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Author: Vaclav Smil
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 026201856X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 317
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Book Description
An interdisciplinary and quantitative account of human claims on the biosphere's stores of living matter, from prehistoric hunting to modern energy production. The biosphere—the Earth's thin layer of life—dates from nearly four billion years ago, when the first simple organisms appeared. Many species have exerted enormous influence on the biosphere's character and productivity, but none has transformed the Earth in so many ways and on such a scale as Homo sapiens. In Harvesting the Biosphere, Vaclav Smil offers an interdisciplinary and quantitative account of human claims on the biosphere's stores of living matter, from prehistory to the present day. Smil examines all harvests—from prehistoric man's hunting of megafauna to modern crop production—and all uses of harvested biomass, including energy, food, and raw materials. Without harvesting of the biomass, Smil points out, there would be no story of human evolution and advancing civilization; but at the same time, the increasing extent and intensity of present-day biomass harvests are changing the very foundations of civilization's well-being. In his detailed and comprehensive account, Smil presents the best possible quantifications of past and current global losses in order to assess the evolution and extent of biomass harvests. Drawing on the latest work in disciplines ranging from anthropology to environmental science, Smil offers a valuable long-term, planet-wide perspective on human-caused environmental change.
Author: Vaclav Smil
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 026201856X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 317
Get Book Here
Book Description
An interdisciplinary and quantitative account of human claims on the biosphere's stores of living matter, from prehistoric hunting to modern energy production. The biosphere—the Earth's thin layer of life—dates from nearly four billion years ago, when the first simple organisms appeared. Many species have exerted enormous influence on the biosphere's character and productivity, but none has transformed the Earth in so many ways and on such a scale as Homo sapiens. In Harvesting the Biosphere, Vaclav Smil offers an interdisciplinary and quantitative account of human claims on the biosphere's stores of living matter, from prehistory to the present day. Smil examines all harvests—from prehistoric man's hunting of megafauna to modern crop production—and all uses of harvested biomass, including energy, food, and raw materials. Without harvesting of the biomass, Smil points out, there would be no story of human evolution and advancing civilization; but at the same time, the increasing extent and intensity of present-day biomass harvests are changing the very foundations of civilization's well-being. In his detailed and comprehensive account, Smil presents the best possible quantifications of past and current global losses in order to assess the evolution and extent of biomass harvests. Drawing on the latest work in disciplines ranging from anthropology to environmental science, Smil offers a valuable long-term, planet-wide perspective on human-caused environmental change.
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: Bülent Şen
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN: 1789232325
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 402
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Book Description
The present book offers an overall up-to-date overview of the biological diversity, comprising many interesting chapters focussing on the different aspects of biodiversity. Most of the chapters include findings of investigations and observations on biodiversity, whilst a few are based on statistically and theoretically derived information. The book produced sufficient information on the occurrence and distribution of many plant and animal species or groups of organisms with environmental estimates from a wide variety of interesting terrestrial and aquatic habitats. With 18 interesting and elaborately prepared chapters, the present book would definitely be an ideal source of scientific information to the advanced students, junior researchers, scientists and a portion of the public involved in ecology and other research areas involving biodiversity studies. It will also help to the development of the growing awareness of the close linkage between the conversation of biodiversity and economic development.
Author: Ashish Malik
Publisher: Disha Publications
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
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Book Description
The thoroughly Revised & Updated 3rd Edition of the Book 2000+ Most Probable IAS Prelim MCQs with 500 Past Questions is updated with all latest General Studies and Current Affair Questions. The Book is POWER PACKED with Original Prelim Style & Difficulty Level Questions further supported with Latest Schemes, Bill, Acts, Events (Current Affairs) Questions. The salient features of the book are: • The book is divided into 2 Units – 1500+ Practice Question Bank; 500 Previous Year Questions; • The Unit 1 provides Collection of around 1500+ Most Probable Questions divided into 8 sections - History, Art & Culture; Indian Polity & Governance; Indian Economy & latest Developments; Indian & World Geography; Environment & Biodiversity; Science & Tech, Defence & Space; International Development; & Disaster Management. • Includes MCQs an Latest Policies, Schemes, Bills, Act, Agreements, Meets etc. • Questions designed on exact difficulty level of IAS Prelim Exam. • All the questions are fully solved with detailed explanations. • The Unit 2 provides Includes Errorless Solutions to previons 5 Year IAS Prelim (2021 - 2017) Questions again divided into 8 sections. • The Book is the most authentic source of newly created MCQs available for IAS Prelim Exam
Author: K V Krishnamurthy
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1482280183
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 277
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Book Description
A comprehensive text and reference book covering all the aspects of biodiversity science for students and researchers of biodiversity, plant science, biotechnology, as well as zoology.
