Tim R. McClanahan and Joshua Cinner
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199754489
- eISBN:
- 9780199918843
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199754489.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
Societies must choose how they wish to deal with climate change. Not doing anything or pursuing ‘business as usual’ is likely to lead down a path that will have devastating consequences for many ...
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Societies must choose how they wish to deal with climate change. Not doing anything or pursuing ‘business as usual’ is likely to lead down a path that will have devastating consequences for many people, especially the world’s poor. Using a focal lens of coral reef fisheries, upon which millions of people depend on for their livelihood, this book provides a tool box of options for confronting the consequences of climate change through building local-scale adaptive capacity in societies and improving the condition of the natural resources. Building adaptive capacity will require strengthening appropriate aspects of a society’s flexibility, assets, learning and social organizations. They ways of doing this are diverse and will, of course, depend on existing local capacities and needs. Improving the condition of resources tends to require restricting or limiting society’s actions. These two broad concepts, of building social capacities and limiting certain types of resource use, interact in complicated ways, requiring coupled actions. One of the central themes of this book is that adaptation solutions are context dependent, determined in part by aspects of local resource conditions, adaptive capacity, and exposure to climate change impacts, but also by people’s history, culture, and aspirations. This book develops a framework to help provide governments, scientists, managers, and donors with critical information about the local context and develop nuanced actions that reflect these local conditions. This information can help to identify key opportunities and narrow the range of potential adaptation options that may be suitable for a particular location.Less
Societies must choose how they wish to deal with climate change. Not doing anything or pursuing ‘business as usual’ is likely to lead down a path that will have devastating consequences for many people, especially the world’s poor. Using a focal lens of coral reef fisheries, upon which millions of people depend on for their livelihood, this book provides a tool box of options for confronting the consequences of climate change through building local-scale adaptive capacity in societies and improving the condition of the natural resources. Building adaptive capacity will require strengthening appropriate aspects of a society’s flexibility, assets, learning and social organizations. They ways of doing this are diverse and will, of course, depend on existing local capacities and needs. Improving the condition of resources tends to require restricting or limiting society’s actions. These two broad concepts, of building social capacities and limiting certain types of resource use, interact in complicated ways, requiring coupled actions. One of the central themes of this book is that adaptation solutions are context dependent, determined in part by aspects of local resource conditions, adaptive capacity, and exposure to climate change impacts, but also by people’s history, culture, and aspirations. This book develops a framework to help provide governments, scientists, managers, and donors with critical information about the local context and develop nuanced actions that reflect these local conditions. This information can help to identify key opportunities and narrow the range of potential adaptation options that may be suitable for a particular location.
Franck Courchamp, Ludek Berec, and Joanna Gascoigne
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198570301
- eISBN:
- 9780191717642
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198570301.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
Allee effects are broadly defined as a decline in individual fitness at low population size or density, that can result in critical population thresholds below which populations crash to extinction. ...
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Allee effects are broadly defined as a decline in individual fitness at low population size or density, that can result in critical population thresholds below which populations crash to extinction. As such, they are very relevant to many conservation programmes, where scientists and managers are often working with populations that have been reduced to low densities or small numbers. There are a variety of mechanisms that can create Allee effects, including mating systems, predation, environmental modification, and social interactions among others. The abrupt and unpredicted collapses of many exploited populations is just one illustration of the need to bring Allee effects to the forefront of conservation and management strategies. This book provides an overview of the topic, collating and integrating a widely dispersed literature from various fields: marine and terrestrial, plant and animal, theoretical and empirical, academic and applied. Less
Allee effects are broadly defined as a decline in individual fitness at low population size or density, that can result in critical population thresholds below which populations crash to extinction. As such, they are very relevant to many conservation programmes, where scientists and managers are often working with populations that have been reduced to low densities or small numbers. There are a variety of mechanisms that can create Allee effects, including mating systems, predation, environmental modification, and social interactions among others. The abrupt and unpredicted collapses of many exploited populations is just one illustration of the need to bring Allee effects to the forefront of conservation and management strategies. This book provides an overview of the topic, collating and integrating a widely dispersed literature from various fields: marine and terrestrial, plant and animal, theoretical and empirical, academic and applied.
Tim M. Blackburn, Julie L. Lockwood, and Phillip Cassey
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199232543
- eISBN:
- 9780191715983
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232543.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Ornithology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
As people have spread around the world, they have taken with them a broad range of other species to satisfy a variety of human needs. Some of these species went on to establish wild populations well ...
