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Sim Van der Ryn and Stuart Cowan present a vision of how the living world and the human world can be rejoined by taking ecology as the basis for design. Ecological design intelligence -- effective adaptation to and integration with nature's processes -- can be applied at all levels of scale, creating revolutionary forms of buildings, landscapes, cities, and technologies.The authors weave together case studies, personal anecdotes, images, and theory to provide a thorough treatment of the concept...

Humanity can make short work of the oceans' creatures. In 1741, hungry explorers discovered herds of Steller's sea cow in the Bering Strait, and in less than thirty years, the amiable beast had been harpooned into extinction. It's a classic story, but a key fact is often omitted. Bering Islannd was the last redoubt of a species that had been decimated by hunting and habitat loss years before the explorers set sail.As Callum M. Roberts reveals in THE UNNATURAL HISTORY OF THE SEA, the oceans' b...

Freezing and thawing of soils is a common phenomenon in the winter-cold zone. The thesis titled "Material Cycling of Wetland Soils Driven by Freeze-Thaw Effects" systematically explores the freeze-thaw effects on the accumulation and release processes of carbon and nitrogen in wetland soils, which is a good step toward the investigation of biogeochemical processes in wetlands in seasonal freeze-thaw areas. It is also developing strategies aimed at global warming effects on the accumulation and r...

An unfortunate by-product of industrialization is the contamination of soil and water resources with toxic metals, which becomes an environmental concern when the concentration in soils begins to affect human health. Current remediation methods applicable to contaminated soils are expensive and environmentally invasive since they are based primarily on civil-engineering techniques. This book represents an overview of efforts in exploiting biological and chemical processes to reduce the inherent...

Environmental history - the history of the relationship between people and the natural world - is a dynamic and increasingly important field. In An Environmental History of Twentieth-Century Britain, John Sheail breaks new ground in illustrating how some of the most pressing concerns came to be recognised, and a response made. Much use is made of archival sources in tracing a number of key issues, including: * management of change by central and local government * the manner in which natural...

Veld is 'n lewensbelangrike natuurlike hulpbron vir ons aardse bestaan. Sowat 80% van ons mooi land bestaan uit veld. Die grootste deel daarvan word vir vee- en wildboerdery asook vir bewaring van biodiversiteit en vir ontspanning gebruik. Goeie veldbestuur is nodig om grondagteruitgang te stuit en om volhoubare voedselproduksie en bewaring van biodiversiteit te verseker. Maar goeie veldbestuur berus op 'n goeie kennis van ekologiese beginsels en veldbestuurspraktyke, iets wat baie grondgebruike...

When the first settlers arrived in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky, they found an astonishing landscape of open woodland grazed by vast herds of bison. Farmers quickly replaced the bison with cattle, sheep, and horses, but left many of the trees to shade their pastures. Today, central Kentucky and central Tennessee still boast one of the largest populations of presettlement trees in the nation, found in both rural and urban areas. In Venerable Trees: History, Biology, and Conservation in the B...

The Audit 123 audit system checklists have been designed to suit all levels and sizes of an organisation, from small single units to large global organisations, and to act as a guide assisting organisations in achieving and confirming conformity with the ISO 14001:2015 standard and the successful management of environmental issues. Audit 123 - ISO 14001:2015 - Level 1 comprises a single audit workbook with separate auditor's guidance and may be used to audit an organisation's conformity as a who...

Forests are considered the lungs of the planet, as they consume and store carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. These biomes, defined as ecological communities dominated by long-lived woody vegetation, historically have provided an economic foundation for growing nations, supplying wood for buildings, firewood for fuel, and land for expanding cities and farms. For centuries, industrial nations in Europe and the United States have relied on large tracts of forestland for economic prosperity. The res...

Two kinds of long-term research are taking place at the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest, a renowned research facility in the temperate rain forest of the Oregon Cascades. Here, scientists investigate the ecosystem’s trees, wildlife, water, and nutrients with an eye toward understanding change over varying timescales up to two hundred years or more. And writers from both literary and scientific backgrounds spend time in the forest investigating the ecological and human complexities of this rema...

The author presents an illustrated and practical guide to the wide range of urban habitats and the flora and fauna that live within them. The important conservation and management issues presently being faced within our towns and cities are examined. Topics of concern to the conservationalist or habitat manager are explored, including: * the impact and monitoring of pollution * the effects of invasive species * guidelines for the ecological management of sites to enhance their nature conservatio...