Showing 1–12 of 19 results
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Rainforest Dispatches from Earth’s Most Vital Frontlines
Artist/Author: Juniper, Tony$33.00 Add to cartRainforests are key to the health of our world – they maintain the water and air cycles, store carbon, and have yielded countless numbers of medical drugs. We have already destroyed half their area. We need urgently to save the half that’s left. This book explains why – and how.
Rainforests are the lungs of our planet – regulators of the earth’s temperature and weather. They are also home to 50 per cent of the world’s animals and plants – which for centuries have been the source of many of our key medicines. And yet we’ve all heard of their systematic destruction; the raising of trees to make way for plantations of oil palms or cattle, the disenfranchisement of indigenous peoples, and the corruption that leads to illegal logging and pollution.
But this is the full story you’ve never heard: an in depth, wide-ranging, first-hand narrative that not only looks at the state of the world’s tropical rainforests today and the implications arising from their continuing decline, but also at what is being done, and can be done in future, to protect the forests and the 1.6 billion people that depend upon them. It is inspirational, too, in its descriptions of the rainforest’s remarkable birds and plants … and its indigenous people.
Rainforest is a personal story, drawing on the author’s many years’ experience at the frontline of the fight to save the rainforests, explaining the science and history of the campaigns, and what it has felt like to be there, amid the conflicts and dilemmas.
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Effective Ecological Monitoring
Artist/Author: Lindenmayer, David, Gene Likens$50.00 Add to cartThe fully revised second edition of this highly acclaimed book.
Long-term monitoring programs are fundamental to understanding the natural environment and managing major environmental problems. Yet they are often done very poorly and ineffectively. This second edition of the highly acclaimed Effective Ecological Monitoring describes what makes monitoring programs successful and how to ensure that long-term monitoring studies persist.
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Understanding flowers and flowering: an intergrated approach.
Artist/Author: Glover, Beverley.$82.00 Add to cartTo fully understand plant development (and why flowers differ in shape, structure and colour), it is necessary to understand why it is advantageous for them to look like they do. Conversely, in order to fully understand plant ecology, it is necessary to appreciate how floral structures have developed and evolved. This new edition has been completely revised and updated to reflect the latest advances in the field, especially an increased understanding of the evolution of floral traits. New chapters consider the genetic basis of the floral transition in diverse species, as well as the evolutionary lability of floral form. There is a new focus throughout on both phylogenetic position and morphological diversity across the angiosperm phylogeny. Understanding Flowers and Flowering continues to provide the first truly integrated study of the topic – one that discusses both the how and why of flowering plant reproductive biology.
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Economy and ecology of heathlands.
Artist/Author: Diemont, W. Herbert et al,$110.00 Add to cartLooks at the diversity and use of heathlands over the whole Atlantic area of Europe, from Portugal and Spain in the south to Norway in the north and from Germany in the east to Ireland in the west. This volume does show us both the diversity in use all over Europe combining this with the newest insights in ecology and the Natura 2000 status most of these heathlands now have. One of the central themes is how to cover the costs of maintenance of these heathlands. Is their future in new types of commons, or do other types of land ownership using the revenues of heathland ecosystem services give better opportunities. The editors combine a broad variance in knowledge of heathlands varying from all aspects of ecology, land use, as well as economy.
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Plant Behaviour and Intelligence
Artist/Author: Trewavas, Anthony.$119.00 Add to cartThis novel book is the first to properly address the controversial issue of plant intelligence, arguing convincingly that cells and whole plants growing in competitive wild conditions exhibit aspects of plant behaviour that can be accurately described as ‘intelligent’. The author expands on three main insights drawn by the Nobel Prize winning botanist Barbara McClintock: firstly that plant cells may have knowledge of themselves; secondly that they receive challenges which lead to behavioural changes; finally, that they do so in a manner which implies assessment and intelligent behaviour. By equating the concept of intelligent behaviour with that of adaptively variable behaviour, the book provides a novel integration of signalling, behaviour, and behavioural ecology, all set within the context of plant studies. Plant Behaviour and Intelligence begins with chapters on the origins and multicellular nature of plant life, before going on to discuss novel behaviours such as branch initiation and growth, unusual behaviour of leaves, and how roots reconstruct their sensing systems and are capable of self-recognition. An entire chapter is devoted to the nature of intelligence and another to the vexed question of ‘consciousness’, as applied to plant life. This advanced textbook will be suitable for senior undergraduate and graduate level students taking related courses in plant ecology and evolution. It will also be of relevance and use to a broader audience of professional plant ecologists seeking an authoritative reference text to help them navigate the complexity and controversy of plant behaviour.
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Flooded Forest and Desert Creek: Ecology and History of the River Red Gum
Artist/Author: Colloff, Matthew J.$70.00 Add to cartThe ecology and life history of the most widely distributed species of Eucalyptus in Australia – the river red gum. From Geraldton to Grafton, from the York Peninsula to the Cape York Peninsula, the river red gum has the most widespread natural distribution of any Eucalyptus species. It forms the structural and functional elements of important floodplain and wetland ecosystems, yet we know surprisingly little about the ecology and life history of this tree: its longevity; how deep its roots go; what proportion of its seedlings survive to adulthood; the diversity of organisms associated with it and the nature of those associations. This tree has played a central role in the tension between economy, society and environment. Since the 1870s it has been the subject of repeated government enquiries over its conservation, use and management. We have now begun to move from a culture of wholesale exploitation of river red gum forests and woodlands to one of sustainable uses and conservation. The author traces this shift through the depiction of river red gums and inland floodplains in art, literature and the media.
