Supply-side sustainability / T.F.H. Allen, Joseph A. Tainter, Thomas W. Hockstra.

ISBN:

9780231504072

Title:

Author:

Allen, T. F. H.

Personal Author:

Allen, T. F. H.

Publication Information:

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xv, 459 pages) : illustrations.

Series:

Complexity in ecological systems series

Contents:

Cover; Half title; Series Page; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Preface; 1. The Nature of the Problem; A New Global System; Economics, Society, and Ecology; Comprehending Sustainability; Manage Systems, Not Outputs; Manage Contexts; Supply What Systems Need; Let the Ecological System Subsidize Management; Understand Problem Solving; Sustainability in a Social Context; Paying for Sustainability; Maintaining the Political Context; The Ecology of Sustainability; Driven Between Disciplines by Technology; Prediction in Large Systems; Standard Practice for Different Reasons.

Social and Biogeophysical IntegrationI. Complexity, Problem Solving, and Social Sustainability; 2. Complexity and Social Sustainability: Framework; Monitoring, Predicting, and Problem Solving; Complexity and Problem Solving; Producing Resources; Resources, Intensification, and Sustainability; Producing Knowledge; Summary and Implications for Sustainability; 3. Complexity and Social Sustainability: Experience; Collapse of the Western Roman Empire; Understanding Roman Unsustainability; The Early Byzantine Recovery; Collapse of the Abbasid Caliphate; Development of Modern Europe.

Consequences of European WarsImplications for Sustainability; Some Characteristics of Sustainability; II. A Hierarchical Approach to Ecological Sustainability; 4. The Criteria for Observation and Modeling; The Organism; Sustaining the Umwelt; Habits and Familiar Settings; Rare and Endangered Umwelts; Stress and Unmet Umwelts; The Human Umwelt and Sustainability of Other Species; Living Systems Theory; Minimal Viable Systems; Organisms as Fragile Systems; The Landscape; Historical Landscapes in Context; Implications of Landscapes in a Human Context; Policy Implications on Landscapes.

Landscapes Cast the ProblemThe Population; Sustainable Populations; Sustainability in Aquatic Populations; Sustainability and Human Populations; Modern Conservation Biology; Hierarchical Structure in Populations: Metapopulations; The Community; Community as Opposed to Population; Forest Stand Simulators: Community-Population Hybrids; Dynamics of the General Community Model; Taking the Community Model Through Scale Changes; Implications for Sustainability; Conclusion; 5. Biomes and the Biosphere; The Biome Criterion; Biomes and Climate Change; Sustainability of Agricultural Systems as Biomes.

Lack of Sustainability in PaleobiomesGlobal Ecology; 6. Ecosystems, Energy Flows, Evolution, and Emergence; Definition of Ecosystem; The Essential Dichotomy in Biology; The Duality of Evolution and Thermodynamics; A Primer on the Mechanics of Thermodynamic Emergence; The Thermodynamics of Ecosystems; Experiments on the Generative Function; Observations on Ecosystems and Sustainability; Evolution, Emergence, and Diminishing Returns; Implications for the Contemporary Period; Supply-Side Sustainability and Resource Management Scale; Conclusion; 7. Retrospect and Prospects.

Local Note:

eBooks on EBSCOhost

Subject Term:

Ecology.

Sustainable development.

Added Author:

Tainter, Joseph A.

Hoekstra, T. W.

Format:

Electronic Resources

Electronic Access:

Click here to view

Publication Date:

2003

Publication Information:

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
577 21	1:E-BOOK	1	1:ONLINE	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

This is the first book to integrate ecological and social science in an interdisciplinary treatment of sustainability. The book explains sustainability and collapse in human societies ranging from hunter-gatherers to empires and today's industrial world.

Author Notes

Allen Timothy :

Timothy F. H. Allen is Professor of Botany at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He is the author of A Hierarchical Concept of Ecosystems (Princeton UP, 1986), and a co-author of Ecology (Oxford UP, 1998) and our own Toward a Unified Ecology (2e 2015).Timothy F. H. Allen is a professor of botany at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Joseph Tainter is a project leader at the Rocky Mountain Research Station in the USDA Forest Service in Albuquerque. Thomas W. Hoekstra is director of the Inventory and Monitoring Institute of the National Resources Research Center of the USDA Forest Service.

