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  3. Ecology, Biodiversity and Conservation

The Ecology, Biodiversity, and Conservation series presents balanced, comprehensive, up-to-date, and critical reviews of selected topics within the sciences of ecology and conservation biology, both botanical and zoological, and both 'pure' and 'applied'. It is aimed at advanced final-year undergraduates, graduate students, researchers, and university teachers, as well as ecologists and conservationists in industry, government and the voluntary sectors. The series encompasses a wide range of approaches and scales (spatial, temporal, and taxonomic), including quantitative, theoretical, population, community, ecosystem, landscape, historical, experimental, behavioural and evolutionary studies. The emphasis is on science related to the real world of plants and animals rather than on purely theoretical abstractions and mathematical models.

  • General Editors: Michael Usher, University of Stirling
  • Editorial Boards: Jane Carruthers, University of South Africa, Pretoria, Joachim Claudet, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris, Tasman Crowe, University College Dublin, Andy Dobson, Princeton University, New Jersey, Valerie Eviner, University of California, Davis, Julia Fa, Manchester Metropolitan University, Janet Franklin, University of California, Riverside, Rob Fuller, British Trust for Ornithology, Chris Margules, James Cook University, North Queensland, Dave Richardson, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, Peter Thomas, Keele University, Des Thompson, NatureScot, Lawrence Walker, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

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47 results in Ecology, Biodiversity and Conservation

Page 2 of 3

Habitat Suitability and Distribution Models
  • With Applications in R
  • Antoine Guisan, Wilfried Thuiller, Niklaus E. Zimmermann
  • Published online:
    14 September 2017
    Print publication:
    14 September 2017
  • This book introduces the key stages of niche-based habitat suitability model building, evaluation and prediction required for understanding and predicting future patterns of species and biodiversity. Beginning with the main theory behind ecological niches and species distributions, the book proceeds through all major steps of model building, from conceptualization and model training to model evaluation and spatio-temporal predictions. Extensive examples using R support graduate students and researchers in quantifying ecological niches and predicting species distributions with their own data, and help to address key environmental and conservation problems. Reflecting this highly active field of research, the book incorporates the latest developments from informatics and statistics, as well as using data from remote sources such as satellite imagery. A website at www.unil.ch/hsdm contains the codes and supporting material required to run the examples and teach courses.

National Park Science
  • A Century of Research in South Africa
  • Jane Carruthers
  • Published online:
    03 August 2017
    Print publication:
    17 August 2017
  • South Africa is renowned for its wildlife and environmental conservation in iconic national parks such as the Kruger, one of the world's first formal protected areas. However, this is the first book to thoroughly analyse and explain the interesting and changing scientific research that has been accomplished in South Africa's national parks during the twentieth century. Providing a fascinating and thorough historical narrative based on an extensive range of sources, this text details the evolution of traditional natural history pursuits to modern conservation science in South Africa, covering all research areas of conservation biology and all the national parks around the country. It reveals the interaction between the international context, government, learning institutions and the public that has shaped the present conservation arena. A complex story that will interest and inform not only those involved in conservation science of South Africa, but worldwide.

Plant Conservation Science and Practice
  • The Role of Botanic Gardens
  • Edited by Stephen Blackmore, Sara Oldfield
  • Published online:
    30 August 2017
    Print publication:
    03 August 2017
  • Only a green world, rich in plants, can sustain us and the millions of other species with which we share this planet. But, in an era of global change, nature is on the retreat. Like the communities they form, many plant species are becoming rarer, threatened even to the point of extinction. The worldwide community of almost three thousand botanic gardens are holders of the most diverse living collections of plants and have the unique potential to conserve plant diversity. Conservation biology is a fast moving and often controversial field, and, as the contributions within these pages from experts in the field demonstrate, plant conservation is multifaceted, mirroring the complexity of the biodiversity it aims to protect, and striving not just to protect threatened plants but to preserve ecosystem services and secure the integrity of the biosphere.

Conserving Africa's Mega-Diversity in the Anthropocene
  • The Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park Story
  • Edited by Joris P. G. M. Cromsigt, Sally Archibald, Norman Owen-Smith
  • Published online:
    24 March 2017
    Print publication:
    02 March 2017
  • Centring on South Africa's Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, this book synthesizes a century of insights from the ecology and conservation management of one of Africa's oldest protected wildlife areas. The park provides important lessons for conservation management, as it has maintained conservation values rivalling those of much larger parks sometimes through, and sometimes despite, strong management interventions, including the rescue of the white rhino from extinction. In addition, the book highlights the ecological science produced in the park, much of which has become widely influential, including the megaherbivore concept, new functional approaches to understanding biomes, and new understandings about the role of consumers in shaping ecosystems. The volume is ideal for researchers and policymakers interested in the conservation of relatively small, isolated and protected areas.

