Human well-being and the prerequisite sustainable environmental management are currently at stake, reaching a bottleneck when trying to cope with (i) the ever-growing world population, (ii) the constantly increasing need for natural resources (and the subsequent overexploitation of species, habitats, ecosystems, and landscapes) and (iii) the documented and on-going impacts of climate change. By this, the role of conservation and management practices for the environment is characterized as a crucial and top issue and should deal with (a) promoting best practices from the local to the global level, (b) identifying spatial and temporal knowledge gaps, (c) multidisciplinary aspects for sustainable management practices, (d) identifying and interpreting the role of stakeholders and socio-economic parameters in the decision-making process, and (e) methods and practices to integrate the concept of ecosystem services into natural capital assessment and accounting, conservation and management strategies. Modern literature highlights that land use change and prioritization, the restoration of natural areas and cultural landscape identification and maintenance, should be considered at the top of the scientific and policy agenda, as well as at the epicenter of novel awareness-raising strategies for the environment in the near future.

A comprehensive, stepwise introduction to the basic terminology, methods and theory of the physics of flow in porous media.

"Offers the latest findings and research breakthroughs in plant ecology, as well as consideration of classic topics in environmental science and ecology. This wide-ranging compendium serves as an extremely accessible and useful resource for relative newcomers to the field as well as seasoned experts. Investigates plant structure and behavior across the ecological spectrum, from the leaf to the ecosystem levels."

The title of this issue of the Nexus Network Journal, "Architecture, Mathematics and Structure," is deliberately ambiguous. At first glance, it might seem to indicate the relationship between what buildings look like and how they stand up. This is indeed one aspect of what we are concerned with here. But on a deeper level, the fundamental concept of structure is what connects architecture to mathematics. Both architecture and mathematics are highly structured formal systems expressed through a symbolic language. For architecture, the generating structure might be geometrical, musical, modular, or fractal. Once we understand the nature of the structure underlying the design, we are able to "read" the meaning inherent in the architectural forms. The papers in this issue all explore themes of structure in different ways.

The year is 2167, and Simon Shadow is nearly killed by a crazed co-worker's explosive suicide. Leaving Earth behind, Simon embarks on a quest for freedom-to Reetar, a distant planet recently colonized. Upon arrival, he finds a city bristling with rival religions. Within days, Simon offends the Unholy Mass, a powerful and sadistic religion. His life threatened, he realizes the only way to save himself is to become a rival faith-Shimmerism. On the far side of the planet, meanwhile, a lone starship crash-lands. The survivors begin their own quest, searching for a fabled city of spirituality; and above them all, in orbit, a powerful military force keeps watch, laying waste to anyone foolish enough to threaten the balance of the Great Experiment-the ruling philosophy that governs humanity's colonization of new worlds. The Rise and Fall of Shimmerism casts a speculative eye on a vast human population whose profiteering fringe blazes its way across the next great frontier, caught in a violent cycle of soulless spirituality. An epic future-history replete with phantasmagoric drugs, strange music, and savage ironies, the book ultimately touches on the evolution of human awareness-and the first confused glimpses of a malevolent new reality.

First there was Edwin A. Abbott's remarkable Flatland, published in 1884, and one of the all-time classics of popular mathematics. Now, from mathematician and accomplished science writer Ian Stewart, comes what Nature calls "a superb sequel." Through larger-than-life characters and an inspired story line, Flatterland explores our present understanding of the shape and origins of the universe, the nature of space, time, and matter, as well as modern geometries and their applications. The journey begins when our heroine, Victoria Line, comes upon her great-great-grandfather A. Square's diary, hidden in the attic. The writings help her to contact the Space Hopper, who tempts her away from her home and family in Flatland and becomes her guide and mentor through ten dimensions. In the tradition of Alice in Wonderland and The Phantom Toll Booth, this magnificent investigation into the nature of reality is destined to become a modern classic.