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Multi-scale Understanding of Vegetation Ecosystems: Changes, Drivers and Inspirations
by Li Peng Tiantian ChenThis book highlights the vital role of vegetation in terrestrial surface systems, emphasizing its importance in regulating climate change, acting as a carbon sink, and maintaining the surface energy balance by absorbing CO2 from human activities. However, urbanization, extreme droughts, floods, fires, and other events negatively impact biodiversity, increase tree mortality, trigger wildfires, and exacerbate food insecurity and poverty. Understanding the influence of global climate change and human activity on vegetation patterns is essential. The structure and function of vegetation ecosystems result from interactions between natural ecological processes and socio-cultural factors, leading to variability across different spatial and temporal scales. While local-scale studies provide detailed insights, they are often difficult to generalize. Conversely, large-scale studies can inform comprehensive planning but may overlook nuances between subsystems. Therefore, enhancing research on the evolution of vegetation ecosystems and their responses to climate change across multiple scales is crucial to mitigate risks and maintain ecosystem balance. Extensive studies have explored the spatiotemporal dynamics and driving forces on large-scale vegetation structure, productivity, and resilience, especially on a global scale. However, there is limited research on vegetation characteristics in specific geological conditions and geomorphic regions, particularly in karst regions. Karst landforms account for 15% of the global vegetated land and are vital for global carbon and water cycles, as well as biodiversity conservation. Southwest China, the largest contiguous karst region, represents 0.36% of the vegetated land but contributes 5% of global aboveground biomass, making it a key carbon sink. However, its fragile ecological conditions, frequent extreme climate events, and unsustainable human activities have led to significant vegetation degradation and desertification, resulting in severe environmental damage in recent decades. To address these issues, ecological restoration measures have been launched since the early 2000s to boost vegetation.
Multi-sensor System Applications in the Everglades Ecosystem (Remote Sensing Applications Series)
by Caiyun ZhangThis book explores the applicability of multiple remote sensors to acquire information relevant to restoration and conservation efforts in wetlands using data collected from airborne and space multispectral/hyperspectral sensors, light detection and ranging (LiDAR), Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), and a hand-held spectroradiometer. This book also examines digital data processing techniques such as object-based image analysis, machine learning, texture analysis, and data fusion. After an introduction to the Everglades and to remote sensing, the book is divided into four parts based on the sensor systems used. There are chapters on vegetation mapping, biomass and water quality modeling, applications of hyperspectral data for plant stress analysis and coral reef mapping, studies of airborne LiDAR data for coastal vulnerability analysis and DEM improvement, as well as chapters that explore a fusion of multiple sensors for different datasets. <p><p>Features <li>Introduces concepts, theories, and advanced processing techniques <li>A complete introduction of machine learning, object-based image analysis, data fusion, and ensemble analysis techniques in processing data from multiple remote sensors <li>Explains how multiple remote sensing systems are applied in the wetland ecosystems of Florida <li>The author had been teaching and using both systems and her research is widely recognized <p><p>Multi-sensor System Applications in the Everglades Ecosystems provides a comprehensive application of remote sensing techniques in the Florida Everglades and its coastal ecosystems. It will prove an invaluable resource for the restoration and conservation of the Florida Everglades and beyond, for global wetlands in general. Any professional, scientist, engineer, or student working with remote sensing and wetland ecosystems will reap enormous benefits from this book.
Multi-stakeholder Processes for Governance and Sustainability: Beyond Deadlock and Conflict
by Minu HemmatiGovernments, business, international bodies and local groups are turning to multi-stakeholder processes to find practical ways forward. This book explains how MSPs can be organized to deliver their potential for successful resolution of complex issues and for sustainable development. It includes detailed examples and provides practical checklists, explaining how to get beyond adversarial politics and achieve positive results.
