Synopses & Reviews
Global Integrity Project has brought together leading scientists and thinkers from around the world to examine the combined problems of threatened and unequal human well-being, degradation of the ecosphere, and unsustainable economies. Based on the proposition that healthy, functioning ecosystems are a necessary prerequisite for both economic security and social justice, the project is built around the concept of ecological integrity and its practical implications for policy and management.
Ecological Integrity presents a synthesis and findings of the project. Contributors - including Robert Goodland, James Karr, OrieLoucks, Jack Manno, William Rees, Mark Sagoff, Robert Ulanowicz, PhilippeCrabbe, Laura Westra, David Pimentel, Reed Noss, and others - examine the key elements of ecological integrity and consider what happens when integrity is lost or compromised. The book:
- examines historical and philosophical foundations of the concept of ecological integrity
- explores how integrity can be measured
- examines the relationships among ecological integrity, human health, andfood production
- looks at economic and ethical issues that need to be considered inprotecting ecological integrity
- offers concrete recommendations for reversing ecological degradationwhile promoting social and economic justice and welfare
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Contributors argue that there is an urgent need for rapid and fundamental change in the ecologically destructive patterns of collective human behavior if society is to survive and thrive in coming decades.
Ecological Integrity is a groundbreaking book that integrates environmental science, economics, law, and ethics in problem analysis,synthesis, and solution, and is a vital contribution for anyone concerned with interactions between human and planetary health.
About the Author
David Pimentel is professor of ecology and agricultural science at Cornell University. Laura Westra is Barbara B. and Bertram J. Cohn Professor of Environmental Studies at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York. Reed F. Noss is president and chief scientist for Conservation Science, Inc., president of the Society for Conservation Biology, and an international lecturer on biodiversity topics. He lives in Corvallis, Oregon.
Table of Contents
Ecological integrity and the aims of the Global Integrity Project / Laura Westra ... et al. -- Ecological integrity and the Darwinian paradigm / Alan Holland -- Ecosystem design in historical and philosophical context / Mark Sagoff -- Reconstructing ecology / Ernest Partridge -- Toward the measurement of ecological integrity / Robert E. Ulanowicz -- Environmental sustainability and integrity in the agriculture sector / Robert Goodland and David Pimentel -- Patch disturbance, ecofootprints, and biological integrity : revisiting the limits to growth (or why industrial society is inherently unsustainable) / William E. Rees -- Can Canadian approaches to sustainable forest management maintain ecological integrity? / Peter Miller and James W. Ehnes -- Pattern of forest integrity in the Eastern United States and Canada : measuring loss and recovery / Orie L. Loucks -- Maintaining the ecological integrity of landscapes and ecoregions / Reed Noss -- Health, integrity, and biological assessment : the importance of measuring whole things / James R. Karr -- Global change, fisheries, and the integrity of marine ecosystems : the future has already begun / Daniel Pauly -- Global environmental change in the coming century : how sustainable are recent health gains? / A.J. McMichael -- Epidemiologic methods for assessing the health impact of diminishing ecological integrity / Colin L. Soskolne, Lee E. Sieswerda, and H. Morgan Scott -- Institutionalized environmental violence and human rights / Laura Westra -- The cost of the wild : international equity and the losses from environmental conservation / Ted Schrecker -- A complex systems approach to urban ecosystem integrity : the benefit side / Philippe Crabbâe -- A biocentric defense of environmental integrity / James P. Sterba -- Commodity potential : an approach to understanding the ecological consequences of markets / Jack P. Manno -- The state of the planet at the five-year review of Rio and the prospects for protecting worldwide ecological integrity / Donald A. Brown -- Implementing global ecological integrity : a synthesis / Donald A. Brown ... et al..