Bøger udgivet af Island Press

This work examines theories (models) of how systems (those of humans, nature, and combined human-natural systems) function, and attempts to understand those theories and how they can help researchers develop effective institutions and policies for environmental management.

Better Trout Habitat explains the physical, chemical, and biological needs of trout, and shows how climate, geology, vegetation, and flowing water all help to create trout habitat.

One of the less obvious effects of population growth is that a vastly increased proportion of the Earth is illuminated at night, with increasingly powerful lights. This book provides a reference on the profound effects that these lights have on plants, animals, and whole ecosystems; and in turn focuses on birds and sea turtles.

Recdecades have been marked by the decline or collapse of one fishery after another around the world, from swordfish in the North Atlantic to orange roughy in the South Pacific. While the effects of a collapse on local economies and fishing-dependcommunities have generated much discussion, little attention has been paid to its impacts on the overall health of the ocean's ecosystems.In a Perfect Ocean: The State of Fisheries and Ecosystems in the North Atlantic Ocean presents the first empirical assessmof the status of ecosystems in the North Atlantic ocean. Drawing on a wide range of studies including original research conducted for this volume, the authors analyze 14 large marine ecosystems to provide an indisputable picture of an ocean whose ecology has been dramatically altered, resulting in a phenomenon described by the authors as "e;fishing down the food web."e; The book provides a snapshot of the past health of the North Atlantic and compares it to its presstatus; presents a rigorous scientific assessmbased on key criteria; considers the factors that have led to the currsituation; describes the policy options available for halting the decline; and offers recommendations for restoring the North Atlantic. This is the first in a series of assessments by the world's leading marine scientists, entitled "e;The State of the World's Oceans."e; In a Perfect Ocean: The State of Fisheries and Ecosystems in the North Atlantic Ocean is a landmark study, the first of its kind to make a comprehensive, ecosystem-based assessmof the North Atlantic Ocean, and will be essential reading for policymakers at the state, national, and international level concerned with fisheries management, as well for scientists, researchers, and activists concerned with marine issues or fishing and the fisheries industry.

This work addresses one of the fundamental flaws in conventional economics-its failure to consider biophysical and social reality in its analyses and equations. It is an introductory-level textbook that offers a pedagogically complete examination of this dynamic new field.

Biliana Cicin-Sain and Robert W. Knecht are co-directors of the Center for the Study of Marine Policy at the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware and co-authors of The Future of U.S. Ocean Policy (Island Press, 1998).

In Urban Sprawl and Public Health, Howard Frumkin, Lawrence Frank, and Richard Jackson, three of the nation's leading public health and urban planning experts explore an intriguing question: How does the physical environmin which we live affect our health? For decades, growth and developmin our communities has been of the low-density, automobile-dependtype known as sprawl. The authors examine the direct and indirect impacts of sprawl on human health and well-being, and discuss the prospects for improving public health through alternative approaches to design, land use, and transportation.Urban Sprawl and Public Health offers a comprehensive look at the interface of urban planning, architecture, transportation, community design, and public health. It summarizes the evidence linking adverse health outcomes with sprawling development, and outlines the complex challenges of developing policy that promotes and protects public health. Anyone concerned with issues of public health, urban planning, transportation, architecture, or the environmwill want to read Urban Sprawl and Public Health.

An overview of the benefits and services that nature offers to people. The contributors present a detailed synthesis of our current understanding of a suite of ecosystem services and a preliminary assessment of their economic value.

Perhaps more than any other scientist of our century, Edward O. Wilson has scrutinized animals in their natural settings, tweezing out the dynamics of their social organization, their relationship with their environments, and their behavior, not only for what it tells us about the animals themselves, but for what it can tell us about human nature. He has brought the fascinating and sometimes surprising results of these studies to general readers through a remarkable collection of books, including The Diversity of Life, The Ants, On Human Nature, and Sociobiology. The grace and precision with which he writes of seemingly complex topics has earned him two Pulitzer prizes, and the admiration of scientists and general readers around the world.In Search of Nature presents for the first time a collection of Edward O. Wilson's seminal short writings, addressing in brief and eminently readable form the themes that have actively engaged this remarkable intellect throughout his career. The essays' central theme is that wild nature and human nature are closely interwoven, and, not without optimism, Wilson concludes that we are smart enough and have time enough to avoid an environmental catastrophe of civilization-threatening dimensions if we are willing both to redirect our science and technology, and reconsider our self-image as a species.From "e;the little things that run the world"e;-- invertebrate species that make life possible for everyone and everything -- to many scientists' emergbelief in the human species' innate affinity for other living things, known as biophilia, Wilson sets forth clear and compelling reasons why humans should concern themselves with species loss.In Search of Nature is a lively and accessible introduction to the writings of one of the mbrilliant scientists of the 20th century. Imaginatively illustrated by noted artist Laura Southworth, it is a book all readers will treasure.

A central goal of transportation is the delivery of safe and efficiservices with minimal environmental impact. In practice, though, human mobility has flourished while nature has suffered. Awareness of the environmental impacts of roads is increasing, yet information remains scarce for those interested in studying, understanding, or minimizing the ecological effects of roads and vehicles. Road Ecology addresses that shortcoming by elevating previously localized and fragmented knowledge into a broad and inclusive framework for understanding and developing solutions. The book brings together fourteen leading ecologists and transportation experts to articulate state-of-the-science road ecology principles, and presents specific examples that demonstrate the application of those principles. Diverse theories, concepts, and models in the new field of road ecology are integrated to establish a coherframework for transportation policy, planning, and projects. Topics examined include: *foundations of road ecology *roads, vehicles, and transportation planning *vegetation and roadsides *wildlife populations and mitigation *water, sediment, and chemical flows *aquatic ecosystems *wind, noise, and atmospheric effects *road networks and landscape fragmentationRoad Ecology links ecological theories and concepts with transportation planning, engineering, and travel behavior. With more than 100 illustrations and examples from around the world, it is an indispensable and pioneering work for anyone involved with transportation, including practitioners and planners in state and province transportation departments, federal agencies, and nongovernmental organizations. The book also opens up an important new research frontier for ecologists.