Reviews (1)

Choice Review

Societies, ancient and modern, necessarily become more complex over time. But a point of diminishing returns per unit of effort (or resources) always emerges, whether, e.g., for agricultural yields or patents per given number of scientists. At some point, there is an increase in complexity just to maintain the status quo. Energy and information can be substituted for natural resources, but again only up to a point. Sustainability does not emerge just from activities such as recycling or conserving biodiversity; it requires problem solving. This, too, costs more and more for ever-smaller amounts of information, but Allen (botany, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison) and Tainter and Hoekstra (both, USDA Forest Service) offer recommendations for reducing costs. A good case is made that humans have impacted most of the world for a long time, so we cannot know what nature without humans was really like. Thus, we must decide on what to sustain and for whom. Some of the book flows easily, but too much is dense, making it difficult to pull out the good, but embedded, case studies and examples. Nonetheless, this reader found the effort worthwhile, and the importance of how a society can become sustainable makes the effort vital. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. M. K. Hill University of Maine

Preface	p. xi
1. The Nature of the Problem	p. 1
A New Global System	p. 1
Economics, Society, and Ecology	p. 9
Comprehending Sustainability	p. 12
Manage Systems, Not Outputs	p. 14
Manage Contexts	p. 16
Supply What Systems Need	p. 19
Let the Ecological System Subsidize Management	p. 19
Understand Problem Solving	p. 20
Sustainability in a Social Context	p. 20
Paying for Sustainability	p. 27
Maintaining the Political Context	p. 28
The Ecology of Sustainability	p. 29
Driven Between Disciplines by Technology	p. 29
Prediction in Large Systems	p. 33
Standard Practice for Different Reasons	p. 43
Social and Biogeophysical Integration	p. 49
I. Complexity, Problem Solving, and Social Sustainability
2. Complexity and Social Sustainability: Framework	p. 55
Monitoring, Predicting, and Problem Solving	p. 56
Complexity and Problem Solving	p. 61
Producing Resources	p. 67
Resources, Intensification, and Sustainability	p. 82
Producing Knowledge	p. 83
Summary and Implications for Sustainability	p. 95
3. Complexity and Social Sustainability: Experience	p. 99
Collapse of the Western Roman Empire	p. 101
Understanding Roman Unsustainability	p. 121
The Early Byzantine Recovery	p. 122
Collapse of the Abbasid Caliphate	p. 136
Development of Modern Europe	p. 140
Consequences of European Wars	p. 148
Implications for Sustainability	p. 149
Some Characteristics of Sustainability	p. 161
II. A Hierarchical Approach to Ecological Sustainability
4. The Criteria for Observation and Modeling	p. 167
The Organism	p. 171
Sustaining the Umwelt	p. 174
Habits and Familiar Settings	p. 176
Rare and Endangered Umwelts	p. 178
Stress and Unmet Umwelts	p. 183
The Human Umwelt and Sustainability of Other Species	p. 185
Living Systems Theory	p. 189
Minimal Viable Systems	p. 192
Organisms as Fragile Systems	p. 194
The Landscape	p. 197
Historical Landscapes in Context	p. 199
Implications of Landscapes in a Human Context	p. 225
Policy Implications on Landscapes	p. 227
Landscapes Cast the Problem	p. 231
The Population	p. 235
Sustainable Populations	p. 236
Sustainability in Aquatic Populations	p. 239
Sustainability and Human Populations	p. 245
Modern Conservation Biology	p. 246
Hierarchical Structure in Populations: Metapopulations	p. 248
The Community	p. 251
Community as Opposed to Population	p. 253
Forest Stand Simulators: Community-Population Hybrids	p. 259
Dynamics of the General Community Model	p. 261
Taking the Community Model Through Scale Changes	p. 270
Implications for Sustainability	p. 275
Conclusion	p. 282
5. Biomes and the Biosphere	p. 284
The Biome Criterion	p. 289
Biomes and Climate Change	p. 289
Sustainability of Agricultural Systems as Biomes	p. 293
Lack of Sustainability in Paleobiomes	p. 300
Global Ecology	p. 315
6. Ecosystems, Energy Flows, Evolution, and Emergence	p. 320
Definition of Ecosystem	p. 322
The Essential Dichotomy in Biology	p. 327
The Duality of Evolution and Thermodynamics	p. 328
A Primer on the Mechanics of Thermodynamic Emergence	p. 334
The Thermodynamics of Ecosystems	p. 338
Experiments on the Generative Function	p. 343
Observations on Ecosystems and Sustainability	p. 351
Evolution, Emergence, and Diminishing Returns	p. 352
Implications for the Contemporary Period	p. 359
Supply-Side Sustainability and Resource Management Scale	p. 370
Conclusion	p. 378
7. Retrospect and Prospects	p. 380
Sustainability and Problem Solving	p. 381
Unsustainable Problem Solving in Natural Resource Management	p. 382
Sustainable Problem Solving: Managing Systems	p. 385
Technological Optimism and Sustainability	p. 388
Models of Sustainable and Unsustainable Futures	p. 389
Management and Basic Research	p. 392
Energy Subsidies	p. 400
Societal Demands	p. 412
Ecosystems, Complex Societies, and Self-reflective Science	p. 418
References	p. 427
Index	p. 451

Available:*

Bound With These Titles

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Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (1)

Choice Review

Table of Contents