This book provides case studies and general views of the main processes involved in the ecosystem shifts occurring in the high mountains and analyses the implications for nature conservation. Case studies from the Pyrenees are preponderant, with a comprehensive set of mountain ranges surrounded by highly populated lowland areas also being considered. The introductory and closing chapters will summarise the main challenges that nature conservation may face in mountain areas under the environmental shifting conditions. Further chapters put forward approaches from environmental geography, functional ecology, biogeography, and paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Organisms from microbes to large carnivores, and ecosystems from lakes to forest will be considered. This interdisciplinary book will appeal to researchers in mountain ecosystems, students and nature professionals. This book is open access under a CC BY license.

Recent and forecasted advances in microbiology, molecular biology, and analytical chemistry have made it timely to reassess the current paradigm of relying predominantly or exclusively on traditional bacterial indicators for all types of waterborne pathogens. Nonetheless, indicator approaches will still be required for the foreseeable future because it is not practical or feasible to monitor for the complete spectrum of microorganisms that may occur in water, and many known pathogens are difficult to detect directly and reliably in water samples. This comprehensive report recommends the development and use of a "tool box" approach by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency and others for assessing microbial water quality in which available indicator organisms (and/or pathogens in some cases) and detection method(s) are matched to the requirements of a particular application. The report further recommends the use of a phased, three-level monitoring framework to support the selection of indicators and indicator approaches.Â

Dr. Joshua Lederberg - scientist, Nobel laureate, visionary thinker, and friend of the Forum on Microbial Threats - died on February 2, 2008. It was in his honor that the Institute of Medicine's Forum on Microbial Threats convened a public workshop on May 20-21, 2008, to examine Dr. Lederberg's scientific and policy contributions to the marketplace of ideas in the life sciences, medicine, and public policy. The resulting workshop summary, Microbial Evolution and Co-Adaptation, demonstrates the extent to which conceptual and technological developments have, within a few short years, advanced our collective understanding of the microbiome, microbial genetics, microbial communities, and microbe-host-environment interactions.

This book explores the impact of soil water deficiency on various aspects of physiological processes in plants. The book explains the effects under soil water deficit condition such as lowering of plant water content, disturbance in carbon metabolism such in photosynthesis, photorespiration and respiration as well as effects of soil water deficit on nitrogen metabolism. The book also educates the readers about, mineral nutrition under soil water deficit condition and roles of different nutrient to overcome water deficit. Changes in growth and development pattern of plant under soil water deficit condition and effects on growth and development are elaborated. This book is of interest to teachers, researchers, scientists in botany and agriculture. Also the book serves as additional reading material for undergraduate and graduate students of agriculture, forestry, ecology, soil science, and environmental sciences. National and international agricultural scientists, policy makers will also find this to be a useful read. The in depth description of the major physiological issues in plants under soil water deficit that are presented in this book will help breeders tailoring crops for desirable physiological survival traits in the face of increasing soil water deficit. This book is an impactful addition to the library of any faculty members, researchers, agricultural policy planner, post graduate or student studying in plant physiology, biochemistry, microbiology and other subjects related to crop husbandry.

Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior, Second Edition, Four Volume Set the latest update since the 2010 release, builds upon the solid foundation established in the first edition. Updated sections include Host-parasite interactions, Vertebrate social behavior, and the introduction of ‘overview essays’ that boost the book's comprehensive detail. The structure for the work is modified to accommodate a better grouping of subjects. Some chapters have been reshuffled, with section headings combined or modified. Represents a one-stop resource for scientifically reliable information on animal behavior Provides comparative approaches, including the perspective of evolutionary biologists, physiologists, endocrinologists, neuroscientists and psychologists Includes multimedia features in the online version that offer accessible tools to readers looking to deepen their understanding

The question "Why are there so many species?" has puzzled ecologist for a long time. Initially, an academic question, it has gained practical interest by the recent awareness of global biodiversity loss. Species diversity in local ecosystems has always been discussed in relation to the problem of competi tive exclusion and the apparent contradiction between the competitive exclu sion principle and the overwhelming richness of species found in nature. Competition as a mechanism structuring ecological communities has never been uncontroversial. Not only its importance but even its existence have been debated. On the one extreme, some ecologists have taken competi tion for granted and have used it as an explanation by default if the distribu tion of a species was more restricted than could be explained by physiology and dispersal history. For decades, competition has been a core mechanism behind popular concepts like ecological niche, succession, limiting similarity, and character displacement, among others. For some, competition has almost become synonymous with the Darwinian "struggle for existence", although simple plausibility should tell us that organisms have to struggle against much more than competitors, e.g. predators, parasites, pathogens, and envi ronmental harshness.

This open access book describes the serious threat of invasive species to native ecosystems. Invasive species have caused and will continue to cause enormous ecological and economic damage with ever increasing world trade. This multi-disciplinary book, written by over 100 national experts, presents the latest research on a wide range of natural science and social science fields that explore the ecology, impacts, and practical tools for management of invasive species. It covers species of all taxonomic groups from insects and pathogens, to plants, vertebrates, and aquatic organisms that impact a diversity of habitats in forests, rangelands and grasslands of the United States. It is well-illustrated, provides summaries of the most important invasive species and issues impacting all regions of the country, and includes a comprehensive primary reference list for each topic. This scientific synthesis provides the cultural, economic, scientific and social context for addressing environmental challenges posed by invasive species and will be a valuable resource for scholars, policy makers, natural resource managers and practitioners.

Disease Resistance in Plants, Second Edition, looks at genetic, epidemiologic, biochemical, and biometric principles for developing new cultivars possessing genetic resistance to diseases. It examines the nature of disease resistance and resistance genes, and it highlights the importance of stabilizing selection, sugar, biotrophy, and necrotrophy to obtain the greatest possible yields. Organized into 17 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of disease resistance in plants and the ways to develop disease-resistant variants. It then discusses unspecific resistance; the resistance gene paradox; susceptibility and resistance within narrow host taxa; phenotypic variation and gene numbers in host plants; discontinuous variation and cytoplasmic inheritance; and experimental difficulties in partitioning variance. The reader is also introduced to epistasis and the structure of virulence in pathogens; the notion of physiological race; how the pathogen adapts to the host; mutation in the pathogen from avirulence to virulence; horizontal and vertical resistance to disease and its epidemiological effects; and the link between protein polymorphism and vertical resistance. In addition, the book discusses genes for susceptibility in the host versus genes for avirulence (or virulence) in the pathogen; sink-induced loss of resistance; high-sugar disease processes and biotrophy; slow rusting of cereal crops; plant resistance against endemic disease; and the accumulation of resistance genes in heterogeneous host populations. This book will be useful to plant pathologists and plant breeders.