Food from Dryland Gardens: An Ecological, Nutritional and Social Approach to Small-Scale Household Food Production

Average customer rating:

food from dryland gardens

Food from Dryland Gardens: An Ecological, Nutritional and Social Approach to Small-Scale Household Food Production
David Arthur Cleveland
Manufacturer: Center for People
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 096279970X

Customer Reviews:

food from dryland gardens.......2000-01-13

great book for any gardener interested in learning more about permaculture and sustainable gardening, not just for arid and tropcal zones

Forest Ecosystems: Analysis At Multiple Scales

Average customer rating:

This book is very badly written

Forest Ecosystems: Analysis At Multiple Scales
Richard H. Waring
Manufacturer: Academic Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Environmental Science | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Natural History | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Forests | Conservation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Outdoors & Nature Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Outdoors & Nature | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Professional & Technical | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Science | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Outdoors & Nature | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0127354433

Book Description

This book provides new methods of analysis by introducing new techniques to explore the changes in climatic cycles, the implications of wide-scale pollution, fire and other ecological disturbances that have a global effect on all life forms. It provides the reader with almost 40 percent new material in an attempt to organize principles and provide examples for expanding the horizon of ecosystem analyses. It also defines terms and explains concepts in a variety of ways by providing models, equations, graphs, and tabular examples. To help facilitate analysis, the book includes a CD-ROM with additional illustrations and Forest BGC software.

* Additional coverage of regional and global scaling issues
* New chapters on ecosystem modeling, remote sensing and monitoring of atmospheric chemistry added
* Includes a CD-ROM with additional illustrations and Forest BGC Software

Customer Reviews:

This book is very badly written.......1999-05-26

My graduate Forest Ecosystems class was burdened with this textbook as the main class reading material. Not only was this book badly written, but even the professor was frustrated with the terseness of the material. My opinion is that if this is a textbook, one should not need a PhD to read and understand it. Unfortunately however, the authors assume that either you already know everything there is to know about the subjects that they are trying to explain, or that you have read all of the papers that they have ever published and are familiar with their work (from which they draw most of the examples of the book). In summary, if you want a good textbook about forest ecosystems, you will have to look elsewhere.

Tropical Forest Diversity and Dynamism: Findings from a Large-Scale Plot Network

Average customer rating:

Tropical Forest Diversity and Dynamism: Findings from a Large-Scale Plot Network

Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Outdoors & Nature Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Outdoors & Nature | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0226493466

Book Description

Long-term Forest Dynamics Plots (FDPs) allow ecologists to explain patterns in diversity and dynamics in tropical forests around the world. In this collection, Elizabeth Losos and Egbert Giles Leigh Jr. assemble extensive standardized data—collected here in one location for the first time—from sixteen tropical FDPs and synthesize the findings, putting these unique and valuable plots in a global context by highlighting the utility of the collected data for conservation and forest management.

Written by experts in the field of tropical ecology, Tropical Forest Diversity and Dynamism will appeal to students and professionals with an interest in community ecology and patterns of diversity.

Resilience and the Behavior of Large-Scale Systems (Scope Series)

Average customer rating:

Resilience and the Behavior of Large-Scale Systems (Scope Series)

Manufacturer: Island Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Environmental Science | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Renewable Energy | Technology | Science | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1559639717

Book Description

Scientists and researchers concerned with the behavior of large ecosystems have focused in recent years on the concept of "resilience." Traditional perspectives held that ecological systems exist close to a steady state and resilience is the ability of the system to return rapidly to that state following perturbation. However beginning with the work of C. S. Holling in the early 1970s, researchers began to look at conditions far from the steady state where instabilities can cause a system to shift into an entirely different regime of behavior, and where resilience is measured by the magnitude of disturbance that can be absorbed before the system is restructured.

Resilience and the Behavior of Large-Scale Systems examines theories of resilience and change, offering readers a thorough understanding of how the properties of ecological resilience and human adaptability interact in complex, regional-scale systems. The book addresses the theoretical concepts of resilience and stability in large-scale ecosystems as well as the empirical application of those concepts in a diverse set of cases. In addition, it discusses the practical implications of the new theoretical approaches and their role in the sustainability of human-modified ecosystems.

The book begins with a review of key properties of complex adaptive systems that contribute to overall resilience, including multiple equlibria, complexity, self-organization at multiple scales, and order; it also presents a set of mathematical metaphors to describe and deepen the reader's understanding of the ideas being discussed. Following the introduction are case studies that explore the biophysical dimensions of resilience in both terrestrial and aquatic systems and evaluate the propositions presented in the introductory chapters. The book concludes with a synthesis section that revisits propositions in light of the case studies, while an appendix presents a detailed account of the relationship between return times for a disturbed system and its resilienc.

In addition to the editors, contributors include Stephen R. Carpenter, Carl Folke, C. S. Holling, Bengt-Owe Jansson, Donald Ludwig, Ariel Lugo, Tim R. McClanahan, Garry D. Peterson, and Brian H. Walker.