Detecting and Responding to Alien Plant Incursions
  • John R. Wilson, F. Dane Panetta, Cory Lindgren
  • Published online:
    27 October 2016
    Print publication:
    20 October 2016
  • Ecologists, land managers and policymakers continue to search for the most effective ways to manage biological invasions. An emerging lesson is that proactive management can limit negative impacts, reduce risks and save money. This book explores how to detect and respond to alien plant incursions, summarising the most current literature, providing practical recommendations and reviewing the conditions and processes necessary to achieve prevention, eradication and containment. Chapter topics include assessing invasiveness and the impact of alien plants, how to improve surveillance efforts, how to make timely management decisions, and how legislation and strategic planning can support management. Each chapter includes text boxes written by international experts that discuss topical issues such as spatial predictive modelling, costing invasions, biosecurity, biofuels, and dealing with conflict species.

Wood Ant Ecology and Conservation
  • Edited by Jenni A. Stockan, Elva J. H. Robinson
  • Published online:
    05 June 2016
    Print publication:
    07 July 2016
  • Wood ants play an ecologically dominant and conspicuous role in temperate boreal forests, making a keystone contribution to woodland ecosystem functions and processes. Wood ant taxonomy and global distributions set the scene for this text's exploration of wood ants as social insects, examining their flexible social structures, genetics, population ecology, and behaviour, from nest-mate recognition to task allocation. Wood ants' interactions with their environment and with other organisms are essential to their success: competition, predation and mutualism are described and analysed. Bringing together the expertise of ecological researchers and conservation practitioners, this book provides practical and theoretical advice about sampling and monitoring these insects, and outlines the requirements for effective conservation. This is an indispensable resource for wood ant researchers, entomologists, conservationists and ecological consultants, as well as anyone interested in social insects, keystone species and the management and conservation of forest ecosystems.

Marine Ecosystems
  • Human Impacts on Biodiversity, Functioning and Services
  • Tasman P. Crowe, Christopher L. J. Frid
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    18 June 2015
  • Ecosystem services are emerging as a key driver of conservation policy and environmental management. Delivery of ecosystem services depends on the efficient functioning of ecosystems, which in turn depends on biodiversity and environmental conditions. Many marine ecosystems are extremely productive and highly valued, but they are increasingly threatened by human activities. With contributions from leading researchers, this volume synthesises current understanding of the effects on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning caused by a variety of human activities and pressures at play in coastal marine ecosystems. The authors examine the likely consequences for ecosystem service provision, covering key topics including fisheries, aquaculture, physical structures, nutrients, chemical contaminants, marine debris and invasive species. Critically reviewing the latest developments, this is a unique resource both for environmental managers and policy-makers, and for researchers and students in marine ecology and environmental management.

Birds and Climate Change
  • Impacts and Conservation Responses
  • James W. Pearce-Higgins, Rhys E. Green
  • Published online:
    05 June 2014
    Print publication:
    12 June 2014
  • From the red grouse to the Ethiopian bush-crow, bird populations around the world can provide us with vital insights into the effects of climate change on species and ecosystems. They are among the best studied and monitored of organisms, yet many are already under threat of extinction as a result of habitat loss, overexploitation and pollution. Providing a single source of information for students, scientists, practitioners and policy-makers, this book begins with a critical review of the existing impacts of climate change on birds, including changes in the timing of migration and breeding and effects on bird populations around the world. The second part considers how conservationists can assess potential future impacts, quantifying how extinction risk is linked to the magnitude of global change and synthesising the evidence in support of likely conservation responses. The final chapters assess the threats posed by efforts to reduce the magnitude of climate change.

Nature's Wealth
  • The Economics of Ecosystem Services and Poverty
  • Edited by Pieter J. H. van Beukering, Elissaios Papyrakis, Jetske Bouma, Roy Brouwer
  • Published online:
    05 July 2013
    Print publication:
    28 March 2013
  • Increasing pressure from economic development and population growth has resulted in the degradation of ecosystems around the world and the loss of the essential services that they provide. Understanding the linkages between ecosystem service provisioning and human well-being is crucial for the establishment of effective environmental and economic development policy. Presenting new insights into the relationship between ecosystem services and livelihoods in developing countries, this book takes up the challenge of assessing these links to demonstrate their importance in policy development. It pays special attention to innovative management opportunities that improve local livelihoods and alleviate poverty while enhancing ecosystem protection. Based on eighteen studies in more than twenty developing countries, the authors explore the role of biodiversity-, marine-, forest-, water- and land-related ecosystem services, making this an invaluable contribution to research on the role of ecosystems in supporting the livelihoods of the poor around the world.