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Seeds of Hope: Wisdom and Wonder from the World of Plants
Artist/Author: Goodall, Jane and Gail Hudson.$30.00 Add to cartIn her wise and elegant new book, Jane Goodall blends her experience in nature with her enthusiasm for botany to give readers a deeper understanding of the world around us. Long before her work with chimpanzees, Goodall’s passion for the natural world sprouted in the backyard of her childhood home in England, where she climbed her beech tree and made elderberry wine with her grandmother. The garden her family began then, she continues to enjoy today. This book takes us from England to Goodall’s home-away-from-home in Africa, deep inside the Gombe forest, where she and the chimpanzees are enchanted by the fig and plum trees they encounter. She introduces us to botanists around the world, as well as places where hope for plants can be found, such as The Millennium Seed Bank, where one billion seeds are preserved. She shows us the secret world of plants with all their mysteries and potential for healing our bodies as well as Planet Earth. Looking at the world as an adventurer, scientist, and devotee of sustainable foods and gardening, and setting forth simple goals we can all take to protect the plants around us, Jane Goodall delivers an enlightening story of the wonders we can find in our own backyards.
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Plants and Microclimate: A Quantitative Approach to Environmental Plant Physiology (Third Edition)
Artist/Author: Jones, Hamlyn G.$77.00 Add to cartThis third edition has been completely revised and updated to take into account key developments in this field. This detailed yet accessible text introduces the key physical and biochemical processes involved in plant interactions with the aerial environment. Aims to make the more numerical aspects of the subject accessible to plant and environmental science students, and provide a valuable reference source to practitioners and researchers in the field. Approximately half of the references are new to this edition and relevant online resources are also incorporated for the first time. The recent proliferation of molecular and genetic research on plants is related to whole plant responses, showing how these new approaches can advance our understanding of the biophysical interactions between plants and the atmosphere. Remote sensing technologies and their applications in the study of plant function are also covered in greater detail.
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Estuary plants and what’s happening to them in south-east Australia.
Artist/Author: Sainty, Geoff et al, editors.$85.00 Add to cartThis book is split into two sections, the first, a field guide, gives detailed species information about plants that grow in estuaries and protected saline areas along the coast of south-east Australia. Plants covered include seagrasses, algae, mangroves, lowmarsh and highmarsh plants and more. The second half of this book contains 23 chapters written by specialists on management, monitoring, rehabilitation, case histories, and ecological threats faced by this region.
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Mapping forestry.
Artist/Author: Eredics, Peter.$45.00 Add to cartDescribes how Geographical information systems (GIS) software and remote sensing supports the business of forestry in today’s era of economic changes, increased global competition, and diminishing resources. Foresters from the United States, Brazil, Romania, Finland, and Cambodia share how they use GIS to manage commercial operations and maintain sustainable stewardship. Forest managers describe how computer-generated maps and GIS analysis help them determine the best places to build roads, whether logging in a particular area is commercially feasible, which fire-damaged areas should be restored first, and more. This volume contains 19 chapters featuring detailed descriptions and full-colour maps, making it an excellent tool for forestry professionals.
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Plant identification: creating user-friendly field guides for biodiversity management.
Artist/Author: Lawrence, Anna and William Hawthorne.$107.00 Add to cartAn important prerequisite for successful conservation is a good understanding of what we seek to conserve. Nowhere is this more the case than in the fight to protect plant biodiversity, which is threatened by human activity in many regions worldwide. This book is written in the belief that tools that enable more people to understand biodiversity can not only aid protection efforts but also contribute to rural livelihoods. Among the most important of those tools is the field guide. This book provides potential authors of field guides with practical advice about all aspects of producing user-friendly guides which help to identify plants for the purposes of conservation, sustainable use, participatory monitoring or greater appreciation of biodiversity. The book draws on both scientific and participatory processes, supported by the experience of contributors from across the tropics. It presents a core process for producing a field guide, setting out key steps, options and techniques available to the authors of a guide and, through illustration, helps authors choose methods and media appropriate to their context.
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Tropical montane cloud forests: science for conservation and management.
Artist/Author: Bruijnzeel, L. A. et al.$125.00 Add to cartThis volume represents a uniquely comprehensive overview of our current knowledge on tropical montane cloud forests. 72 chapters cover a wide spectrum of topics including cloud forest distribution, climate, soils, biodiversity, hydrological processes, hydrochemistry and water quality, climate change impacts, and cloud forest conservation, management, and restoration. The final chapter presents a major synthesis by some of the world’s leading cloud forest researchers, which summarizes our current knowledge and considers the sustainability of these forests in an ever-changing world. This book presents state-of-the-art knowledge concerning cloud forest occurrence and status, as well as the biological and hydrological value of these unique forests. The presentation is academic but with a firm practical emphasis. It will serve as a core reference for academic researchers and students of environmental science and ecology, as well as practitioners (natural resources management, forest conservation) and decision makers at local, national, and international levels.
