Biological and Environmental Hazards, Risks, and Disasters

Biological and Environmental Hazards, Risks, and Disasters provides an integrated look at major impacts to the Earth’s biosphere. Many of these are caused by diseases, algal blooms, insects, animals, species extinction, deforestation, land degradation, and comet and asteroid strikes that have important implications for humans.

This volume, from Elsevier’s Hazards and Disasters Series, provides an in-depth view of threats, ranging from microscopic organisms to celestial objects. Perspectives from both natural and social sciences provide an in-depth understanding of potential impacts.

• Contributions from expert ecologists, environmental, biological, and agricultural scientists, and public health specialists selected by a world-renowned editorial board
• Presents the latest research on damages, causality, economic impacts, fatality rates, and preparedness and mitigation
• Contains tables, maps, diagrams, illustrations, and photographs of hazardous processes

Environmental scientists, ecologists and biological scientists, agricultural scientists, public health specialists

• Dedication
• Title and Description of the Cover Image
• Contributors
• Editorial Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• List of Reviewers
• Chapter 1. Introduction to Biological and Environmental Hazards, Risks, and Disasters
• Chapter 2. Algal Blooms
  • 2.1. Introduction
  • 2.2. Historic Examples of HAB Incidents
  • 2.3. HAB Incidents in Recent Decades
  • 2.4. Economic Impacts of HABs
  • 2.5. How Do Blooms Form?
  • 2.6. Vulnerability
  • 2.7. Mitigation
  • 2.8. Preparedness
  • 2.9. Response
  • 2.10. (4f) Recovery
• Chapter 3. Large-Scale Grasshopper Infestations on North American Rangeland and Crops
  • 3.1. Introduction
  • 3.2. Taxonomy
  • 3.3. Basic Biology
  • 3.4. Ecology
  • 3.5. Grasshopper-Outbreak Damage
  • 3.6. Long-term Damage
  • 3.7. Past Grasshopper—Outbreak Management
  • 3.8. Early Pesticide Control Efforts
  • 3.9. Recent Outbreaks
• Chapter 4. Locusts: An Introduction
• Chapter 4.1. The Australian Plague Locust—Risk and Response
  • 4.1.1. Introduction
  • 4.1.2. Ecology of the Australian Plague Locust
  • 4.1.3. Population Outbreaks
  • 4.1.4. History of Locust Outbreaks and Control in Australia
  • 4.1.5. Economic and Social Impacts
  • 4.1.6. The Australian Plague Locust Commission and Current Approaches to Locust Management in Australia
  • 4.1.7. The Risks and Hazards of Locust Control in Australia
  • 4.1.8. Future Considerations
  • 4.1.9. Conclusions
• Chapter 4.2. Desert Locust
  • 4.2.1. Monitoring and Forecasting
  • 4.2.2. Technological Advances
  • 4.2.3. Early Warning
  • 4.2.4. Challenges
  • 4.2.5. Conclusion
• Chapter 4.3. Other Locusts
• Chapter 5. Decline of Bees and Other Pollinators
  • 5.1. Introduction
  • 5.2. Land-Use Changes
  • 5.3. Weather
  • 5.4. Pest and Diseases
  • 5.5. Climate Change
  • 5.6. Pesticides
  • 5.7. Other Causes
  • 5.8. What Can Be Done?
• Chapter 6. Bark Beetle-Induced Forest Mortality in the North American Rocky Mountains
  • 6.1. Introduction
  • 6.2. Effects of Bark Beetle Impacts
  • 6.3. Summary
• Chapter 7. Novel Approaches for Reversible Field Releases of Candidate Weed Biological Control Agents: Putting the Genie Back into the Bottle
  • 7.1. Introduction
  • 7.2. Brazilian Peppertree Case Study
  • 7.3. Conclusion
• Chapter 8. Animal Hazards—Their Nature and Distribution
  • 8.1. Introduction
