Ecological Applications: Toward a Sustainable World - Paperback

by Colin R. Townsend (Author)

Ecological Applications presents a broad range of methods and techniques for managing environmental sustainability.

This book examines ecological theory at the individual, populations, and community levels, and is an excellent resource for anyone looking to improve the health of their local ecosystems.

• Presents a broad range of methods and techniques for managing environmental sustainability
• Focuses on ecological applications for sustainability including restoration, conservation, biosecurity, pest control, harvest management, and the design of reserves
• Examines ecological theory at the individual, population and community levels
• Considers economic and socio-political aspects

Back Jacket

Ecological Applications offers a progressive examination of the way ecological theory can be applied to remedy the many problems confronting us. The text moves through the levels of individual organisms, populations, communities, and ecosystems, culminating with the macroecological scale of landscape, regional, and global issues. The book is designed to grab the reader's interest with real-life problems but also to instil an understanding of the fundamentals of ecology.

Applications including species conservation, pest control, harvest management, biosecurity, restoration, and reserve design are explored in both terrestrial and aquatic settings. The focus is on ecological sustainability, but economic and sociopolitical dimensions related to the sustainable use of natural resources are also examined.

Ecological Applications is a current and comprehensive guide to the theory and practice of ecology for students and practitioners alike.

Author Biography

Colin Townsend obtained his DPhil at Sussex before taking up teaching positions at Oxford University and the University of East Anglia. In 1989 he moved from the UK to New Zealand, where he was appointed Chair of Zoology at the University of Otago; he is now Director of the Ecology, Conservation and Biodiversity Research Group at Otago.