Ecological Knowledge and Environmental Problem-Solving: Concepts and Case Studies

This volume explores how the scientific tools of ecology can be used more effectively in dealing with a variety of complex environmental problems. Part I discusses the usefulness of such ecological knowledge as population dynamics and interactions, community ecology, life histories, and the impact of various materials and energy sources on the environment. Part II contains 13 original and instructive case studies pertaining to the biological side of environmental problems, which Nature described as "carefully chosen and extremely interesting."

• Front Matter
• Introduction
• I Kinds of Ecological Knowledge and Their Applications
• 1. Individuals and Single Populations
• 2. Population Interactions
• 3. Community Ecology
• 4. Materials and Energy
• 5. Scales in Space and Time
• 6. Analog, Generic, and Pilot Studies and Treatment of a Project as an Experiment
• 7. Indicator Species and Biological Monitoring
• 8. Dealing with Uncertainty
• 9. The Special Problem of Cumulative Effects
• 10. A Scientific Framework for Environmental Problem-Solving
• 11. References
• II Selected Case Studies
• 12. North Pacific Halibut Fishery Management
• 13. Vampire Bat Control in Latin America
• 14. Biological Study of California Red Scale
• 15. Experimental Control of Malaria in West Africa
• 16. Protecting Caribou During Hydroelectric Development in Newfoundland
• 17. Conserving a Regional Spotted Owl Population
• 18. Restoring Derelict Lands in Great Britain
• 19. Optimizing Timber Yields in New Brunswick Forests
• 20. Control of Eutrophication in Lake Washington
• 21. Raising the Level of a Subarctic Lake
• 22. Ecological Effects of Nuclear Radiation
• 23. Ecological Effects of Forest Clearcutting
• 24. Environmental Effects of DDT
• Index