Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
ISBN: 9789251053379
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 548
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Book Description
This book brings together information on the contrasting characteristics, condition, present use and problems of the world's main natural grasslands. Since grassland is commercialized through the grazing animal, particular attention is paid to the livestock production systems associated with each main type. Grazing resources are more than simply edible herbage: many other factors have to be taken into account, notably water in all areas, and shelter in winter-cold climates. Seasonality of forage supply is a characteristic of almost all grazing lands, so the strategies for dealing with lean seasons are described. The main problems of each type are mentioned and possible strategies for their sustainable management discussed - taking into account their multiple functions, not only livestock production. The book is primarily aimed at agricultural scientists, educationalists, extensionists and decision-makers with interests in responsible use of extensive grasslands.
Author: Julia Koricheva
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691137293
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 514
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Book Description
Meta-analysis is a powerful statistical methodology for synthesizing research evidence across independent studies. This is the first comprehensive handbook of meta-analysis written specifically for ecologists and evolutionary biologists, and it provides an invaluable introduction for beginners as well as an up-to-date guide for experienced meta-analysts. The chapters, written by renowned experts, walk readers through every step of meta-analysis, from problem formulation to the presentation of the results. The handbook identifies both the advantages of using meta-analysis for research synthesis and the potential pitfalls and limitations of meta-analysis (including when it should not be used). Different approaches to carrying out a meta-analysis are described, and include moment and least-square, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian approaches, all illustrated using worked examples based on real biological datasets. This one-of-a-kind resource is uniquely tailored to the biological sciences, and will provide an invaluable text for practitioners from graduate students and senior scientists to policymakers in conservation and environmental management. Walks you through every step of carrying out a meta-analysis in ecology and evolutionary biology, from problem formulation to result presentation Brings together experts from a broad range of fields Shows how to avoid, minimize, or resolve pitfalls such as missing data, publication bias, varying data quality, nonindependence of observations, and phylogenetic dependencies among species Helps you choose the right software Draws on numerous examples based on real biological datasets
Author: R. Lal
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN:
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 328
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Book Description
Basic concepts; Analytical methods; Secondary carbonates in soils of different regions.
Author: Eric F. Lambin
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3540322027
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 236
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Book Description
This book presents recent estimates on the rate of change of major land classes. Aggregated globally, multiple impacts of local land changes are shown to significantly affect central aspects of Earth System functioning. The book offers innovative developments and applications in the fields of modeling and scenario construction. Conclusions are also drawn about the most pressing implications for the design of appropriate intervention policies.
Author: Saul Cunningham
Publisher: CSIRO PUBLISHING
ISBN: 0643104097
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 169
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Book Description
There can be little doubt that there are truly colossal challenges associated with providing food, fibre and energy for an expanding world population without further accelerating already rapid rates of biodiversity loss and undermining the ecosystem processes on which we all depend. These challenges are further complicated by rapid changes in climate and its additional direct impacts on agriculture, biodiversity and ecological processes. There are many different viewpoints about the best way to deal with the myriad issues associated with land use intensification and this book canvasses a number of these from different parts of the tropical and temperate world. Chapters focus on whether science can suggest new and improved approaches to reducing the conflict between productive land use and biodiversity conservation. Who should read this book? Policy makers in regional, state and federal governments, as well as scientists and the interested lay public.
Author: Stephen J. Walsh
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030439739
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 312
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Book Description
Globalization is not a new phenomenon, but it is posing new challenges to humans and natural ecosystems in the 21st century. From climate change to increasingly mobile human populations to the global economy, the relationship between humans and their environment is being modified in ways that will have long-term impacts on ecological health, biodiversity, ecosystem goods and services, population vulnerability, and sustainability. These changes and challenges are perhaps nowhere more evident than in island ecosystems. Buffeted by rising ocean temperatures, extreme weather events, sea-level rise, climate change, tourism, population migration, invasive species, and resource limitations, islands represent both the greatest vulnerability to globalization and also the greatest scientific opportunity to study the significance of global changes on ecosystem processes, human-environment interactions, conservation, environmental policy, and island sustainability. In this book, we study islands through the lens of Land Cover/Land Use Change (LCLUC) and the multi-scale and multi-thematic drivers of change. In addition to assessing the key processes that shape and re-shape island ecosystems and their land cover/land use changes, the book highlights measurement and assessment methods to characterize patterns and trajectories of change and models to examine the social-ecological drivers of change on islands. For instance, chapters report on the results of a meta-analysis to examine trends in published literature on islands, a satellite image time-series to track changes in urbanization, social surveys to support household analyses, field sampling to represent the state of resources and their limitations on islands, and dynamic systems models to link socio-economic data to LCLUC patterns. The authors report on a diversity of islands, conditions, and circumstances that affect LCLUC patterns and processes, often informed through perspectives rooted, for instance, in conservation, demography, ecology, economics, geography, policy, and sociology.
