Quantification Of The Effect Of Erosion On Soil Productivity In An International Context

Soil erosion is a major environmental issue with a worldwide impact and direct and indirect effects on soil productivity and consequently on human survival. Although a natural process, soil erosion has increased significantly due to human intervention, especially in the last centuries, through diverse activities such as intensive agriculture, overgrazing, urban sprawl, deforestation, and industrial and mining activities. Presently, soil erosion and degradation promoted by human action have reached extreme levels, necessitating urgent measures to promote soil conservation and rehabilitation. This book presents perspectives on soil erosion occurring in different parts of the world as well as some successful initiatives and strategies for soil conservation and rehabilitation.

Volume 72 contains four outstanding reviews detailing advances in the plant and environmental soil sciences. Chapter 1 deals with a timely and significant topic in North America and indeed in the world. This review provides background information, data sources and analyses, and implications for research and policy. Chapter 2 is a treatise on cutting-edge developments in bioremediation of petroleum-contaminated soils. Chapter 3 deals with the genetics of flowering time in the chickpea and its effect on productivity in semi-arid environments. Chapter 4 covers environment-sensitive genetic male sterility (EGMS) in crops.

A collection of essays by a Nobel Prize Laureate on a wide range of problems facing the world, and the role of scientists in solving them. Kendall was one of a group of physicists who founded the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and is currently chairman of its board of directors. UCS is today a voice of authority in US government science policy, particularly with regard to environment issues. Together, these essays represent both the successes and failures of science to impact public policy, and offer practical guidelines for involvement in science policy. They are roughly chronological, organised by subject with introductions, beginning with the controversies on nuclear power safety and Three Mile Island, then followed by sections on national security issues, global environmental and resource problems, and radioactive cleanup. Kendall's Nobel Prize lecture is also included (and is the only really technical material in the book), while the photos are from a 1992 exhibition of his work.

This two-volume work functions both as a textbook for graduates and as a reference for economic scholars. Assuming only the minimal mathematics background required of every second-year graduate in economics, the two volumes provide a self-contained and careful development of mathematics through locally convex topological vector spaces, and fixed-point, separation, and selection theorems in such spaces. This second volume introduces general topology, the theory of correspondences on and into topological spaces, Banach spaces, topological vector spaces, and maximum, fixed-point, and selection theorems for such spaces

Advances in Agronomy continues to be recognized as a leading reference and a first-rate source of the latest research in agronomy. Major reviews deal with the current topics of interest to agronomists, as well as crop and soil scientists. As always, the subjects covered are varied and exemplary of the myriad subject matter dealt with by this long-running serial. Editor Donald Sparks, former president of the Soil Science Society of America and current president of the International Union of Soil Science, is the S. Hallock du Pont Chair of Plant and Soil Sciences at The University of Delaware. Volume 81 contains five excellent reviews that discuss topics critical to agricultural and environmental sustainability. Maintains the highest impact factor among serial publications in Agriculture Presents timely reviews on important agronomy issues Enjoys a long-standing reputation for excellence in the field