Average customer rating:
The Continental-Scale Greenhouse Gas Balance of Europe (Ecological Studies)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Ecology | Biological Sciences | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
General | Ecology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0387765689

Book Description

This book assesses the current greenhouse gas (GHG) monitoring capabilities of Europe, identifies and quantifies the uncertainties involved, and outlines the direction to a continental scale GHG monitoring network. The chapters provide a synthesis, based on current research results, of the European greenhouse gases budget, including both human-induced and biospheric sources and sinks. The authors also make recommendations for a multi-disciplinary integration in order to provide the scientific foundation for a full carbon, and possibly full greenhouse, accounting system by 2010. Through the CarboEurope project, Europe is taking the lead in much of this research, and it will be of interest to other areas of the world as well.

The book uniquely addresses both the methodology of carbon cycle science and the science itself. Rather than being a straight methods book, it is a synthesis of carbon cycle science. The methods included are valuable, but are used to contribute to an understanding of biospheric regulation, providing the first comprehensive coverage of a full GHG accounting and monitoring system.

Average customer rating:

highly recommended
EXCELLENT coverage of scale in ecological systems

Ecological Scale

Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Environmental Science | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Research | Education | Science | Subjects | Books

Experiments & Projects | Experiments, Instruments & Measurement | Science | Subjects | Books

Methodology & Statistics | Experiments, Instruments & Measurement | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0231105029

Book Description

This book synthesizes a diverse literature on scale in ecology. David L. Peterson and V. Thomas Parker gather contributions from scholars and resource managers representing a wide range of disciplines, including soil science, plant ecology, animal ecology, and aquatic ecology. They assist ecologists in developing new strategies for more accurate interpretations of data using a variety of scales. The distinguished contributors in Ecological Scale address the theoretical and methodological relevance of scale within a broad multidisciplinary context. Together, the chapters present convincing evidence that the integration of scale concepts into ecological study is of imminent global concern. Indeed, the understanding of such issues as global warming, the protection of biological diversity, and ecosystem management is affected by interpretation of scale.

Ecological Scale provides invaluable perspectives on the application of the concepts of measurement, analysis, and inference in both theoretical and applied ecology, ultimately providing a broad-based understanding for resource managers and other ecological professionals.

Customer Reviews:

highly recommended.......2001-02-04

The editors of this volume attempt to instill an awareness of the dire need to include "scale" as a concept in ecological studies. Scale, in the discipline of ecology, is a difficult concept to codify and although there are many books that include scale, it is not often addressed directly. The most direct definition of scale for this purpose is that it "refers to physical dimensions of observed entities or phenomena . . . (or) . . . to the scale of observation, the temporal and spatial dimensions at which and over which phenomena are observed."

Often, ecological studies focus on only one variable such as area or habitat. Data is then extrapolated from that study to a larger scale. According to Peterson and Parker it is not uncommon to study a hectare of land and draw conclusions at a global level. They suggest that because extrapolation of this kind may or may not be valid, incorporating scale into the original study question is essential. To date, there is no one recognized source to which a researcher can turn for advice about dealing with scale in a particular area of study. This volume is divided into four topical sections: "Integrating Pattern, Process, and Scale;" "Interpreting Multiple Scales in Ecological Systems;" "Moving Across Scales: Ecological Inference and Applications;" and "Incorporating Scale Concepts in Ecological Applications." The essays, well written and clearly edited, are useful as an overall collection or as individual pieces.

The mechanics of this book are very well done. There is uniform referencing within each chapter and one overall reference list for the book. An "Alphabetic List of Contributors" includes addresses. The index is detailed and includes many Latin binomials, "see" references, and "see also" references. The layout of this volume makes routine photocopying and enlarging easy. The photographs, charts, and microscopic scans are exceptionally clearly presented with no color, but in good grey scale.

EXCELLENT coverage of scale in ecological systems.......1999-02-08

This book provides an in-depth look at the many issues of scale and other complexities in ecological systems. The editors did a great job choosing chapter authors and editing for clarity. The opening and closing chapters provide a good framework, and provide an extensive outline of literature on scale up to the mid-90's.

Ecological Toxicity Testing: SCALE, COMPLEXITY & RELEVANCE

Average customer rating:

Ecological Toxicity Testing: SCALE, COMPLEXITY & RELEVANCE
JOHN CAIRNS
Manufacturer: CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Ecotoxicology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Environmental Science | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Natural History | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Conservation | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

General | Conservation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0873715993

Book Description

Ecological Toxicity Testing provides a critical comparison of toxicity tests at different levels of biological organization from cells to landscapes. While ecological toxicity tests can be designed at any of the many levels of complexity and on spatial scales ranging from square millimeters to square kilometers, the uses to which this information can be put often differs with scale. In the past decade, tests at all levels have been refined and subjected to critical evaluations of their predictive accuracy. This text/reference includes evaluations of toxicity test systems at various scales and complexities by expert practitioners. It also offers broader analyses of the effects of scale on endpoint selection, test design and analyses, and chemical sensitivity.

