TY - BOOK A2 - Peter H. Raven A2 - Tania Williams TI - Nature and Human Society: The Quest for a Sustainable World SN - DO - 10.17226/6142 PY - 1997 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/6142/nature-and-human-society-the-quest-for-a-sustainable-world PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies KW - Biology and Life Sciences AB - From earliest times, human beings have noticed patterns in nature: night and day, tides and lunar cycles, the changing seasons, plant succession, and animal migration. While recognizing patterns conferred great survival advantage, we are now in danger from our own success in multiplying our numbers and altering those patterns for our own purposes. It is imperative that we engage again with the patterns of nature, but this time, with awareness of our impact as a species. How will burgeoning human populations affect the health of ecosystems? Is loss of species simply a regrettable byproduct of human expansion? Or is the planet passing into a new epoch in just a few human generations? Nature and Human Society presents a wide-ranging exploration of these and other fundamental questions about our relationship with the environment. This book features findings, insights, and informed speculations from key figures in the field: E.O. Wilson, Thomas Lovejoy, Peter H. Raven, Gretchen Daily, David Suzuki, Norman Myers, Paul Erlich, Michael Bean, and many others. This volume explores the accelerated extinction of species and what we stand to lose—medicines, energy sources, crop pollination and pest control, the ability of water and soil to renew itself through biological processes, aesthetic and recreational benefits—and how these losses may be felt locally and acutely. What are the specific threats to biodiversity? The book explores human population growth, the homogenization of biota as a result in tourism and trade, and other factors, including the social influences of law, religious belief, and public education. Do we have the tools to protect biodiversity? The book looks at molecular genetics, satellite data, tools borrowed from medicine, and other scientific techniques to firm up our grasp of important processes in biology and earth science, including the "new" science of conservation biology. Nature and Human Society helps us renew our understanding and appreciation for natural patterns, with surprising details about microorganisms, nematodes, and other overlooked forms of life: their numbers, pervasiveness, and importance to the health of the soil, water, and air and to a host of human endeavors. This book will be of value to anyone who believes that the world's gross natural product is as important as the world's gross national product. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Improving Student Learning in Mathematics and Science: The Role of National Standards in State Policy SN - DO - 10.17226/5844 PY - 1997 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/5844/improving-student-learning-in-mathematics-and-science-the-role-of PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Education ER - TY - BOOK A2 - Marjorie L. Reaka-Kudla A2 - Don E. Wilson A2 - Edward O. Wilson TI - Biodiversity II: Understanding and Protecting Our Biological Resources SN - DO - 10.17226/4901 PY - 1997 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/4901/biodiversity-ii-understanding-and-protecting-our-biological-resources PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Explore Science KW - Biology and Life Sciences AB - "The book before you...carries the urgent warning that we are rapidly altering and destroying the environments that have fostered the diversity of life forms for more than a billion years." With those words, Edward O. Wilson opened the landmark volume Biodiversity (National Academy Press, 1988). Despite this and other such alarms, species continue to vanish at a rapid rate, taking with them their genetic legacy and potential benefits. Many disappear before they can even be identified. Biodiversity II is a renewed call for urgency. This volume updates readers on how much we already know and how much remains to be identified scientifically. It explores new strategies for quantifying, understanding, and protecting biodiversity, including: New approaches to the integration of electronic data, including a proposal for a U.S. National Biodiversity Information Center. Application of techniques developed in the human genome project to species identification and classification. The Gap Analysis Program of the National Biological Survey, which uses layered satellite, climatic, and biological data to assess distribution and better manage biodiversity. The significant contribution of museum collections to identifying and categorizing species, which is essential for understanding ecological function and for targeting organisms and regions at risk. The book describes our growing understanding of how megacenters of diversity (e.g., rainforest insects, coral reefs) are formed, maintained, and lost; what can be learned from mounting bird extinctions; and how conservation efforts for neotropical primates have fared. It also explores ecosystem restoration, sustainable development, and agricultural impact. Biodiversity II reinforces the idea that the conservation of our biological resources is within reach as long as we pool resources; better coordinate the efforts of existing institutions—museums, universities, and government agencies—already dedicated to this goal; and enhance support for research, collections, and training. This volume will be important to environmentalists, biologists, ecologists, educators, students, and concerned individuals. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Watershed Research in the U.S. Geological Survey SN - DO - 10.17226/5589 PY - 1997 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/5589/watershed-research-in-the-us-geological-survey PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Earth Sciences KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - Watershed research is conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to expand our understanding of basic hydrologic mechanisms and their responses at the watershed scale and to provide information that serves as the basis for water and environmental management activities carried out largely by other governmental and private entities. The work of the USGS in this area is carried out by its Water Resources Division and occurs in three general program areas: basic research, regional and site assessments, and data collection. These activities are becoming increasingly important, especially in the context of water and environmental management, where contemporary problems are being approached more than ever on an integrated ecosystems or watershed basis and where the underlying physical, chemical, and biological science is complex. Although the value of this type of hydrologic research is well recognized within the USGS, available financial resources to support it remain modest. Thus, this study seeks to help maximize the effectiveness of the agency's work. The study took two years, during which time the committee visited field sites, received briefings, reviewed descriptive materials, deliberated toward conclusions, and wrote this report. Recommendations are intended to assist the USGS in improving its overall strategy for work in this area; descriptions of a number of scientific opportunities are included, and appropriate circumstances for collaboration with and support for others are identified. ER - TY - BOOK TI - (NAS Colloquium) Genetics and the Origin of Species: From Darwin to Molecular Biology 60 Years After Dobzhansky DO - 10.17226/5923 PY - 1997 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/5923/nas-colloquium-genetics-and-the-origin-of-species-from-darwin PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Biology and Life Sciences ER -