Arthropods are invertebrates that constitute over 90% of the animal kingdom, and their bio-ecology is closely linked with global functioning and survival. Arthropods play an important role in maintaining the health of ecosystems, provide livelihoods and nutrition to human communities, and are important indicators of environmental change. Yet the population trends of several arthropods species show them to be in decline. Arthropods constitute a dominant group with 1.2 million species influencing earth’s biodiversity. Among arthropods, insects are predominant, with ca. 1 million species and having evolved some 350 million years ago. Arthropods are closely associated with living and non-living entities alike, making the ecosystem services they provide crucially important. In order to be effective, plans for the conservation of arthropods and ecosystems should include a mixture of strategies like protecting key habitats and genomic studies to formulate relevant policies for in situ and ex situ conservation. This two-volume book focuses on capturing the essentials of arthropod inventories, biology, and conservation.Further, it seeks to identify the mechanisms by which arthropod populations can be sustained in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and by means of which certain problematic species be managed without producing harmful environmental side-effects. This edited compilation includes chapters contributed by over 80 biologists on a wide range of topics embracing the diversity, distribution, utility and conservation of arthropods and select groups of insect taxa. More importantly, it describes in detail the mechanisms of sustaining arthropod ecosystems, services and populations. It addresses the contribution of modern biological tools such as molecular and genetic techniques regulating gene expression, as well as conventional, indigenous practices in arthropod conservation. The contributors reiterate the importance of documenting and understanding the biology of arthropods from a holistic perspective before addressing conservation issues at large. This book offers a valuable resource for all zoologists, entomologists, ecologists, conservation biologists, policy makers, teachers and students interested in the conservation of biological resources.

Visitors to tropical forests generally come to see the birds, mammals, and plants. Aside from butterflies, however, insects usually do not make it on the list of things to see. This is a shame. Insects are everywhere, they are often as beautiful as the showiest of birds, and they have a fascinating natural history. With their beautifully illustrated guide to insects and other arthropods, Paul E. Hanson and Kenji Nishida put the focus on readily observable insects that one encounters while strolling through a tropical forest in the Americas. It is a general belief that insects in the tropics are larger and more colorful than insects in temperate regions, but this simply reflects a greater diversity of nearly all types of insects in the tropics. On a single rainforest tree, for example, you will find more species of ant than in all of England.Though written for those who have no prior knowledge of insects, this book should also prove useful to those who study them. In addition to descriptions of the principal insect families, the reader will find a wealth of biological information that serves as an introduction to the natural history of insects and related classes. Sidebars on insect behavior and ecological factors enhance the descriptive accounts. Kenji Nishida's stunning photographs—many of which show insects in action in their natural settings—add appeal to every page. A final chapter provides a glimpse into the intriguing world of spiders, scorpions, crabs, and other arthropods.

Agroforestry -- the practice of integrating trees and other large woody perennials on farms and throughout the agricultural landscape -- is increasingly recognized as a useful and promising strategy that diversifies production for greater social, economic, and environmental benefits. Agroforestry and BiodiversityConservation in Tropical Landscapes brings together 46 scientists and practitioners from 13 countries with decades of field experience in tropical regions to explore how agroforestry practices can help promote biodiversity conservation in human-dominated landscapes, to synthesize the current state of knowledge in the field, and to identify areas where further research is needed. Agroforestry and Biodiversity Conservation in Tropical Landscapes is the first comprehensive synthesis of the role of agroforestry systems in conserving biodiversity in tropical landscapes, and contains in-depth review chapters of most agroforestry systems, with examples from many different countries. It is a valuable source of information for scientists, researchers, professors, and students in the fields of conservation biology, resource management, tropical ecology, rural development, agroforestry, and agroecology.

Can we unlock resilience to climate stress by better understanding linkages between the environment and biological systems? Agroclimatology allows us to explore how different processes determine plant response to climate and how climate drives the distribution of crops and their productivity. Editors Jerry L. Hatfield, Mannava V.K. Sivakumar, and John H. Prueger have taken a comprehensive view of agroclimatology to assist and challenge researchers in this important area of study. Major themes include: principles of energy exchange and climatology, understanding climate change and agriculture, linkages of specific biological systems to climatology, the context of pests and diseases, methods of agroclimatology, and the application of agroclimatic principles to problem-solving in agriculture.

Arthropods are the most diverse group of organisms on our planet and the tropical rainforests represent the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems. This book, written by 79 authors contributing to 35 chapters, aims to provide an overview of data collected during recent studies in Australia, Africa, Asia, and South America. The book focuses on the distribution of arthropods and their use of resources in the rainforest canopies, providing a basis for comparison between the forest ecosystems of the main biogeographical regions. Topics covered include the distribution of arthropods along vertical gradients and the relationship between the soil/litter habitat and the forest canopy. The temporal dynamics of arthropod communities, habitats and food selection are examined within and among tropical tree crowns, as are the effects of forest disturbance. This important book is a valuable addition to the literature used by community ecologists, conservation biologists entomologists, botanists and forestry experts.

