Gondwanan Heritage


Book Description

A text, based on papers given at a symposium in Perth, discusses the plants, fungi and animals of WA. Examines their place in the environment, their evolution, their biology and their interaction as well as the fossil history of the flora and the evolution of genetic systems. The introductory chapter provides an overview, while subsequent chapters are grouped around themes. Includes colour plates, diagrams, charts and an index.




The Old Country


Book Description

We are a nation of gardeners, and we take pleasure in tending our backyards. But this pleasure sits uneasily with our knowledge that the places where most of us live are running out of water. We suspect that our lawns and many of our plants from the damp climates of northern European gardens are too demanding of scarce supplies, but can't imagine our streets and gardens without them. The Old Country opens our eyes, and minds, to other possibilities. It does so by telling us stories about our natural landscape. George Seddon believes that the better we understand the delicacy and beauty of our natural environment, the more 'at home' we will feel as Australians. This passionate, wise and witty book, enriched with breathtakingly beautiful illustrations, suggests that the answers to our water problems lie here, at home.




Australia's Fossil Heritage


Book Description

The National Heritage List was created in January 2004 to recognize, celebrate and protect places of outstanding heritage value to the nation. One aspect of natural heritage that has been little explored is Australiaâ__s wealth of exceptional fossil sites. While a small number of fossil sites have risen to public prominence, there are many lesser-known sites that have important heritage values. The Australian Heritage Council engaged palaeontologists from state museums and the Northern Territory Museum and Art Gallery to compile lists of outstanding fossil sites and to document their characteristics and relative importance against a range of categories, with a view to further understanding about Australiaâ__s important fossil heritage. Sites that were listed for National or World Heritage values were not included in the places for consideration, with the focus being on lesser-known but still important sites. This book is an account of the palaeontologistsâ__ findings. Australiaâ__s Fossil Heritage provides a useful reference to the outstanding fossil sites it catalogs, and gives a clearer understanding of the heritage values of such sites. More generally, it contributes to a greater appreciation of Australiaâ__s geological and fossil diversity and enables readers to learn more about Australiaâ__s prehistory.




Remnants of Gondwana


Book Description

The rainforests of Australia cover only 4% of Australia's land mass but contain 50% of Australia's plant and animals life. This superb synthesis of these Heritage listed forests covers all aspects of conservation, plant and animal biology, and cultural significance. The World Heritage Gondwana Rainforests of Australia represent the major remaining areas of rainforest in south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales. The property as described on the World Heritage List formally comprises parts of 27 national parks, 7 nature reserves and several other Crown reserves, located between Brisbane (in Queensland) and Newcastle (in New South Wales).




The Invertebrate World of Australia's Subtropical Rainforests


Book Description

The Invertebrate World of Australia’s Subtropical Rainforests is a comprehensive review of Australia’s Gondwanan rainforest invertebrate fauna, covering its taxonomy, distribution, biogeography, fossil history, plant community and insect–plant relationships. This is the first work to document the invertebrate diversity of this biologically important region, as well as explain the uniqueness and importance of the organisms. This book examines invertebrates within the context of the plant world that they are dependent on and offers an understanding of Australia’s outstanding (but still largely unknown) subtropical rainforests. All major, and many minor, invertebrate taxa are described and the book includes a section of colour photos of distinctive species. There is also a strong emphasis on plant and habitat associations and fragmentation impacts, as well as a focus on the regionally inclusive Gondwana Rainforests (Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves of Australia) World Heritage Area. The Invertebrate World of Australia’s Subtropical Rainforests will be of value to professional biologists and ecologists, as well as amateur entomologists and naturalists in Australia and abroad.




Regional Geology and Tectonics


Book Description

Regional Geology and Tectonics: Volume 2: Phanerozoic Rift Systems and Sedimentary Basins, Second Edition, is the second volume in a three-volume series covering Phanerozoic regional geology and tectonics. Experience in analyzing and assessing rifts - locations where the Earth’s outer shell and crust have been stretched over time by seismic activity - is critical for exploration geologists in identifying Earth’s most lucrative hydrocarbon locations in which extraction is both efficient and safe. Vast compilations of related industry data present regional seismic lines and cross sections, and summaries of analogue and theoretical models are provided as an essential backdrop to the structure and stratigraphy of various geological settings. The new edition of Regional Geology and Tectonics: Volume 2: Phanerozoic Rift Systems and Sedimentary Basins features updated summaries of analogue and theoretical models. New to this edition are chapters on deepwater foldbelts and lithospheric extension as well as new case studies on volcanic and passive margin basins. Provides a practical reference for petroleum geologists that discusses the importance of rift systems and the structural evolution of the Earth Includes analyses of active rifts in East Africa, China, Siberia, the Gulf of Suez, and the Russian Arctic that provide immediately implementable petroleum exploration applications in regions heavily targeted by oil & gas companies Presents overviews of sequence stratigraphy in rifts and structural controls on clastic and carbonate sedimentation that are critical to the exact mapping of the most lucrative hydrocarbon locations by exploration geologists