Environmental Fate of Pesticides: From the Laboratory to the Field Scale

Average customer rating:

Environmental Fate of Pesticides: From the Laboratory to the Field Scale
O. Richter , B. Diekkrueger , and P. Noertersheuser
Manufacturer: Vch Verlagsgesellschaft Mbh
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Environmental Science | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Insecticides & Pesticides | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This book is concerned with modelling the fate of organic substances in the soil. Once a chemical enters the soil it is subject to various transformation processes. It partitions between the liquid, solid and gaseous phase, it is sorbed to different binding sites with a different strength of bonding, it may decay by a simple chemical process or it may be transformed by microorganisms. Solute transport through soil and subsurface is mediated by water flow and is strongly influenced by solute sorption. To complicate matters, soil structures are heterogeneous. All these processes are embedded in a spatio-temporal hierarchy.
The book brings together many different aspects of environmental fate modelling of pesticides comprising such diverse subjects as, e.g., compartment theory, nonlinear biological degradation models, modelling toxicity, parameter identification, coupling of physical and biological processes, pedotransfer functions, translation of models across scales, coupling geographical information systems with models, and FUZZY-approaches.

Large-Scale Ecology and Conservation Biology: The 35th Symposium of the British Ecological Society With the Society for Conservation Biology (Symposium of the British Ecological Society)

Average customer rating:

Large-Scale Ecology and Conservation Biology: The 35th Symposium of the British Ecological Society With the Society for Conservation Biology (Symposium of the British Ecological Society)
British Ecological Society Symposium 1993 (University of Southampton) , Robert M. May , and Peter J. Edwards
Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Natural History | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Conservation | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Ecology | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

General | Conservation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Modeling for all Scales: An Introduction to System Simulation

Average customer rating:

Modeling for all Scales: An Introduction to System Simulation
Howard T. Odum
Manufacturer: Academic Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Design & Architecture | Hardware | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Environmental Science | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Computers & Internet | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Engineering | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Professional & Technical | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Science | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Computers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0125241704

Book Description

All manner of models are used to describe, simulate, extrapolate, and ultimately understand the function of dynamic systems. These sorts of models are usually based upon a mathematical foundation that can be difficult to manipulate especially for students. Modeling for All Scales uses object-oriented programming to erect and evaluate the efficacy of models of small, intermediate and large scale systems. Such models allow users to employ intuitively based symbols and a systems ecology approach. The authors have been leaders in the systems ecology community and have originated much of the scientific vocabulary of the field. After introducing modeling and its benefits, there is a series of chapters detailing the more particular elements of successful simulation. There follows another series of chapters, each devoted to models of different sorts of systems. Small scale models of growth, competition, and evolution give way, successively, to larger and larger scale models such as international trade and the global geobiosphere. Anyone interested in an easy to use approach to modeling complex systems authored by perhaps the most original systems ecologists of the century will want this book. To further enhance the users ability to apply the lessons of this book, there is included a CD-ROM disc which provides the fundamental tools for modeling at all scales.

Key Features
* The book makes it possible to teach modeling and simulation without much prior knowledge of mathematics
* Reasons for modeling and simulation are discussed
* The book makes modeling and simulation fun by keeping focused on simplified overview minimodels that have important principles to science and society
* The steps in successive chapters are arranged so that readers can teach themselves modeling, simulation, and the programming necessary to simulate the systems they diagram
* The CD-ROM has minimodel programs and versions of QuickBasic and EXTEND to run them

Book Description

The NASCAR Record and Fact Book 2006, an "officially licensed" reference guide, is the only annual with all the current 2006 information plus complete NASCAR drive and race records and facts since it all began in 1948. Highlights include: 3 full-color sections! Expanded to 176 pages, including driver, racetracks and 2005 review sections 2006 race schedules and TV and radio coverage information A-Z driver-by-driver profiles, personal information, plus their all-time driving statistics Complete team information (crew chief, owner, drivers and sponsers, etc.) A-Z race-by-race listing and race highlight information including course description, characteristics, rules and records—from the very first race to the last. If you're a fan you'll want the NASCAR Record & Fact Book 2006 before and during the season to reference the races and the drivers. It's the ultimate reference for Fantasy owners!

Customer Reviews:

A Must for the Avid NASCAR Fan.......2006-03-15

This book covers all the facts. Schedules, drivers, tracks, races, rules, and history. It is the essential NASCAR handbook. The book still has value after the season is over, but the hard-core fan will want every year's edition.

A MUST HAVE NASCAR FACTS BOOK.......2006-02-17

HEY NASCAR FANS , IF YOU ARE EITHER IN A FANTASY RACING LEAGUE OR JUST A FAN ,THIS BOOK IS A MUST . TRACK REVIEWS, DRIVER REVIEWS ,OWNER REVIEWS .WITH ALL THE CHANGES FROM LAST YEAR ,THIS IS A GREAT RACE BY RACE REFERENCE .

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books