Pilot Analysis of Global Ecosystems (PAGE): Coastal Ecosystems analyzes quantitative and qualitative information and develops selected indicators of the condition of the world's coastal ecosystems and marine fisheries. Specifically the study looks at measures that show the degree of human modification of coastal zone and what we know concerning five important goods and services provided by coastal ecosystems: filtering water, food, biodiversity, shoreline stabilization, and tourism. Results from the PAGE analysis show that human activities have extensively altered coastal ecosystems worldwide. Nearly 30 percent of the land area in the world's coastal ecosystems had already been extensively altered or destroyed by growing demand for housing, industry, and recreation. Globally, the number of people living within 100 km of the coast increased from roughly 2 billion in 1990 to 2.2 billion in 1995 four out of every ten people in the world. As coastal and inland populations continue to grow, their impacts in terms of pollutant loads and the development and conversion of coastal habitats can be expected to grow as well. Nutrient pollution has increased dramatically this century due to greater use of fertilizers, growth in quantities of domestic and industrial sewage, and increased aquaculture, which releases considerable amounts of waste directly into the water. Increasing fishing pressure have left many major fish stocks depleted or in decline. Global climate change may compound other pressures on coastal ecosystems through the additional effects of warmer ocean temperatures, altered ocean circulation patterns, changing storm frequency, and rising sea levels.

The aim of this book is to describe what is currently occurring in the Mongolian grasslands, to analyze how various factors creating environmental problems interact, and to suggest solutions for sustainable management of the grasslands. The book has three parts. Part I is an introduction, explaining the key concept of an ecosystem network and providing background information on the general features of Mongolian nomadic pastoralism as well as distribution of vegetation in Mongolian grasslands. Part II describes the effects of natural environmental factors and nomadic activities on grassland conditions. Water dynamics that maintain the grassland system are analyzed in a steppe region with shrubs and in a forest-steppe region with trees. Part III describes the effects of economic and social factors on land-use and the livelihood of herders. As nomadic people moved closer to large cities for economic advantage in the 1990s, degradation of pastures by overgrazing resulted. Finally, the impacts of global warming and globalization on the Mongolian society and ecosystem are examined. This book analyzes environmental problems in Mongolian grasslands, but the contents contribute to consideration of environmental problems and sustainable pasture use in grassland areas worldwide.

Despite claims to the contrary, the science of ecology has a long history of building theories. Many ecological theories are mathematical, computational, or statistical, though, and rarely have attempts been made to organize or extrapolate these models into broader theories. The Theory of Ecology brings together some of the most respected and creative theoretical ecologists of this era to advance a comprehensive, conceptual articulation of ecological theories. The contributors cover a wide range of topics, from ecological niche theory to population dynamic theory to island biogeography theory. Collectively, the chapters ably demonstrate how theory in ecology accounts for observations about the natural world and how models provide predictive understandings. It organizes these models into constitutive domains that highlight the strengths and weaknesses of ecological understanding. This book is a milestone in ecological theory and is certain to motivate future empirical and theoretical work in one of the most exciting and active domains of the life sciences.