When we look at our planet’s species distribution, we observe a very interesting pattern: as we move from the Poles to the Equator, the number of species drastically increases. This is what has been called ‘latitudinal gradient of species diversity’. In short, it means that tropical areas, which are located between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, harbor a greater number of species than temperate areas. We still don’t know exactly what causes (or have caused) this phenomenon, but we know that it resulted in high endism, that is, a large number of animals and plants unique to these areas. The tropical areas of the globe are an intricate patchwork of various ecosystems. Tropical ecosystems can vary from rainforests to deserts; from savannahs to mangroves, and we have a lot to learn from them. However, in recent years we have witnessed an increase in rates of habitat destruction, particularly in the tropics. Currently, many tropical ecosystems are under threat, as vast areas are devastated to give space to cities, agriculture, and cattle farms. As tropical areas vanish, so do species previously unknown to us, as well as ecological processed specific to these environments. Moreover, due to its global importance, devastation of tropical areas has potential impacts on other non-tropical ecosystems, and may exacerbate climate change, as well as influence the spread of tropical diseases. On the other side of this battle, there are many scientists that dedicated themselves to the study of the fascinating tropical biodiversity. This collection of articles aims at highlighting their contributions to our understanding of tropical patterns and processed leading to this incredible biodiversity. It focuses on the wonders of the tropical areas of the globe, by asking, amongst others, the following questions: Which species of plants and animals are found in tropical areas? What can we learn about tropical ecology and how can this knowledge help us conserve these ecosystems for future generations?

Insects do not live in isolation. They interact with the abiotic environment and are major components of the terrestrial and freshwater biotic milieus. They are crucial to so many ecosystem processes and are the warp and weft of all terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems that are not permanently frozen. This means that insect conservation is a two-way process: insects as the subjects of conservation, while also they are useful tools for conserving the environment. This book overviews strategic ways forward for insect conservation. It is a general view of what has worked and what has not for the maintenance of insect diversity across the world, as well as what might be the right approaches for the future.

Mass Production of Beneficial Organisms: Invertebrates and Entomopathogens, Second Edition explores the latest advancements and technologies for large-scale rearing and manipulation of natural enemies while presenting ways of improving success rate, predictability of biological control procedures, and demonstrating their safe and effective use. Organized into three sections, Parasitoids and Predators, Pathogens, and Invertebrates for Other Applications, this second edition contains important new information on production technology of predatory mites and hymenopteran parasitoids for biological control, application of insects in the food industry and production methods of insects for feed and food, and production of bumble bees for pollination.Beneficial organisms include not only insect predators and parasitoids, but also mite predators, nematodes, fungi, bacteria and viruses. In the past two decades, tremendous advances have been achieved in developing technology for producing these organisms. Despite that and the globally growing research and interest in biological control and biotechnology applications, commercialization of these technologies is still in progress. This is an essential reference and teaching tool for researchers in developed and developing countries working to produce "natural enemies in biological control and integrated pest management programs. - Highlights the most advanced and current techniques for mass production of beneficial organisms and methods of evaluation and quality assessment - Presents methods for developing artificial diets and reviews the evaluation and assurance of the quality of mass-produced arthropods - Provides an outlook of the growing industry of insects as food and feed and describes methods for mass producing the most important insect species used as animal food and food ingredients

Though seasonally dry tropical forests are equally as important to global biodiversity as tropical rainforests, and are one of the most representative and highly endangered ecosystems in Latin America, knowledge about them remains limited because of the relative paucity of attention paid to them by scientists and researchers and a lack of published information on the subject. Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests seeks to address this shortcoming by bringing together a range of experts in diverse fields including biology, ecology, biogeography, and biogeochemistry, to review, synthesize, and explain the current state of our collective knowledge on the ecology and conservation of seasonally dry tropical forests. The book offers a synthetic and cross-disciplinary review of recent work with an expansive scope, including sections on distribution, diversity, ecosystem function, and human impacts. Throughout, contributors emphasize conservation issues, particularly emerging threats and promising solutions, with key chapters on climate change, fragmentation, restoration, ecosystem services, and sustainable use. Seasonally dry tropical forests are extremely rich in biodiversity, and are seriously threatened. They represent scientific terrain that is poorly explored, and there is an urgent need for increased understanding of the system's basic ecology. Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests represents an important step in bringing together the most current scientific information about this vital ecosystem and disseminating it to the scientific and conservation communities.

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. Highlighting issues ranging from large-scale disturbance to local management, from spatial heterogeneity to temporal patterns, these papers reflect exciting new research – and take the reader to some of the most biodiverse corners of the planet.