Emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels have ushered in a new epoch where human activities will largely determine the evolution of Earth's climate. Because carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is long lived, it can effectively lock the Earth and future generations into a range of impacts, some of which could become very severe. Emissions reductions decisions made today matter in determining impacts experienced not just over the next few decades, but in the coming centuries and millennia. According to Climate Stabilization Targets: Emissions, Concentrations, and Impacts Over Decades to Millennia, important policy decisions can be informed by recent advances in climate science that quantify the relationships between increases in carbon dioxide and global warming, related climate changes, and resulting impacts, such as changes in streamflow, wildfires, crop productivity, extreme hot summers, and sea level rise. One way to inform these choices is to consider the projected climate changes and impacts that would occur if greenhouse gases in the atmosphere were stabilized at a particular concentration level. The book quantifies the outcomes of different stabilization targets for greenhouse gas concentrations using analyses and information drawn from the scientific literature. Although it does not recommend or justify any particular stabilization target, it does provide important scientific insights about the relationships among emissions, greenhouse gas concentrations, temperatures, and impacts. Climate Stabilization Targets emphasizes the importance of 21st century choices regarding long-term climate stabilization. It is a useful resource for scientists, educators and policy makers, among others.

In North America, concepts of Historical Range of Variability are being employed in land-management planning for properties of private organizations and multiple government agencies. The National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, and The Nature Conservancy all include elements of historical ecology in their planning processes. Similar approaches are part of land management and conservation in Europe and Australia. Each of these user groups must struggle with the added complication of rapid climate change, rapid land-use change, and technical issues in order to employ historical ecology effectively. Historical Environmental Variation in Conservation and Natural Resource Management explores the utility of historical ecology in a management and conservation context and the development of concepts related to understanding future ranges of variability. It provides guidance and insights to all those entrusted with managing and conserving natural resources: land-use planners, ecologists, fire scientists, natural resource policy makers, conservation biologists, refuge and preserve managers, and field practitioners. The book will be particularly timely as science-based management is once again emphasized in United States federal land management and as an understanding of the potential effects of climate change becomes more widespread among resource managers. Additional resources for this book can be found at: www.wiley.com/go/wiens/historicalenvironmentalvariation.

As the world population grows, so does the demand for food, putting unprecedented pressure on agricultural lands. In many desert dryland regions, however, intensive cultivation is causing their productivity to decline precipitously. "Rewilding" the least productive of these landscapes offers a sensible way to reverse the damage, recover natural diversity, and ensure long-term sustainability of remaining farms and the communities they support. This accessibly written, groundbreaking contributed volume is the first to examine in detail what it would take to retire eligible farmland and restore functioning natural ecosystems. The lessons in Rewilding Agricultural Landscapes will be useful to conservation leaders, policymakers, groundwater agencies, and water managers looking for inspiration and practical advice for solving the complicated issues of agricultural sustainability and water management.

The Peninsula Watershed has been integral to the story of San Francisco's growth ever since the Gold Rush. The rapid influx of settlers to San Francisco during the Gold Rush spurred a sudden demand for a reliable water source, which led to the formation of the Spring Valley Water Works (later purchased by the Spring Valley Water Company [SVWC]) in 1858 (Hanson 2005 ). Over the subsequent 70 years, SVWC bought up large swaths of land on the Peninsula, and constructed a complex system of dams, tunnels, and pipes to capture and transport water to San Francisco. Within the Peninsula Watershed, this system includes the Crystal Springs and San Andreas reservoirs, located in the San Andreas Creek, Laguna Creek, and Upper San Mateo Creek basins along the San Andreas Fau The City of San Francisco purchased SVWC in 1930, and today the Peninsula Watershed, managed by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), continues to be a key source of water for San Francisco and for other communities in the South and East Bay. Despite the past 150 years of reservoir construction and other hydrologic modifications, the construction of transportation and utility corridors, and the large-scale suburban development that has occurred to the east, the Peninsula Watershed has remained largely undeveloped and is managed to protect water quality, water supply, wildlife habitat, and a range of other natural and cultural resources. The watershed supports some of the largest intact remnants of contiguous habitat in the region, including extensive oak woodlands, old-growth Douglas-fir forests, serpentine grasslands, chaparral, and coastal scrub. Over the past 250 years since Spanish explorers first set foot on the watershed, however, changes in disturbance regimes and other large-scale anthropogenic modifications, including fire suppression, homesteading, livestock grazing, agriculture, tree planting, introduction of plant pathogens, spread of invasive species, and climate change, have altered vegetation dynamics and changed the distribution and structure of vegetation communities throughout the watershed. The changes have raised many questions about the historical ecology of the watershed: What was the extent, distribution, and composition of terrestrial, riparian, and wetland habitats prior to Euro-American modification? How have vegetation distributions changed over the past two centuries, and what are the implications of those changes for species support? Are there remnant patches of relatively unmodified habitat present in the watershed, or areas that are currently in a state of recovery? Where are current habitat characteristics most similar to or different from historically documented conditions? How have key natural and anthropogenic disturbance regimes and processes changed over time? The Peninsula Watershed Historical Ecology Study aims to advance understanding of landscape conditions of the Peninsula Watershed prior to major Euro-American modification, and to provide insights into the nature and drivers of vegetation change since the first Spanish explorers set foot in the watershed 250 years ago. The primary goal of the research was to examine the historical extent, distribution, and composition of terrestrial vegetation types and their trajectories of change within the watershed. To the extent possible, research also addressed historical riparian, wetland, and estuarine habitats; hydrology and sediment dynamics; wildlife support; land use history; and a range of other topics.

"This brochure illustrates some of the linkages among climate, carbon dioxide and coral reefs, while describing the necessary steps to appropriately assess the threats at the local and regional scales, as well as to devise suitable monitoring, conservation and mitigation strategies."--Provided by publisher.

A synthesis of present understanding of the structure of the geographic ranges of species, which is a core issue in ecology and biogeography with implications for many of the environmental issues presently facing humankind.