Solid-Phase Extraction: Principles, Techniques, and Applications

Book Description

Demonstrating the relationship of the basic theory of solid-phase extraction (SPE) to chromatography, this comprehensive reference illustrates how SPE techniques significantly contribute to the preparation of samples for a wide variety of analytical techniques. It provides step-by-step details on the applications of SPE to environmental matrices, broad-spectrum drug screening, veterinary drug abuse, pharmaceutical drug development, biological samples, and high-throughput screening. Written by world-renowned experts in the field, the book contains helpful reference charts, tables of solvent properties, selectivities, molecular acid/base properties, and more.

Book Description

With the accelerating loss of biodiversity there is increasing concern about how this loss may be affecting ecosystem processes, or services, that are of benefit to human well being. The limited studies that address the principal question directly, species numbers versus system function, are evaluated. Moreover, the degree of redundancy within systems, the ubiquity of keystone species, the tightness of species interactions from mutualisms to food webs, the resilience of systems to perturbation, the interactions of landscape units are explored, as is also how policy decisions are driven in this research area. The subject matter of this volume brings together in a substantive and integrative manner the disciplines of population biology and ecoysystem science, both directed toward evaluating the consequences of human-driven disruptions of natural systems.

Biodiversity and ecosystem function (Ecological Studies)

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Biodiversity and ecosystem function (Ecological Studies)

Manufacturer: Springer-Verlag
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Natural History | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Conservation | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 3540558047

Insects and Ecosystem Function (Ecological Studies)

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Insects and Ecosystem Function (Ecological Studies)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Book Description

In the past two decades, an increasing number of ecologists have started to investigate the importance of biodiversity for ecological processes such as energy flow and nutrient cycling, often referred to as 'ecosystem functioning'. Insects are a dominant component of biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems and play a key role in mediating the relationship between plants and ecosystem processes. This volume is the first to summarize their effects on ecosystem functioning, focusing mainly, but not exclusively, on herbivorous insects. Renowned authors with extensive experience in the field of plant-insect interactions, contribute to the volume using examples from their own work. In addition to providing concise reviews of the field, this volume discusses in detail the advantages and disadvantages of various techniques of manipulating insect herbivory. Thus, the text provides both a theoretical basis as well as practical advice for future manipulative studies of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning.

Mangrove Ecosystems: Function and Management (Environmental Science and Engineering / Environmental Science)

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Mangrove Ecosystems: Function and Management (Environmental Science and Engineering / Environmental Science)
Volker Linneweber
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Environmental Science | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Conservation | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Ecology | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

General | Conservation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Tidelands | Ecosystems | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Coastal | Ecosystems | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 3540422080

Book Description

The last few decades have seen a rapid growth of interest in the mangrove ecosystems. This is due, on the one hand, to the perception that mangrove ecosystems are valuable resources, and, on the other hand, due to vested economic interests. There is an accelerated rate of destruction of mangroves worldwide. Almost all nations of the world tropical belt are concerned with the conservation of this natural wealth, but surreptitiously permit the misuse of mangroves for quick monetary returns unabatedly. The scientific community and decision makers of many nations are now in a state of alert, requesting sound directives for the sustainable use of mangroves worldwide. The present publication is an attempt to present in an organized manner the present state of knowledge which could be useful for decision makers and of interest to all those who see the ecological and economical potential of the various types of mangrove ecosystems.

Mediterranean-Type Ecosystems: The Function of Biodiversity (Ecological Studies)

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Mediterranean-Type Ecosystems: The Function of Biodiversity (Ecological Studies)
G. W. Davis
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Book Description

Human activities are causing species extinctions at a rate and magnitude rivaling those of past geologic extinction events. Exploring mediterranean-type ecosystems - the Mediterranean Basin, California, Chile, Australia, and South Africa - this volume addresses the question whether biological diversity plays a significant role in the functioning of natural ecosystems, and to what extent that diversity can be reduced without causing system malfunction. Comparative studies in ecosystems that are similar in certain respects, but differ in others, offer considerable scope for gaining new insights into the links between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.