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As people have spread around the world, they have taken with them a broad range of other species to satisfy a variety of human needs. Some of these species went on to establish wild populations well outside their native ranges. These biological invaders are a major component of current global change, and often represent threats to the maintenance of global biodiversity, human health, and the success of human economic enterprises. The continuing globalization of our society ensures that the need to understand the process of biological invasion will only increase in the future. There is also a growing recognition that the study of biological invaders provides significant insight into basic questions in ecology and evolution. Exotic birds provide a particularly good opportunity to study the causes and consequences of biological invasions. By combining good historical records of bird introductions with the detailed information available on many other aspects of avian biology, this book advances understanding of the invasion process while also exploring avian conservation biology, and basic principles of ecology and evolution. Chapters cover causes of non-randomness in which species get transported and released into novel environments, the stochastic (relating to numbers released) and deterministic (relating to species and location) effects that influence establishment success, patterns and processes in range expansion, and the ecology, genetics, and evolution of exotic birds in their new environment.Less
As people have spread around the world, they have taken with them a broad range of other species to satisfy a variety of human needs. Some of these species went on to establish wild populations well outside their native ranges. These biological invaders are a major component of current global change, and often represent threats to the maintenance of global biodiversity, human health, and the success of human economic enterprises. The continuing globalization of our society ensures that the need to understand the process of biological invasion will only increase in the future. There is also a growing recognition that the study of biological invaders provides significant insight into basic questions in ecology and evolution. Exotic birds provide a particularly good opportunity to study the causes and consequences of biological invasions. By combining good historical records of bird introductions with the detailed information available on many other aspects of avian biology, this book advances understanding of the invasion process while also exploring avian conservation biology, and basic principles of ecology and evolution. Chapters cover causes of non-randomness in which species get transported and released into novel environments, the stochastic (relating to numbers released) and deterministic (relating to species and location) effects that influence establishment success, patterns and processes in range expansion, and the ecology, genetics, and evolution of exotic birds in their new environment.
Daniel B. Botkin
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195162431
- eISBN:
- 9780199790043
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Discontinued
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195162431.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
America's great epic of exploration — the journey of Lewis and Clark — was also one of the most successful scientific expeditions in history. In notebooks filled with vivid and remarkably accurate ...
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America's great epic of exploration — the journey of Lewis and Clark — was also one of the most successful scientific expeditions in history. In notebooks filled with vivid and remarkably accurate descriptions of rivers, prairies, forests, mountains, Native Americans, and wildlife, Lewis and Clark gave the world an image of wild country that has rarely been equaled. This book, which features more than one hundred photographs and maps, traces the footsteps of the two explorers as they journeyed from St. Louis, through the breathtaking vistas of the tall-grass prairie and Big Sky country, over the arduous Bitterroot Mountains on the ancient Lolo Trail, to arrive finally at the Pacific coast and its the rugged, rainy, and darkly wooded landscape. As we travel westward, the book introduces us to the natural wonders recorded by Lewis and Clark — still fresh portraits of a pristine land — and recounts their many dangerous, challenging, and sometimes strange adventures. The book describes the same sites today, providing unique insights about America's changes to the land. For instance, the book recounts Lewis and Clark's travels through the great tall-grass prairie, vast plains that stretched to the horizon in every direction, stunningly beautiful land that with the eye of a concerned ecologist, has virtually disappeared today beneath the steel plow.Less
America's great epic of exploration — the journey of Lewis and Clark — was also one of the most successful scientific expeditions in history. In notebooks filled with vivid and remarkably accurate descriptions of rivers, prairies, forests, mountains, Native Americans, and wildlife, Lewis and Clark gave the world an image of wild country that has rarely been equaled. This book, which features more than one hundred photographs and maps, traces the footsteps of the two explorers as they journeyed from St. Louis, through the breathtaking vistas of the tall-grass prairie and Big Sky country, over the arduous Bitterroot Mountains on the ancient Lolo Trail, to arrive finally at the Pacific coast and its the rugged, rainy, and darkly wooded landscape. As we travel westward, the book introduces us to the natural wonders recorded by Lewis and Clark — still fresh portraits of a pristine land — and recounts their many dangerous, challenging, and sometimes strange adventures. The book describes the same sites today, providing unique insights about America's changes to the land. For instance, the book recounts Lewis and Clark's travels through the great tall-grass prairie, vast plains that stretched to the horizon in every direction, stunningly beautiful land that with the eye of a concerned ecologist, has virtually disappeared today beneath the steel plow.
Lindsey Gillson
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- June 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780198713036
- eISBN:
- 9780191781421
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198713036.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
Faced with urgent issues of climate change, habitat loss, extinctions, pollution, and socioecological transformation, there is a need for a long-term perspective that guides ecosystem management, ...
