This book is an up-to-date review of research and practice on the use of vegetation for slope stabilization and control of surface erosion caused by water and wind. From a basic understanding of the principles and practices of vegetation growth and establishment, it describes how vegetation can be treated as an engineering material and used to solve erosion and slope stability problems.

This collection features four peer-reviewed literature reviews on soil erosion in agriculture.The first chapter identifies different types of soil degradation, focussing primarily on soil erosion by water. The chapter explores the impact of soil erosion processes on soil properties that relate directly to crop growth, including soil depth, water-holding capacity, carbon content and nutrient reserves.The second chapter reviews advances in techniques used to ...

Comprehensive overview of key advances in measuring soil biological, physical and chemical propertiesParticularly strong coverage of developments in measuring soil biological activity, including molecular techniques such as next-generation sequencing as well as improvements in measuring fauna such as earthworms, microbial and fungal communitiesFocus on ways of using analytical techniques in practice through the use of soil health indicators and decision support sy...

Rivers are significant geomorphological agents, they show an amazing diversity of form and behaviour and transfer water and sediment from the land surface to the oceans. This book examines how river systems respond to environmental change and why this understanding is needed for successful river management. Highly dynamic in nature, river channels adjust and evolve over timescales that range from hours to tens of thousands of years or more, and are found in a wide range of environments.

The Holocene provides students, researchers and lay-readers with the remarkable story of how the natural world has been transformed since the end of the last Ice Age around 15,000 years ago. This period has witnessed a shift from environmental changes determined by natural forces to those dominated by human actions, including those of climate and greenhouse gases. Understanding the environmental changes - both natural and anthropogenic - that have occurred during the Holocene is o...

The third edition of Fundamentals of Hydrology provides an absorbing and comprehensive introduction to the understanding of how fresh water moves on and around the planet and how humans affect and manage the freshwater resources available to them.The book consists of three parts, each of fundamental importance in the understanding of hydrology:The first section deals with processes within the hydrological cycle, our understanding of them, and how to...

This essential reference provides an introduction to the remarkable soils and landscapes of Australia. It reveals their great diversity and explains why an understanding of soil properties and landscape processes should guide our use of the land.Using striking photographs of characteristic landscapes, it begins by describing the basic properties of soils and how Australia's distinctive soils and landscapes have co-evolved. We gain a greater understanding of why particular soils occ...

Mapping closely to how ore deposit geology is now taught, this textbook systematically describes and illustrates the major ore deposit types, linking this to their settings in the crust and the geological factors behind their formation. Written for advanced undergraduate and graduate students with a basic background in the geosciences, it provides a balance of practical information and coverage of the relevant geological sciences, including petrological, geochemical, hydrological and tecto...

Peatlands form important landscape elements in many parts of the world and play significant roles for biodiversity and global carbon balance. This new edition has been fully revised and updated, documenting the latest advances in areas such as microbial processes and relations between biological processes and hydrology. As well as thoroughly referencing the latest research, the authors expose a rich older literature where an immense repository of natural history has accumulated. The Biolog...

This new edition is a major revision of the popular introductory reference on hydrology and watershed management principles, methods, and applications. The book's content and scope have been improved and condensed, with updated chapters on the management of forest, woodland, rangeland, agricultural urban, and mixed land use watersheds. Case studies and examples throughout the book show practical ways to use web sites and the Internet to acquire data, update methods and models, and apply th...

In examining both theory and applications, this book, through useful examples, provides a stimulating introduction to ecosystems. It examines the nature, types and characteristics of ecosystems as well as investigating the interactions between various systems and human actions.Using functional ecology as the basis for applying the ecosystem concept in contemporary environmental science and ecology, this second edition of this highly successful volume has been updated to reflect the...

This new edition of an established textbook provides a comprehensive and stimulating introduction to rivers, lakes and wetlands, and was written as the basis for a complete course on freshwater ecology. Designed for undergraduate and early postgraduate students who wish to gain an overall view of this vast subject area, this accessible guide to freshwater ecosystems and man's activities will also be invaluable to anyone interested in the integrated management of freshwaters. The author mai...