Wetlands Conservation

The single most important book on wetlands, newly expanded and updated Wetlands is the definitive guide to this fragile ecosystem, providing the most comprehensive coverage and in-depth information available in print. Recently updated and expanded, this latest edition contains brand new information on Wetland Ecosystem Services and an updated discussion on Wetland, Carbon, and Climate Change and Wetland Creation and Restoration. Due to popular demand, the authors have brought back five streamlined chapters on wetland ecosystems that had been removed from previous editions, and provided more robust ancillary materials including an online color photo gallery, PowerPoint slides, and several video case studies. As nature's kidneys, wetland ecosystems help the environment process toxins and excess fertilizers and maintain the relative health of our aquatic ecosystems. As the understanding of their importance grows, their management and ecology have gained increased attention and have become an area of professional specialization over the past two decades. This book gives readers a solid understanding of wetlands, how they work, what they do, and why the Earth can't live without them. Understand wetlands' role in the ecosystem, from local to global scales Appreciate the fact that wetlands may be the most logical and economical way to sequester carbon from the atmosphere Discover the unique characteristics that make wetlands critically important for improving water quality, reducing storm and flood damage, and providing habitat to support biodiversity Learn how wetlands are being managed or destroyed around the globe but also how we can create and restore them Examine the ways in which climate change is affecting wetland ecosystems and wetland ecosystems affect climate change Wetlands are crucial to the health of the planet, and we've only begun to realize the magnitude of the damage that has already been done as we scramble to save them. A generation of ecologists, ecological engineers, land use planners, and water resource managers worldwide owe their knowledge of the wetlands to this book – for the next generation to follow in their footsteps, Wetlands 5th edition is the quintessential guide to these critical systems.

Providing a guide for marine conservation practice, Marine Conservation takes a whole-systems approach, covering major advances in marine ecosystem understanding. Its premise is that conservation must be informed by the natural histories of organisms together with the hierarchy of scale-related linkages and ecosystem processes. The authors introduce a broad range of overlapping issues and the conservation mechanisms that have been devised to achieve marine conservation goals. The book provides students and conservation practitioners with a framework for thoughtful, critical thinking in order to incite innovation in the 21st century. «Marine Conservation presents a scholarly but eminently readable case for the necessity of a systems approach to conserving the oceans, combining superb introductions to the science, law and policy frameworks with carefully chosen case studies. This superb volume is a must for anyone interested in marine conservation, from students and practitioners to lay readers and policy-makers.» —Simon Levin, George M. Moffett Professor of Biology, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University

The latest cutting-edge research on flood pulsing and wetland restoration in North America Presenting the latest research from leaders in the field of restoration ecology, Flood Pulsing in Wetlands reflects the current movement to incorporate flood pulsing into wetland restoration efforts. Emphasizing how integral flood pulsing is to successful wetland restoration, the book's contributors provide descriptions of restoration projects across North America in which flood pulsing has been primarily used to restore beneficial hydrodynamic conditions to floodplain areas, and improve or save vegetation, wildlife, and terrain. Detailing the importance and applicability of recreating flood-pulsed conditions on floodplains for successful restoration, the first chapter introduces the concept of flood pulse and its unique role in wetland restoration. The following chapters detail the strategies and results of individual projects and the impact flood pulsing had on the projects' overall goals. Case studies detail the history of each region, such as the Southwest, including the Sonoran Desert communities and the Middle Rio Grande; the Missouri River in Montana; the Illinois River Valley; and the Southeast, including Brushy Lake, Arkansas. Also documented is the most famous case of flood pulsing used in the restoration of an entire landscape, the Kissimmee River project. Approaches used to restore specific plant and animal populations, the unique ecological concerns of each region, and the future outlook for each area are fully described. Extensive bibliographies for each chapter make Flood Pulsing in Wetlands: Restoring the Natural Hydrological Balance the essential reference for restoration ecologists, consultants in wetland restoration, government and restoration agency employees, land managers, ecologists, foresters, and geologists.

Antelopes constitute a fundamental part of ecosystems throughout Africa and Asia where they act as habitat architects, dispersers of seeds, and prey for large carnivores. The fascication they hold in the human mind is evident from prehistoric rock paintings and ancient Egyptian art to today's wildlife documentaries and popularity in zoos. In recent years, however, the spectacular herds of the past have been decimated or extripated over wide areas in the wilds, and urgent conservation action is needed to preserve this world heritage for generations to come. As the first book dedicated to antelope conservation, this volume sets out to diagnose the causes of the drastic declines in antelope biodiversity and on this basis identify the most effective points of action. In doing so, the book covers central issues in the current conservation debate, especially related to the management of overexploitation, habitat fragmentation, disease transmission, climate change, populations genetics, and reintroductions. The contributions are authored by world-leading experts in the field, and the book is a useful resource to conservation scientists and practitioners, researchers, and students in related disciplines as well as interested lay people.

