Food is central to urban health, urban economies and urban form. Roberts has argued, “More than with any other of our biological needs, the choices we make around food affect the shape, style, pulse, smell, look, feel, health, economy, street life and infrastructure of the city” (2001: 4). However, food has been largely absent from urban studies and urb…
The science is clear: halting loss of tropical2 forests—the home and heritage of Indigenous Peoples (IPs) and local communities (LCs)3 who have long been their guardians—is necessary to address climate change and achieve the Paris Agreement goals.i Yet, tropical forest loss and degradation have proven difficult to reduce, generating large greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and threatening IPs…
The global warming consequences – from greenhouse gas emissions and a reduction in the capacity of forests to absorb and store carbon – are grave, and likely to be especially acute in tropical regions themselves. Forest loss also leads to the breakdown of critical ecosystem services, such as water provision, and interferes with regional climatic patterns, with serious knockon effects for a…
Climate change is already impacting tropical forests around the world, including through distributional shifts of forest biomes, changes in species composition, biomass, pests and diseases, and increases in forest fires (high confidence). These impacts are often compounded by non-climatic factors such as conversion of land for other uses, burning to clear land, mining, and road and infrastructu…
This book, together with the game that forms part of it, tellsan important part ofthe story of Shikha Ecovillagein rural eastern India. The chosen focus of the story is water management. There are two reasonsfor this: firstly, in times of worsening climate change the use of freshwater is a major challenge, in India as well as in other parts of the world. Secondly, the story of water management …
Root, tuber, and banana (RT&B) crops play a critical role in food and nutrition security in developing countries, increasingly so in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). They have great potential to contribute to alleviate poverty, improve health and nutrition, and enhance the resilience of smallholder farmers to climate change. However, RT&Bs are characterized by unique chal…
Forests are home to a huge variety of plant and animal life – from tiny microscopic fungi species, to enormous trees that are sometimes taller than 80 metres high. Forests provide vital services that ensure people have clean air to breathe and water to drink (and they do it all for free!). For some people, the forest is a place where they go for work, for religious practices or even just for …
Humans are a walking species. We tread on the surface of the Earth. Without this primary mobility we would not be here and even when other means of getting around have become accessible, we don’t cease to walk. Our walking leaves traces. This is inevitable. No culture or civilisation or society can escape from this primordial mark-making. Some of these traces cluster and congregate into patte…
In many countries, policies regarding reduction of unwanted catch anddiscards are crafted in response to concerns regarding accountability, conservation,and waste as well as scientific needs to fully account for all sources offishingmortality. It is important to note, however, that unwanted catch is minimal andmost, or all, of the catch has value in somefisheries. Utilisation rates are very hig…
Biocultural diversity refers to the dynamic interrelationship between the Earth’sbiological, cultural and linguistic diversity (Maffi2007). Proponents of the conceptespouse an ‘inextricable’ link between these three forms of diversity, drawing oninsights mostly from anthropology, ethnobiology, ethnoecology and human ecology (Maffi2005,2007; Posey1999). Biocultural diversity draws strength…
Southwards from the Maiombe, and running from Cabinda to the Cunene, is the Angolan Escarpment. This major topographic buttress between the coastal lowlands, the Marginal Mountain Chain and the interior high plateau—the planalto—is of special ecological importance. Providing a steep gradient of landscapes and habitats between the arid coast and …
Living with chronic conditions requires careful, ongoing management, or what Annemarie Mol (2008) has defined as ‘tinkering’. This means continually making adjustments, and not only to the fluctuating symp-toms and moods, but also to the presence and action of the multiple, significant actors involved in the field of care. Anthropological research on…
Discover the diversity of animals, plants, energy, and matter in the world's environments
Have the people of Africa always starved? Most people have never heard this question posed. So ingrained is the idea of “Africa” as a scarce place that the con-tinent has become synonymous with need in popular thought.1 Preoccupied by images of hungry children and drought-ravaged landscapes, we have come to expect that we will find food insecurity in every…
In Russia, waste management has been hugely neglected over the years. MSW and ISW treatment can be best described as inefficient and is causing both negative environmental impact and suboptimal use of raw materials and energy. While the European Union Member States recover up to an average of 60% of MSW, Russia’s waste recovery rate is almost zero. Recycling operations …
The family Iridoviridae currently contains fi ve genera, two of which infect invertebrates ( Iridovirus and Chloriridovirus ) and three that infect only ectother-mic vertebrates ( Lymphocystivirus , Megalocytivirus , and Ranavirus ; Jancovich et al. 2015a ). Lymphocy stiviruses and megalocytiviruses only infect fi sh, whereas, as indicated above, r…