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Faced with urgent issues of climate change, habitat loss, extinctions, pollution, and socioecological transformation, there is a need for a long-term perspective that guides ecosystem management, restoration, and sustainable natural resource use. Ecosystems in the Anthropocene are dynamic and complex, and new approaches to ecosystem management aim to conserve ecological function and process, therefore requiring long-term information on ecosystem variability and resilience. While there is a wealth of such information in palaeoecology, archaeology, and historical ecology, it is often inaccessible to conservation ecologists, because the relevance to present-day conservation is not always made explicit. Knowledge of long-term change in ecosystems can inform conservation, as part of an interdisciplinary approach that brings together ideas from neo-, palaeo-, and landscape ecology, conservation biology, and sustainability science. Starting with a discussion of elephant management and re-wilding, the book covers increasingly complex issues of fire management, climate change adaptation, and the maintenance of ecosystem services, culminating in the development of a multifunctional landscape approach that maintains biodiversity while meeting human needs for sustainability. The book presents an optimistic vision for the conservation and management of dynamic landscapes through a perspective that embraces the continuum between past, present, and future, illustrating how palaeoecology and other long-term data can contribute to conserving biodiversity and maintaining ecological resilience, while at the same time promoting human well-being by fostering a sense of place and a re-engagement with nature.Less
Faced with urgent issues of climate change, habitat loss, extinctions, pollution, and socioecological transformation, there is a need for a long-term perspective that guides ecosystem management, restoration, and sustainable natural resource use. Ecosystems in the Anthropocene are dynamic and complex, and new approaches to ecosystem management aim to conserve ecological function and process, therefore requiring long-term information on ecosystem variability and resilience. While there is a wealth of such information in palaeoecology, archaeology, and historical ecology, it is often inaccessible to conservation ecologists, because the relevance to present-day conservation is not always made explicit. Knowledge of long-term change in ecosystems can inform conservation, as part of an interdisciplinary approach that brings together ideas from neo-, palaeo-, and landscape ecology, conservation biology, and sustainability science. Starting with a discussion of elephant management and re-wilding, the book covers increasingly complex issues of fire management, climate change adaptation, and the maintenance of ecosystem services, culminating in the development of a multifunctional landscape approach that maintains biodiversity while meeting human needs for sustainability. The book presents an optimistic vision for the conservation and management of dynamic landscapes through a perspective that embraces the continuum between past, present, and future, illustrating how palaeoecology and other long-term data can contribute to conserving biodiversity and maintaining ecological resilience, while at the same time promoting human well-being by fostering a sense of place and a re-engagement with nature.
Shahid Naeem, Daniel E. Bunker, Andy Hector, Michel Loreau, and Charles Perrings (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199547951
- eISBN:
- 9780191720345
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199547951.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
How will biodiversity loss affect ecosystem functioning, ecosystem services, and human wellbeing? In an age of accelerating biodiversity loss, this volume summarizes recent advances in ...
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How will biodiversity loss affect ecosystem functioning, ecosystem services, and human wellbeing? In an age of accelerating biodiversity loss, this volume summarizes recent advances in biodiversity‐ecosystem functioning research and explores the economics of biodiversity and ecosystem services. The first section summarizes the development of the basic science and provides a meta-analysis that quantitatively tests several biodiversity and ecosystem functioning hypotheses. The second section describes the natural science foundations of biodiversity‐ecosystem functioning research, including: quantifying functional diversity, the development of the field into a predictive science, effects of stability and complexity, methods to quantify mechanisms by which diversity affects functioning, the importance of trophic structure, microbial ecology, and spatial dynamics. The third section takes research on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning further than it has ever gone into the human dimension. The first six chapters cover the most pressing environmental challenges humanity faces, including effects of diversity on: climate change mitigation, restoration of degraded habitats, managed ecosystems, pollination, disease, and biological invasions. The remaining chapters of section three that consider the economic perspective, including: a synthesis of the economics of ecosystem services and biodiversity, and the options open to policy-makers to address the failure of markets to account for the loss of ecosystem services; an examination of the challenges of valuing ecosystem services and, hence, to understanding the human consequences of decisions that neglect these services; and an examination of the ways in which economists are currently incorporating biodiversity and ecosystem functioning research into decision models for the conservation and management of biodiversity. The final section describes new advances in ecoinformatics that will help transform this field into a globally predictive science, and finally, summarizes the advancements and future directions of the field. The book's ultimate conclusion is that biodiversity is an essential element of any strategy for sustainable development.Less