Diversity and function of decomposer fungi from a grassland soil [An article from: Soil Biology and Biochemistry]

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Diversity and function of decomposer fungi from a grassland soil [An article from: Soil Biology and Biochemistry]
L.J. Deacon , E. Janie Pryce-Miller , and J.C Frankland
Manufacturer: Elsevier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Elsevier | By Publisher | e-Docs | Formats | Books
ASIN: B000RR6TZ6

Book Description

This digital document is a journal article from Soil Biology and Biochemistry, published by Elsevier in . The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
Despite the substantial interest to ecologists of the relationship between species diversity and ecosystem functioning, little is known about how the high species richness of decomposer (saprotrophic) fungi and their relative frequencies of occurrence influence the decomposition of organic matter. Three experiments were conducted to test the ability of culturable saprotrophic fungal isolates to utilise a range of artificial and more natural substrates that occur in organic matter, with the aims of (1) characterising the functional potential of 'common' and 'occasional' taxa in an upland grassland soil and (2) determining whether there was a high degree of apparent functional redundancy in these communities. 'Function' was defined as the ability of a fungal isolate to utilise broad categories of substrates (e.g. sugars, cellulose, lignin) that occur in organic matter and which change in proportion during decomposition. The terms 'common/abundant/frequent' and 'occasional/infrequent' usually referred here to the frequencies of occurrence of taxa estimated using Warcup soil plates. Accepting the difficulties of sampling fungi in soil, this appeared to be the most useful isolation method to produce a general picture of the microfungal community with an estimate of frequency of occurrence for every taxon obtained, and to provide cultures for use in function tests. The influence of this technique on the interpretation of the results is discussed. Forty-eight fungal isolates, obtained from an upland grassland in Roxburghshire, UK, were selected to cover the most 'abundant' taxa and a range of 'occasionals'. Pure cultures of anamorphic fungi and members of the Zygomycota, Ascomycota and Basidiomycota were tested. Although there was apparently a high degree of functional redundancy (equivalence) in assemblages of culturable decomposer fungi, with 'frequent' and 'infrequent' taxa largely utilising the same substrates, the 'infrequent' taxa played important roles in decomposition. 'Infrequent' microfungi tested were potentially more active in decomposition than the 'frequent' taxa, i.e. several had a higher overall activity, were able to utilise a wider range of substrates and were more combative than the 'abundant' taxa. When 'abundant' and 'occasional' taxa from the same putative guild were inoculated together on grass litter, there was slight evidence of 'positive' indirect effects on decomposition and cellulose degradation. Some 'negative' effects on lignin degradation, probably as a result of combat, were observed. It is possible that the 'occasional' taxa increased the temporal resilience of the ecosystem process of decomposition, and were 'waiting in the wings' to replace the abundant taxa. Nevertheless, greater functional diversity could be associated with the uncultured taxa not studied here.

Ecosystem structure, function, and restoration success: Are they related? [An article from: Journal for Nature Conservation]

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Ecosystem structure, function, and restoration success: Are they related? [An article from: Journal for Nature Conservation]
J. Cortina , F.T. Maestre , R. Vallejo , and M.J. Baeza
Manufacturer: Elsevier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Elsevier | By Publisher | e-Docs | Formats | Books
ASIN: B000PAU53W

Book Description

This digital document is a journal article from Journal for Nature Conservation, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
A direct relationship between ecosystem structure and function has been widely accepted by restoration ecologists. According to this paradigm, ecosystem degradation and aggradation represent parallel changes in structure and function, restoration following the same path as spontaneous succession. But the existence of single bidirectional trajectories and endpoints is not supported by empirical evidence. On the contrary, multiple meta-stable states, irreversible changes and hysteresis are common in nature. These situations are better described by state-and-transition models. Merging those models into the structure-function framework may help to develop new hypotheses on ecosystem dynamics, and may provide a suitable framework for planning restoration activities. We use the relationship between ecosystem function and the effort needed to restore a degraded ecosystem (i.e. restorability) as an example. A linear relationship between ecosystem structure and function suggests that ecosystem degradation and restorability are directly related. This may not be true when multiple states, not necessarily connected, are considered. We show two case studies that support this point, and discuss the implications of the incorporation of state-and-transition models into the structure-function framework on relevant topics of restoration ecology and conservation biology, such as the choice of reference ecosystems, the evaluation of restoration actions, and the identification of priority areas for conservation and restoration.

