Christopher J. Whelan - Böcker

For over one hundred years, ornithologists and amateur birders have jointly campaigned for the conservation of bird species, documenting not only birds' beauty and extraordinary diversity, but also their importance to ecosystems worldwide. But while these avian enthusiasts have noted that birds eat fruit, carrion, and pests; spread seed and fertilizer; and pollinate plants, among other services, they have rarely asked what birds are worth in economic terms. In Why Birds Matter, an international collection of ornithologists, botanists, ecologists, conservation biologists, and environmental economists seeks to quantify avian ecosystem services the myriad benefits that birds provide to humans. The first book to approach ecosystem services from an ornithological perspective, Why Birds Matter asks what economic value we can ascribe to those services, if any, and how this value should inform conservation.Chapters explore the role of birds in such important ecological dynamics as scavenging, nutrient cycling, food-chains, and plant-animal interactions all seen through the lens of human well-being to show that quantifying avian ecosystem services is crucial when formulating contemporary conservation strategies. Both elucidating challenges and providing examples of specific ecosystem valuations and guidance for calculation, the contributors propose that in order to advance avian conservation, we need to appeal not only to hearts and minds, but also to wallets.

This book, first published in 1985, provides a comprehensive treatment of the role of the military within civil society. With analysis from a policing and military viewpoint (both rarely available in public), and legal and historical perspectives, this book sheds valuable light both on the role of the law in democratic societies, and on the way the balance between the state and civil liberties has been struck.

This book, first published in 1985, provides a comprehensive treatment of the role of the military within civil society. With analysis from a policing and military viewpoint (both rarely available in public), and legal and historical perspectives, this book sheds valuable light both on the role of the law in democratic societies, and on the way the balance between the state and civil liberties has been struck.

As the human impact on the earth leads to ever increasing environmental degradation, the restoration of dwindling populations of numerous plant and animal species is becoming ever more important. In this unique volume, the political, biological and experimental procedures affecting the restoration of natural populations are examined using a range of case studies.