The Ecology Of Tropical East Asia

An updated edition of the only book dedicated to the terrestrial ecology of the East Asian tropics, authored by a world-renowned tropical ecologist

Tropical East Asia is home to over one billion people and faces massive human impacts from its rising population and rapid economic growth. It has already lost more than half of its forest cover to agriculture and urbanization, and has the highest rates of deforestation and logging in the tropics. Habitat loss, coupled with hunting and the relentless trade in wildlife products, threatens all its large and many of its smaller vertebrates. Despite these problems, the region still supports an estimated 15-25% of global terrestrial biodiversity and a growing environmental awareness means that it is no longer assumed that economic development justifies environmental damage, and no longer accepted that this trade-off is inevitable. Effective conservation action now depends on integrating a clear understanding of the ecological patterns and processes in the region with the varied needs of its human population. This third edition continues to provide an overview of the terrestrial ecology of Tropical East Asia: from southern China to Indonesia, and from Bhutan and Bangladesh to the Ryukyu Islands of Japan. It retains the balance between compactness and comprehensiveness of the previous editions, and the even-handed geographical treatment of the whole region, but it updates both the contents and the perspective. Approximately one third of the text is new or greatly modified, reflecting the explosion of new research in the region in the last few years and the increasing use of new tools, particularly from genomics and remote sensing. The change in perspective largely reflects the growing realization that we are in a new epoch, the Anthropocene, in which human activities have at least as large an influence as natural processes, and that stopping or reversing ecological change is no longer an option. This does not mean that biodiversity conservation is no longer possible or worthwhile, but that the biodiverse future we strive for will inevitably be very different from the past. The Ecology of Tropical East Asia is an advanced textbook suitable for senior undergraduate and graduate level students taking courses on the terrestrial ecology of the East Asian tropics, as well as an authoritative regional reference for professional ecologists, conservationists, and interested amateurs worldwide.

'The Ecology of Tropical East Asia' was the first book to describe the terrestrial ecology of the entire East Asian tropics and sub-tropics, from southern China to western Indonesia. This edition updates the contents and extends the coverage to include the similar ecosystems of northeast India. The book deals with plants, animals, and the ecosystems they inhabit, as well as the diverse threats to their survival and the options for conservation.

This book offers a comprehensive account of the current state of inland waters in tropical and subtropical East Asia, exploring a series of case studies of freshwater fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals and water bodies at particular risk. The book highlights the rich freshwater biodiversity of tropical East Asia and draws attention to the various threats it faces due to human activities and rapid environmental change. It addresses the question of whether the contributions of these animals and habitats, or biodiversity in general, to ecosystem functioning and service provision provide sufficient basis for arguments supporting nature conservation. Drawing on instances from the rivers and lakes of tropical East Asia, the book also asks whether the benefits accruing from intact ecosystems are likely to be enough to ensure their preservation. If the answer to either or both these questions is ‘no’, then what are the prospects for freshwater biodiversity in rapidly changing tropical East Asia? This book will be of interest to students and scholars of biodiversity, conservation, freshwater ecology, ecosystem services and Asian Studies.

Following an interdisciplinary approach to debates about the future of tropical forests in Southeast Asia, the authors - experts in their field - unravel the extent to which the interests of local inhabitants, nation-states and international environmental movements are intertwined. This volume, a joint publication with Kyoto University Press, examines the highly politicized context in which local forestry problems intersect with global market forces, focusing on the social and economic diversity of different tropical forests and their specific historical background. It emphasizes the importance of examining local issues in their own right.

The textbook entitled Tropical Ecology of Southeast Asia – The Indonesian Archipelago unfolds in its 5 major chapters with 20 subchapters on more than 500 pages, with more than 300 figures, the basic principles of ecology with examples mainly coming from the Indonesian Archipelago. After an introduction describing the geography, geology and climate of the region, the second chapter is dedicated to marine and freshwater ecosystems. Chapters on the functional ecology of seagrass beds, coral reefs, open ocean and deep sea are followed by information on lotic and lentic freshwater ecosystems. In chapter III ecotones and special ecosystems of the achipelago are in focus. The ecology and ecosystems of shore and tidal flats, mangroves, estuaries and soft bottom shores, caves, small islands, grasslands and savannas are decribed. The forest ecosystems with beach forest, tropical lowland evergreen rainforest, some special forest systems and mountain forests form the contents of chapter IV. The final chapter V is dealing with agroecosystems and human ecology. The main focus in this chapter is ricefield ecology, landuse systems and social ecology, including the advent of man and the development and expansion of man influencing this achipelago. An extended glossary and bibliography is added as well as tables of abbreviations, conversion factors, international system of units and measurements or SI and a geological time table and systematics. The index gives assess to important keywords and relevant information spread thoughout the contents of the book. The textbook will certainly be useful to teachers, lecturers and their students at university and college level. It also gives an overview about insular ecology of the vast Indonesian archipelago to any interested person or working ecologist. * Focuses on the tropical ecology and insular ecosystems and biodiversity of Indonesia, as well as the agroecology of humid tropics * Contains over 300 figures * Provides an extended glossary and bibliography, as well as tables of abbreviations, converstion factors, international system of units and a geological time table * Easy-to-use index gives access to important keywords used throughout the text

This edited volume introduces dynamic approaches to the study of Southeast Asia’s environmental diversity from different disciplinary perspectives at the interface between the natural and social sciences. It brings together research on the region’s environmental resource use and shared ecological challenges in the context of present day globalization to offer insights for possible future directions. The book introduces unique approaches to the study of Southeast Asia’s environmental changes and resource management under the influence of intensifying economic change in the region. It also examines the slow erosion of Southeast Asia’s rich environment and addresses serious issues such as the decrease in biodiversity and tropical forests, and the degradation of peat lands. At the same time, it discusses the social issues that are tied to energy-dependent growth and have intensified over the last two decades. It also analyzes the new roadmaps being created to protect, conserve, and manage the environment. By investigating the many ecological issues surrounding us, the volume brings to light the constant struggles we face while trying to develop a more inclusive and equitable approach to natural resources governance. This volume is relevant for students, academics and researchers who have an interest in the Southeast Asian environment and the way in which we use and interact with it.

Ecology and Power in the Age of Empire provides the first wide-ranging environmental history of the heyday of European imperialism, from the late nineteenth century to the end of the colonial era. It focuses on the ecological dimensions of the explosive growth of tropical commodity production, global trade, and modern resource management strategies that still visibly shape our world today, and how they were related to broader social, cultural, and political developments in Europe's colonies. Covering the overseas empires of all the major European powers, Corey Ross argues that tropical environments were not merely a stage on which conquest and subjugation took place, but were an essential part of the colonial project, profoundly shaping the imperial enterprise even as they were shaped by it. The story he tells is not only about the complexities of human experience, but also about people's relationship with the ecosystems in which they were themselves embedded: the soil, water, plants, and animals that were likewise a part of Europe's empire. Although it shows that imperial conquest rarely represented the signal ecological trauma that some accounts suggest, it nonetheless demonstrates that modern imperialism marked a decisive and largely negative milestone for the natural environment. By relating the expansion of modern empire, global trade, and mass consumption to the momentous ecological shifts that they entailed, this book provides a historical perspective on the vital nexus of social, political, and environmental issues that we face in the twenty-first-century world.