Living in a Dynamic Tropical Forest Landscape


Book Description

This book brings together a wealth of scientific findings andecological knowledge to survey what we have learned about the“Wet Tropics” rainforests of North Queensland,Australia. This interdisciplinary text is the first book to providesuch a holistic view of any tropical forest environment, includingthe social and economic dimensions. The most thorough assessment of a tropical forest landscape todate Explores significant scientific breakthroughs in areasincluding conservation genetics, vegetation modeling, agroforestryand revegetation techniques, biodiversity assessment and modeling,impacts of climate change, and the integration of science innatural resource management Research achieved, in part, due to the Cooperative ResearchCentre for Tropical Rainforest Ecology and Management (theRainforest CRC) Written by a number of distinguished internationalexperts contains chapter summaries and section commentaries




Science and Policy in Natural Resource Management


Book Description

This book was first published in 2006. Despite many well-intentioned policies and changes to management practices, the world's natural resources continue to decline. The roles and interplay between science and policy in the regional broadacre agriculture landscape are examined here, offering readers a thorough understanding of the complex interactions that occur across spatial scales to produce the regional-scale impacts. The fundamental causes of resource degradation, social decline and environmental pollution are addressed, examining the cross-scale drivers from the individual farm level to the global level of commodity systems. Broadacre agriculture is a common land use throughout all continents of the world and is driven by the same type of dynamics, and this case study of the Western Australia agricultural region can be used to clearly demonstrate the principles for other agricultural systems. Aimed at academics, ranging from researchers through to policy analysts, this book will inspire innovation and action in sustainable natural resource management.




Conservation Biology


Book Description

Refecting what a new generation of conservation biologists is doing and thinking, this vital and far ranging second edition explores where conservation biology is heading. It challenges many conventions of conservation biology by exposing certain weaknesses of widely accepted principles. Combining contributions from both the school and the new breed of conservation biologists, this insightful text focuses primarily on topics the are integral to the daily activities of conservation biologists. Several chapters address ecosystem restoration and biotic invasions as well as the the mechanics of population viability analyses, which are now a routine facet of conservation efforts. A case history approach is implemented throughout the book, with the use of practical real-world examples. Furthermore, an in-depth look at quantitative analyses is presented, allowing for models and mathematical analyses to pinpoint limitations in existing data and guide research toward those aspects of biology that are most likely to be critical to the dynamics of a species or an ecosystem.




Conservation and the Genetics of Populations


Book Description

Loss of biodiversity is among the greatest problems facing the world today. Conservation and the Genetics of Populations gives a comprehensive overview of the essential background, concepts, and tools needed to understand how genetic information can be used to conserve species threatened with extinction, and to manage species of ecological or commercial importance. New molecular techniques, statistical methods, and computer programs, genetic principles, and methods are becoming increasingly useful in the conservation of biological diversity. Using a balance of data and theory, coupled with basic and applied research examples, this book examines genetic and phenotypic variation in natural populations, the principles and mechanisms of evolutionary change, the interpretation of genetic data from natural populations, and how these can be applied to conservation. The book includes examples from plants, animals, and microbes in wild and captive populations. This second edition contains new chapters on Climate Change and Exploited Populations as well as new sections on genomics, genetic monitoring, emerging diseases, metagenomics, and more. One-third of the references in this edition were published after the first edition. Each of the 22 chapters and the statistical appendix have a Guest Box written by an expert in that particular topic (including James Crow, Louis Bernatchez, Loren Rieseberg, Rick Shine, and Lisette Waits). This book is essential for advanced undergraduate and graduate students of conservation genetics, natural resource management, and conservation biology, as well as professional conservation biologists working for wildlife and habitat management agencies. Additional resources for this book can be found at: www.wiley.com/go/allendorf/populations.