Ecosystem Functioning

Kurt Jax

ISBN 10: 0521879531 / ISBN 13: 9780521879538

Published by Cambridge University Press Sep 2010, 2010

Neuware - A new and integrative analysis of the concept of ecosystem functioning, providing guidance for its application in conservation practice. Seller Inventory # 9780521879538

Synopsis:

In the face of decreasing biodiversity and ongoing global changes, maintaining ecosystem functioning is seen both as a means to preserve biological diversity as well as for safeguarding human well-being by securing the services ecosystems provide. The concept today is prominent in many fields of ecology and conservation biology, such as biodiversity research, ecosystem management, or restoration ecology. Although the idea of ecosystem functioning is important, the concept itself remains rather vague and elusive. This book provides a novel analysis and integrated synthesis of different approaches to conceptualising and assessing ecosystem functioning. It links the natural sciences with methodologies from philosophy and the social sciences, and introduces a new methodology for a clearer and more efficient application of ecosystem functioning concepts in practice. Special emphasis is laid on the social dimensions of the concept and the ways it influences research practice. Several case studies relate theoretical analyses to practical application.

About the Author: Kurt Jax is a senior scientist at the Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, in Leipzig, Germany, and Professor of Ecology at the Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Management of the Technische Universität München, Munich. He was educated as a freshwater ecologist. Having gained experience in research and conservation projects in freshwater, terrestrial and marine environments, he now focuses on the conceptual foundations of ecology and conservation biology, a field in which he has done research for two decades. His special emphasis is on the application of ecological concepts as tools for conservation biology and on the adaptation of methods from the humanities (especially philosophy) for interdisciplinary research in the environmental sciences. He pursues both theoretical and empirical research in this field. His activities include the development of the new research and edition project Handbook of Ecological Concepts and empirical conservation research in the Cape Horn region. Major publications of the last years have dealt with the concepts referring to ecological units (such as population, community, or ecosystem), and the relations between peoples' perceptions of nature and conservation strategies. Between 1999 and 2008 Kurt Jax was also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the journal Environmental Ethics.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Ecosystem Functioning
Publisher: Cambridge University Press Sep 2010
Publication Date: 2010
Binding: Buch
Condition: Neu