Multicriteria Analysis: Applications to Water and Environment Management
by Ferenc Szidarovszky Mahdi ZarghamiMulticriteria analysis is one of the most important fields of decision science. This book gives an outline of the formulation of an appropriate model and presents a comprehensive summary of the most popular methods for solving multicriteria decision problems. In addition to the classical approach the book introduces fuzzy and stochastic methodology, models with uncertainty, social choice and conflict resolution. All methods are illustrated with easy to follow simple examples. At the end of each chapter detailed case studies are given in water and environment management including inter-basin water transfer, urban water management, water allocation, groundwater quality management, forest treatment, ranking water resources projects, reservoir planning, water distribution network design and long-term watershed management. The new methodology and the wide variety of case studies are not easily accessible elsewhere.
Multicultural Cities: Toronto, New York, and Los Angeles
by Mohammed Abdul QadeerWhat defines a multicultural city? Policy? Geography? Demography? In Multicultural Cities, Mohammad Abdul Qadeer offers a tour of three of North America's premier multicultural metropolises - Toronto, New York, and Los Angeles - that demonstrates the critical qualities that make these cities multicultural.Guided by the perspective that multiculturalism is the combination of cultural diversity with a common ground of values and institutions, Qadeer examines the social geography, economy, and everyday life of each metropolitan area. His analysis spans the divide between Canada, where multiculturalism is official government policy, and the United States, where it is not. A comprehensive investigation of how some of today's leading majority-minority cities thrive, written by a keen observer of North American urban life, Multicultural Cities is an important complement to any discussion about how cities can and should accommodate diversity.
Multidimensional Approach to Quality of Life Issues: A Spatial Analysis
by Braj Raj Kumar SinhaThis comprehensive volume provides a broad overview of quality of life issues covering a wide geographical region: North America, Europe, parts of Africa, East Asia, and South Asia. Spread over more than 25 chapters, it includes the latest findings from these regions to provide a multidisciplinary account of the major dimensions of quality of life, and therefore has a vast scope. The volume is divided into four thematic parts: theoretical dimension; Demographic dimension; socio-cultural and economic dimensions; and urban and environment related dimensions. Extensive maps, diagrams and tables accompany the discussions and facilitate understanding. This is an indispensable reference and serves the interest of students and scholars of human geography, economics, demography, sociology, anthropology, social work, and philosophy. It is particularly useful for those engaged in further research on quality of life issues.
Multidimensional Periodic Schrödinger Operator: Perturbation Theories for High Energy Regions and Their Applications (Springer Tracts in Modern Physics #291)
by Oktay VelievThis book describes the direct and inverse problems of the multidimensional Schrödinger operator with a periodic potential, a topic that is especially important in perturbation theory, constructive determination of spectral invariants and finding the periodic potential from the given Bloch eigenvalues. It provides a detailed derivation of the asymptotic formulas for Bloch eigenvalues and Bloch functions in arbitrary dimensions while constructing and estimating the measure of the iso-energetic surfaces in the high-energy regime. Moreover, it presents a unique method proving the validity of the Bethe–Sommerfeld conjecture for arbitrary dimensions and arbitrary lattices. Using the perturbation theory constructed, it determines the spectral invariants of the multidimensional operator from the given Bloch eigenvalues. Some of these invariants are explicitly expressed by the Fourier coefficients of the potential, making it possible to determine the potential constructively using Bloch eigenvalues as input data. Lastly, the book presents an algorithm for the unique determination of the potential.This updated and significantly expanded third edition features an extension of this framework to all dimensions, offering a now complete theory of self-adjoint Schrödinger operators within periodic potentials. Drawing from recent advancements in mathematical analysis, this edition delves even deeper into the intricacies of the subject. It explores the connections between the multidimensional Schrödinger operator, periodic potentials, and other fundamental areas of mathematical physics. The book's comprehensive approach equips both students and researchers with the tools to tackle complex problems and contribute to the ongoing exploration of quantum phenomena.
