Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: A Conservation Assessment (World Wildlife Fund Ecoregion Assessments)

Book Description

"This book, along with its companions in this series, takes an ecoregional approach, dividing large regions into small, distinct units, each with its characteristic species, ecosystems, natural history, and threats. As such, it has no peers. It is the sourcebook for anyone who must look for where and how to act to save the variety of life on Earth." - from the foreword by Stuart L. Pim.

A number of conservation groups, including World Wildlife Fund, have in recent years adopted an approach to conservation that uses ecoregions to identify biological and conservation priority areas. Ecoregions define distinct ecosystems that share broadly similar environmental conditions and natural communities; as such, they make more sense for priority-setting efforts than do political units such as countries or provinces.

Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific offers a comprehensive examination of the state of the Indo-Pacific's biodiversity and habitats, moving beyond endangered or charismatic species to quantify for the first time the number of mammal and bird species, including endemics, in each ecoregion.

The book begins with a discussion of the background and basis for ecoregion delineation and definition of the objectives and approach used. Following that, chapters describe the biological distinctiveness and conservation status of ecoregions, quantifying the amount of habitat remaining, how it is distributed, and how much is protected. The analysis concludes with a set of ecoregions that deserve immediate attention and also highlights ecoregions that are still in relatively pristine condition. Substantial appendixes offer detailed descriptions of each ecoregion, including information on:

unique features of the ecoregion that set it apart from others
its biological distinctiveness, threats to habitats and wildlife, and important sites for conservation
an agenda and recommendations for where conservation efforts should be concentrated

Book Description

The book presents recent estimates of the rates in changes of major land classes such as forest, cropland and pasture. Among the causative mechanisms behind land change, synergetic factor combinations are found to be more common than single key factor explanations. Aggregated globally, multiple impacts of local land changes are shown to significantly affect central aspects of Earth System functioning. Innovative developments and applications in the fields of modeling and scenario construction are presented. Finally, conclusions are drawn about the most pressing implications for the design of appropriate intervention policies, and on new directions and frontiers of research.
The edited book synthesizes research achievements by dozens of scientists related to the Land-Use/Cover Change (LUCC) project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP). It summarizes relevant findings on global land-use change which arose from value-adding activities of the LUCC project, starting in 1995 and extending until its termination in October 2005. The main intention is to describe how human modification of land cover became a major driving force of Earth System changes over the past 300 years, a period of most rapid transformations, with fundamental implications for current landscape configurations. In writing this book, current knowledge and understanding is reported on the rates, causes/pathways, impacts, future scenarios/models, policy implications and new research directions in the field of land-use/cover change.

Hotspots Revisited: Earth's Biologically Richest and Most Endangered Terrestrial Ecoregions

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First Rate Summary of Planetary Biodiversity and How to Go About Saving It

Hotspots Revisited: Earth's Biologically Richest and Most Endangered Terrestrial Ecoregions
Russell A. Mittermeier , Patricio Robles Gil , Michael Hoffman , John Pilgrim , Thomas Brooks , Cristina Goettsch Mittermeier , John Lamoreux , and Gustavo A. B. da Fonseca
Manufacturer: Conservation International
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Wilderness: Earth's Last Wild Places
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ASIN: 9686397779

Book Description

For decades, Conservation International has devoted itself not only to saving endangered regions on the planet but also to chronicling, in lavish volumes, the biodiversity of these areas. These volumes, according to Choice, are"a superbly produced . . . source of hard-to-find information on biodiversity, biogreography, and conservation."Hotspots Revisited continues this rich tradition, drawing on the organization's continuing work to identify, research, and document biologically diverse yet dangerously threatened regions. The first Hotspots volume identified twenty-five endangered regions; Hotspots Revisited reveals an astonishing nine additional areas, from Melanesia to northern Mexico, that now meet the same criteria. Hotspots Revisited presents the most up-to-date analyses of the ecology of these endangered areas—including new information on freshwater fish and other animal populations. But the heart of the volume is in the hundreds of vibrant color photographs of the animals and plants under threat. Magnificent in conception and flawless in execution, Hotspots Revisited is equally at home on a scientist's shelf or an ecotourist's coffee table.

