This book presents the natural, environmental and scenic richness of the world’s coastal and marine areas classified by UNESCO as “Natural World Heritage Sites”. Representing well-preserved areas of exceptional significance to the planet and to humankind, they include a total of 49 marine sites, formed by reefs, atolls and gulfs, and 35 coastal sites in all oceans and all continents with exception of Antarctica. They are being protected and preserved from most degrading uses for future generations as an important legacy from the past. Exploring their richness, this book analyzes and explains these sites in a clear, understandable, scientific way, and is of interest to all who work in or care about the geosciences, environmental sciences and biosciences.

This unique book presents for the first time the current status of the Danube River Delta, the challenges facing it, and proposed strategies to solve it. One of the biggest challenges is the human effects on the Danube Delta Environment and its lakes that work as sinks for natural and anthropogenic environmental changes, the water management and water flow variability and under climatic conditions including the extreme temperature and precipitation events based on RCMs output and the impact of sedimentation processes on the evolution of the Danube Delta. The book also contains the impact of wind and solar energy on the Delta. The book also presents the integrated approach for sustainable development of the Delta including the structural dynamics of the local economy, the role of tourism activities, integrated waste management in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, demographic dynamics in the Delta, and the population health state. Also, a unique chapter on the opportunities of content exploitation as Language Learning Experiences is applied to Danube Delta. The book will be of great scientific interest to help the graduate students, researchers, stakeholder professional engineers, policy planners, policymakers of three countries to implement their sustainable development plan.

In this volume Constantin Iordachi and Kirstof Van Assche take an interdisciplinary look at the history, policy, and culture of the development and politics of the Danube Delta.

The authors in this volume make a case for LTSER’s potential in providing insights, knowledge and experience necessary for a sustainability transition. This expertly edited selection of contributions from Europe and North America reviews the development of LTSER since its inception and assesses its current state, which has evolved to recognize the value of formulating solutions to the host of ecological threats we face. Through many case studies, this book gives the reader a greater sense of where we are and what still needs to be done to engage in and make meaning from long-term, place-based and cross-disciplinary engagements with socio-ecological systems.

This volume presents a synthesis of basic biological and conservation data for more than 30 species of sturgeons (Acipenseridae), paddlefishes (Polyodontidae) and their fossil allies in the order Acipenseriformes. Since the Jurassic, the four families of sturgeon-like fish have been restricted to the Holarctic, where until very recently they flourished in most major river systems. Today, however, virtually all species of sturgeons and paddlefishes face difficult conservation issues. Papers in the first section of this volume examine paleontology, systematics, evolution and basic biology of Acipenseriformes. The second section of this volume details current conservation status for most of the world's living species of Acipenseriformes. These papers mark the first attempt to make such a global review of recent data from across the northern hemisphere. The emerging picture is discouraging, for negative anthropogenic impacts range from overfishing to water pollution, to dams and water diversion projects, and all species are threatened to some degree. The third section of the volume considers specific human impacts and responses to conservation issues. These include: the Aral Sea ecological disaster and its impact on native sturgeons; a review of methods for restoring sturgeon populations; the use of molecular techniques in developing conservation strategies; the extreme sensitivity of sturgeons and paddlefishes to overfishing; and the history of a recently convicted caviar poaching ring. The volume's summary reviews the status of all extant species and notes future directions for research on behavior, ecology and population biology that could lead to better co-ordinated international conservation efforts.

The author takes us on an unexpected journey "up" the Danube, where we encounter a remarkable and unfamiliar world

The history of the world’s second international organisation, an innovative techno-political institution established by Europe’s Concert of Powers to remove insecurity from the Lower Danube.

New and innovative scientific theories, discussion and explanations are presented on landform dynamics and evolution in Romania along with a comprehensive understanding of the geomorphological processes shaping the large variety of Romania’s landscape. Thematically arranged the book deals with landform dynamics of specific relief types: glacial and periglacial, denudational, fluvio-denudational, fluvial, karst and coasts, as well as sediment fluxes, geomorphic hazards and risks. The authors are key scientists and researchers in the field and offer innovative views on research methods and concepts applied to the topics in question. This work will be of interest to students and researchers in geography, geomorphology, geology, environmental science, paleoclimatology and soil science as well as policy and decision-makers in spatial planning.

Based on the bestselling book, Rivers of North America, this new guide stands as the only primary source of complete and comparative baseline data on the biological and hydrological characteristics of more than 180 of the highest profile rivers in Europe. With numerous full-color photographs and maps, Rivers of Europe includes conservation information on current patterns of river use and the extent to which human society has exploited and impacted them. Rivers of Europe provides the information ecologists and conservation managers need to better assess their management and meet the EU legislative good governance targets. - Coverage on more than 180 European rivers - Summarizes biological, ecological and biodiversity characteristics - Provides conservation managers with information to resolve conflicts between recreational use of rivers, their use as a water supply, and the need to conserve natural habitats - Data on river hydrology (maximum , minimum and average flow rates), seasonal variation in water flow - Numerous full-color photographs - Information on the underlying geology and its affect on river behaviour