2009 Outstanding Academic Title, ChoiceThis acclaimed textbook is the most comprehensive available in the field of forest ecology. Designed for advanced students of forest science, ecology, and environmental studies, it is also an essential reference for forest ecologists, foresters, and land managers.The authors provide an inclusive survey of boreal, temperate, and tropical forests with an emphasis on ecological concepts across scales that range from global to lan...

Volcanoes, Earthquakes and Tsunamis is the essential guide to what causes the most frightening geological events with which we are faced today. It covers plate tectonics, the intricacies of each terrible phenomina, and their effects as well as the impact they have on each other, how they can be predicted and, if possible, controlled.NOT GOT MUCH TIME?One, five and ten-minute introductions to key principles to get you started.AUTHOR INSIGHTSLots of instant he...

We see it every day, yet we understand so little about Earth. From minerals to meteorites, this book covers every aspect of the science of our world. It breaks this complex discipline into four major sections: geology, oceanography, meteorology, and planetary science, and it gives an overview of the processes of each. Complete with interactive experiments and a glossary, this book makes the study of our planet—and other planets— easier than ever.

When we think of climate change, we often picture man-made global warming, caused by greenhouse gas emissions. But natural climate change has occurred throughout human history, and populations have had to adapt to the climate's vicissitudes. Anthony McMichael, a renowned epidemiologist and a pioneer in the field of how human health relates to climate change, is the ideal person to tell this story. In Climate Change and the Health of Nations, McMichael shows how the natural environ...

Forensics, Fossils and Fruitbats is a fascinating collection of more than 70 profiles of Australian scientists from 15 fields of physical, biological and medical science. These scientists have been selected because their research is inspiring, intriguing or simply quirky, or because they have taken an unusual or interesting path to the work they do. Scientists at all stages of their careers are included, from PhD students through to some who have long retired. Readers will meet scientists who...

Minerals existed long before any forms of life, playing a key role in the origin and evolution of life; an interaction with biological systems that we are only now beginning to understand. Exploring the traditional strand of mineralogy, which emphasises the important mineral families, the well-established analytical methods (optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction) and the dramatic developments made in techniques over recent decades, David Vaughan also introduces the modern strand of mine...

Since the early 20th century, when Hans Spemann first twinned salamander embryos, scientists have made astounding progress in the science and technology of cloning. They have now developed the means to apply cloning in research, agriculture, and medicine. With advancements in cloning techniques for stem cell research, scientists have been able to explore human diseases at a cellular level, attempting to better understand the cellular mechanisms involved in disease. Readers explore the hist...

This book offers a comprehensive review of our current understanding of the planetary boundary layer, particularly the turbulent exchanges of momentum, heat and passive scalars between the surface of the Earth and the atmosphere.It presents and discusses the observations and the theory of the turbulent boundary layer, both for homogeneous and more realistic heterogeneous surface conditions, as well as the dispersion of tracers. Lastly it addresses the main problems arising due to t...

Pigments act as tracers to elucidate the fate of phytoplankton in the world's oceans and are often associated with important biogeochemical cycles related to carbon dynamics in the oceans. They are increasingly used in in situ and remote-sensing applications, detecting algal biomass and major taxa through changes in water colour. This book is a follow-up to the 1997 volume Phytoplankton Pigments in Oceanography (UNESCO Press). Since then, there have been many advances concerning phytoplank...

Outstanding advances have been achieved on Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering and Microzonation in the last decade mostly due to the increase in the recorded instrumental in-situ data and large number of case studies conducted in analyzing the observed effects during the recent major earthquakes. During the 15th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering held in Istanbul in August 2001, the Technical Committee of Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering, (TC4) of t...

Yohei Sasakawa The Northern Sea Route is the shortest shipping route connecting the Far East and Europe. However, the route has been practically inaccessible to commercial vessels, due to the harsh natural conditions in the area, which make navigation possible for only a small part of the year, and then only with an icebreaker leading the way. Opening the Northern Sea Route would greatly facilitate international shipping, making two routes - a northbound one through the NSR, and a southbou...

Due to their unparalleled effectiveness and efficiency, polyfluorinated chemicals (PFC*)* have become essential in numerous technical applications. However, many PFCs brought to market show limited biodegradability, and their environmental persistence combined with toxic and bioaccumulative potential have become a matter of concern in some instances. This volume highlights the synthesis of PFCs, focusing on substances with improved application and environmental properties, which are a chal...