Multidimensional Periodic Schrödinger Operator: Perturbation Theory and Applications
by Oktay VelievThis book describes the direct and inverse problems of the multidimensional Schrödinger operator with a periodic potential, a topic that is especially important in perturbation theory, constructive determination of spectral invariants and finding the periodic potential from the given Bloch eigenvalues. It provides a detailed derivation of the asymptotic formulas for Bloch eigenvalues and Bloch functions in arbitrary dimensions while constructing and estimating the measure of the iso-energetic surfaces in the high-energy regime. Moreover, it presents a unique method proving the validity of the Bethe–Sommerfeld conjecture for arbitrary dimensions and arbitrary lattices. Using the perturbation theory constructed, it determines the spectral invariants of the multidimensional operator from the given Bloch eigenvalues. Some of these invariants are explicitly expressed by the Fourier coefficients of the potential, making it possible to determine the potential constructively using Bloch eigenvalues as input data. Lastly, the book presents an algorithm for the unique determination of the potential. This updated second edition includes an additional chapter that specifically focuses on lower-dimensional cases, providing the basis for the higher-dimensional considerations of the chapters that follow.
Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Stone Age Weaponry
by Radu Iovita Katsuhiro SanoThe objective of this volume is to showcase the contemporary state of research on recognizing and evaluating the performance of stone age weapons from a variety of viewpoints, including investigating their cognitive and evolutionary significance. New archaeological finds and experimental studies have helped to bring this subject back to the forefront of human origins research. In the last few years, investigations have expanded beyond examining the tools themselves to include studies of damage caused by projectile weapons on animal and hominin bones and skeletal asymmetries in ancient hominin populations. Only recently has there been a growing interest in controlled and replicative experiments. Through this book readers will be updated in the state of knowledge through a multidisciplinary scientific reconstruction of prehistoric weapon use and its implications. Contributions from expert authors are organized into three themed parts: recognizing weapon use (experimental and archaeological studies of impact traces), performance of weapon systems (factors influencing penetration depth etc. ), and behavioral and evolutionary ramifications (cognitive and ecological effects of using different weapons).
Multidisciplinary Design Optimization and Its Application in Deep Manned Submersible Design (Ocean Engineering & Oceanography #13)
by Weicheng Cui Binbin PanThis book investigates Reliability-based Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (RBMDO) theory and its application in the design of deep manned submersibles (DMSs). Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) is an effective design method for large engineering systems like aircraft, warships, and satellites, which require designers and engineers from various disciplines to cooperate with each other. MDO can be used to handle the conflicts that arise between these disciplines, and focuses on the optimal design of the system as a whole. However, it can also push designs to the brink of failure. In order to keep the system balanced, Reliability-based Design (RBD) must be incorporated into MDO. Consequently, new algorithms and methods have to be developed for RBMDO theory.This book provides an essential overview of MDO, RBD, and RBMDO and subsequently introduces key algorithms and methods by means of case analyses. In closing, it introduces readers to the design of DMSs and applies RBMDO methods to the design of the manned hull and the general concept design. The book is intended for all students and researchers who are interested in system design theory, and for engineers working on large, complex engineering systems.
Multifractal Theory of Motion: From Small to Large Scales
by Maricel Agop Stefan Andrei IrimiciucThis book aims to present the topic of nonlinear and chaotic dynamics in a manner that is useful and beneficial to students and young researchers from various domains such as physics, mathematics, biology, or even medicine. A very important aspect of that topic is that the constraints of determinism do not imply a regular behavior or do not rely on predictability in describing the dynamics of natural systems. Exploring the evolution of natural systems has a great impact nowadays on a wide range of scientific domains. The dynamics of populations, cardiac fibrillation, communication systems, fluid flow, and atmospheric systems are just a few topics in which nonlinearity and chaos are a regular manifestation. This leads to the idea that it is necessary to find universal laws that govern these dynamics. The aforementioned variety in scientific topics is also sustained by an exponential interest in recent decades from readers in the scientific community and the non-scientific one as well. The book is devoted to the nonlinear and chaotic dynamics topic, a domain that is both trans- and multi-disciplinary and has been the focus of the scientific community in past decades.
