Böcker utgivna av Island Press

This work is an assessment of the state of current knowledge of the carbon cycle by a group of leading experts. It gives an introductory overview of the carbon cycle and covers both biophysical and human aspects of the cycle.

When the first field study of the Florida panther took place in 1973, so little was known about the animal that many scientists believed it was already extinct. During more extensive research conducted from 1981 to 1986, panthers were proven to exist, but the handful of senile, anemic, and parasite-infested specimens that were captured indicated a grim future. During those early years a remarkably enduring image of the panther was born, and despite voluminous data gathered over the next decade that showed the panther to be healthy, long-lived, and reproducing, that earlier image has yet to be dispelled. For nine years, biologist David S. Maehr served as project leader of the Florida Panther Study Project, helping to gather much of the later, surprisingly positive data. In The Florida Panther, he presents the first detailed portrait of the animal -- its biology, natural history, and currstatus -- and a realistic assessmof its prospects for survival. Maehr also provides an intriguing look at the life and work of a field biologist: how captures are made, the intricacies of radio-telemetry tracking, the roles of various team members. He describes the devastating intrusion of politics into scientific work and examines controversial efforts to establish a captive breeding program and to manipulate the Florida panther's genetic stock with the introduction of relatives from west Texas. Protection of high-quality habitat, much of it in the hands of private landowners, is the key to the long-term survival of the Florida panther. Unless agency decisionmakers and the public are aware of the panther's true situation, little can be done to save it. This book will play a vital role in correcting widespread misconceptions about the panther's currcondition and threats to its survival.

Describes sampling designs and survey methods for reliably estimating occupancy, abundance, and other population parameters of rare, elusive, or otherwise hard-to-detect plants and animals. It offers a mixture of theory and application, with actual examples from terrestrial, aquatic, and marine habitats around the world.

Assembly rules refer to the ecological principles that guide the 'assembly' of ecosystems. They offer guidance on planning which species should be restored first, and then which should be added in which order. This work explores the concepts and theories relating to assembly rules.

The final report of the first (1997-2000) phase of the Global Invasive Species Programme, in which research in over 30 countries has been brought together. This programme details the state of knowledge on what is now recognized as a worldwide environmental hazard.

'Panarchy' is a new term coined from the name of the Greek god Pan, a symbol of universal nature and associated with unpredictable change.It represents an alternative framework for managing the issues that emerge from the interaction between people and nature.That interaction generates countless surprises, often the result of slow changes that can accumulate and unexpectedly flip an ecosystem or an economy into a qualitatively differstate.That state may be not only impoverished, but also effectively irreversible.Thus, understanding how such change occurs is critical to achieving a sustainable society. Developed from the work of the Resilience Alliance, a worldwide group of leading organizations and individuals involved in ecological and economic research, Panarchy provides a framework to understand the cycles of change in complex systems and to gauge if, when, and how they can be influenced.This synopsis introduces lay readers and decision makers to this widely acclaimed line of inquiry and to the basic concept behind Panarchy, published by Island Press.

A Natural History of Nature Writing is a penetrating overview of the origins and developmof a uniquely American literature. Essayist and poet Frank Stewart describes in rich and compelling prose the lives and works of the mprominAmerican nature writers of the19th and 20th centuries, including:•Henry D. Thoreau, the father of American nature writing. •John Burroughs, a schoolteacher and failed businessman who found his calling as a writer and elevated the nature essay to a loved and respected literary form. •John Muir, founder of Sierra Club, who celebrated the wilderness of the Far West as few before him had. •Aldo Leopold, a Forest Service employee and scholar who extended our moral responsibility to include all animals and plants. •Rachel Carson, a scientist who raised the consciousness of the nation by revealing the catastrophic effects of human intervention on the Earth's living systems. •Edward Abbey, an outspoken activist who charted the boundaries of ecological responsibility and pushed these boundaries to political extremes. Stewart highlights the controversies ignited by the powerful and eloquprose of these and other writers with their expansive - and often strongly political - points of view. Combining a deeply-felt sense of wonder at the beauty surrounding us with a rare ability to capture and explain the meaning of that beauty, nature writers have had a profound effect on American culture and politics. A Natural History of Nature Writing is an insightful examination of an important body of American literature.

How to Save a River presents in a concise and readable format the wisdom gained from years of river protection campaigns across the United States. The book begins by defining general principles of action, including getting organized, planning a campaign, building public support, and putting a plan into action. It then provides detailed explanations of how to: form an organization and raise money develop coalitions with other groups plan a campaign and build public support cultivate the media and other powerful allies develop credible alternatives to damaging projects How to Save a River provides an important overview of the resource issues involved in river protection, and suggests sources for further investigation. Countless examples of successful river protection campaigns prove that ordinary citizens do have the power to create change when they know how to organize themselves.

