Bücher der Reihe Topics in Biodiversity and Conservation

1 Plantation forests and biodiversity: Oxymoron or opportunity? Forests form the natural vegetation over much of the Earth's land, and they are critical for the survival of innumerable organisms. The ongoing loss of natural forests, which in some regions may have taken many millennia to develop, is one of the main reasons for the decline of biodiversity. Preventing the further destruction of forests and protecting species and ecosystems within forests have become central issues for environmental agencies, forest managers, and gove- ments. In this di?cult task science has an important role in informing policy and management as to how to go about this. So how do industrial and other pl- tation forests ?t into this? Plantation forests, comprised of rows of planted trees that may be destined for pulp or sawmills after only a few years of growth, appear to have little to c- tribute to the conservation of biodiversity. Yet there is more to this than meets the eye (of the casual observer), and there are indeed numerous opportunities, and often untapped potential, for biodiversity conservation in plantation forestry. With plantation forests expanding at a rate of approximately three million hectares per year, it is crucial to understand how plantations can make a positive contribution to biodiversity conservation and how the potentially negative impacts of this land use can be minimised. That is the topic of this book.

Conservation and biodiversity of protists The conservation of biodiversity is not just an issue of plants and vertebrates. It is the scarcely visible invertebrates and myriads of other microscopic organisms that are crucial to the maintenance of ecological processes on which all larger organisms and the composition of the atmosphere ultimately depend. Biodiversity and Conservation endeavours to take an holistic view of biodiversity, and when the opportunity arises to issue collections of papers dealing with too-often neglected groups of organisms. The protists, essentially eukaryotes that cannot be classi?ed in the kingdoms of animals, fungi, or plants, include some of the lea- known groups of organisms on earth. They are generally treated as a separate kingdom, commonly named Protista (or Protoctista) in textbooks, but in reality they are a mixture of organisms with disparate a?nities. Some authors have hypothesized that the numbers of protists are not especially large, and that many have extraordinarily wide distributions. However, the p- ture that unfolds from the latest studies discussed in this issue is di?erent. There are many species with wide ranges, and proportionately more cosmopolitan species than in macroorganism groups, as a result of their long evolutionary histories, but there are also de?nite patterns and geographical restrictions to be found. Further, some protists are linked to host organisms as mutualists or parasites and necessarily con?ned to the distributions of their hosts.

This book covers a broad spectrum of topics related to GMOs and allied new gene-based technologies, biodiversity, and ecosystem processes, bringing together the contributions of researchers and regulators from around the world.

The Himalaya, a global biodiversity hotspot, sustains about one-fifth of the humankind. Nestled within the north-western mountain ranges of the Himalaya, the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) State harbours more than half of the biodiversity found in the Indian Himalaya. The wide expanse of State, spread across the subtropical Jammu, through the temperate Kashmir valley, to the cold arid Ladakh, is typical representative of the extensive elevational and topographical diversity encountered in the entire Himalaya.This book, the most comprehensive and updated synthesis ever made available on biodiversity of the J&K State, is a valuable addition to the biodiversity literature with global and regional relevance. The book, arranged into 7 parts, comprises of 42 chapters contributed by 87 researchers, each of whom is an expert in his/her own field of research. The precious baseline data contained in the book would form the foundation for assessing current status of knowledge about the bioresources, identify the knowledge gaps, and help prioritization of conservation strategies to steer the sustainable use of biodiversity in this Himalayan region. Given the breadth of topics covered under the banner of biodiversity in this book, it can surely serve as a model for documentation of biodiversity in other regions of the world. The book will be of immense value to all those who, directly or indirectly, have to deal with biodiversity, including students, teachers, researchers, naturalists, environmentalists, resource managers, planners, government agencies, NGOs and the general public at large.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: history of biology, biodiversity, anthropology, geology, conservation, ecosystem management, environmental impact assessments, environmental law, environmental policies, landscape management and habitat restoration and management.

This book is about phylogenetic diversity as an approach to reduce biodiversity losses in this period of mass extinction. The second section is composed by contributions exploring methodological aspects, such as how to deal with abundance, sampling effort, or conflicting trees in analysis of phylogenetic diversity.

This book considers all aspects of bioprospecting in 14 succinct chapters and a forward by David Hawksworth. Finally, there has never been a better time for a new book on bioprospecting, because of the need to preserve ecosystems, and from the emergence of resistant pathogenic microorganisms.

This work assesses the issues facing biodiversity maintenance on tropical islands, and the impacts of biodiversity loss.

This book considers all aspects of bioprospecting in 14 succinct chapters and a forward by David Hawksworth. Finally, there has never been a better time for a new book on bioprospecting, because of the need to preserve ecosystems, and from the emergence of resistant pathogenic microorganisms.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: history of biology, biodiversity, anthropology, geology, conservation, ecosystem management, environmental impact assessments, environmental law, environmental policies, landscape management and habitat restoration and management.

This collection of more than 30 peer-reviewed papers focuses on the diversity and conservation of arthropods, whose species inhabit virtually every recess and plane - and feature in virtually every food web - on the planet.

This book presents a wide range of contributions addressing diverse aspects of biodiversity exploitation and conservation. These reports will stimulate future work toward attaining a sustainable balance between the conservation and exploitation of biodiversity.

This collection of more than 30 peer-reviewed papers focuses on the diversity and conservation of arthropods, whose species inhabit virtually every recess and plane - and feature in virtually every food web - on the planet.

Drawing on research from biodiversity experts around the world, this book reflects the diversity of forest types and forest issues that concern forest scientists. issues explored include the effects of logging, management practices, forest dynamics and climate change on forest structure and biodiversity.

Drawing on research from biodiversity experts around the world, this book reflects the diversity of forest types and forest issues that concern forest scientists. issues explored include the effects of logging, management practices, forest dynamics and climate change on forest structure and biodiversity.

Original studies address key aspects of the conservation and biodiversity of plants. Articles are all peer-reviewed primary research papers, contributed by leading biodiversity researchers from around the world. Many of the articles can serve as excellent case studies for courses in ecology, restoration, biodiversity, and conservation.

Original studies address key aspects of the conservation and biodiversity of plants. Articles are all peer-reviewed primary research papers, contributed by leading biodiversity researchers from around the world. Many of the articles can serve as excellent case studies for courses in ecology, restoration, biodiversity, and conservation.

Natural resource management by rural citizens in tropical regions is crucial both to the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem processes, but also to the the well-being and food security of the people that live there.

Marine, coastal and wetland habitats are threatened, through exploitation, and also by climate change, as ocean currents change course, sea levels rise, and rainfall patterns change.

This book brings together a selection of original studies that address biodiversity and conservation in Europe.

This book draws together a wide range of papers from researchers around the world that address the conservation and biodiversity of vertebrates, particularly those in terrestrial habitats.

This work assesses the issues facing biodiversity maintenance on tropical islands, and the impacts of biodiversity loss.

This book collects studies submitted to Biodiversity and Conservation that address aspects of management for the conservation of biodiversity. It provides a snap-shot of the types of management actions being undertaken for conservation and their efficacy.

This book brings together a selection of 22 original studies submitted to Biodiversity and Conservation that address aspects of methods and practice in biodiversity conservation.