Integrated Natural Resources Research

This book is a sister volume to Volume 20 of the Handbook of Environmental Engineering Series, "Integrated Natural Resources Management", and expands on the themes of that volume by addressing the conservation and protection of natural resources in an environmental engineering context through state-of-the-art research methodologies and technologies. With a focus on water and wastewater treatment, the book takes a multidisciplinary approach to provide readers with an understanding of developments in natural resources technology over the last few decades, and how technology and industry methods will progress to ensure cleaner and sustainable methods of natural resources management. The key topics covered include biological activated carbon treatment for recycling biotreated wastewater, composting for food processing wastes, treatment of wastewater from chemical industries, agricultural waste as a low-cost adsorbent, and the invention, design and construction of potable water dissolved air flotation and filtration plants. The book will be useful to environmental resources engineers, researchers, water treatment plant managers, chemical engineers, industrial plant managers, and environmental conservation agencies.

This book, which contains 15 separately authored chapters, discusses both the principles and applications of an integrated approach to natural resource management. Such an approach must embrace the complexity of systems and redirect research towards the greater inclusion of issues such as participatory approaches, multi-scale analysis and an array of tools for system analysis, information management and impact assessment. Case studies, particularly from developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, are included. This book is of interest to a wide range of readers in many disciplines, including forestry, soil and management sciences, agriculture, and development studies.

In this edited open access book leading scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds wrestle with social science integration opportunities and challenges. This book explores the growing concern of how best to achieve effective integration of the social science disciplines as a means for furthering natural resource social science and environmental problem solving. The chapters provide an overview of the history, vision, advances, examples and methods that could lead to integration. The quest for integration among the social sciences is not new. Some argue that the social sciences have lagged in their advancements and contributions to society due to their inability to address integration related issues. Integration merits debate for a number of reasons. First, natural resource issues are complex and are affected by multiple proximate driving social factors. Single disciplinary studies focused at one level are unlikely to provide explanations that represent this complexity and are limited in their ability to inform policy recommendations. Complex problems are best explored across disciplines that examine social-ecological phenomenon from different scales. Second, multi-disciplinary initiatives such as those with physical and biological scientists are necessary to understand the scope of the social sciences. Too frequently there is a belief that one social scientist on a multi-disciplinary team provides adequate social science representation. Third, more complete models of human behavior will be achieved through a synthesis of diverse social science perspectives.

This book offers readers the chance to learn from the experiences of researchers involved in integrated mission-directed research, particularly in the areas of natural resource management and regional development. Integrated Mission-directed Research covers important issues in integration science, supported by case studies that detail how to engage individuals and communities, and support policy decisions and development. The authors explore case studies undertaken in Australia, Europe, Thailand and Indonesia, as well as perspectives from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Closing chapters demonstrate key challenges for researchers and essential questions that should be answered when trying to set up integrated research. Potential benefits that could be obtained from effective integrated mission-directed research are included, as well as assessment questions to assist researchers to see if such benefits have been truly obtained. Written by experienced researchers, many of whom were involved in CSIRO’s Social and Economic Integration Emerging Science Initiative, the book explores how integrated research is now seen as crucial in achieving sustainability outcomes in natural resource management.

This edited book has been designed to serve as a natural resources engineering reference book as well as a supplemental textbook. This volume is part of the Handbook of Environmental Engineering series, an incredible collection of methodologies that study the effects of resources and wastes in their three basic forms: gas, solid, and liquid. It complements two other books in the series including "Natural Resources and Control Processes" and "Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering". Together they serve as a basis for advanced study or specialized investigation of the theory and analysis of various natural resources systems. The purpose of this book is to thoroughly prepare the reader for understanding the topics of global warming, climate change, glacier melting, salmon protection, village-driven latrines, engineers without borders (USA), surface water quality analysis, electrical and electronic wastes treatment, water quality control, tidal rivers and estuaries, geographic information systems, remote sensing applications, water losses investigations, wet infrastructure, lake restoration, acidic water control, biohydrogen production, mixed culture dark anaerobic fermentation, industrial waste recycle, agricultural waste recycle, recycled adsorbents, heavy metals removal, magnetic technology, recycled biohydrogen materials, lignocellulosic biomass, extremely halotolerant bacterial communities, salt pan and salt damaged soil. The chapters provide information on some of the most innovative and ground-breaking advances in resources conversation, protection, recycling, and reuse from a panel of esteemed experts.

Here is the first systematic handbook treatment of quantitative modeling natural resource problems, their allocated efficient use, and societal and economic impact. Andrés Weintraub is the very top person in Natural Resource research. He has selected co-editors who are at the top of the sub-fields in natural resources: agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and mining. The book covers these areas with contributions from researchers on, among others, modeling natural research problems, quantifying data, and developing algorithms.

The purpose of this work is to develop a better understanding and thinking about the cumulative impacts of multiple natural resource development projects. Cumulative impacts are now one of the most pressing, but complex challenges facing governments, industry, communities, and conservation and natural resource professionals. There has been technical and policy research exploring how cumulative environmental impacts can be assessed and managed. These studies, however, have failed to consider the necessary integration of community, environment and health. Informed by knowledge and experience in northern British Columbia, this book seeks to expand our understanding of the cumulative impacts of natural resource development through an integrated lens. The book offers a timely response to a growing imperative – proposing integrative response to multiple natural resource developments in a way that addresses converging environment, community and health issues. Informed by the editors’ experiences across several complementary areas of expertise, we envision this book as appealing to a wide range of researchers, educators and practitioners, with relevance to a growing audience with appetite for and interest in integrative approaches.

Part I: Introduction; Part II: Valuation of ecosystem services and biophysical indicators of NRM impacts; Part III: Methodological advances for a comprehensive impact assessment; Part IV: NRM impact assessment in practice.