Customer Reviews:

First Rate Summary of Planetary Biodiversity and How to Go About Saving It.......2005-08-07

It isn't often that a sumptuous coffee table book is both visually appealing and scientifically packed with well-researched data. Hotspots Revisited hits the mark on both scores. This updated revision of the 1999 edition of Hotspots expands the number of planetary hotspots to 35. This is an information-packed compendium on those areas of our planet that are species-rich and home to the highest levels of species endemism. The book acknowledges that all biodiversity is important and that all nations and communities must do everything possible to protect our planet's rich biological heritage. Life, however, is not evenly distributed around the world and because of this fact, this volume presents a convincing and forceful rationale for adopting the hotspot strategy for prioritizing areas for biological conservation. This is done by summarizing the distributions of plants and vertebrate animals in a way that is both comprehensive and intelligible to even the lay reader who does not have an extensive background in the biological sciences. This volume is both a visual feast and a celebration of life. It is hard to set it aside once you have opened it. Without a doubt, it is one of the best bargains of any book offered by Amazon.com and should be required reading for all governmental and private organizations charged with saving our natural resources at a time when the fabric of life on planet Earth is being threatened by overexploitation, environmental destruction, violent conflict, and countless other factors. Buy it, read it thoroughly, learn more stunning facts about planetary geography and biodiversity than you have probably ever been exposed to at one sitting, and by all means loan it to a friend once you have immersed yourself in this model expose of our planet's extraordinary biodiversity.

Assessing the Hazard of Metals and Inorganic Metal Substances in Aquatic and Terrestrial Systems

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Assessing the Hazard of Metals and Inorganic Metal Substances in Aquatic and Terrestrial Systems
William J. Adams
Manufacturer: CRC Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1420044400

Book Description

Current procedures used for hazard identification and classification are based on persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity measurements. Assessing the Hazard of Metals and Inorganic Metal Substances in Aquatic and Terrestrial Systems provides the basis for improvements to the current model for hazard assessment. The book reviews the scientific underpinnings of the use of persistence as applied to metals, including bioavailability, and the use of bioaccumulation to evaluate aquatic species and aquatic-linked food chains. It also examines toxicity procedures as used within PBT approaches and measurements for metals in terrestrial ecosystems. The book brings together a multidisciplinary and international group of scientists, managers, and policy makers from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States to discuss various means for assessing the environmental hazard posed by metals and inorganic metal substances. The contributors include representatives from regulatory and nonregulatory government agencies, academia, industry, environmental groups, and consulting firms involved in assessment, management, and basic research of metals and metal substances. They provide a focused discussion of the fate and effects of metals in the environment, incorporating important advances developed over the past decade.

Radioactivity in the Terrestrial Environment, Volume 10 (Radioactivity in the Environment) (Radioactivity in the Environment)

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Radioactivity in the Terrestrial Environment, Volume 10 (Radioactivity in the Environment) (Radioactivity in the Environment)

Manufacturer: Elsevier Science
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0080438725
Release Date: 2007-04-13

Book Description

The Radioactivity in the Environment Series addresses the key aspects of this socially important and complex interdisciplinary subject. Presented objectively and with the ultimate authority gained from the many contributions by the world's leading experts, the negative and positive consequences of having a radioactive world around us is documented and given perspective. In a world in which nuclear science is not only less popular than in the past, but also less extensively taught in universities and colleges, this book series will fill a significant educational gap.

Radioactivity in the Terrestrial Environment presents an updated and critical review of designing, siting, constructing and demonstrating the safety and environmental impact of deep repositories for radioactive wastes. It is structured to provide a broad perspective of this multi-faceted, multi-disciplinary topic providing enough detail for a non-specialist to understand the fundamental principles involved.