This work explains why design professors should teach ecology as a standard part of their courses and provides examples from professors who already teach ecology and design in this way.

Presents case studies from around the world of various projects focused on climate change adaptation - regional-scale endeavours where scientists, managers, and practitioners are working to protect biodiversity by protecting landscapes and seascapes in response to threats posed by climate change.

Why shouldn't people who deplete our natural assets have to pay, and those who protect them reap profits? Conservation-minded entrepreneurs and others around the world are beginning to ask just that question, as the increasing scarcity of natural resources becomes a threat to our own lives and our hopes for our children. The New Economy of Nature brings together Gretchen Daily, one of the world's leading ecologists, with Katherine Ellison, a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, to offer an informative look at a new "e;new economy"e; -- a system recognizing the economic value of natural systems and the potential profits in protecting them. Through engaging stories from around the world, the authors introduce readers to a diverse group of people who are pioneering new approaches to conservation. We meet Adam Davis, an American business executive who dreams of establishing a market for buying and selling "e;ecosystem service units;"e; John Wamsley, a former math professor in Australia who has found a way to play the stock market and protect native species at the same time; and Dan Janzen, a biologist working in Costa Rica who devised a plan to sell a conservation area's natural waste-disposal services to a local orange juice producer. Readers visit the Catskill Mountains, where the City of New York purchased undeveloped land instead of building an expensive new water treatmfacility; and King County, Washington, where county executive Ron Sims has dedicated himself to finding ways to protect the county's remaining open space. Daily and Ellison describe the dynamic interplay of science, economics, business, and politics that is involved in these new approaches and examine what will be needed to create successful models and lasting institutions for conservation. The New Economy of Nature presents a new way of thinking about the environmand the economy, and with its fascinating portraits of charismatic pioneers, it is as entertaining as it is informative.

The Santa Cruz River that once flowed through Tucson, Arizona is today a sad mirage. Except for brief periods following heavy rainfall, it is bone dry. The cottonwood and willow trees that once lined its banks have died, and the profusion of wildlife recorded by early settlers is nowhere to be seen. As Robert Glennon explains in Water Follies, what killed the Santa Cruz River -- and could devastate other surface waters across the United States -- was groundwater pumping. From 1940 to 2000, the volume of water drawn annually from underground aquifers in Tucson jumped more than six-fold, from 50,000 to 330,000 acre-feet per year. And Tucson is hardly an exception -- similar increases in groundwater pumping have occurred across the country and around the world. In a striking collection of stories that bring to life the human and natural consequences of our growing national thirst, Robert Glennon provides an occasionally wry and always fascinating account of groundwater pumping and the environmental problems it causes. He sketches the culture of water use in the United States, explaining how and why we are growing increasingly reliant on groundwater. Glennon offers a dozen stories, ranging from Down East Maine to San Antonio's River Walk to Atlanta's burgeoning suburbs that clearly illustrate the array of problems groundwater pumping causes. Each episode poses a conflict of values that reveal the complexity of how and why we use water. These poignant and sometimes perverse tales tell of human foibles such as greed, stubbornness, and the unlimited human capacity to ignore reality. As Robert Glennon explores the folly of our actions and the laws governing them, he suggests common-sense legal and policy reforms that could help avert potentially catastrophic effects. Water Follies, the first book to focus on the environmental impacts of groundwater pumping, brings this widespread but underappreciated problem to the attention communities across America.

While overconsumption by the developed world's roughly one billion inhabitants is an abiding problem, another one billion increasingly afflu"e;new consumers"e; in developing countries will place additional strains on the earth's resources, argue authors Norman Myers and Jennifer Kin this important new book. The New Consumers examines the environmental impacts of this increased consumption, with particular focus on two commodities -- cars and meat -- that stand to have the mfar-reaching effects. It analyzes consumption patterns in a number of differcountries, with special emphasis on China and India (whose surging economies, as well as their large populations, are likely to account for exceptional growth in humanity's ecological footprint), and surveys big-picture issues such as the globalization of economies, consumer goods, and lifestyles. Ultimately, according to the orman Myers and Jennifer Kent, the challenge will be for all of humanity to transition to sustainable levels of consumption, for it is unrealistic to expect "e;new"e; consumers not to aspire to be like the "e;old"e; ones. Cogin its analysis, The New Consumers issues a timely warning of a major and developing environmental trend, and suggests valuable strategies for ameliorating its effects.

In this reissue of the environmental classic The Burning Season, with a new introduction by the author, Andrew Revkin artfully interweaves the moving story of Chico Mendes's struggle with the broader natural and human history of the world's largest tropical rain forest. "e;It became clear,"e; writes Revkin, acclaimed science reporter for The New York Times, "e;that the murder was a microcosm of the larger crime: the unbridled destruction of the last great reservoir of biological diversity on Earth."e; In his life and untimely death, Mendes forever altered the course of developmin the Amazon, and he has since become a model for environmental campaigners everywhere.

First published in 1977, this volume caused a sensation because of Daly's radical view that "e;enough is best."e; Today, his ideas are recognized as the key to sustainable development, and Steady-State Economics is universally acknowledged as the leading book on the economics of sustainability.