Conserving and restoring freshwater and marine ecosystems are priorities addressed by several European and global conservation initiatives. Many management and conservation initiatives have been put in place to support the achievement of declared national and global conservation and sustainability goals. Nonetheless, the extent to which all these initiatives can provide lasting positive effects on conservation and restoration targets is often impaired/limited by the lack of robust baseline data and systematic monitoring, which in turn are constrained by the limited number of long-term monitoring programs and limited dedicated funding. This collection underlines the importance of monitoring in times of global change and shifting baselines and the urgency of boosting conservation strategies to ensure progression towards meeting global conservation objectives. Emphasis is given also to the socio-ecological contexts and dimensions of conservation efforts, and the potential of societal engagement in monitoring practices - a key enabling factor to turn conservation initiatives into practical actions and ecosystem protection.

Aldo Leopold, father of the "land ethic," once said, "The time has come for science to busy itself with the earth itself. The first step is to reconstruct a sample of what we had to begin with." The concept he expressedâ€"restorationâ€"is defined in this comprehensive new volume that examines the prospects for repairing the damage society has done to the nation's aquatic resources: lakes, rivers and streams, and wetlands. Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems outlines a national strategy for aquatic restoration, with practical recommendations, and features case studies of aquatic restoration activities around the country. The committee examines: Key concepts and techniques used in restoration. Common factors in successful restoration efforts. Threats to the health of the nation's aquatic ecosystems. Approaches to evaluation before, during, and after a restoration project. The emerging specialties of restoration and landscape ecology.

The sounds produced by geophonic, biophonic and technophonic sources are relevant to the function of natural and human modified ecosystems. Passive recording is one of the most non-invasive technologies as its use avoids human intrusion during acoustic surveys and facilitates the accumulation of huge amounts of acoustical data. For the first time, this book collates and reviews the science behind ecoaucostics; illustrating the principles, methods and applications of this exciting new field. Topics covered in this comprehensive volume include; the assessment of biodiversity based on sounds emanating from a variety of environments the best technologies and methods necessary to investigate environmental sounds implications for climate change and urban systems the relationship between landscape ecology and ecoacoustics the conservation of soundscapes and the social value of ecoacoustics areas of potential future research. An invaluable resource for scholars, researchers and students, Ecoacoustics: The Ecological Role of Sounds provides an unrivalled set of ideas, tools and references based on the current state of the field.

In our world today, the pervasive threat of air, water, and soil contaminants has reached unprecedented levels, pushing ecosystems to the brink and causing harm to individuals worldwide. Despite numerous attempts by scholars to mitigate this crisis, we find ourselves in the infancy of understanding and combatting these pollutants. The lack of awareness among researchers regarding the types and extent of damage caused by contaminants further exacerbates the problem. This environmental dilemma calls for a transformative solution that not only identifies pollutants but also guides sustainable efforts to cleanse our vital ecosystems. Sensors for Environmental Monitoring, Identification, and Assessment is a groundbreaking book designed to revolutionize environmental research and provide a roadmap for tackling pollution head-on. This comprehensive guide is poised to make a significant impact on scholars, environmentalists, planners, researchers, industrialists, and academics globally. By delving into the diverse realms of environmental sensors, the book equips readers with the knowledge and tools necessary to identify pollutants in varied ecosystems and adopt sustainable approaches for cleanup. Its recommended topics cover critical areas such as indoor pollution, noise pollution, advancements in sensor technology, and the detection of pollutants in soil, water, air, and oceans.

Growing human populations and higher demands for water impose increasing impacts and stresses upon freshwater biodiversity. Their combined effects have made these animals more endangered than their terrestrial and marine counterparts. Overuse and contamination of water, overexploitation and overfishing, introduction of alien species, and alteration of natural flow regimes have led to a 'great thinning' and declines in abundance of freshwater animals, a 'great shrinking' in body size with reductions in large species, and a 'great mixing' whereby the spread of introduced species has tended to homogenize previously dissimilar communities in different parts of the world. Climate change and warming temperatures will alter global water availability, and exacerbate the other threat factors. What conservation action is needed to halt or reverse these trends, and preserve freshwater biodiversity in a rapidly changing world? This book offers the tools and approaches that can be deployed to help conserve freshwater biodiversity.

This book uses ecosystem services-based approaches to address major global and regional water challenges, for researchers, students, and policy makers.

Gulf Coast communities and natural resources suffered extensive direct and indirect damage as a result of the largest accidental oil spill in US history, referred to as the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill. Notably, natural resources affected by this major spill include wetlands, coastal beaches and barrier islands, coastal and marine wildlife, seagrass beds, oyster reefs, commercial fisheries, deep benthos, and coral reefs, among other habitats and species. Losses include an estimated 20% reduction in commercial fishery landings across the Gulf of Mexico and damage to as much as 1,100 linear miles of coastal salt marsh wetlands. This historic spill is being followed by a restoration effort unparalleled in complexity and magnitude in U.S. history. Legal settlements in the wake of DWH led to the establishment of a set of programs tasked with administering and supporting DWH-related restoration in the Gulf of Mexico. In order to ensure that restoration goals are met and money is well spent, restoration monitoring and evaluation should be an integral part of those programs. However, evaluations of past restoration efforts have shown that monitoring is often inadequate or even absent. Effective Monitoring to Evaluate Ecological Restoration in the Gulf of Mexico identifies best practices for monitoring and evaluating restoration activities to improve the performance of restoration programs and increase the effectiveness and longevity of restoration projects. This report provides general guidance for restoration monitoring, assessment, and synthesis that can be applied to most ecological restoration supported by these major programs given their similarities in restoration goals. It also offers specific guidance for a subset of habitats and taxa to be restored in the Gulf including oyster reefs, tidal wetlands, and seagrass habitats, as well as a variety of birds, sea turtles, and marine mammals.

This open access book surveys the frontier of scientific river research and provides examples to guide management towards a sustainable future of riverine ecosystems. Principal structures and functions of the biogeosphere of rivers are explained; key threats are identified, and effective solutions for restoration and mitigation are provided. Rivers are among the most threatened ecosystems of the world. They increasingly suffer from pollution, water abstraction, river channelisation and damming. Fundamental knowledge of ecosystem structure and function is necessary to understand how human acitivities interfere with natural processes and which interventions are feasible to rectify this. Modern water legislation strives for sustainable water resource management and protection of important habitats and species. However, decision makers would benefit from more profound understanding of ecosystem degradation processes and of innovative methodologies and tools for efficient mitigation and restoration. The book provides best-practice examples of sustainable river management from on-site studies, European-wide analyses and case studies from other parts of the world. This book will be of interest to researchers in the field of aquatic ecology, river system functioning, conservation and restoration, to postgraduate students, to institutions involved in water management, and to water related industries.

Although the ocean-and the resources within-seem limitless, there is clear evidence that human impacts such as overfishing, habitat destruction, and pollution disrupt marine ecosystems and threaten the long-term productivity of the seas. Declining yields in many fisheries and decay of treasured marine habitats, such as coral reefs, has heightened interest in establishing a comprehensive system of marine protected areas (MPAs)-areas designated for special protection to enhance the management of marine resources. Therefore, there is an urgent need to evaluate how MPAs can be employed in the United States and internationally as tools to support specific conservation needs of marine and coastal waters. Marine Protected Areas compares conventional management of marine resources with proposals to augment these management strategies with a system of protected areas. The volume argues that implementation of MPAs should be incremental and adaptive, through the design of areas not only to conserve resources, but also to help us learn how to manage marine species more effectively.