Economic And Ecological Significance Of Arthropods In Diversified Ecosystems

Arthropods are invertebrates that constitute over 90% of the animal kingdom, and their bio-ecology is closely linked with global functioning and survival. Arthropods play an important role in maintaining the health of ecosystems, provide livelihoods and nutrition to human communities, and are important indicators of environmental change. Yet the population trends of several arthropods species show them to be in decline. Arthropods constitute a dominant group with 1.2 million species influencing earth’s biodiversity. Among arthropods, insects are predominant, with ca. 1 million species and having evolved some 350 million years ago. Arthropods are closely associated with living and non-living entities alike, making the ecosystem services they provide crucially important. In order to be effective, plans for the conservation of arthropods and ecosystems should include a mixture of strategies like protecting key habitats and genomic studies to formulate relevant policies for in situ and ex situ conservation. This two-volume book focuses on capturing the essentials of arthropod inventories, biology, and conservation. Further, it seeks to identify the mechanisms by which arthropod populations can be sustained in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and by means of which certain problematic species be managed without producing harmful environmental side-effects. This edited compilation includes chapters contributed by over 80 biologists on a wide range of topics embracing the diversity, distribution, utility and conservation of arthropods and select groups of insect taxa. More importantly, it describes in detail the mechanisms of sustaining arthropod ecosystems, services and populations. It addresses the contribution of modern biological tools such as molecular and genetic techniques regulating gene expression, as well as conventional, indigenous practices in arthropod conservation. The contributors reiterate the importance of documenting and understanding the biology of arthropods from a holistic perspective before addressing conservation issues at large. This book offers a valuable resource for all zoologists, entomologists, ecologists, conservation biologists, policy makers, teachers and students interested in the conservation of biological resources.

This is the first comprehensive book focusing on the form and function of insect mouthparts. Written by leading experts, it reviews the current knowledge on feeding types and the evolution of mouthparts and presents new research approaches. The richly illustrated articles cover topics ranging from functional morphology, biomechanics of biting and chewing, and the biophysics of fluid-feeding to the morphogenesis and genetics of mouthpart development, ecomorphology in flower-visiting insects as well as the evolution of mouthparts, including fossil records. Intended for entomologists and scientists interested in interdisciplinary approaches, the book provides a solid basis for future scientific work. Chapter 6 of this book is available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com.

This volume reviews recent hydrological and environmental issues resulting from human-induced water pollution practices while providing case studies on the physical, chemical, and eco-biological techniques used to mitigate the impacts of river ecosystem pollution in South Asian countries. The book demonstrates the key methods of measurement, monitoring, mapping, and modeling of river water quality and how it is impacted by pollution and incorporates contemporary geospatial technological applications for the management and sustainability of future water resources. The major topics that the book addresses are the fundamental concepts of river ecosystem health, riverine ecology and habitats, risk assessment of riverine pollution, and technology-based river pollution control strategies. The book will serve as an interdisciplinary guide for researchers, students, and GIS specialists working in various disciplines, including pollution hazards, river ecosystem restoration, water quality, remote sensing, zoology, natural resources management, and environmental geography.

This book focuses on cold habitat microbes as a potential source of elite enzymes and secondary metabolites to meet the growing demands of the pharmaceutical, food and biotechnological industries. Microbes living in such extremely cold conditions are reported to produce various biomolecules with potential biotechnological applications. The book overviews recent research trends to discover such important biomolecules and also suggests future research directions to discover such elite novel biomolecules. Salient features: Covers studies on various biotic communities and abiotic components of the soil of terrestrial habitats with a focus on cold habitats Discusses various 'Omic' approaches: metagenomics and meta-transcriptomics Lists adaptation strategies adopted by cold-adapted microbes Highlights various biotechnological and industrially important biomolecules produced by cold-adapted microbes Explores the role of microbial biofilm in the degradation of microplastics in cold habitats

Heteropterans regularly cause a wide variety and large number of problems for humans - at times on a catastrophic scale. The 37,000 described species of this suborder including many pests, disease transmitters, and nuisances exist worldwide, inflicting damage on crops, forests, orchards, and human life. Inspired by the widespread economic impact of

Authoritative and comprehensive resource covering climate-smart agriculture with key insight into its implementation Climate Change and Agriculture provides a complete overview of the development of sustainable agroecosystems and cropping systems and details how to improve the resilience of cultivated crops and cropping systems to the adverse conditions of the climate, such as drought, raising carbon dioxide, global warming, and many other secondary effects such as soils fertility depletion, uncommon disease, and pests. Additionally, the text suggests different agricultural practices to face the severity of frequency of the natural events. Climate Change and Agriculture also delves into the different climate-resilient ways and climate-smarter agriculture (CSA) for food production by building healthier soils through different sustainable practices, redesigning diverse agroecosystems, and developing new crop varieties, livestock breeds, and farm practices. Insight into how modern technology has affected the field, and how it may affect the field in the future, is included. Other topics discussed in Climate Change and Agriculture are as follows: Climate change and agriculture (state of the art, challenges, and perspectives), plus studies on crop yields and their extreme value analysis over India Symbiosis for food security and sustainability in changing climate and emerging issues related to conservation agriculture in Africa Role of Periurban agriculture in sustainability and climate change, with additional information on nutrient management in agro-ecosystems Soil fertility management and biofertilization in changing climate and biochar mitigate abiotic stress-induced damages under changing climate For academics and students, seed, fertilizer, and chemical producers, farmers and farming communities, and policy makers, Climate Change and Agriculture contains invaluable insight on the subject that is helpful in understanding the current state of the field and being prepared for potential future developments.