As well as protecting water resources, forests also conserve biodiversity. National commitments to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity are being fulfilled through measures to safeguard water and establish “protected” and “protective” forests, as well as many kinds of forests certified for sustainability. Forests also provide carbon fixation and several other environmen…
The Portuguese explorer Francisco Newton was one of thefirst naturalists todedicate almost one decade to the study of the outstanding diversity of the Gulf ofGuinea oceanic islands. The collections he made, in what was largely unexploredterritory for science, allowed the description of dozens of new species and began toreveal intriguing biogeographic patterns. Gazing at the species he was colle…
Knowledge has been the focal concept in this book series. Beyond the many con-ceptualizations of and ascriptions to this term, knowledge denotes the human under-standing of concrete and abstract phenomena of the world in which we live. Human understanding differs from data and information in that it is built and rests in peo-ple’s minds. Whereas bits of data or parcels of commodity …
For the Maya, the landscape in which they live, the k’aax (forest), has a moral ecology. It is the place where they feel “at home in the world,” where they are situated in an everyday engagement with their environment. It is also where their history, identity, spiritual beliefs, communion with other species, and ulti-mately their survival are rooted. The ethnic boundary that t…
The world is rapidly urbanizing. With around 55 per cent of the world’s 7.63 billion people living in urban areas (United Nations, 2019) we are facing conditions of “planetary urbanism” (Friedmann, 2016) and “planetary urbanization” (Brenner & Schmid, 2012; Swyngedouw & Kaika, 2014). The global urban population is expected to grow by 2.5 billion between 2018 and…
The world in which we live is fragile; a small layer of organismic activity covers the planet like a microbial film on top of a large boulder. Nonetheless, humans treat the Earth as if anthropogenic impacts on this delicate biological layer may be absorbed by unfailing natural buffers. Yet, convergent and overwhelming evidence from all over the world underlines that mankind has al…
G. Tyler Miller's worldwide bestsellers have evolved right along with the changing needs of your diverse student population. Focused specifically on energizing and engaging all your students, Miller and new coauthor Scott Spoolman have been at work scrutinizing every lineenhancing, clarifying, and streamlining to reduce word density as well as updating with the very latest environmental news an…
The oceans are our planet's most distinctive and imposing natural habitat. They cover 71 percent of its surface; support a remarkably diverse and exquisitely adapted array of life forms, from microscopic viruses, bacteria, and plankton to the largest existing animals; and possess many of Earth's most significant, intriguing, and inaccessible ecosystems. In an era in which humans are significant…
Global food demand is rising, and serious questions remain about whether supply can increase sustainably (FAO 2018). Land-based expansion is possible but may exacerbate cli-mate change and biodiversity loss, and compromise the delivery of other ecosystem services (Olsen 2011; Foley et al. 2005, 2011; Mbow et al. 2019; Amundson et al. 2015). As food from the sea represents…
The need to feed a growing global population and respond to increased demand for fish puts pressure on natural resources and challenges the sustainability of marine and inland fisheries and of aquaculture development. There is growing evidence of increases in resource conflicts (e.g. arising from competing demands for water resources in arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) and ecological impacts (e…
Black soils are unique soils characterized by a thick, dark-coloured soil horizon, and rich organic matter content. Due to their high inherent fertility, black soils are known as the food basket of the world or the “giant panda in arable land” in Asia. For decades, these fertile soils have been widely cultivated, and have played a key role in global agricultural production of cereals, tuber…
The aim of any monitoring programme is to detect change systematically (Goldschmid, 1991). It helps document and understand the development of a site without specific interventions but also serves to ascertain the impact of anyinterventions and actions. Monitoring allows the success of programmes and projects to be measured against overall set goals. Monitoring is an important part of any plan …
Beaver. Moose. Caribou. Think “animal” in Canada, and these and other iconic creatures of the Canadian wilderness are sure to come first to mind. Yet Canada has become increasingly urban since Confederation, to the extent that more than 80 per cent of the population today is considered to live in an urban setting.1 That urban identity has shaped profoundly…
This volume is concerned with the practices, discourses, and materialities surrounding the commodification of the ‘wild’ – a topic which has found considerable academic attention in the past decade (Smessaert et al. 2020). The ‘wild’ is commonly conceived of as a conceptual opposite to the destructive tendencies of commodification. The volume’s core concern is wi…
L’agroécologie est avant tout un nouveau paradigme qui vise à valoriser les processus biologiques pour couvrir à la fois des attentes de production agricole et d’autres ser-vices écosystémiques des agrosystèmes: protéger les ressources, contribuer à atténuer le changement climatique, préserver les habitats et les patrimoines culturels. Un corol-laire est de considérer l’agroéc…