Multifunctional Land Uses in Africa: Sustainable Food Security Solutions (Earthscan Food and Agriculture)
by Elisabeth Simelton Madelene OstwaldThis book presents contemporary case studies of land use, management practices, and innovation in Africa with a view to exploring how multifunctional land uses can alleviate food insecurity and poverty. Food security and livelihoods in Africa face multiple challenges in the form of feeding a growing population on declining land areas under the impacts of climate change. The overall question is what kind of farming systems can provide resilient livelihoods? This volume presents a selection of existing farming systems that demonstrate how more efficient use of land and natural resources, labour and other inputs can have positive effects on household food security and livelihoods. It examines how aquaculture, integrated water management, peri-urban farming systems, climate-smart agriculture practices and parkland agroforestry contribute multiple benefits. Drawing on case studies from Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Burkina Faso, contributed by young African scientists, this book provides a unique perspective on multifunctional land use in Africa and illustrates how non-conventional uses can be profitable while promoting social and environmental sustainability. Tapping into the global discussion on land scarcity and linking food security to existing land use change processes, this volume will stimulate readers looking for diversified land uses that are compatible with both household and national food security ambitions. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of African development, agriculture, food security, land use and environmental management, as well as sustainable development more generally, in addition to policymakers and practitioners working in these areas.
Multifunctional Rural Land Management: Economics and Policies
by C. Martijn van der Heide Brouwer FloorThe increasing demand for rural land and its natural resources is creating competition and conflicts. Many interested parties, including farmers, nature conservationists, rural residents and tourists, compete for the same space. Especially in densely populated areas, agriculture, recreation, urban and suburban growth and infrastructure development exert a constant pressure on rural areas. Because land is a finite resource, spatial policies which are formulated and implemented to increase the area allocated to one use imply a decrease in land available for other uses. As a result, at many locations, multi-purpose land use is becoming increasingly important. This notion of multi-purpose land use is reflected in the term 'multifunctionality'. This volume provides insights into viable strategies of sustainable management practices allowing multiple functions sustained by agriculture and natural resources in rural areas. It shows how the rural economy and policies can balance and cope with these competing demands and includes numerous case studies from Europe, North America and developing countries.
Multilateral Environmental Agreements in Global Governance: Organisational Dynamics and Authority Expansion (Routledge Research in Global Environmental Governance)
by Linda Maria SpielmannThis book proposes a conceptualisation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements as a form of International Organisations, exploring the ways in which they have expanded over time by discussing the nuances of authority in global governance.Multilateral Environmental Agreements are the key type of cooperation between states to address environmental concerns globally. While their activities regularly attract much attention from an academic and non-academic audience, their peculiar hybrid nature in-between treaties and full-fledged International Organisations, means they are often underestimated. This book proposes a new and innovative conceptualisation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements as a specific type of International Organisation which allows for a more accurate understanding of their dynamic nature, and uncovers expansive tendencies which have so far gone almost completely unnoticed. Based on a modern understanding of authority in global governance, the book shows how Multilateral Environmental Agreements represent a separate entity, and expand beyond the boundaries originally set by their member states. The book draws upon the neo-functionalist concept of spillover, as well as multiple other theoretical frameworks, to identify the two main drivers of expansion in Multilateral Environmental Agreements. To illustrate these drivers, the empirical chapters conduct six structured case studies, analysing specific cases of authority expansion in ozone and climate protection, including the Green Climate Fund under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Overall, this book offers an invaluable contribution to the theoretical discussion on informal types of organisations, and provides new and extensive empirical insights into unexpected past and recent developments in global environmental governance.As such, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of International Relations and International Law who focus on informal types of cooperation and legislation, dynamic institutional development, and international environmental politics generally.
Multilinear Operator Integrals: Theory and Applications (Lecture Notes in Mathematics #2250)
by Anna Skripka Anna TomskovaThis book provides a comprehensive treatment of multilinear operator integral techniques. The exposition is structured to be suitable for a course on methods and applications of multilinear operator integrals and also as a research aid. The ideas and contributions to the field are surveyed and up-to-date results and methods are presented. Most practical constructions of multiple operator integrals are included along with fundamental technical results and major applications to smoothness properties of operator functions (Lipschitz and Hölder continuity, differentiability), approximation of operator functions, spectral shift functions, spectral flow in the setting of noncommutative geometry, quantum differentiability, and differentiability of noncommutative L^p-norms. Main ideas are demonstrated in simpler cases, while more involved, technical proofs are outlined and supplemented with references. Selected open problems in the field are also presented.
