Fundamental Processes in Ecology

Fundamental Processes in Ecology PDF Author: David M Wilkinson
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191551856
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
Fundamental Processes in Ecology presents a way to study ecosystems that is not yet available in ecology textbooks but is resonant with current thinking in the emerging fields of geobiology and Earth System Science. It provides an alternative, process-based classification of ecology and proposes a truly planetary view of ecological science. To achieve this, it asks (and endeavours to answer) the question, "what are the fundamental ecological processes which would be found on any planet with Earth-like, carbon based, life?" The author demonstrates how the idea of fundamental ecological processes can be developed at the systems level, specifically their involvement in control and feedback mechanisms. This approach allows us to reconsider basic ecological ideas such as energy flow, guilds, trade-offs, carbon cycling and photosynthesis; and to put these in a global context. In doing so, the book puts a much stronger emphasis on microorganisms than has traditionally been the case. The integration of Earth System Science with ecology is vitally important if ecological science is to successfully contribute to the massive problems and future challenges associated with global change. Although the approach is heavily influenced by Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis, this is not a popular science book about Gaian theory. Instead it is written as an accessible text for graduate student seminar courses and researchers in the fields of ecology, earth system science, evolutionary biology, palaeontology, history of life, astrobiology, geology and physical geography.

Fundamental Processes in Ecology

Fundamental Processes in Ecology PDF Author: David M Wilkinson
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191551856
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 200

Get Book Here

Book Description
Fundamental Processes in Ecology presents a way to study ecosystems that is not yet available in ecology textbooks but is resonant with current thinking in the emerging fields of geobiology and Earth System Science. It provides an alternative, process-based classification of ecology and proposes a truly planetary view of ecological science. To achieve this, it asks (and endeavours to answer) the question, "what are the fundamental ecological processes which would be found on any planet with Earth-like, carbon based, life?" The author demonstrates how the idea of fundamental ecological processes can be developed at the systems level, specifically their involvement in control and feedback mechanisms. This approach allows us to reconsider basic ecological ideas such as energy flow, guilds, trade-offs, carbon cycling and photosynthesis; and to put these in a global context. In doing so, the book puts a much stronger emphasis on microorganisms than has traditionally been the case. The integration of Earth System Science with ecology is vitally important if ecological science is to successfully contribute to the massive problems and future challenges associated with global change. Although the approach is heavily influenced by Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis, this is not a popular science book about Gaian theory. Instead it is written as an accessible text for graduate student seminar courses and researchers in the fields of ecology, earth system science, evolutionary biology, palaeontology, history of life, astrobiology, geology and physical geography.

Ecology, a Systems Approach

Ecology, a Systems Approach PDF Author: Prassede Calabi
Publisher: Kendall Hunt
ISBN: 9780787235642
Category : Bioenergetics
Languages : en
Pages : 556

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Book Description


Understanding Urban Ecology

Understanding Urban Ecology PDF Author: Myrna H. P. Hall
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3030112594
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
Over half of the world’s population now lives in urban areas. Few who live in cities understand that cities, too, are ecosystems, as beholden to the laws and principles of ecology as are natural ecosystems. Understanding Urban Ecology: An Interdisciplinary Systems Approach introduces students at the college undergraduate level, or those in advanced-standing college credit high school courses, to cities as ecosystems. For graduate students it provides an overview and rich literature base. Urban planners, educators, and decision makers can use this book to help in designing a more sustainable or “green” future. The authors use a systems approach to explore the complexity and interactions of different components of a city’s ecology with an emphasis on the energy and materials required to maintain such concentrated centers of human activity and consumption. The book is written by seventeen specialized contributors and includes ten accompanying detailed field exercises to promote hands-on experience, observation, and quantification of urban ecosystem structure and function.The chapters describe one by one the different subsystems of the urban environment, their individual components and functions, and the interactions among them that create the social-ecological environments in which we live. The book’s emphasis on social-ecological metabolism provides students with the knowledge and methods needed to evaluate proposed policies for urban sustainability in terms of ecosystem capacity, potential positive and negative feedbacks, the laws of thermo-dynamics, and socio-cultural perception and adaptability.

Understanding Human Ecology

Understanding Human Ecology PDF Author: Robert Dyball
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136271090
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 235

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Book Description
We are facing hugely complex challenges – from climate change to world poverty, our problems are part of an inter-related web of social and natural systems. Human ecology promises an approach to these complex challenges, a way to understand these problems holistically and to start to manage them more effectively. This book offers a coherent conceptual framework for Human Ecology – a clear approach for understanding the many systems we are part of and for how we frame and understand the problems we face. Blending natural, social and cognitive sciences with dynamical systems theory, the authors offer systems approaches that are accessible to all, from the undergraduate student to policy-makers and practitioners across government, business and community. Road-tested and refined over a decade of teaching and workshops, the authors have built a clear, inspiring and important framework for anyone approaching the management of complex problems and the transition to sustainability.

Human ecology: a general systems approach

Human ecology: a general systems approach PDF Author: Kenneth Dan Bailey
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Human ecology
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Book Description


Ecology of Coastal Waters

Ecology of Coastal Waters PDF Author: Kenneth Henry Mann
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
ISBN: 9780632006694
Category : Coastal ecology
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description


Sustainability

Sustainability PDF Author: Tony Clayton
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134171943
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
The question of sustainability affects most areas of human activity. It is intrinsically complex and multi-disciplinary. Sustainable policies have to adapt to new knowledge and changing circumstances. Understanding sustainability and ways of achieving it have to involve an understanding of complex adaptive systems and general systems theory - a rapidly developing new branch of social studies.;This book provides an introduction and thorough explanation of this field, and shows its application in the social and economic management of sustainability. It is written for readers at an undergraduate level and should be useful for a wide range of undergraduate courses.

Human Ecology

Human Ecology PDF Author: Gerald G Marten
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1136535012
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
'The scope and clarity of this book make it accessible and informative to a wide readership. Its messages should be an essential component of the education for all students from secondary school to university... [It] provides a clear and comprehensible account of concepts that can be applied in our individual and collective lives to pursue the promising and secure future to which we all aspire' From the Foreword by Maurice Strong, Chairman of the Earth Council and former Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit) The most important questions of the future will turn on the relationship between human societies and the natural ecosystems on which we all, in the end, depend. The interactions and interdependencies of the social and natural worlds are the focus of growing attention from a wide range of environmental, social and life sciences. Understanding them is critical to achieving the balance involved in sustainable development. Human Ecology: Basic Concepts for Sustainable Development presents an extremely clear and accessible account of this complex range of issues and of the concepts and tools required to understand and tackle them. Extensively supported by graphics and detailed examples, this book makes an excellent introduction for students at all levels, and for general readers wanting to know why and how to respond to the dilemmas we face.

Sustainability

Sustainability PDF Author: Anthony M. H. Clayton
Publisher: Earthscan
ISBN: 9781853833199
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
First Published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

A Systems Approach to Environmental Management

A Systems Approach to Environmental Management PDF Author: Tim O'Higgins
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781780460550
Category : Environmental management
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Tim O'Higgins defines and describes a systems approach to environmental management. He explains a framework for analysis of environmental problems as social/ecological systems using fascinating examples from around the globe.