How will biodiversity loss affect ecosystem functioning, ecosystem services, and human wellbeing? In an age of accelerating biodiversity loss, this volume summarizes recent advances in biodiversity‐ecosystem functioning research and explores the economics of biodiversity and ecosystem services. The first section summarizes the development of the basic science and provides a meta-analysis that quantitatively tests several biodiversity and ecosystem functioning hypotheses. The second section describes the natural science foundations of biodiversity‐ecosystem functioning research, including: quantifying functional diversity, the development of the field into a predictive science, effects of stability and complexity, methods to quantify mechanisms by which diversity affects functioning, the importance of trophic structure, microbial ecology, and spatial dynamics. The third section takes research on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning further than it has ever gone into the human dimension. The first six chapters cover the most pressing environmental challenges humanity faces, including effects of diversity on: climate change mitigation, restoration of degraded habitats, managed ecosystems, pollination, disease, and biological invasions. The remaining chapters of section three that consider the economic perspective, including: a synthesis of the economics of ecosystem services and biodiversity, and the options open to policy-makers to address the failure of markets to account for the loss of ecosystem services; an examination of the challenges of valuing ecosystem services and, hence, to understanding the human consequences of decisions that neglect these services; and an examination of the ways in which economists are currently incorporating biodiversity and ecosystem functioning research into decision models for the conservation and management of biodiversity. The final section describes new advances in ecoinformatics that will help transform this field into a globally predictive science, and finally, summarizes the advancements and future directions of the field. The book's ultimate conclusion is that biodiversity is an essential element of any strategy for sustainable development.
Charles Perrings, Harold Mooney, and Mark Williamson (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199560158
- eISBN:
- 9780191721557
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199560158.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
Bioinvasions and Globalization synthesises our current knowledge of the ecology and economics of biological invasions, providing an in-depth evaluation of the science and its ...
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Bioinvasions and Globalization synthesises our current knowledge of the ecology and economics of biological invasions, providing an in-depth evaluation of the science and its implications for managing the causes and consequences of one of the most pressing environmental issues facing humanity today. Emergent zoonotic diseases such as HIV and SARS have already imposed major costs in terms of human health, whilst plant and animal pathogens have had similar effects on agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. The introduction of pests, predators, and competitors into many ecosystems has disrupted the benefits they provide to people, in many cases leading to the extirpation or even extinction of native species. This book analyzes the main drivers of bioinvasions — the growth of world trade, global transport and travel, habitat conversion and land-use intensification, and climate change — and their consequences for ecosystem functioning. It shows how bioinvasions impose disproportionately high costs on countries where a large proportion of people depend heavily on the exploitation of natural resources. It considers the options for improving assessment and management of invasive species risks, and especially for achieving the international cooperation needed to address bioinvasions as a negative externality of international trade.Less
Bioinvasions and Globalization synthesises our current knowledge of the ecology and economics of biological invasions, providing an in-depth evaluation of the science and its implications for managing the causes and consequences of one of the most pressing environmental issues facing humanity today. Emergent zoonotic diseases such as HIV and SARS have already imposed major costs in terms of human health, whilst plant and animal pathogens have had similar effects on agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. The introduction of pests, predators, and competitors into many ecosystems has disrupted the benefits they provide to people, in many cases leading to the extirpation or even extinction of native species. This book analyzes the main drivers of bioinvasions — the growth of world trade, global transport and travel, habitat conversion and land-use intensification, and climate change — and their consequences for ecosystem functioning. It shows how bioinvasions impose disproportionately high costs on countries where a large proportion of people depend heavily on the exploitation of natural resources. It considers the options for improving assessment and management of invasive species risks, and especially for achieving the international cooperation needed to address bioinvasions as a negative externality of international trade.
David W. Macdonald, Chris Newman, and Lauren A. Harrington (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198759805
- eISBN:
- 9780191820519
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198759805.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Animal Biology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
The editors of this book have used their combined 90 years of experience working on the behaviour and ecology of wild carnivores to draw together a unique network of the world’s experts on musteloid ...