Multimedia Environmental Models: The Fugacity Approach
by Donald Mackay J. Mark ParnisMultimedia Environmental Models: The Fugacity Approach, Third Edition, takes a broad approach of viewing chemical behavior in the total biosphere of connected biotic and abiotic compartments. Chemicals are subject to the laws of "mass balance," a constraint that provides the opportunity to establish quantitative expressions for chemical fate that are central to chemical management and regulatory legislation. This book employs both the conventional concentration-based procedures and those based on application of the more elegant and powerful concept of fugacity to characterize equilibrium, steady-state distribution, and time-dependent transport between environmental phases such as air, water, and soil. Organic chemicals are emphasized because they are more easily generalized when assessing environmental behavior.Features Illustrates professional approaches to calculating the fate of chemicals in the environment Explicitly details all worked examples in an annotated step-by-step fashion Presents real-life freely downloadable models of use to government, industry, and private consulting professionals and students alike Clarifies symbols and notation
Multinational Business and Transnational Regions: A Transnational Business History of Energy Transition in the Rhine Region, 1945-1973 (Routledge International Studies in Business History)
by Marten BoonMultinational Enterprise and Transnational Regions offers an innovative approach to the study of the history of transnational economic regions. The Rhine valley is such a region comprising the cities and areas along the Rhine river and its tributaries. The transition from coal to oil that unfolded between 1945 and 1973 rapidly transformed the region, shattering some of the old river-based connections and creating new ones with the introduction of large-scale cross-border oil pipelines. Multinational enterprises shaped these new regional connections but divergent national government responses gave rise to differentiated development in different parts of the Rhine valley. Multinational Enterprise and Transnational Regions argues that processes of regional change should be understood from transnational interconnections rather than from local or national perspectives. This book uses a transnational business history methodology to tease out the region’s transformation and to circumvent the national bias in public sources. It will be of relevance to academics and researchers with an interest in regional and transnational European history, international business, environmental history, and business history, as well as practitioners interested in the oil industry, energy and energy history, business history and international business, and associated disciplines.
Multinationals in Latin America (International Business Series)
by Robert GrosseMultinational enterprises are particularly strong in Latin America and sensitive to political and economic changes there - the currently emerging debt crisis is likely to have far-ranging effects. This book considers multinationals in Latin America, both those from inside and those from outside the region, and discusses the major issues relating to them, e.g. trans-national regulation and the government/business relationships. It sets the discussions against the background of other work and theories of multinational enterprise. Novel features include the development of the author's bargaining theory of multinational enterprise and the attempt to create a systematic method for evaluating MNE acceptability for host governments (an important consideration since the relationship between multinationals and governments, particularly the way a government perceives a multinational, is crucial). The book concludes by assessing current trends and likely future developments.
Multiobjective Shape Design in Electricity and Magnetism
by Paolo Di BarbaMultiobjective Shape Design in Electricity and Magnetism is entirely focused on electric and magnetic field synthesis, with special emphasis on the optimal shape design of devices when conflicting objectives are to be fulfilled. Direct problems are solved by means of finite-element analysis, while evolutionary computing is used to solve multiobjective inverse problems. This approach, which is original, is coherently developed throughout the whole manuscript. The use of game theory, dynamic optimisation, and Bayesian imaging strengthens the originality of the book. Covering the development of multiobjective optimisation in the past ten years, Multiobjective Shape Design in Electricity and Magnetism is a concise, comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to this research field, which is growing in the community of electricity and magnetism. Theoretical issues are illustrated by practical examples. In particular, a test problem is solved by different methods so that, by comparison of results, advantages and limitations of the various methods are made clear.