Over 634 million acres of the United States -- nearly a million square miles -- are federally owned. These American Lands is both a history and a celebration of that inheritance. First published in 1986, the book was hailed by Wallace Stegner as "e;the only indispensable narrative history of the public lands."e; This completely revised and updated edition is an unsurpassed resource for everyone who cares about, visits, or works with public land in the United States. With over 75 pages of new material, the volume covers:*national parks*national forests*national resource lands*wildlife refuges*designated wildernesses*wild and scenic rivers*Alaska lands*national trailsEach chapter outlines the history of the unit of public lands under discussion, clarifies the resource use and policy conflicts that are currently besetting it, and provides a detailed agenda of management, expansion, and preservation goals.

To the uninitiated, water policy seems a complicated, hypertechnical, and incomprehensible subject: a tangle of engineering jargon and legalese surrounding a complex, delicate, and interrelated structure. Decisions concerning the public's waters involve scant public participation, and in such a context, reform seems risky at best.Searching Out the Headwaters addresses that precarious situation by providing a thorough and straightforward analysis of western water use and the outmoded rules that govern it. The authors begin by tracing the history and evolution of the uses of western water. They describe the demographic and economic changes now occurring in the region, and identify the many communities of interest involved in all water-use issues. After an examination of the central precepts of currwater policy, along with their original rationale and subsequevolution, they consider the reform movemthat has recently begun to emerge. In the end, the authors articulate the foundations for a water policy that can meet the needs of the new West and discuss the various means for effectively implementing such a policy, including market economics, regulation, the broad-based use of scientific knowledge, and open and full public participation.

Statewide Wetlands Strategies offers comprehensive strategies that draw upon all levels of governmand the private sector to focus and coordinate efforts to work toward the goal of no-net-loss of wetlands.

The stands of old-growth trees in the forests of western North America depend on periodic fires for their creation or survival. Forest ecologists Stephen Arno and Carl Fiedler present "restoration forestry" - an ecological approach that establishes forests in which fire can serve as a beneficial process rather than a destructive aberration.

Parks and Carrying Capacity is an important new work for faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and researchers in outdoor recreation, park planning and management, and natural resource conservation and management, as well as for professional planners and managers involved with park and outdoor recreation related agencies and nongovernmental organizations.

Dave Foreman is one of North America's mcreative and effective conservation leaders, an outspoken proponof protecting and restoring the earth's wildness, and a visionary thinker. Over the past 30 years, he has helped set direction for some of our minfluential conservation organizations, served as editor and publisher of key conservation journals, and shared with readers his unique style and outlook in widely acclaimed books including The Big Outside and Confessions of an Eco-Warrior.In Rewilding North America, Dave Foreman takes on arguably the biggest ecological threat of our time: the global extinction crisis. He not only explains the problem in clear and powerful terms, but also offers a bold, hopeful, scientifically credible, and practically achievable solution.Foreman begins by setting out the specific evidence that a mass extinction is happening and analyzes how humans are causing it. Adapting Aldo Leopold's idea of ecological wounds, he details human impacts on species survival in seven categories, including direct killing, habitat loss and fragmentation, exotic species, and climate change. Foreman describes recdiscoveries in conservation biology that call for wildlands networks instead of isolated protected areas, and, reviewing the history of protected areas, shows how wildlands networks are a logical next step for the conservation movement. The final section describes specific approaches for designing such networks (based on the work of the Wildlands Project, an organization Foreman helped to found) and offers concrete and workable reforms for establishing them. The author closes with an inspiring and empowering call to action for scientists and activists alike.Rewilding North America offers both a vision and a strategy for reconnecting, restoring, and rewilding the North American continent, and is an essential guidebook for anyone concerned with the future of life on earth.

How can each of us live Cooler Smarter? While the routine decisions that shape our days-what to have for dinner, where to shop, how to get to work-may seem small, collectively they have a big effect on global warming. But which changes in our lifestyles might make the biggest difference to the climate? This science-based guide shows you the meffective ways to cut your own global warming emissions by twenty percor more, and explains why your individual contribution is so vital to addressing this global problem.Cooler Smarter is based on an in-depth, two-year study by the experts at The Union of Concerned Scientists. While other green guides suggest an array of tips, Cooler Smarter offers proven strategies to cut carbon, with chapters on transportation, home energy use, diet, personal consumption, as well as how best to influence your workplace, your community, and elected officials. The book explains how to make the biggest impact and when not to sweat the small stuff. It also turns many eco-myths on their head, like the importance of locally produced food or the superiority of all hybrid cars.The advice in Cooler Smarter can help save you money and live healthier. But its central purpose is to empower you, through low carbon-living, to confront one of society's greatest threats.

Presents an overview of the silicon cycle and issues associated with it. This book summarizes the major outcomes of the project Land-Ocean Interactions: Silica Cycle, initiated by the Scientific Community on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU).

