The Ecology of Place


Book Description

Ecologists can spend a lifetime researching a small patch of the earth, studying the interactions between organisms and the environment, and exploring the roles those interactions play in determining distribution, abundance, and evolutionary change. With so few ecologists and so many systems to study, generalizations are essential. But how do you extrapolate knowledge about a well-studied area and apply it elsewhere? Through a range of original essays written by eminent ecologists and naturalists, The Ecology of Place explores how place-focused research yields exportable general knowledge as well as practical local knowledge, and how society can facilitate ecological understanding by investing in field sites, place-centered databases, interdisciplinary collaborations, and field-oriented education programs that emphasize natural history. This unique patchwork of case-study narratives, philosophical musings, and historical analyses is tied together with commentaries from editors Ian Billick and Mary Price that develop and synthesize common threads. The result is a unique volume rich with all-too-rare insights into how science is actually done, as told by scientists themselves.




Asphalt to Ecosystems


Book Description

A practical palette for visualizing, designing, and building innovative green schoolyard environments.




Ecological Schoolyards


Book Description




Linking Ecology and Ethics for a Changing World


Book Description

To comprehensively address the complexities of current socio-ecological problems involved in global environmental change, it is indispiseble to achieve an integration of ecological understanding and ethical values. Contemporary science proposes an inclusive ecosystem concept that recognizes humans as components. Contemporary environmental ethics includes eco-social justice and the realization that as important as biodiversity is cultural diversity, inter-cultural, inter-institutional, and international collaboration requiring a novel approach known as biocultural conservation. Right action in confronting the challenges of the 21st century requires science and ethics to be seamlessly integrated. This book resulted from the 14th Cary Conference that brought together leading scholars and practitioners in ecology and environmental philosophy to discuss core terminologies, methods, questions, and practical frameworks for long-term socio-ecological research, education, and decision making.




The Challenges of Long Term Ecological Research: A Historical Analysis


Book Description

This volume explores the challenges of sustaining long-term ecological research through a historical analysis of the Long Term Ecological Research Program created by the U.S. National Science Foundation in 1980. The book examines reasons for the creation of the Program, an overview of its 40-year history, and in-depth historical analysis of selected sites. Themes explored include the broader impact of this program on society, including its relevance to environmental policy and understanding global climate change, the challenge of extending ecosystem ecology into urban environments, and links to creative arts and humanities projects. A major theme is the evolution of a new type of network science, involving comparative studies, innovation in information management, creation of socio-ecological frameworks, development of governance structures, and formation of an International Long Term Ecological Research Network with worldwide reach. The book’s themes will interest historians, philosophers and social scientists interested in ecological and environmental sciences, as well as researchers across many disciplines who are involved in long-term ecological research.







Connectivity and Landscape Change


Book Description

The proceedings from the "Connectivity and Landscape Change Symposium," held at The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture on January 30-31, 2004. The symposium explored (1) state-of-the-art tools and approaches for assembling, integrating, and visualizing place-based information; (2) integrated analytical approaches for understanding landscape and community dynamics and how information technologies may move this research forward; and (3) the processes and opportunities for turning information into knowledge, for policy-makers, educators, activists, and community residents.




Science for the Sustainable City


Book Description

A presentation of key findings and insights from over two decades of research, education, and community engagement in the acclaimed Baltimore Ecosystem Study. In a world of over seven billion people-who mostly reside in cities and their suburbs and exurbs-the Baltimore Ecosystem Study is recognized as a pioneering program for modern urban social-ecological science, critical to the emerging theory of urban ecology. After two decades of research, education, and community engagement in this complex system, there are insights to share, generalizations to examine, and gaps to highlight. This timely volume synthesizes the key empirical findings, melds the perspectives of different disciplines, and celebrates the accomplishments of interacting with diverse communities and institutions in improving the understanding of Baltimore's ecology. These widely applicable insights from Baltimore contribute to our understanding the ecology of other cities, provide a comparison for the global process of urbanization, and inform establishment of urban ecological research elsewhere. Comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and highly original, it gives voice to the wide array of specialists who have contributed to this living urban laboratory.







Magellanic Sub-Antarctic Ornithology


Book Description

The first synthesis of current knowledge of forest and wetland birds in the world’s southernmost forests, this book contains both original work by Rozzi and Jiménez and the results of a decade of research conducted by the scientists associated with the Omora Park. The first part is a guide to the forest bird populations and habitats in the Reserve, and a summary of the data recorded for the bird species captured with mist-nets and banded. The information is given in two pages for each species, with English, Spanish, and scientific names, as well as a full-color photo, distribution maps, a table with original morphological information, a figure indicating abundance rates, and a brief description of the species’ main features. The second part is a selection of twenty-two published articles on ornithological research at Omora Park during its first decade of studies, from 2000 to 2010. Eleven of the twenty-two articles were originally published in Spanish and are here translated and available to a larger readership. The reprinting of these articles in one place provides interested scientists, students, and wildlife managers a unique and convenient resource. “This book has two important sources of information: original morphological data and the compilation of all publications about the birds in the southern extreme of South America. I think the book will have great significance.”—Victor R. Cueto, professor of natural sciences, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina “A wonderfully rich and in-depth contribution to Sub-Antarctic Ornithology.”—Julie Hagelin, senior research scientist, University of Alaska, Fairbanks