Seed diversity is crucial to the sustainability of food and agricultural systems. Yet as Michel Pimbert’s survey of the global ‘state of seeds’ reveals, both wild and domesticated varieties are disappearing under an onslaught of human-driven pressures. Planetary crises—the sixth great extinction and climate change—constitute one. Industrialized agriculture is another: just three …
In the context of a global pandemic and climate crisis, the relationship between humans and nature has come under renewed scrutiny. We are currently in the sixth phase of global biodiversity extinction, primarily driven by anthropogenic activities and unsustainable development. This unprecedented biodiversity loss is placing increasing pressures on the planet, and research shows that it is …
This book is about phylogenetic diversity as an approach to reduce biodiversity losses in this period of mass extinction. Chapters in the first section deal with questions such as the way we value phylogenetic diversity among other criteria for biodiversity conservation; the choice of measures; the loss of phylogenetic diversity with extinction; the importance of organisms that are deeply branc…
This open access book analyzes and seeks to consolidate the use of robust quantitative tools and qualitative methods for the design and assessment of energy and climate policies. In particular, it examines energy and climate policy performance and associated risks, as well as public acceptance and portfolio analysis in climate policy, and presents methods for evaluating the costs and benefits o…
This open access volume presents a comprehensive account of all aspects of biological invasions in South Africa, where research has been conducted over more than three decades, and where bold initiatives have been implemented in attempts to control invasions and to reduce their ecological, economic and social effects. It covers a broad range of themes, including history, policy development and …
This open access book demonstrates the linkages between local languages, traditional knowledge, and biodiversity at the landscape level in Asia, providing a fresh approach to discussions on Asia’s biocultural diversity. The book carries forward earlier analyses but importantly focuses on ‘traditional ecological calendars,’ ‘folk medicine,’ and ‘folk names’ in the context of the vi…
This is an open access book. It is a compilation of case studies that provide useful knowledge and lessons that derive from on-the-ground activities and contribute to policy recommendations, focusing on the interlinkages between biodiversity and multiple dimensions of health (e.g., physical, mental, and spiritual) in managing socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS). This bo…
Frank E. Zachos offers a comprehensive review of one of today’s most important and contentious issues in biology: the species problem. After setting the stage with key background information on the topic, the book provides a brief history of species concepts from antiquity to the Modern Synthesis, followed by a discussion of the ontological status of species with a focus on the individuality …
This open access book focuses on climate change, Indigenous reindeer husbandry, and the underlying concept of connecting the traditional knowledge of Indigenous reindeer herders in the Arctic with the latest research findings of the world’s leading academics. The Arctic and sub-Arctic environment, climate, and biodiversity are changing in ways unprecedented in the long histories of the n…
Das Open-Access-Buch bietet einen umfassenden Überblick über relevante psychologische Konzepte des Diversity Managements. Das Buch stellt verschiedene Forschungsarbeiten vor, die Wechselwirkungen und Einflussvariablen von Diversity Bewusstsein, Einstellungen und Kompetenzen bei Personen mit und ohne Migrationshintergrund im Studium, bei Mitarbeitenden und bei Führungskräften untersuchen. D…