Environmental services and land use change in Southeast Asia: from recognition to regulation or reward? [An article from: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment]

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Environmental services and land use change in Southeast Asia: from recognition to regulation or reward? [An article from: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment]
T.P. Tomich , D.E. Thomas , and M. van Noordwijk
Manufacturer: Elsevier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Elsevier | By Publisher | e-Docs | Formats | Books
ASIN: B000RQYERC

Book Description

Organizing a public ecosystem service economy for sustaining biodiversity [An article from: Ecological Economics]

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Organizing a public ecosystem service economy for sustaining biodiversity [An article from: Ecological Economics]
F.W. Gatzweiler
Manufacturer: Elsevier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000P6XKRE

Book Description

This digital document is a journal article from Ecological Economics, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
The core question this paper attempts to address is how social organization needs to respond to biodiversity features and functions in order to achieve its sustainable use. Scholars have suggested that the governance of complex systems should be dispersed across multiple centers of authority and that any regulative system needs as much variety in the actions that it can take as exists in the system it is regulating. Further, it has been argued that complex ecosystems and biodiversity can successfully be maintained by complex, polycentric, multi-layered governance systems which have a variety of response mechanisms. But how should polycentric governance of biodiversity be organized? Borrowing from the organization of public economies in metropolitan areas we distinguish between production and provision of public ecosystem services and suggest the direction of institutional change for the organization of a public ecosystem service economy. If the market alone cannot solve the allocation of public ecosystem services, economic efficiency criteria based on hypothetical markets are not sufficient. Therefore, we suggest design principles which go beyond economic efficiency and provide examples of the emergence of polycentric governance from an Ethiopian coffee forest conservation project.

Quantifying off-site effects of land use change: filters, flows and fallacies [An article from: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment]

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Quantifying off-site effects of land use change: filters, flows and fallacies [An article from: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment]
M. van Noordwijk , J.G. Poulsen , and P.J. Ericksen
Manufacturer: Elsevier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000RQYERW

Book Description

This digital document is a journal article from Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, published by Elsevier in 2004. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
Many external effects of land use change are based on modifications of lateral flows of soil, water, air, fire or organisms. Lateral flows can be intercepted by filters and thus the severity and spatial range of external effects of land use change is under the influence of filter effects. Wherever lateral flows are involved, research results cannot be simply scaled on an area basis, and overall impact does not follow simple linear causal relationships. This complexity has consequences for relationships amongst the primary agents who initiate or exacerbate external effects, other stakeholders who are affected by them and policymakers who attempt to mitigate problems that reach sufficient visibility in society. In this paper we review how the relative importance of lateral flows and filter effects differs among a number of externalities, and the implications this has for research methods. If flows and filters are incompletely understood, policies may be based on fallacies. Whereas 'fire-breaks' act as filters in the lateral flow of the high temperature pulse of a fire, smoke from land-based fires can be intercepted only by rainfall acting as a filter and the external impact of smoke is determined by the atmospheric conditions governing lateral flow and chemical transformations along the pathway. Causal relations in smoke and haze problems are relatively simple and may form a basis for designing policy interventions to reduce downwind damage. For biodiversity issues, landscape connectivity, the absence of filters restricting dispersal and movement of organisms, is increasingly recognised as an influence on the dynamics of species richness and its scaling relations. Biodiversity research methods can extend beyond the current descriptive stage into clarifying causal relations with a lateral flow perspective. The question whether connectivity is in fact desired, however, depends on stakeholder interests and situation. Forest functions in watershed protection, presumably leading to a continuous flow of clean water in the dry season through the subsoil instead of a rapid surface transfer, have been generally attributed to the trees rather than the forest, with its rough surface structure, swamps and infiltration sites. A new synthesis of site-specific hydrological knowledge and tree water balance studies may be needed to separate myth from reality, and avoid wasting public funds on tree planting under the heading of reforestation, without restoring the hydrological regime of a real forest. Soil movement can be intercepted at a range of scales and in as far as soil transport entails movement of soil fertility, filter zones can be very productive elements of a landscape. To achieve 'integrated natural resource management' all external effects of land use will somehow have to be taken into account in farmer decision making about the use of natural resources on and off farm. Farmers' ecological knowledge may include concepts of lateral flows and should be further explored as an integral part of a new landscape ecological approach.

Customer Reviews:

A must for any Women's Studies student.......2007-07-20

I was made to buy this for an English class, but I am sure glad that I did. The overview of literature written by women is exhaustive, but this book is a must have for any student of Women and literature, as well as Women's Studies majors or minors.