The Earth’s ecosystems are in the midst of an unprecedented period of change as a result of human action. Many habitats have been completely destroyed or divided into tiny fragments, others have been transformed through the introduction of new species, or the extinction of native plants and animals, while anthropogenic climate change now threatens to completely redraw the geographic map of life on this planet. The urgent need to understand and prescribe solutions to this complicated and interlinked set of pressing conservation issues has lead to the transformation of the venerable academic discipline of biogeography – the study of the geographic distribution of animals and plants. The newly emerged sub-discipline of conservation biogeography uses the conceptual tools and methods of biogeography to address real world conservation problems and to provide predictions about the fate of key species and ecosystems over the next century. This book provides the first comprehensive review of the field in a series of closely interlinked chapters addressing the central issues within this exciting and important subject. View www.wiley.com/go/ladle/biogeography yo access the figures from the book.

The third in a trilogy of global overviews of conservation of diverse and ecologically important insect groups. The first two were Beetles in Conservation (2010) and Hymenoptera and Conservation (2012). Each has different priorities and emphases that collectively summarise much of the progress and purpose of invertebrate conservation. Much of the foundation of insect conservation has been built on concerns for Lepidoptera, particularly butterflies as the most popular and best studied of all insect groups. The long-accepted worth of butterflies for conservation has led to elucidation of much of the current rationale of insect species conservation, and to definition and management of their critical resources, with attention to the intensively documented British fauna ‘leading the world’ in this endeavour. In Lepidoptera and Conservation, various themes are treated through relevant examples and case histories, and sufficient background given to enable non-specialist access. Intended for not only entomologists but conservation managers and naturalists due to its readable approach to the subject.

Textbooks on the principles of conservation biology abound. Yet, how does one put this theoretical knowledge into practice? The aim of The Conservation Handbook is to provide clear guidance on the implementation of conservation techniques. The wide range of methods described include those for ecological research, monitoring, planning, education, habitat management and combining conservation with development. Nineteen case studies illustrate how the methods have been applied. The book will be of interest to conservation biology students and practicing conservationists worldwide. For each copy of the book sold, another copy will be sent free to a practicing conservationist outside Western Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Foreword by E. O. Wilson. Concise, practical guide packed full of ideas, methods and advice. Provides solutions for the main conservation problems most commonly encountered. 18 global case studies illustrate the application of techniques. The Conservation Handbook Donations Project this book is being sent free to those practising conservationists outside Western Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan who are otherwise unlikely to obtain a copy. These copies are provided at cost price by Blackwell Science, the publisher, and paid for with the author''s royalties. Each book sold means another one will be donated.

Beetles, the most diverse group of insects, are often abundant in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. Many species are under threat from human changes to natural environments, and some are valuable tools in conservation, because they respond rapidly to changes that occur. Knowledge of these responses, of both abundance and composition of assemblages, enable use of some beetles to monitor environmental changes. Beetles impinge on humanity on many ways: as cultural objects, desirable collectables, major pests and competitors for resources need by people, as beneficial consumers of other pests, and by ensuring the continuity of vital ecological processes. This book is the first major global overview of the importance of conservation of beetles, and brings together much hitherto scattered information to demonstrate the needs for conservation, and how it may be approached. It is a source of value to students, research workers, conservation biologists and ecosystem managers as an introduction to the richness and importance of this predominant component of invertebrate life.

Hymenoptera, the bees, wasps and ant, are one of the largest insect orders, and have massive ecological importance as pollinators and as predators or parasitoids of other insects. These roles have brought them forcefully to human notice , as governors of some key ecological services that strongly influence human food supply. Recent declines of pollinators and introductions of alien pests or biological control agents are only part of the current concerns for conservation of Hymenoptera, and of the interactions in which they participate in almost all terrestrial ecosystems. Both pests and beneficial species abound within the order, sometimes closely related within the same families. Many taxa are both difficult to identify, and very poorly known. This global overview, the first such account for the whole of the Hymenoptera, discusses a broad range of themes to introduce the insects and their conservation roles and needs, and how their wellbeing may be approached. The book is intended as a source of information for research workers, students, conservation managers and naturalists as an introduction to the importance of this dominant insect order.

This introductory textbook examines diminishing terrestrial and aquatic habitats in the tropics, covering a broad range of topics including the fate of the coral reefs; the impact of agriculture, urbanization, and logging on habitat depletion; and the effects of fire on plants and animal survival. Includes case studies and interviews with prominent conservation scientists to help situate key concepts in a real world context Covers a broad range of topics including: the fate of the coral reefs; the impact of agriculture, urbanization, and logging on habitat depletion; and the effects of fire on plants and animal survival Highlights conservation successes in the region, and emphasizes the need to integrate social issues, such as human hunger, into a tangible conservation plan Documents the current state of the field as it looks for ways to predict future outcomes and lessen human impact “Sodhi et al. have done a masterful job of compiling a great deal of literature from around the tropical realm, and they have laid out the book in a fruitful and straightforward manner…I plan to use it as a reference and as supplemental reading for several courses and I would encourage others to do the same.” Ecology, 90(4), 2009, pp. 1144–1145