  • 8.2. Animal Attacks
  • 8.3. Animal Accidents
  • 8.4. Diseases Contracted from Animals
  • 8.5. Property Damage and Losses Caused by Animals
  • 8.6. Summary
• Chapter 9. Loss of Biodiversity: Concerns and Threats
  • 9.1. Introduction
  • 9.2. How Many Species?
  • 9.3. Extinction Rates
  • 9.4. Reasons for Concern
• Chapter 10. Chronic Environmental Diseases: Burdens, Causes, and Response
  • 10.1. What Is a Chronic Environmental Disease?
  • 10.2. The Global Burden of Chronic Environmental Diseases
  • 10.3. Causes of Chronic Environmental Diseases
  • 10.4. Public Health Response
  • 10.5. Conclusions
• Chapter 11. Land Degradation and Environmental Change
  • 11.a. Introduction
  • 11.b. Indicators of Land Degradation
  • 11.c. The Global Significance
  • 11.d. Drivers
  • 11.e. Conclusions
• Chapter 11.1. Desertification
  • 11.1.1. Historical Roots, Evolving Definitions, and Critiques of Desertification
  • 11.1.2. Drylands and Their Variability
  • 11.1.3. Physical, Climatic, and Anthropogenic Drivers of Desertification and Their Impacts
  • 11.1.4. Approaches to Identifying Desertification
  • 11.1.5. Discussion
  • 11.1.6. Conclusions
• Chapter 11.2. Grassland Degradation
  • 11.2.1. Introduction
  • 11.2.2. Benefits and Ecological Services
  • 11.2.3. Grassland Degradation
  • 11.2.4. Conclusions
• Chapter 11.3. Land Degradation in Rangeland Ecosystems
  • 11.3.1. Introduction
  • 11.3.2. Definition and Extent of Rangeland Degradation
  • 11.3.3. Causes of Rangeland Degradation
  • 11.3.4. Indicators of Rangeland Degradation
  • 11.3.5. Monitoring Rangeland Degradation
  • 11.3.6. Restoration and the Degradation Spiral
  • 11.3.7. Conclusions and Future Directions
• Chapter 12. Deforestation
  • 12.a. Definitions
  • 12.b. Rates and Extent of Deforestation
  • 12.c. Effects of Deforestation
• Chapter 12.1. Deforestation in Southeast Asia
  • 12.1.1. Long-Term Changes in Land Use in Southeast Asia
  • 12.1.2. Impacts of Logging on the Environment
  • 12.1.3. Impacts of Forest Fragmentation on the Environment
  • 12.1.4. Impacts of Habitat Conversion on the Environment
  • 12.1.5. Conservation Options
  • 12.1.6. Conclusion
• Chapter 12.2. Deforestation in Nepal: Causes, Consequences, and Responses
  • 12.2.1. Introduction
  • 12.2.2. Nepal
  • 12.2.3. Forest Types in Nepal
  • 12.2.4. Forest Status and Rate of Deforestation in Nepal
  • 12.2.5. Causes of Deforestation in Nepal
  • 12.2.6. Consequences of Deforestation in Nepal
  • 12.2.7. Responses to Deforestation
  • 12.2.8. Conclusions and Recommendations
• Chapter 12.3. Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon
  • 12.3.1. Introduction
  • 12.3.2. Theoretical Perspectives and Methods
  • 12.3.3. The context of Chico Mendes' Murder
  • 12.3.4. Amazonian Deforestation on the International Agenda
  • 12.3.5. Deforestation Drivers and Mechanisms
  • 12.3.6. Amazonian (Deforestation) Scales and Trends
• Chapter 13. Ecological Impacts of Climate Change
  • 13.1. Introduction
  • 13.2. Observed Effects of Climate Change
  • 13.3. Ecosystem Services
  • 13.4. The Past and the Future
• Chapter 14. Meteor Impact Hazard
  • 14.1. Introduction
  • 14.2. Planetary Evidence
  • 14.3. Historical Record
  • 14.4. Geologic Record
  • 14.5. Surviving Meteor Craters
  • 14.6. Origins and Properties of Asteroids, Meteoroids, and Comets
  • 14.7. Hypervelocity Impact
  • 14.8. Ocean Impact
  • 14.9. New Earth Asteroids
  • 14.10. Evaluation of Impact Hazard and Mitigation
• Index