Review.......2004-03-25

This anthology is an invaluable resource. It certainly must omit some works that "should" be in it. There is only so much space and future editions will surely correct the omissions. I would like to point out, however, that Buck is not the only woman to win both Nobel and Pulitzer. Toni Morrison has also won both awards for her literature.

At Last!.......2002-06-30

The female literary tradition, long neglected, emerges as one that has not only developed concurrently with, but has also influenced male literati. In this large and fascinating volume we meet the minds that analyzed and chronicled the lives these women lived and observed.

One might argue about the selections included and excluded here. Pearl Buck, the only woman to win both a Nobel Prize (1938) and a Pulitzer (1932) is excluded.

The book is divided into 6 eras, each with a lengthy "period introduction" giving historical and thematic backgrounds for the works included in that section.

From the five earliest women writers (dating from 700 to 1600), women began to shape and define their literary voices. England's first professional woman writer, Aphra Behn, whose literary career began in 1670, is the writer who women must honor above all others. According to Virginia Woolf, "it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds."

Here the reader will find rare works such as Jane Austen's "Love and Friendship" and George Eliot's "The Lifted Veil." Three notable novels are included in their entirety: JANE EYRE by Charlotte Bronte, THE AWAKENING by Kate Chopin, and THE BLUEST EYE by Toni Morrison.

Poems, stories, memoirs, essays, plays, letters, novels -- all literary works originally composed in English -- over 150 authors decrying, exalting, agonizing over, and celebrating the things we all have in common: Life...love...and death.

This is a fascinating collection and one that will stand reading and re-reading over a long period of time.

Plethora of Wonderful Works of Women.......2001-07-29

I first opened this book because of a Women's Lit class I took last year. Sure, I was excited, but I really did not expect to find it interesting. After all, the public school system only allows a few women writers to be taught: Mary Shelly, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Kate Chopin, and Emily Dickerson. But what about the many wonderful women writes who have not been taught at length? Anne Sexton, Toni Morrison, Elizabeth Bareet Browning, Christina Rosettie, Maya Angelou, Sylvia Plath, Anne Finch...the list is endless, literally. Every woman should own a copy of this book, regardless of whether you need it or not. It is time to spread the enormous talent of the world's best poets and authors. Many could not publish their works or gain the respect of their equally talented male writers, now it is time to give the Ladies all the credit they deserve.

One of my favorite books of all time.......2001-02-05

This anthology has been more relevant to me over the years since I've graduated from college (with a BA in English) than any of the others I own. For bibliophiles who have an interest in understanding the unique position women have had over the centuries in articulating their thoughts, lives, concerns, desires, etc., this anthology is a must. I am constantly pulling it from the shelf to look up the author bios, historical background information, etc. But more than that, I really enjoy returning to it to read favorite poems and short stories by the most celebrated women writers of all time. I have given this anthology as a gift and recommended it on numerous occasions to friends and acquaintances who are interested in further understanding women's history, literature, feminism, etc. I also have some of the literary criticism the editors have written (Madwomen in the Attic, others) and recommend those as well.

Norton Anthology of Literature by Women: The Tradition in English

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Norton Anthology of Literature by Women: The Tradition in English

Manufacturer: W W Norton & Co Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0393019403

A Classroom Guide to Accompany the Norton Anthology of Literature by Women: The Tradition in English

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A Classroom Guide to Accompany the Norton Anthology of Literature by Women: The Tradition in English

Manufacturer: W W Norton & Co Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Women Writers & Feminist Theory | Books & Reading | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Women Writers | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Norton Anthology of Literature by Women (Boxed set, Volumes 1 and 2)

ASIN: 0393953947

Book Description

This is the third edition of "International Corporate Recovery Procedures" produced by KPMG, the purpose of which is to give companies, lenders and advisors a basic understanding of relevant procedures for company restructuring and insolvency around the world. KPMG have revised and updated the
overviews of each country to reflect changes in legislation during the four years since the last edition was published. In addition, there are a number of new entries from countries where corporate recovery law has only recently been introduced.;It is clear that in the 21st century, almost all major
companies now operate in an international marketplace. The effect of this is that a down-turn in economic prosperity in one region inevitably and rapidly spreads to all others. It is essential that companies, lenders and advisors take a global view and have the tools and information to act
accordingly.

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