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The Ecosystem Approach

Complexity, Uncertainty, and Managing for Sustainability

David Waltner-Toews author James Kay author Nina-Marie Lister author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Columbia University Press

Published:22nd Aug '08

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

The Ecosystem Approach cover

The Ecosystem Approach will help to shape the paradigm shift away from single species, reductionist approaches and toward a variety of holistic, ecosystem approaches that recast science from a Newtonian into a complexity mode. A solid contribution to the scholarly and teaching literature in ecology and environmental sciences. -- Dean Bavington, University of Michigan

Is sustainable development a workable solution for today's environmental problems? Is it scientifically defensible? Best known for applying ecological theory to the engineering problems of everyday life, the late scholar James J. Kay was a leader in the study of social and ecological complexity and the thermodynamics of ecosystems. Drawing from his immensely important work, as well as the research of his students and colleagues, The Ecosystem Approach is a guide to the aspects of complex systems theories relevant to social-ecological management. Advancing a methodology that is rooted in good theory and practice, this book features case studies conducted in the Arctic and Africa, in Canada and Kathmandu, and in the Peruvian Amazon, Chesapeake Bay, and Chennai, India. Applying a systems approach to concrete environmental issues, this volume is geared toward scientists, engineers, and sustainable development scholars and practitioners who are attuned to the ideas of the Resilience Alliance-an international group of scientists who take a more holistic view of ecology and environmental problem-solving. Chapters cover the origins and rebirth of the ecosystem approach in ecology; the bridging of science and values; the challenge of governance in complex systems; systemic and participatory approaches to management; and the place for cultural diversity in the quest for global sustainability.

A copy of The Ecosystem Approach should be placed on the desk of every engineer, manager, environmentalist, politician and teacher. -- Kyrke Gaudreau Alternatives Journal

ISBN: 9780231132503

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

408 pages