Ecosystem Services: Global Issues, Local Practices covers scientific input, socioeconomic considerations, and governance issues on ecosystem services. This book provides hands-on transdisciplinary reflections by administrators and sector representatives involved in the ecosystem service community. Ecosystem Services develops shared approaches and scientific methods to achieve knowledge-based sustainable planning and management of ecosystem services. Professionals engaged in ecosystem servi...

National Book Award–winning author Barry Lopez explores the challenges and joys of the human experience through the frame of the natural world in fourteen arresting and extraordinary essays.In Crossing Open Ground, award-winning literary writer Barry Lopez offers prescient, beautiful, and thought-provoking reflections on how the natural world can define and illuminate our sense of self. Whether he's traversing the Arctic tundra or the deserts of the Americ...

“I often said before starting, that I had no doubt I should frequently repent of the whole undertaking.” So wrote Charles Darwin aboard The Beagle, bound for the Galapagos Islands and what would arguably become the greatest and most controversial discovery in scientific history. But the theory of evolution did not spring full-blown from the head of Darwin. Since the dawn of humanity, priests, philosophers, and scientists have debated the origin and development of life on ...

The acclaimed nature writer continues his series exploring the fact and folklore of American plant life with this beautifully illustrated volume.In The Book of Field and Roadside, John Eastman explores the botanical life of open dryland habitats. Picking up where typical field guides leave off, this handy reference takes an ecological approach, providing complete descriptions of eighty-five plants (from Ailanthus to Yucca) found in fields...

Extinctions have always occurred and always will, so what is so surprising about the megafauna extinctions? They were caused by humans and were the first of many extinctions that eventually led to the extinction of the Moa, Steller's Sea Cow, the Dodo, Great Auk and countless other species great and small, all attributed to human agency. Therefore, the megafauna were humans' first great impact on the planet. There is now an increasing realization that the 'blitzkrieg' view of these extinct...

The idea that nature provides services to people is one of the most powerful concepts to have emerged over the last two decades. It is shaping our understanding of the role that biodiverse ecosystems play in the environment and their benefits for humankind. As a result, there is a growing interest in operational and methodological issues surrounding ecosystem services amongst environmental managers, and many institutions are now developing teaching programmes to equip the next generation w...

This electronic-book provides a comprehensive examination of the systems approach to habitat restoration. The approach includes methods for the thorough planning necessary to restore, implement, and maintain both structural and functional aspects of natural habitats on previously disturbed sites. Implementation of the plan requires not only following the plan, but providing the logistics and adaptive management to ensure success. This book is an extended communication to novices and entry ...

"This a book about that place inside us all where bafflement meets mystery: a strange place, sometimes frightening and sometimes filled with stars and pines, clear flowing water and the deep joy of companionship."—Jim MooreRoseann Lloyd's new poetry collection takes us on a sister's unflinching exploration into grief for a brother lost on a solo hike in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota. His clothes are found but not his body. How does one mourn withou...

An exploration into the history of our collective response to the challenges of extreme weather conditions and climate.At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the world finally woke up to the reality of climate change and began the arduous task of freeing itself from dependence on fossil fuels. But the time lag in the Earth's ecosystem is such that our best efforts to cut carbon today will make little difference to the changing climate of the next 30 years. A...

Renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold once wrote, "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it does otherwise."Few have taken Leopold's vision more to heart than Steven I. Apfelbaum, who has, over the last thirty years, transformed his eighty-acre Stone Prairie Farm in Wisconsin into a biologically diverse ecosystem of prairie, wetland, spring-fed brook, and savanna. In healing his land, Apfelbaum demo...

Imagine a thriving garden in your backyard, bursting with vibrantly colored blooms and lush green leaves, shaded by tall trees. Now imagine the same garden, alive with buzzing and flapping and chirping and croaking. Imagine the ecological impact of encouraging natural pollinators. Imagine the excitement of watching your garden become a hub of activity and learning about all of its different visitors. For those who relish observing nature in action, planning a garden to attract certain type...

James loves eating bananas at the beach. Longing for a tasty treat, he buys a plastic bag full of yummy fruits and sits on a big rock to eat. When hes finished, he throws the bag into the sea, not knowing hes just put Tom the Turtles life in danger. Tom thinks the plastic bag is a delicious jellyfish, so he gulps it and wonders why his favorite food has no taste. Will Tom be saved? James will realize what he has doneThe Tale of Tom the Turtle won first prize in the Marine Conservat...