Landslide Ecology
  • Lawrence R. Walker, Aaron B. Shiels
  • Published online:
    05 January 2013
    Print publication:
    06 December 2012
  • Despite their often dangerous and unpredictable nature, landslides provide fascinating templates for studying how soil organisms, plants and animals respond to such destruction. The emerging field of landslide ecology helps us understand these responses, aiding slope stabilisation and restoration and contributing to the progress made in geological approaches to landslide prediction and mitigation. Summarising the growing body of literature on the ecological consequences of landslides, this book provides a framework for the promotion of ecological tools in predicting, stabilising, and restoring biodiversity to landslide scars at both local and landscape scales. It explores nutrient cycling; soil development; and how soil organisms disperse, colonise and interact in what is often an inhospitable environment. Recognising the role that these processes play in providing solutions to the problem of unstable slopes, the authors present ecological approaches as useful, economical and resilient supplements to landslide management.

Biodiversity in Dead Wood
  • Jogeir N. Stokland, Juha Siitonen, Bengt Gunnar Jonsson
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    26 April 2012
  • Fossils document the existence of trees and wood-associated organisms from almost 400 million years ago, and today there are between 400,000 and 1 million wood-inhabiting species in the world. This is the first book to synthesise the natural history and conservation needs of wood-inhabiting organisms. Presenting a thorough introduction to biodiversity in decaying wood, the book studies the rich diversity of fungi, insects and vertebrates that depend upon dead wood. It describes the functional diversity of these organisms and their specific habitat requirements in terms of host trees, decay phases, tree dimensions, microhabitats and the surrounding environment. Recognising the threats posed by timber extraction and forest management, the authors also present management options for protecting and maintaining the diversity of these species in forests as well as in agricultural landscapes and urban parks.

Marine Protected Areas
  • A Multidisciplinary Approach
  • Edited by Joachim Claudet
  • Published online:
    05 August 2012
    Print publication:
    29 September 2011
  • Human-induced environmental disturbance – through fishery activities, coastal development, tourism and pollution – is a major challenge to the restoration and conservation of marine biodiversity. Synthesizing the latest research into marine biodiversity conservation and fisheries management, this book provides regional and global perspectives on the role of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in confronting this challenge. The approach is multidisciplinary, covering all the fields involved in designating and assessing MPAs: ecology, fisheries science, statistics, economics, sociology and genetics. The book is structured around key topics, including threats to marine ecosystems and resources, the effects and effectiveness of MPAs and the scaling-up of MPA systems. Both theoretical and empirical approaches are considered. Recognizing the diversity of MPA sciences, the book also includes one part designed specifically as a practical guide to implementing scientific assessment studies of MPAs and monitoring programs.

Zoo Conservation Biology
  • John E. Fa, Stephan M. Funk, Donnamarie O'Connell
  • Published online:
    05 August 2012
    Print publication:
    18 August 2011
  • In the face of ever-declining biodiversity, zoos have a major role to play in species conservation. Written by professionals involved in in situ conservation and restoration projects internationally, this is a critical assessment of the contribution of zoos to species conservation through evidence amassed from a wide range of sources. The first part outlines the biodiversity context within which zoos should operate, introducing the origins and global spread of zoos and exploring animal collection composition. The second part focuses on the basic elements of keeping viable captive animal populations. It considers the consequences of captivity on animals, the genetics of captive populations and the performance of zoos in captive breeding. The final part examines ways in which zoos can make a significant difference to conservation now and in the future. Bridging the gap between pure science and applied conservation, this is an ideal resource for both conservation biologists and zoo professionals.

Parasites in Ecological Communities
  • From Interactions to Ecosystems
  • Melanie J. Hatcher, Alison M. Dunn
  • Published online:
    05 August 2012
    Print publication:
    16 June 2011
  • Interactions between competitors, predators and their prey have traditionally been viewed as the foundation of community structure. Parasites – long ignored in community ecology – are now recognized as playing an important part in influencing species interactions and consequently affecting ecosystem function. Parasitism can interact with other ecological drivers, resulting in both detrimental and beneficial effects on biodiversity and ecosystem health. Species interactions involving parasites are also key to understanding many biological invasions and emerging infectious diseases. This book bridges the gap between community ecology and epidemiology to create a wide-ranging examination of how parasites and pathogens affect all aspects of ecological communities, enabling the new generation of ecologists to include parasites as a key consideration in their studies. This comprehensive guide to a newly emerging field is of relevance to academics, practitioners and graduates in biodiversity, conservation and population management, and animal and human health.

