal goods and benefits. These issues are addressed through chapters detailing case studies from estuaries and coastal waters worldwide, presenting a full range of natural variability and human pressures. Following this, a series of chapters written by scientific leaders worldwide synthesizes the problems and offers solutions for specific issues graded within the framework of the socio-economic-environmental mosaic. These include fisheries, climate change, coastal megacities, evolving human-nature interactions, remediation measures, and integrated coastal management. The problems faced by half of the world living near coasts are truly a worldwide challenge as well as an opportunity for scientists to study commonalities and differences and provide solutions. This book is centered around the proposed DAPSI(W)R(M) framework, where drivers of basic human needs requires activities that each produce pressures. The pressures are mechanisms of state change on the natural system and Impacts on societal welfare (including well-being). These problems then require responses, which are the solutions relating to governance, socio-economic and cultural measures (Scharin et al 2016). - Covers estuaries and coastal seas worldwide, integrating their commonality, differences and solutions for sustainability - Includes global case studies from leading worldwide contributors, with accompanying boxes highlighting a synopsis about a particular estuary and coastal sea, making all information easy to find - Presents full color images to aid the reader in a better understanding of details of each case study - Provides a multi-disciplinary approach, linking biology, physics, climate and social sciences

Author: Melissa R. Marselle
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3030023184
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 494

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Book Description
This open access book identifies and discusses biodiversity’s contribution to physical, mental and spiritual health and wellbeing. Furthermore, the book identifies the implications of this relationship for nature conservation, public health, landscape architecture and urban planning – and considers the opportunities of nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation. This transdisciplinary book will attract a wide audience interested in biodiversity, ecology, resource management, public health, psychology, urban planning, and landscape architecture. The emphasis is on multiple human health benefits from biodiversity - in particular with respect to the increasing challenge of climate change. This makes the book unique to other books that focus either on biodiversity and physical health or natural environments and mental wellbeing. The book is written as a definitive ‘go-to’ book for those who are new to the field of biodiversity and health.

Author: Yvonne Baskin
Publisher: Shearwater Books
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
The lavish array of organisms known as "biodiversity" is an intricately linked web that makes the Earth a uniquely habitable plane. In this book, a noted science writer examines the threats posed to humans by the loss of biodiversity and explains key findings from the ecological sciences. It is the first book of its kind to clearly explains the practical consequences of declining biodiversity of ecosystem hjealth and function and, consequently, on human society.

Author: Ilkka Hanski
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022640644X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
Messages from Islands is a synthetic tour of the world of biodiversity species and their communitiesand the habitats in which they live. It looks at how biodiversity is generated in the course of evolution and how is it maintained over time. The itinerary of the tour is question based. What is causing the current biodiversity crisis ? What is extinction threshold and what is extinction debt? What is the biodiversity hypothesis about rapidly increasing allergies, asthma, and other chronic inflammatory disorders? What is the third-of-third rule, and could it be the solution to habitat conservation? Each chapter begins on an island, with reflections of his own studies and observations about biodiversity on islands, from a small islet in the Baltic Sea to the large tropical islands of Borneo and Madagascar to Greenland, the world s largest island. And then steeped in those locations he leads readers on tours of different themes in biodiversity research. Greenland, for example, is a starting point for the world of microbes, and how scientists are coming to understand their staggering biodiversity and how it impacts ecosystems, including the one that lives within our own guts. The result is a conceptually oriented narrative of research on biodiversity, infused with personal anecdotes to convey the excitement of doing aforementioned research. The book is an important introduction to current themes in ecological research to students, and is a highly engaging read for specialists, many of whom in ecology have been influenced by Mr. Hanski s work."