Humans have a long history of using fire and it is difficult to separate humaninfluence from the natural occurrence of fire on the landscape (Pyne1997). Forcenturies, Native Americans used fire as a tool for multiple purposes, includingagriculture, managing wildlife habitat and hunting grounds, and cultural practices.As a result of lightning fires and Native American burning, as well as agricul…
This captivating book will broaden your understanding of Ecology, with: - More than 90 of the greatest ideas in ecology - Packed with facts, charts, timelines and graphs to help explain core concepts - A visual approach to big subjects with striking illustrations and graphics throughout - Easy to follow text makes topics accessible for people at any level of understanding The Ecology B…
Aquatic ecosystems face unprecedented threats. Ocean ecosystems are facing multiple pressures, ranging from climate change and acidification to pollution, habitat loss, and excessive fishing. Freshwater ecosystems face multiple stresses. These range from alteration to the hydrological cycle due to climate change to over-abstraction and pollution of surface and groundwater. These stresses threat…
Horticulture may be described as the practice of growing plants in a relatively intensive manner. This contrasts with agriculture, which, in most Western European countries, relies on a high level of machinery use over an extensive area of land, consequently involving few people in the production process. The boundary between the two is far from clear, especially when considering large-sca…
This book explores how narratives are deeply embodied, engaging heart, soul, as well as mind, through varying adult learner perspectives. Biographical research is not an isolated, individual, solipsistic endeavor but shaped by larger ecological interactions – in families, schools, universities, communities, societies, and networks – that can create or destroy hope. Telling or listening to l…
Ecological Democracy offers an original, thought-provoking, and engaging treatment of why and how democracy should be re-imagined in reaction to today’s ecological crisis. The book explains that one need to re-imagine both the view on nature and democratic ideals within the same framework in the Anthropocene, the present geological epoch of human-made instability in the Earth system and its p…
ence to support the achievement of SDGs.In its Initial Design document, Future Earth (2013) identified three highly aggre-gated research themes covering both natural and social sciences: dynamic planet,global development, and transition to global sustainability. The organization pro-posed new approaches to co-designing and co-producing solution-oriented science,knowledge, and innovation for glo…
The book series on Knowledge and Space explores the nature of human knowledge from a geographical perspective. How to create, share, and adopt new knowledge is a core question in the social sciences. Processes of learning and knowledge creation are the result of social practice and always take place in space and in specific geo-graphical contexts. The eleventh volume is the outcome of the sympo…
My first discussions of collective narcissism took place in Philadelphia during the Summer Institute of the Solomon Asch Center for Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict at University of Pennsylvania in 2005. The Institute brought together scholars and practitioners of conflict resolution, civic servants, and activists in this field to discuss the dynamics of escalation and de-escalation of ethno-n…
The world’s oceans are already feeling the impacts of global warming. How may this affect the international management of marine living resources? In this book we examine the challenges that warming oceans pose to institutions for managing fish stocks that are shared by several states or straddle the high seas beyond national jurisdiction. Special atten…
Approximately one-third of the Earth's land surface is desert, arid land with meager rainfall that supports only sparse vegetation and a limited population of people and animals. Deserts stark, sometimes mysterious worlds have been portrayed as fascinating environments of adventure and exploration from narratives such as that of Lawrence of Arabia to movies such as "Dune." These arid regions ar…
The USDA Forest Service recognizes that the threat of invasive plant species to public and private forests is serious and thatsuccessful progress in prevention, control, research, and restoration from the negative impacts of such invasions is only possible using a concerted and organized effort. Thus, the Forest Service-Eastern Region (Region 9), the Northeastern Area (NA) State and Private For…
The origin and development of human civilization are closely related to rivers. Over 90 percent of the human settlements in Bulgaria are located in the vicinity of a river. This may be why the word “river” evokes positive emotions and associations of things pure, clean, and calm. At the same time, being so close to human activities, rivers are subject to various and quite often negative imp…
There are many ways of seeing Earth. It is possible to gaze at the planet from the vantage of a space shuttle in orbit. If you are standing on the moon, you can see Earth rise in the distance, as seen in the famous photograph of Earth taken from the moon by the NASA astronaut William Anders in 1968, Earthrise (see Figure 1). You can also look at Earth much more closely, on…
Across the world, fisheries provide direct employment for around 38.982million people (Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO], 2020). In many coastal regions of the world, and particularly in many low-income contexts, fishing livelihoods remain the primary economic activity. Globally, they make significant contributions towards food and nutrition security, and are …