Multiparameter Eigenvalue Problems: Sturm-Liouville Theory
by F.V. Atkinson Angelo B. MingarelliOne of the masters in the differential equations community, the late F.V. Atkinson contributed seminal research to multiparameter spectral theory and Sturm-Liouville theory. His ideas and techniques have long inspired researchers and continue to stimulate discussion. With the help of co-author Angelo B. Mingarelli, Multiparameter Eigenvalue Problem
Multiphase Flows in Deformable Geomaterials: Chemo-Physical Mixture Coupling Theory and Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics
by Xiaohui Chen Manhui WangMultiphase Flows in Deformable Geomaterials proposes that multiscale coupling of multiphase flow and multicomponents within a deformable porous medium is complex and interdisciplinary and lacks a unified theory. To address this gap, the book proposes chemo-physical Mixture-Coupling Theory and non-equilibrium thermodynamic processes to derive governing equations for multiphase transport and mechanical behavior. This addresses challenges in the existing multiscale coupling theory and brings together physics and chemistry within the realm of thermodynamics. The series of constitutive equations can be applied to any constitutive model in porous media, across many disciplines related to soils, concrete, and catalysis.This book is particularly addressed to geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering—bringing together multiphase flows of water and gas, chemicals, and within soils and rocks. Highlights include hydro‑mechanical coupling, unsaturated hydro‑mechanical‑chemical coupling, thermo‑hydro‑mechanical coupling, and thermo‑hydromechanical‑chemical coupling, with consideration of chemo and thermo osmosis and microscopic swelling mechanisms. It is written for advanced students and researchers.The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.routledge.com/9780367343064, has been made available under a Creative Commons [Attribution (CC BY)] 4.0 license.
Multiphase Lattice Boltzmann Methods: Theory and Application
by Haibo Huang Michael Sukop Xiyun LuTheory and Application of Multiphase Lattice Boltzmann Methods presents a comprehensive review of all popular multiphase Lattice Boltzmann Methods developed thus far and is aimed at researchers and practitioners within relevant Earth Science disciplines as well as Petroleum, Chemical, Mechanical and Geological Engineering. Clearly structured throughout, this book will be an invaluable reference on the current state of all popular multiphase Lattice Boltzmann Methods (LBMs). The advantages and disadvantages of each model are presented in an accessible manner to enable the reader to choose the model most suitable for the problems they are interested in. The book is targeted at graduate students and researchers who plan to investigate multiphase flows using LBMs. Throughout the text most of the popular multiphase LBMs are analyzed both theoretically and through numerical simulation. The authors present many of the mathematical derivations of the models in greater detail than is currently found in the existing literature. The approach to understanding and classifying the various models is principally based on simulation compared against analytical and observational results and discovery of undesirable terms in the derived macroscopic equations and sometimes their correction. A repository of FORTRAN codes for multiphase LBM models is also provided.
Multiphysics and Multiscale Building Physics: Proceedings of the 9th International Building Physics Conference (IBPC 2024) Volume 1: Moisture and Materials (Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering #552)
by Umberto BerardiThis book contains selected papers presented at the 9th edition of the official triennial conference of the International Association of Building Physics (IABP), held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on 25-27 July, 2024. The contents make valuable contributions to academic researchers and practioners of the building sector. Readers will encounter new ideas for realizing more efficient and resilient buildings and cities. The approach followed in the book aims to explore how building physics can be explored using multi domains and scales.
Multiphysics and Multiscale Building Physics: Proceedings of the 9th International Building Physics Conference (IBPC 2024) Volume 2: Urban Physics and Energy Efficiency (Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering #553)
by Umberto BerardiThis book contains selected papers presented at the 9th edition of the official triennial conference of the International Association of Building Physics (IABP), held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on 25-27 July, 2024. The contents make valuable contributions to academic researchers and practioners of the building sector. Readers will encounter new ideas for realizing more efficient and resilient buildings and cities. The approach followed in the book aims to explore how building physics can be explored using multi domains and scales.
Multiphysics and Multiscale Building Physics: Proceedings of the 9th International Building Physics Conference (IBPC 2024) Volume 3: Building Systems and HVAC Technologies (Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering #554)
by Umberto BerardiThis book contains selected papers presented at the 9th edition of the official triennial conference of the International Association of Building Physics (IABP), held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on 25-27 July, 2024. The contents make valuable contributions to academic researchers and practioners of the building sector. Readers will encounter new ideas for realizing more efficient and resilient buildings and cities. The approach followed in the book aims to explore how building physics can be explored using multi domains and scales.