* Contains extensive references to sources of more detailed information
* Provides a detailed summary of radioactivity in terrestrial ecosystems, providing a substantial and essential reference on the subject
* Discusses lesser-known sources of radiation exposure that provide useful information for those seeking to place environmental radioactivity into perspective

Space Weather: The Physics Behind a Slogan (Lecture Notes in Physics)

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Space Weather: The Physics Behind a Slogan (Lecture Notes in Physics)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Earth's Magnetism: An Introduction for Geologists
Avalanche Dynamics
Groundwater Geophysics: A Tool for Hydrogeology

ASIN: 3540229078

Book Description

The various processes that connect the physics of the Sun with that of the Earth`s environment has become known as "Space Weather" during recent years, a slogan that has emerged in connection with many other expressions adapted from meteorology, such as solar wind, magnetic clouds or polar rain. This volume is intended as a first graduate-level textbook-style account on the physics of these solar-terrestrial relations and their impact on our natural and technological environment.

Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediments - Volume 3: Terrestrial, Algal, and Siliceous Indicators (DEVELOPMENTS IN PALEOENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH ... in Paleoenvironmental Research)

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Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediments - Volume 3: Terrestrial, Algal, and Siliceous Indicators (DEVELOPMENTS IN PALEOENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH ... in Paleoenvironmental Research)

Manufacturer: Springer
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Binding: Hardcover

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Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediments - Volume 4: Zoological Indicators (DEVELOPMENTS IN PALEOENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH Volume 4) (Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research)
Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediments - Volume 2: Physical and Geochemical Methods (DEVELOPMENTS IN PALEOENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH Volume 2) (Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research)
Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediments - Volume 1: Basin Analysis, Coring, and Chronological (Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research)

ASIN: 1402006810

Book Description

This third volume in the Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research series deals with the major terrestrial, algal, and siliceous indicators used in paleolimnology. Other volumes deal with the acquisition and archiving of lake sediment cores, chronological techniques, and large-scale basin analysis methods (Volume 1), physical and geochemical parameters and methods (Volume 2), zoological techniques (Volume 4), and statistical and data handling methods (Volume 5). These monographs will provide sufficient detail and breadth to be useful handbooks for both seasoned practitioners as well as newcomers to the area of paleolimnology. Although the chapters in these volumes target mainly lacustrine settings, many of the techniques described can also be readily applied to fluvial, glacial, marine, estuarine, and peatland environments.

Storms from the Sun: The Emerging Science of Space Weather

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A Great Book!
The space weather story

Storms from the Sun: The Emerging Science of Space Weather
Michael Carlowicz , and Ramon Lopez
Manufacturer: National Academies Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Storms in Space
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ASIN: 0309076420

Book Description

From the casual conversation starter to the 24-hour cable channels and Web sites devoted exclusively to the subject, everyone talks about weather. There's even weather in space—and it's causing major upsets to our modern technological world.

Space weather is all around us. There are no nightly news reports on space weather (yet), but we're rapidly developing the tools necessary to measure and observe trends in cosmic meteorology. New probes are going on-line that help us monitor the weather taking place miles above the Earth.

But why does space weather matter? It doesn't affect whether we bring an umbrella to work or require us to monitor early school closings. It's far, far away and of little concern to us . . . right? March 13, 1989. The Department of Defense tracking system that keeps tabs on 8,000 objects orbiting Earth suddenly loses track of 1,300 of them. In New Jersey, a $10 million transformer is burned up by a surge of extra current in the power lines. Shocks to a power station in Quebec leave 6 million people without electricity. New England power stations struggle to keep their power grid up. Listeners tuning in to their local stations in Minnesota hear the broadcasts of the California Highway Patrol. Residents of Florida, Mexico, and the Grand Cayman Islands see glowing curtains of light in the sky.

