Synopses & Reviews
This volume brings together some of the foremost leaders in the field of terrestrial ecology. Chapter topics include soil structure and function, economics of biodiversity, crop growth and development, ethnobotany and conservation. The volume is a must-ready for professionals and researchers in the field of botany, zoology, ecology, vegetation science, agriculture, forestry and population biology to name a few.
Synopsis
Ecology and economics have Greek roots in oikos for "household," logos for "study," and nomics for "management." Thus, ecology and economics should have complemented one another for a proper growth and development without destruction, but, unfortunately, rapid industrialization, lure for fast financial gains, and commercialization activities have led to a widespread surge in pollution load, environmental degradation, habitat destruction, rapid loss ofbiodiversity, sudden rise in rate ofextinction ofmany wildlife and wild relatives of domesticated animals and cultivated cereals and other plants, global climate changes creating global rise in temperature, and CO levels and increased ultraviolet B at ground 2 level. Although these threats to human health have led us to look to ecology for their solutions and guidance for sustainable development without destruction, the industrial and technology houses are looking for alternative methods of development and resource use methods. The two global conferences of the United Nations in 1972 and 1992, and international programs of Man and the Biosphere (MAB), International Biological Program (IBP), International Geosphere, Biosphere program (lGBP), and World Conser vation Union (IUCN), of different commissions, United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) efforts, Ramsar Conventions (for wetlands), and World Wide fund for Nature (WWF) (for nature in general and wildlife in particular) have focused attention of ecologists, naturalists, governments and Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) toward better conservation."
Table of Contents
Preface;
R.S. Ambasht, N.K. Ambasht. 1. Applied Terrestrial Ecology;
R.S. Ambasht, N.K. Ambasht. 2. The Influences of Compaction on Soil Structure and Soil Function in Forest Sites;
E.E. Hildebrand, H.S. Kirchner. 3. An Overview of Ecological Plant Classification Systems: Linking Functional Response and Functional Effect Groups;
A. Symstad. 4. Ecology of Soil Borne Pathogens in Crop Fields;
M.W. Lee, Y.S. Lee. 5. Economics of Biodiversity;
L. Fernandez. 6. Effects of Air Pollution on Crops in Developing Countries;
J.N.B. Bell, F. Marshall. 7. Applied Ecology of Biodiversity;
N.K. Ambasht, R.S. Ambasht. 8. Restoration and Management of Degraded Tropical Forest Landscapes;
J.A. Parrotta. 9. Nutrient Export in Tropical Rain Forests;
W.H. McDowell. 10. Ozone Stress Impacts on Plant Life;
J. Bender, H.J. Weigel. 11. The effects of UV-B radiation on crop growth and development;
A.K. Tobin. 12. Vegetation Ecology and Regeneration of Tropical Mountain Forests;
R.W. Bussmann. 13. Influence of elevated levels of CO
2 on Plants;
M. Agrawal. 14. Plant Cover-Ecological Implications and Methodical Approaches;
H. Dietz, T. Steinlein 15. Ecology of Individuals: Individual based Models of Single Population Dynamics;
J. Uchmanski. 16. Concepts and Application of Non linear Complex Systems Theory to Ecological Succession;
G.R. Walther, et al. 17. Soil Organisms and Litter Decomposition;
G. Gonzáles. 18. Applied Ecology of Succession in Pine Forests of Western Japan;
M. Fujihara, et al. 19. Ethanobotany and Biodiversity Conservation;
R.W. Bussmann. Index