Ecosystem Functioning
  • Kurt Jax
  • Published online:
    05 August 2012
    Print publication:
    16 September 2010
  • In the face of decreasing biodiversity and ongoing global changes, maintaining ecosystem functioning is seen both as a means to preserve biological diversity as well as for safeguarding human well-being by securing the services ecosystems provide. The concept today is prominent in many fields of ecology and conservation biology, such as biodiversity research, ecosystem management, or restoration ecology. Although the idea of ecosystem functioning is important, the concept itself remains rather vague and elusive. This book provides a novel analysis and integrated synthesis of different approaches to conceptualising and assessing ecosystem functioning. It links the natural sciences with methodologies from philosophy and the social sciences, and introduces a new methodology for a clearer and more efficient application of ecosystem functioning concepts in practice. Special emphasis is laid on the social dimensions of the concept and the ways it influences research practice. Several case studies relate theoretical analyses to practical application.

Decline and Recovery of the Island Fox
  • A Case Study for Population Recovery
  • Timothy J. Coonan, Catherin A. Schwemm, David K. Garcelon
  • Published online:
    05 October 2010
    Print publication:
    22 July 2010
  • Native only to the California Channel Islands, the island fox is the smallest canid in North America. Populations on four of the islands were threatened to extinction in the 1990s due to human-mediated predation and disease. This is the first account of the natural history and ecology of the island fox, illustrating both the vulnerability of island ecosystems and the efficacy of cooperative conservation measures. It explains in detail the intense conservation actions required to recover fox populations, such as captive breeding and reintroduction, and large-scale ecosystem manipulation. These actions were successful due in large part to extraordinary collaboration among the scientists, managers and public advocates involved in the recovery effort. The book also examines the role of some aspects of island fox biology, characteristic of the 'island syndrome', in facilitating their recovery, including high productivity and an apparent adaptation to periodic genetic bottlenecks.

Mapping Species Distributions
  • Spatial Inference and Prediction
  • Janet Franklin
  • Published online:
    05 August 2012
    Print publication:
    07 January 2010
  • Maps of species' distributions or habitat suitability are required for many aspects of environmental research, resource management and conservation planning. These include biodiversity assessment, reserve design, habitat management and restoration, species and habitat conservation plans and predicting the effects of environmental change on species and ecosystems. The proliferation of methods and uncertainty regarding their effectiveness can be daunting to researchers, resource managers and conservation planners alike. Franklin summarises the methods used in species distribution modeling (also called niche modeling) and presents a framework for spatial prediction of species distributions based on the attributes (space, time, scale) of the data and questions being asked. The framework links theoretical ecological models of species distributions to spatial data on species and environment, and statistical models used for spatial prediction. Providing practical guidelines to students, researchers and practitioners in a broad range of environmental sciences including ecology, geography, conservation biology, and natural resources management.

Biodiversity in Environmental Assessment
  • Enhancing Ecosystem Services for Human Well-Being
  • Roel Slootweg, Asha Rajvanshi, Vinod B. Mathur, Arend Kolhoff
  • Published online:
    05 July 2014
    Print publication:
    12 November 2009
  • Human induced development activities are introduced with insufficient attention to their consequences for our living environment, even in cases where environmental assessments have been carried out. This apparent lack of attention to biodiversity in environmental assessment is rooted in the difficulties we have in adequately addressing biodiversity within the scope, time frame and budget allocated for assessments. This book provides a conceptual background and practical approaches to overcome these difficulties. It integrates the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity, its ecosystem approach, and the conceptual framework of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment into a comprehensive approach to biodiversity in environmental assessment. It highlights the need to consider the value of biodiversity based on its use by each stakeholder, addresses the importance of both social and economic development to reach the Millennium Development Goals, and provides insights into ways to balance present and future needs.

Cave Biology
  • Life in Darkness
  • Aldemaro Romero
  • Published online:
    21 October 2009
    Print publication:
    23 July 2009
  • Biospeleology, the study of organisms that live in caves, has a tremendous potential to inform many aspects of modern biology; yet this area of knowledge remains largely anchored in neo-Lamarckian views of the natural world in both its approaches and jargon. Written for graduate students and academic researchers, this book provides a critical examination of current knowledge and ideas on cave biology, with emphasis on evolution, ecology, and conservation. Aldemaro Romero provides a historical analysis of ideas that have influenced biospeleology, discusses evolutionary phenomena in caves, from cave colonization to phenotypic and genotypic changes, and integrates concepts and knowledge from diverse biological viewpoints. He challenges the conventional wisdom regarding the biology of caves, and highlights urgent questions that should be addressed in order to get a better and more complete understanding of caves as ecosystems.

Insect Species Conservation
  • T. R. New
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    28 May 2009
  • Insects are the most diverse and abundant animals that share our world, and conservation initiatives are increasingly needed and being implemented globally, to safe guard the wealth of individual species. This book provides sufficient background information, illustrated by examples from many parts of the world, to enable more confident and efficient progress towards the conservation of these ecologically indispensable animals. Writing for graduate students, academic researchers and professionals, Tim New describes the major ingredients for insect species management and conservation, and how these may be integrated into effective practical management and recovery plans.

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