All of these bizarre, and seemingly unconnected, events were caused by a storm on the Sun and a fire in the sky. A series of solar flares and explosions had launched bolts of hot, electrified gas at the Earth and stirred up the second largest magnetic storm in recorded history. Before rockets and radio and the advent of other modern devices, we probably would never have noticed the effects of this space storm. But in today's electrically powered, space-faring world, the greatest space storm of the twenty-second solar maximum rang like a wake-up call.

And we are now in the midst of another solar maximum, the effects of which are expected to be felt all the way through the year 2004. Storms from the Sun explores the emerging physical science of space weather and traces its increasing impact on a society that relies on space-based technologies.

Authors Carlowicz and Lopez explain what space weather really means to us down here—and what it may mean for future explorations and colonization of distant worlds. By translating the findings of NASA and other top scientists into fascinating and accessible descriptions of the latest discoveries, we are privy to some of the most closely held secrets that the solar-terrestrial system has to offer.

Customer Reviews:

A Great Book!.......2004-02-26

I previously reviewed this book in March 2003 and submitted to Midwest Book Review - see Quote:

The Midwest Book Review, March 2003
"...an electrifying challenge for the mind to decipher the seemingly unfathomable secrets of the sun."

And I meant every word I said. It is a great book and a lot of fun to read, and it isn't necessary to be a rocket scientist to understand the material. Homeschoolers will find this a wonderful addition to their educational reference library.

If you would like to read my full review, feel free to visit the March 2003 Midwest Book Review http://www.midwestbookreview.com/rbw/mar_03.htm

The space weather story.......2002-06-12

I recently read this book and found it very engaging and readable. I have been following the topic of space weather for a few years now and read other articles and books on the topic, but this one was the clearest and most memorable of them all.

It explains the technology, the science,and the politics of space weather and is filled with anecdotes. I enjoyed the color prints in it as well. For anyone who wants to learn about this cutting edge topic, this is the place to go. We are becoming more dependent on satellites and technology, but space weather can really mess things up. The book tells you why and how.

Valuing Ecosystem Services: Toward Better Environmental Decision-Making
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Valuing Ecosystem Services: Toward Better Environmental Decision-Making
Committee on Assessing and Valuing the the Services of Aquatic and Related Terrestrial Ecosystems , and National Research Council
Manufacturer: National Academies Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 030909318X

Terrestrial Ecoregions of Africa and Madagascar: A Conservation Assessment (World Wildlife Fund Ecoregion Assessments)
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Terrestrial Ecoregions of Africa and Madagascar: A Conservation Assessment (World Wildlife Fund Ecoregion Assessments)
Neil Burgess , Jennifer D'Amico Hales , Emma Underwood , and Eric Dinerstein
Manufacturer: Island Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Freshwater Ecoregions of Africa and Madagascar: A Conservation Assessment (World Wildlife Fund Ecoregion Assessments)

Global Visions, Local Landscapes: A Political Ecology of Conservation, Conflict, and Control in Northern Madagascar (Globalization and the Environment) Global Visions, Local Landscapes: A Political Ecology of Conservation, Conflict, and Control in Northern Madagascar (Globalization and the Environment)

ASIN: 1559633646

Book Description

As part of a global effort to identify those areas where conservation measures are needed most urgently, World Wildlife Fund has assembled teams of scientists to conduct ecological assessments of all five continents. Terrestrial Ecoregions of Africa and Madagascar is the latest contribution, presenting in a single volume the first comprehensive assessment of biodiversity patterns, threats to biodiversity, and resulting conservation priorities across the African continent and its islands. Looking at biodiversity and threats in terms of biological units rather than political units, the book offers a comprehensive examination of African biodiversity across all biomes and multiple taxonomic groups.

In addition to the seven main chapters, the book includes twenty essays by regional experts that provide more depth on key issues, as well as nine detailed appendixes that present summary data used in the analyses, specific analytical methodologies, and a thorough text description for each of Africa's 119 terrestrial ecoregions.

Terrestrial Ecoregions of Africa and Madagascar provides a blueprint for conservation action and represents an unparalleled guide for investments and activities of conservation agencies and donor organizations.

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