Ecological Golf Course Management is the most comprehensive work ever done on ecological turf management. It's a must-have for any golf course superintendent, sports field manager, or turf professional interested in reducing or eliminating chemical pesticide use. Ecological Golf Course Management focuses on managing the health and welfare of all soil organisms from a single-celled bacterium to fully developed turf plants and connects the reader to the important and relevant interactions between them. It points out ways to exploit natural plant defense systems that have been largely ignored and to engage many of the powerful allies that live above and below ground. Ecological Golf Course Management explores in detail the many aspects of: * Biological and botanical pest control * Plant stress management * Compost production and use * Natural disease suppressants * Biological fertility management * Soil, leaf tissue, and water analysis * The ecological impact of conventional pesticides and cultural practices

Complete guidelines to developing and maintaining the most effective, environment-friendly irrigation systems for golf courses Golf Course Irrigation offers valuable insight on the design, installation, management, and maintenance of irrigation systems-the most important management tool used on today's golf courses. Without manufacturers' bias, this useful resource provides hands-on guidance to the highest quality irrigation systems, including specifications and applications of the best pump stations, controllers, sprinkler heads, nozzles, valves, sensors, and other components that make the difference in top-quality irrigation systems. Typically regarded as significant users of water, golf courses are under increasing scrutiny by governmental and environmental groups, making it essential that the up-to-date information found here-on such topics as water supply, plant irrigation requirements, application uniformity, and construction management-be at the fingertips of every golf course professional. While fostering the best playing conditions, these systems conserve water and energy with such technology as low-pressure heads and controls that use "if/then" logic to automatically adjust to changing conditions, which can improve playability while saving money. Golf Course Irrigation is a practical tool to help golf course architects, builders, superintendents, irrigation consultants, designers, and installers to improve aesthetics and playing conditions in the face of diminishing natural resources. It is also an informative reference for golf course owners, developers, local officials, students, and fans of the game.

"Sustainable Golf Courses is the most authoritative guidebook on environmental management of planned and existing golf courses. Featuring a practical integration of scientifically based siting, design, and management practices founded on accepted principles of sustainability, this convenient resource helps readers meet the economic, ecological, and social expectations facing the game of golf and the entire golf course industry." "Complete with detailed case studies and environmental research from the USGA, Sustainable Golf Courses is a valuable tool for maximizing open-space opportunities on golf courses."

Learn how environmentally sound principles & practices are applied to the development & management of golf courses. The 68 articles in this collection discuss environmental benefits, environmental programs, financial & economic issues in course development, course design, legal issues, wildlife preservation, & water & wetlands issues. Many environmentally friendly courses are profiled. Some of the more specialized subjects covered are: the AmerAquatic Bird Survey, environmental design work by various course architects, cactus forest transplanted, total ecosystems, biotechnology, a goose pond, drainage problems, IPM, managing endangered & threatened species, Environmental Steward Award, desalination, & irrigation of arid land. This is a NGF InfoPac publication. InfoPacs are bound collections of full-text articles, compiled & copied from various golf industry magazines, newsletters, & journals.

Managing Wildlife Habitat on Golf Courses is written for those who care about golf and the environment. It provides a practical framework for environmentally sensitive land management practices. This book is the perfect resource for anyone striving to maintain the traditions of the game, enhance the natural environment of their golf course, and gain support for their efforts.

Golf Course Management & Construction presents a comprehensive summary and assessment of technical and scientific research on the environmental effects of turfgrass system construction and maintenance. Although the book focuses on golf courses, it also discusses turfgrass systems for residential and commercial lawns, parks, and greenways. The book is an excellent introduction to the concepts of nonpoint source environmental impacts of turfgrass management for turfgrass scientists and specialists, landscape and golf course architects, turfgrass system and golf course developers, golf course superintendents, environmental scientists, and land-use regulators.

Golf is a major global industry. The sport is played by more than 60 million people worldwide and there are more than 32,000 courses in 140 countries across the globe. This book looks at the power relationships in and around golf, examining whether the industry has demonstrated sufficient leadership on environmental matters to be trusted to make weighty decisions with implications for public and environmental health. The first comprehensive study of the varying responses to golf-related environmental issues, it is based on extensive empirical work, including research into historical materials and interviews with stakeholders in golf such as course superintendents, protesters and health professionals. The authors examine golf as a sport and as a global industry, drawing on and contributing to literatures pertaining to environmental sociology, global social movements, institutional change, corporate environmentalism and the sociology of sport.

The biota of the earth is being altered at an unprecedented rate. We are witnessing wholesale exchanges of organisms among geographic areas that were once totally biologically isolated. We are seeing massive changes in landscape use that are creating even more abundant succes sional patches, reductions in population sizes, and in the worst cases, losses of species. There are many reasons for concern about these trends. One is that we unfortunately do not know in detail the conse quences of these massive alterations in terms of how the biosphere as a whole operates or even, for that matter, the functioning of localized ecosystems. We do know that the biosphere interacts strongly with the atmospheric composition, contributing to potential climate change. We also know that changes in vegetative cover greatly influence the hydrology and biochemistry ofa site or region. Our knowledge is weak in important details, however. How are the many services that ecosystems provide to humanity altered by modifications of ecosystem composition? Stated in another way, what is the role of individual species in ecosystem function? We are observing the selective as well as wholesale alteration in the composition of ecosystems. Do these alterations matter in respect to how ecosystems operate and provide services? This book represents the initial probing of this central ques tion. It will be followed by other volumes in this series examining in depth the functional role of biodiversity in various ecosystems of the world.

The twenty-seven contributions authored by leaders in the fields of avian and urban ecology present a unique summary of current research on birds in settled environments ranging from wildlands to exurban, rural to urban.