Ecologists and natural resource managers are charged with making complex management decisions in the face of a rapidly changing environment resulting from climate change, energy development, urban sprawl, invasive species and globalization. Advances in Geographic Information System (GIS) technology, digitization, online data availability, historic legacy datasets, remote sensors and the ability to collect data on animal movements via satellite and GPS have given rise to large, highly complex datasets. These datasets could be utilized for making critical management decisions, but are often “messy” and difficult to interpret. Basic artificial intelligence algorithms (i.e., machine learning) are powerful tools that are shaping the world and must be taken advantage of in the life sciences. In ecology, machine learning algorithms are critical to helping resource managers synthesize information to better understand complex ecological systems. Machine Learning has a wide variety of powerful applications, with three general uses that are of particular interest to ecologists: (1) data exploration to gain system knowledge and generate new hypotheses, (2) predicting ecological patterns in space and time, and (3) pattern recognition for ecological sampling. Machine learning can be used to make predictive assessments even when relationships between variables are poorly understood. When traditional techniques fail to capture the relationship between variables, effective use of machine learning can unearth and capture previously unattainable insights into an ecosystem's complexity. Currently, many ecologists do not utilize machine learning as a part of the scientific process. This volume highlights how machine learning techniques can complement the traditional methodologies currently applied in this field.

This book explores the theory and methods of systems analysis and computer modeling as applied to problems in ecology and natural resource management. It reflects the problems and conflicts between competing uses of limited space and the need for quantitative predictors of the outcome of various management strategies.

Although Bissonette (Utah Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Utah State U., U.S.) and Storch (Weihenstephan Center of Life Sciences, Technische U. Munchen, Germany) state that a cohesive theory of landscape ecology is not yet possible, they present 17 papers they see as providing elements of theoretical framework, specifically as related to problems of resource management practice. Separate sections address linkages between conceptual and quantitative issues, between people and the landscape, and between theory and management in the field. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.

Brings scientists, policy makers, land and water managers and citizen stakeholders together to resolve natural resource and environmental problems.

Sacred Ecology examines bodies of knowledge held by indigenous and other rural peoples around the world, and asks how we can learn from this knowledge and ways of knowing. Berkes explores the importance of local and indigenous knowledge as a complement to scientific ecology, and its cultural and political significance for indigenous groups themselves. This third edition further develops the point that traditional knowledge as process, rather than as content, is what we should be examining. It has been updated with about 150 new references, and includes an extensive list of web resources through which instructors can access additional material and further illustrate many of the topics and themes in the book. Winner of the Ecological Society of America's 2014 Sustainability Science Award.

The rapidly increasing global population has dramatically increased the demands for natural resources and has caused significant changes in quantity and quality of natural resources. To achieve sustainable resource management, it is essential to obtain insightful guidance from emerging disciplines such as landscape ecology. This text addresses the links between landscape ecology and natural resource management. These links are discussed in the context of various landscape types, a diverse set of resources and a wide range of management issues. A large number of landscape ecology concepts, principles and methods are introduced. Critical reviews of past management practices and a number of case studies are presented. This text provides many guidelines for managing natural resources from a landscape perspective and offers useful suggestions for landscape ecologists to carry out research relevant to natural resource management. In addition, it will be an ideal supplemental text for graduate and advanced undergraduate ecology courses.

This book provides a broad and well-integrated overview of recent major scientific results in wetland science and their applications in natural resource management issues. The contributors, internationally known experts, summarize the state of the art on an array of topics, divided into four broad areas: The Role of Wetlands for Integrated Water Resources Management: Putting Theory into Practice; Wetland Science for Environmental Management; Wetland Biogeochemistry; Wetlands and Climate Change Worldwide.

This book is an outcome of the keynote/lead papers presented by the experts from different disciplines in the Indian Ecological Society International Conference 2016 on “Natural Resource Management: Ecological Perspectives”, organized at the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu, India. The book captures the essence of natural resource management from the intra and interdisciplinary perspectives of agricultural sciences (entomology, plant pathology, plant breeding and genetics, agronomy and soil sciences), social sciences (resource economics, agricultural extension education), medical sciences, and environmental sciences to stimulate discussion on the ecological perspectives of natural resource management. Wide-ranging topics on land and water resources, biodiversity, integrated farming system, role of microbes in agriculture, climate change and its impact on human health and crop pests, exploiting chemical ecology for pest management, human disease-causing pesticides, beneficial insects like lac insects, integrated pest management, resistance management in insect pests and Bt cotton , and diffusion and adoption of ecologically sustainable technologies at individual and organizational level are covered in the book.. The book will serve the professionals, researchers, academia, government, industry and students.

This book will serve as a readable introduction to ecological modeling for people involved in resource management and will also review models for specific applications of interest to more experienced modelers. Successful uses of ecological models as well as discussions of important issues in modeling are addressed. The authors of this volume hope to close the gap between the state of the art in ecological modeling and the state of the practice in the use of models in management decision making.