Author: Navjot S. Sodhi
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199554234
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 369
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Book Description
Conservation Biology for All provides cutting-edge but basic conservation science to a global readership. A series of authoritative chapters have been written by the top names in conservation biology with the principal aim of disseminating cutting-edge conservation knowledge as widely as possible. Important topics such as balancing conversion and human needs, climate change, conservation planning, designing and analyzing conservation research, ecosystem services, endangered species management, extinctions, fire, habitat loss, and invasive species are covered. Numerous textboxes describing additional relevant material or case studies are also included. The global biodiversity crisis is now unstoppable; what can be saved in the developing world will require an educated constituency in both the developing and developed world. Habitat loss is particularly acute in developing countries, which is of special concern because it tends to be these locations where the greatest species diversity and richest centres of endemism are to be found. Sadly, developing world conservation scientists have found it difficult to access an authoritative textbook, which is particularly ironic since it is these countries where the potential benefits of knowledge application are greatest. There is now an urgent need to educate the next generation of scientists in developing countries, so that they are in a better position to protect their natural resources.
Author: Brian Groombridge
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 9780520236684
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 362
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Book Description
Global biological diversity, ecosystem diversity.
Author: Vaclav Smil
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262692984
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 362
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Book Description
A comprehensive overview of Earth's biosphere, written with scientific rigor and essay-like flair. In his latest book, Vaclav Smil tells the story of the Earth's biosphere from its origins to its near and long-term future. He explains the workings of its parts and what is known about their interactions. With essay-like flair, he examines the biosphere's physics, chemistry, biology, geology, oceanography, energy, climatology, and ecology, as well as the changes caused by human activity. He provides both the basics of the story and surprising asides illustrating critical but often neglected aspects of biospheric complexity. Smil begins with a history of the modern idea of the biosphere, focusing on the development of the concept by Russian scientist Vladimir Vernadsky. He explores the probability of life elsewhere in the universe, life's evolution and metabolism, and the biosphere's extent, mass, productivity, and grand-scale organization. Smil offers fresh approaches to such well-known phenomena as solar radiation and plate tectonics and introduces lesser-known topics such as the quarter-power scaling of animal and plant metabolism across body sizes and metabolic pathways. He also examines two sets of fundamental relationships that have profoundly influenced the evolution of life and the persistence of the biosphere: symbiosis and the role of life's complexity as a determinant of biomass productivity and resilience. And he voices concern about the future course of human-caused global environmental change, which could compromise the biosphere's integrity and threaten the survival of modern civilization.
Author: David A. Vaccari
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0471741787
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 688
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Book Description
The growth of the environmental sciences has greatly expanded thescope of biological disciplines today's engineers have to dealwith. Yet, despite its fundamental importance, the full breadth ofbiology has been given short shrift in most environmentalengineering and science courses. Filling this gap in the professional literature, EnvironmentalBiology for Engineers and Scientists introduces students ofchemistry, physics, geology, and environmental engineering to abroad range of biological concepts they may not otherwise beexposed to in their training. Based on a graduate-level coursedesigned to teach engineers to be literate in biological conceptsand terminology, the text covers a wide range of biology withoutmaking it tedious for non-biology majors. Teaching aids include: * Notes, problems, and solutions * Problem sets at the end of each chapter * PowerPoints(r) of many figures A valuable addition to any civil engineering and environmentalstudies curriculum, this book also serves as an importantprofessional reference for practicing environmental professionalswho need to understand the biological impacts of pollution.
Author: Michel Loreau
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780198515715
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 316
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Book Description
Increasing domination of ecosystems by humans is steadily transforming them into depauperate systems. How will this loss of biodiversity affect the functioning and stability of natural and managed ecosystems? This work provides comprehensive coverage of empirical and theoretical research.