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The editors of this book have used their combined 90 years of experience working on the behaviour and ecology of wild carnivores to draw together a unique network of the world’s experts on musteloid biology and conservation. The musteloids are the most speciose and diverse super-family among carnivores, ranging from little known, exotic, and highly-endangered species to the popular and familiar, and include a large number of introduced invasives. They feature terrestrial, fossorial, arboreal, and aquatic members, ranging from tenacious predators to frugivorous omnivores, span weights from a 100g weasel to 30kg giant otters, and express a range of social behaviours from the highly gregarious to the fiercely solitary. Their diversity and extensive biogeography inform a wide spectrum of ecological theory and conservation practice. Beginning with a brief account of 93 musteloid species, there follow eight comprehensive review chapters covering topics most relevant to musteloid biology and conservation: evolution, form and function, population dynamics, communication, social organisation, exploitation and conflict with people, study tools and techniques, and disease. Twenty detailed case studies then delve into the very best species investigations worldwide, written by leading figures in the field, and providing a range of geographic and taxonomic coverage. The final chapter synthesises what has been discussed in the book, and reflects on the different and diverse conservation needs of musteloids and the wealth of conservation lessons they offer.Less
The editors of this book have used their combined 90 years of experience working on the behaviour and ecology of wild carnivores to draw together a unique network of the world’s experts on musteloid biology and conservation. The musteloids are the most speciose and diverse super-family among carnivores, ranging from little known, exotic, and highly-endangered species to the popular and familiar, and include a large number of introduced invasives. They feature terrestrial, fossorial, arboreal, and aquatic members, ranging from tenacious predators to frugivorous omnivores, span weights from a 100g weasel to 30kg giant otters, and express a range of social behaviours from the highly gregarious to the fiercely solitary. Their diversity and extensive biogeography inform a wide spectrum of ecological theory and conservation practice. Beginning with a brief account of 93 musteloid species, there follow eight comprehensive review chapters covering topics most relevant to musteloid biology and conservation: evolution, form and function, population dynamics, communication, social organisation, exploitation and conflict with people, study tools and techniques, and disease. Twenty detailed case studies then delve into the very best species investigations worldwide, written by leading figures in the field, and providing a range of geographic and taxonomic coverage. The final chapter synthesises what has been discussed in the book, and reflects on the different and diverse conservation needs of musteloids and the wealth of conservation lessons they offer.
David W. Macdonald and Claudio Sillero-Zubiri (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198515562
- eISBN:
- 9780191705632
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198515562.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
This book is about the dog family, covering ancestry, population genetics, society, infectious disease, and the use of tools. Fourteen case studies examine Arctic foxes, Island foxes, Swift foxes, ...
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This book is about the dog family, covering ancestry, population genetics, society, infectious disease, and the use of tools. Fourteen case studies examine Arctic foxes, Island foxes, Swift foxes, Blanford's foxes, Red foxes, Raccoon foxes, Bat-eared foxes, Patagonian foxes, Jackals, Coyotes, Grey wolves, Ethiopian wolves, Dholes, and African wild dogs. The concluding chapter looks at conservation issues.Less
This book is about the dog family, covering ancestry, population genetics, society, infectious disease, and the use of tools. Fourteen case studies examine Arctic foxes, Island foxes, Swift foxes, Blanford's foxes, Red foxes, Raccoon foxes, Bat-eared foxes, Patagonian foxes, Jackals, Coyotes, Grey wolves, Ethiopian wolves, Dholes, and African wild dogs. The concluding chapter looks at conservation issues.
Bryan Shorrocks and William Bates
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780198702702
- eISBN:
- 9780191794131
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198702702.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
Savannahs are one of the largest biomes of the world, covering about 20% of the land surface. Stated simply, they are tropical and subtropical grasslands, with scattered bushes and trees. Most ...
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Savannahs are one of the largest biomes of the world, covering about 20% of the land surface. Stated simply, they are tropical and subtropical grasslands, with scattered bushes and trees. Most savannah occurs in Africa, with smaller areas in South America, India, and Australia. This book looks at; the climate factors that determine the distribution of savannahs worldwide, in South America, Australia, and India as well as Africa; the major plants (grasses, and trees such as Acacia) and large animals (mainly large mammals) that live in African savannahs; the biological and ecological factors that influence their population size, interactions (such as predation), and community composition. Conservation issues such as tourism, hunting, and the conflict between wildlife and farmers are discussed.Less
Savannahs are one of the largest biomes of the world, covering about 20% of the land surface. Stated simply, they are tropical and subtropical grasslands, with scattered bushes and trees. Most savannah occurs in Africa, with smaller areas in South America, India, and Australia. This book looks at; the climate factors that determine the distribution of savannahs worldwide, in South America, Australia, and India as well as Africa; the major plants (grasses, and trees such as Acacia) and large animals (mainly large mammals) that live in African savannahs; the biological and ecological factors that influence their population size, interactions (such as predation), and community composition. Conservation issues such as tourism, hunting, and the conflict between wildlife and farmers are discussed.
