International Society for Tropical Ecology www.tropecol.com
Singh, J.S., Singh, S.P. and Gupta, S.R. 2006.
Ecology, Environment and Resource Conservation. Anamaya Publishers, New Delhi. 688 pages. Price Rs 850. ISBN: 8188342-55-6. Readers of Tropical Ecology will need little convincing of the urgency and importance of ecology and environmental science. At a time when the earths natural resources are threatened as never before by anthropogenic influences, an understanding of environmental processes and ecological systems is vital for a sustainable future of our planet. The recent Millennium Ecosystem Assessment has illustrated that human actions have significantly transformed many of the Earths ecosystems. Growing public concern over issues such as climate change, genetically modified organisms, increasing pollution, the loss of biodiversity, and damage to tropical forests has made environment, ecology and conservation among the most important areas of science, with a real relevance to the modern world. Ecology is the science of how living creatures interact with one another and their environment, and it is clear that furthering our understanding of ecology will be crucial in coping with the global environmental problems that are of increasing concern in our world today. The need to find solutions for growing environmental problems has resulted in excellent prospects for ecologists and environmental scientists. Environmental science and ecology are multidisciplinary subjects, so manpower development in these areas needs a solid understanding of contemporary ecological and environmental issues. A large number of books in the area are being published each day but most of the books are from publishers located in the temperate countries; these are costly and have a strong western bias in cited literature. Most of the ecology and environmental science books
written by authors from temperate world focus
on case studies and examples from European or Central American ecosystems. Much of the tropics, where human influence is ever increasing, is not properly represented in their discussion. In this direction, the book written by Professors J.S. Singh, S.P. Singh and S.R. Gupta is an unique attempt to collate and analyse Indian & tropical information parallel to European & Central American one. In the preface of the book, authors emphasize that it is a synthesis volume basically designed to familiarize the graduate students with the basic concepts of ecology, environmental science, and resource management. The book covers both fundamental and applied aspects of ecology, with a broad span from evolution of ecological thought to the structure of populations and communities, and to applications of ecological concepts in conservation and environmental biology. The book is divided into 30 chapters. The introductory chapter deals with the scope and importance of ecology, evolution of ecological thought and the linkages between ecology, environment and resource conservation. The basic concepts of the physical and chemical environment, the effects of environmental factors (light, temperature, water, soil and fire) on organisms, and the adaptational features of organisms are explained using copious Indian examples. Biogeography chapter includes topics such as speciation, extinction, and the characteristic biota of different geographical regions with special reference to biogeographical zones in India. The chapters dealing with species population and species interactions deal with the population dynamics, life-history strategies of organisms, the role of competition, predation, and parasitism in population regulation, and the significance of positive and negative interactions at the interface of population and community ecology. A chapter on biological community discusses the emerging concepts of the nature and organization of communities, species diversity, keystone species, ecological
niche and community stability. A chapter with
profound practical utility is on the approaches to vegetation analysis which covers aspects of analysis of structure and dynamics of plant communities. Ecological succession includes topics on the kinds, patterns, mechanisms, the recent models of succession, and the changes in ecosystem attributes during succession. The topics related with ecosystem function such as productivity, energy flow, decomposition processes, and the mineralnutrient cycling are dealt as the central themes of ecosystem ecology. Authors have emphasized the importance of global biogeochemical cycles of major elements and have also widely discussed influences of human activities on these cycles. The chapter on nutrient cycling provides a mechanistic understanding of nutrient transformation and conserving mechanisms at ecosystem level. Chapter on terrestrial biomes and aquatic ecosystems gives an insight into the biophysical basis for the distribution of organisms. In this chapter, the urgent need for conserving different biomes, freshwater and marine ecosystems is emphasized as they are increasingly being threatened by human activities. In the book under review, an attempt has been made by authors to understand socioeconomic and ecological dimensions of environmental pollution, ecotoxicology, exotic invasive species, global environmental change, natural resources, biodiversity conservation, ecological restoration, and environmental
impact assessment, ecological economics and
sustainable development. The processes and application of remote sensing and geographical information system have a focus on the geospatial aspects of the environment, ecosystem analysis and natural resources. Content analysis of the book indicates that the authors have tried to cover a wide range of topics in light of modern literature. The book is adequately printed on a good quality paper and optimally illustrated. There are a few typing errors in text and diagrams which need to be addressed in next print/edition of the book. In this regard, a dedicated web page for the book at publishers web site may be used to give additional support materials, important ecology & environment related links. Also a section on web page containing errata and updates will be helpful to make the book current till its next edition is printed. It is also hoped that the next edition of the book will have colour illustrations and photographs. An important merit of the book is that it presents a rich collection of ecological work with an impressive amount of literature (ca. 1050 references) presented in a logical flow. Adequate coverage of tropical ecology and environmental science literature is highlight of the book. It makes the book suitable for teaching, especially for students at the masters and PhD-levels, and an important source of information with up-todate references for researchers. This book is ideal for the readers who wish to study the ecological principles essential for solving many
current environmental problems and those
related to management and conservation issues, more so in the tropical context. The book is a welcome addition to the ecology and environmental science literature. A.S. Raghubanshi Department of Botany Banaras Hindu University
Environmental Anthropology Domain Is Potentially A More Pluralistic and Activist Stance On Environmental Issues: An Overview of Trends in Ecological Anthropology.