The Ecology Of Survival

This book is concerned with evaluating the antiquity of the domestication changes in northern Africa, considering the nature of the environments in which they arose, their social implications and the influence of climatic change on their later progress.

This book illuminates the relationship that links environments to the persons who must live and work in them. By presenting the maximum security prison as a living environment, and illustrating the personal impact prisons have on individual inmates, Hans Toch, who is a psychologist with many years of research experience in "real life" settings, shows us how men adapt to stressful stimuli. He also provides a blueprint for reform--a practical solution to the problem of making prisons, and other settings, more effective and more humane.

Summary: An introduction to the basic principles of ecology such as natural cycles, population patterns, ecosystems, biomes, and natural and man-made environmental changes.

From 1984 through 1995 a small band of ecologists led by Pan Wenshi from Peking University conducted a study of wild giant pandas in the Qinling Mountains of Shaanxi Province. This project was the first Chinese-led conservation project in China and was conducted during a significant transition period in Chinese history, as the country opened its society and science to the world. The project focused on behavioral observation of wild giant pandas, but evolved to include physiology, nutrition, ecology, land-use policy, and population biology as the staff became more aware that the issues with captive pandas (assisted reproduction, unusual diet, and genetic inbreeding) were not the most critical to survival of wild populations. It is evident in this work that, as the scientists gained knowledge, they came to see giant panda conservation as wrapped in landscape ecology and human/wildlife interactions. The group was seminal in the Chinese government's enactment of a logging ban to their study area by advocating for pandas at the national level. The project was summarized in a 2001 volume, but its publication in Mandarin limited its influence on the greater conservation community. This English version of the original work translates, condenses, and refines the original volume, with added contextual chapters on the importance of this volume and how our understanding of giant panda conservation is shaped by this pioneering field work.

This book looks at human ecology by examining the linkages between human actions and environmental inputs. A historical context traces demographic and cultural developments through a series of demographic landmarks, and provides a balance to the book's survey of recent and contemporary populations. Chapter topics include ecological concepts; demographic landmarks of a successful species; technology, development and population; and health, disease, and diet. For active participants in the world we live in, who understand that our survival of environmental and social changes depends upon a clearer understanding of populations, society, and their adaptations.

Subsistence and Survival: Rural Ecology in the Pacific covers the ecology of man's environment, man's use and perception of biological resources, and the physiology and health of the human organism itself. The geographical range of this text extends from the glaciated uplands of Papua New Guinea, through the montane forests and grasslands of the Highlands, into the coastal jungles, and across to the smaller islands and atolls of the South West Pacific. This book is organized into five parts encompassing 14 chapters. The first part deals with the theory and applications of human ecology. The next part considers first the International Biological Program in New Guinea concerning the link between human ecology and biomedical research. This part also explores the nutritional adaptation among the Enga and in Melanesia, and then introduces the principles of environmental health engineering as human ecology. The subsequent two parts highlight the impact of human activities on the environment, with an emphasis on the association between environmental exploitation and human subsistence. The final part discusses the relevance of self-subsistence communities for world ecosystem management. This book will be of great value to anthropologists, geographers, human biologists, nutritionists, botanists, and public health engineers.