Author: Ding-Geng (Din) Chen
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 0429592175
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 457
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Book Description
Review of the First Edition: The authors strive to reduce theory to a minimum, which makes it a self-learning text that is comprehensible for biologists, physicians, etc. who lack an advanced mathematics background. Unlike in many other textbooks, R is not introduced with meaningless toy examples; instead the reader is taken by the hand and shown around some analyses, graphics, and simulations directly relating to meta-analysis... A useful hands-on guide for practitioners who want to familiarize themselves with the fundamentals of meta-analysis and get started without having to plough through theorems and proofs. —Journal of Applied Statistics Statistical Meta-Analysis with R and Stata, Second Edition provides a thorough presentation of statistical meta-analyses (MA) with step-by-step implementations using R/Stata. The authors develop analysis step by step using appropriate R/Stata functions, which enables readers to gain an understanding of meta-analysis methods and R/Stata implementation so that they can use these two popular software packages to analyze their own meta-data. Each chapter gives examples of real studies compiled from the literature. After presenting the data and necessary background for understanding the applications, various methods for analyzing meta-data are introduced. The authors then develop analysis code using the appropriate R/Stata packages and functions. What’s New in the Second Edition: Adds Stata programs along with the R programs for meta-analysis Updates all the statistical meta-analyses with R/Stata programs Covers fixed-effects and random-effects MA, meta-regression, MA with rare-event, and MA-IPD vs MA-SS Adds five new chapters on multivariate MA, publication bias, missing data in MA, MA in evaluating diagnostic accuracy, and network MA Suitable as a graduate-level text for a meta-data analysis course, the book is also a valuable reference for practitioners and biostatisticians (even those with little or no experience in using R or Stata) in public health, medical research, governmental agencies, and the pharmaceutical industry.
Author: Daniel G. Brown
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139619497
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 591
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Book Description
As governments and institutions work to ameliorate the effects of anthropogenic CO2 emissions on global climate, there is an increasing need to understand how land-use and land-cover change is coupled to the carbon cycle, and how land management can be used to mitigate their effects. This book brings an interdisciplinary team of fifty-eight international researchers to share their novel approaches, concepts, theories and knowledge on land use and the carbon cycle. It discusses contemporary theories and approaches combined with state-of-the-art technologies. The central theme is that land use and land management are tightly integrated with the carbon cycle and it is necessary to study these processes as a single natural-human system to improve carbon accounting and mitigate climate change. The book is an invaluable resource for advanced students, researchers, land-use planners and policy makers in natural resources, geography, forestry, agricultural science, ecology, atmospheric science and environmental economics.
Author: Willy H. Verheye
Publisher: EOLSS Publishers Co.
ISBN: 1848262353
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 344
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Book Description
This Encyclopedia of Land Use, Land Cover and Soil Sciences is a component of the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. Land is one of our most precious assets. It represents space, provides food and shelter, stores and filters water, and it is a base for urban and industrial development, road construction, leisure and many other social activities. Land is, however not unlimited in extent, and even when it is physically available its use is not necessarily free, either because of natural limitations (too cold, too steep, too wet or too dry, etc.) or because of constraints of access or land tenure. This 7-volume set contains several chapters, each of size 5000-30000 words, with perspectives, applications and extensive illustrations. It carries state-of-the-art knowledge in the fields of Land Use, Land Cover and Soil Sciences and is aimed, by virtue of the several applications, at the following five major target audiences: University and College Students, Educators, Professional Practitioners, Research Personnel and Policy Analysts, Managers, and Decision Makers and NGOs.
Author: Walter H. Wischmeier
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Agricultural conservation
Languages : en
Pages : 70
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Book Description
The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) enables planners to predict the average rate of soil erosion for each feasible alternative combination of crop system and management practices in association with a specified soil type, rainfall pattern, and topography. When these predicted losses are compared with given soil loss tolerances, they provide specific guidelines for effecting erosion control within specified limits. The equation groups the numerous interrelated physical and management parameters that influence erosion rate under six major factors whose site-specific values can be expressed numerically. A half century of erosion research in many States has supplied information from which at least approximate values of the USLE factors can be obtained for specified farm fields or other small erosion prone areas throughout the United States. Tables and charts presented in this handbook make this information readily available for field use. Significant limitations in the available data are identified.
