Emilio F Moran

Environmental Social Science

Human-Environment Interactions and Sustainability

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

The past decade has witnessed a rapid growth in the development of research on the human dimensions of global environmental change. Environmental Social Science offers a synthesis of this new cross-disciplinary enterprise, and provides a foundation for scholars and policy makers to address the urgent needs and better understand these globally-scaled processes. With increasing evidence of climate change, loss of biodiversity, rapid deforestation in the tropics, and an impending crisis in availability of potable water, the book argues that the fate of our planet hangs in the balance. It reveals how ongoing environmental research demands the breakdown of traditional disciplinary boundaries and requires a better understanding of the complexities of current human-environment interactions. In recommending a new collaborative approach that makes environmental theoryies and research methods accessible across the natural and social sciences, the book outlines a mutually beneficial research agenda for all concerned.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Wiley
• Seitenzahl: 230
• Erscheinungstermin: 15. Februar 2010
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 231mm x 152mm x 18mm
• Gewicht: 476g
• ISBN-13: 9781405105736
• ISBN-10: 1405105739
• Artikelnr.: 29703708

Autorenporträt

Emilio F. Moran is Distinguished Professor and Rudy Professor of Anthropology and Professor of Environmental Sciences at Indiana University in Bloomington. He is the author of Through Amazonian Eyes: the human ecology of Amazonian Populations (1993), Human Adaptability, 3rd Edition (2007), and People and Nature (2006, Blackwell).

Inhaltsangabe

Preface.
1. The Challenge of Human-Environment Interactions Research.
The Evolution of Social Ecological Systems.
Characterization of Contemporary Global Environmental Changes.
History of the Development of the Human Dimensions Agenda.
Characteristics of the Research on the Human Dimensions.
The Way Forward: Integrative Science.
2. Theories and Concepts from the Social Sciences.
Population, Technology and Central Place Theories .
Population and Environment Theories.
Agency and History.
Decision-theoretic Approaches.
Political Economy and Political Ecology.
Cultural Ecology.
3. Theories and Concepts from the Biological Sciences.
Evolution by Natural Selection.
Species respond individualistically, not as communities, to environmental
change.
Interactions with other species help determine if a particular species will
persist in a particular place (Niche and Neutral Theories).
Top-down vs. bottom-up control in ecosystems.
Succession.
Island Biogeography.
Equilibrium/non-equilibrium theories of competition, coexistence, community
composition
Biodiversity and ecosystem processes/services.
The Ecosystem Concept in Biology and the Social Sciences.
4. Spatially-Explicit Approaches.
Remote Sensing and GIS.
A Case Study using GIS/ Remote Sensing to study Amazonian Deforestation.
Urban-rural spatial dynamics.
Modeling and GIS.
5. Multi-Scale and Multi-temporal Analysis.
An approach to multi-disciplinary, multi-scale research.
Scale.
Local level of analysis.
Regional Level of Analysis.
Global Level of Analysis.
Future Directions.
6. Bio-complexity in Ecological Systems.
Spatially-explicit Processes in Ecological and Social Systems.
Agent-Based Modeling of Complex Systems.
Hierarchical Modeling.
Conclusions.
7. Environmental Decision-Making.
Institutional Analysis.
Individual Behavior and Environmental Decisions.
Decisions and Social Context.
Conclusions.
8. Towards Sustainability Science.
Sustainability Science Research Priorities.
Scales of Sustainability.
Cities and Sustainability Science.
Climate Change and Sustainability.
Conclusions.
Bibliography.

Rezensionen

"This work represents an impressive bridge between social andnatural science. For anyone interested in the development of acomprehensive environmental science." (Choice , 1 April 2011)

"Thanks to its capacity of surfing across natural and socialsciences, Moran's work will at minimum help scholars from bothsides to create bridges across the gap that still separates them;something that can already be seen as a non-trivial result."(Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, July2010)"This transformative book addresses the foundational theoriesand methods essential to both social and biophysical fields inhuman-environment research, promoting familiarity with -- andaccessibility to -- research crossing traditional disciplinarybounds. Destined to become a key text within coupled human-naturalsystems research by exploring the complex problems that ourenvironment faces, this book underscores that those challenges canbe successfully addressed only through interdisciplinary researchteams; this work will be an integral component of educating futureinterdisciplinary researchers."
--Jane Southworth, University of Florida

"In the nick of time at the dawn of the era of greatenvironmental challenge: a work that encompasses the full array ofrelevant sciences...fundamental to lasting solutions"
--Thomas E. Lovejoy, The Heinz Center for Science,Economics and the Environment

"Professor Moran gives scientists the tools to attack themost critical environmental challenges - those involving therelations between people and the environment"
--David E. Blockstein, National Council for Science and theEnvironment

"The book fills an incredibly important gap. Emilio Moranprovides a remarkably comprehensive coverage of the fundamentalscience that underpins the analysis of coupled human-environmentsystems. It's a must read for researchers working in the emergingfield of sustainability science."
--Pamela Matson, Stanford University

"A superb overview of the emerging field of sustainabilityscience. Readers will enjoy his clear writing, engaging examplesand effective answers to real-world problems."
--Ben Orlove, University of California, Davis