Today, there is a growing demand for designed landscapes-from public parks to backyards-to be not only beautiful and functional, but also sustainable. Sustainability means more than just saving energy and resources. It requires integrating the landscapes we design with ecological systems. With Principles of Ecological Landscape Design, Travis Beck gives professionals and students the first book to translate the science of ecology into design practice. This groundbreaking work explains key ecological concepts and their application to the design and management of sustainable landscapes. It covers biogeography and plant selection, assembling plant communities, competition and coexistence, designing ecosystems, materials cycling and soil ecology, plant-animal interactions, biodiversity and stability, disturbance and succession, landscape ecology, and global change. Beck draws on real world cases where professionals have put ecological principles to use in the built landscape. The demand for this information is rising as professional associations like the American Society of Landscape Architects adopt new sustainability guidelines (SITES). But the need goes beyond certifications and rules. For constructed landscapes to perform as we need them to, we must get their underlying ecology right. Principles of Ecological Landscape Design provides the tools to do just that.

Is it possible for a group of the world's most respected environmental scientists to truly practice what they preach? This title tells a story that is suitable for those who has ever thought about doing a 'green' rehab, has tried to build green, or just wonders what's actually possible.

Each day, headlines warn that baby bottles are leaching dangerous chemicals, nonstick pans are causing infertility, and plastic containers are making us fat. What if rather than toxics, our economy ran on harmless, environmentally-friendly materials? This title tackles the hazards of ordinary consumer products.

Anyone working in biodiversity conservation or field ecology should understand and utilize the common-sense process of scientific inquiry: observing surroundings, framing questions, answering those questions through well-designed studies, and, in many cases, applying results to decision making. Yet the interdisciplinary nature of conservation means many workers are not well versed in the methods of science and may misunderstand or mistrust this indispensable tool.Designing Field Studies for Biodiversity Conservation addresses that problem by offering a comprehensible, practical guide to using scientific inquiry in conservation work. In an engaging and accessible style, award-winning tropical ecologist and teacher Peter Feinsinger melds concepts, methods, and intellectual tools into a unique approach to answering environmental questions through field studies. Focusing on the fundamentals of common sense, independthinking, and natural history, he considers: framing the question and designing the study; interpreting and applying results; taking natural history into account; monitoring and assessing progress through approaches such as "e;bioindicator species"e; or "e;species diversity measures"e;; and helping other interested parties use scientific inquiry in addressing their own concerns. Throughout, the author challenges the reader to integrate conceptual thinking with on-the-ground practice in order to make conservation truly effective. Feinsinger concentrates on examples from Latin America but his approach applies to local conservation concerns or field biology questions in any landscape.Designing Field Studies for Biodiversity Conservation is an essential handbook for staff and researchers working with conservation institutions or projects worldwide, as well as for students and professionals in field ecology, wildlife biology, and related areas.

Nearly half the buildings that will be standing in 2030 do not exist today. That means we have a tremendous opportunity to reinvent our urban areas, making them more sustainable and livable for future generations. This book providing statistics about changes in population, jobs, housing, non-residential space, and other key factors.

Explores the implications of an idea: we must understand the oceans of the past to protect the oceans of the future. This title shows how skewed visions of the past have led to disastrous marine policies and why historical perspective is critical to revitalize fisheries and ecosystems.

Climate change is a global problem, but the problem begins locally. Cities consume 75% of the world's energy and emit 80% of the world's greenhouse gases. Changing the way we build and operate our cities can have major effects on greenhouse gas emissions. Fortunately, communities across the U.S. are responding to the climate change problem by making plans that assess their contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and specify actions they will take to reduce these emissions.This is the first book designed to help planners, municipal staff and officials, citizens and others working at local levels to develop Climate Action Plans. CAPs are strategic plans that establish policies and programs for mitigating a community's greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions. They typically focus on transportation, energy use, and solid waste, and often differentiate between community-wide actions and municipal agency actions. CAPs are usually based on GHG emissions inventories, which indentify the sources of emissions from the community and quantify the amounts. Additionally, many CAPs include a section addressing adaptation-how the community will respond to the impacts of climate change on the community, such as increased flooding, extended drought, or sea level rise.With examples drawn from actual plans, Local Climate Action Planning guides preparers of CAPs through the entire plan developmprocess, identifying the key considerations and choices that must be made in order to assure that a plan is both workable and effective.

A guide to the complex set of laws governing America's wetlands. After explaining the importance of these critical natural areas, it examines the evolution of federal law, principally the Clean Water Act, designed to protect them. It explores topics including the fundamentals of administrative law.

The environment that we construct affects both humans and our natural world in myriad ways. This title presents a diagnosis of - and offers treatment for - problems related to the built environment. Drawing on the scientific evidence, it imparts practical information, with an emphasis on demonstrated and promising solutions to the problems.

Presents a history of the field of ecological restoration as it has developed over the three decades. This title explores the development of the field and its importance to environmental management as well as to the larger environmental movement and our understanding of the world.

Examines past experience and future directions in the management of so-called 'wicked' environmental problems - those characterized by large-scale, long-term policy dilemmas and contentious political stalemates. This title offers approaches for managing environmental conflicts and shows how managers could apply these approaches.