Ecology is the study of organisms in relation to their surroundings called the environment of the organism. This environment is made up of different components, including other living organisms and their interrelationships, and purely physical features such as the type of climate and soil.
Rapid industrial development and urbanisation taking place in all parts of the globe are adversely impacting the environment. Human activities are drastically changing the ecological balance of practically every component of the environment, namely atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere. Efforts are underway on a global level for environmental management, identifying environmental concerns and planning strategies suitable for a particular nation.
This comprehensive textbook presents the significant concepts of modern ecology in an easy-to-understand manner. It exposes the reader to different frontiers of ecology and evolution through a critical analysis of different eco-compartments.
The second volume of the textbook Ecology and Sustainable Development is divided into four sections. Section I focuses on threats to ecology and includes pertinent topics like toxicology and ecotoxicology; extinction of certain species; habitat destruction, fragmentation and degradation; and disease and overexploitation.
Section II deals with conservation biology which has emerged during the last ten years as a major new synthetic discipline addressing the problem of alarming loss of biological diversity throughout the world. It represents a fusion of theory, basic research, applied research and public education that is evolving in the present times.
Section III focuses on restorations of dry grasslands, heathlands, natural mire, ecosystems, forests, rivers, flood plains and freshwater biomes like lakes, marshes and catchment areas.
Section IV deals with ecology and greening of eco-systems, suggesting a combination of industrial ecology and structural economics, which can be used to provide a realistic basis for pollution reduction.
The book will be highly useful to the students of undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate courses in Ecology, Environmental Biology, Environmental Sciences, Life Sciences, Botany, Zoology, Forestry, Agriculture, Toxicology and to those working in these fields.
S.C. Bhatia, a Chemical Engineer from BITS, Pilani, and also an MBA, is a consultant on Environmental and Pollution Control, Energy Conservation and Polymer Sciences. He has worked in various petrochemical plants in production planning, maintenance, quality control, etc. He has authored books on subjects ranging from chemical process industries, plastic and rubber technology to perfume, soaps and cosmetics. His areas of specialisation include air and water pollution, energy conservation, rubber, plastics and bio-sciences. He has contributed numerous papers on chemical and allied subjects in journals of repute. Among his published books, Textbook of Noise Pollution and Its Control, Textbook of Biotechnology, Managing Industrial Pollution, Industrial Chemistry, Perfume, Soap and Cosmetics and Chemical Process Industries have received overwhelming response.
