ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: This edited book, Toxicity and Hazard of Agrochemicals, is intended to provide an overview of toxicology that examines the hazardous effects of common agrochemicals employed every day in our agricultural practices. Furthermore, it is hoped that the information in the present book will be of value to those directly engaged in the handling and use of agrochemicals and that this book will continue to meet the expectations and needs of all interested in the different aspects of human and environmental risk toxicities.

Description / Table of Contents: The Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project: Phase I Activities by a Global Community of Science (Cynthia Rosenzweig, James W Jones, Jerry L Hatfield, John M Antle, Alexander C Ruane, and Carolyn Z Mutter) --- AgMIP's Transdisciplinary Agricultural Systems Approach to Regional Integrated Assessment of Climate Impacts, Vulnerability, and Adaptation (John M Antle, Roberto O Valdivia, Kenneth J Boote, Sander Janssen, James W Jones, Cheryl H Porter, Cynthia Rosenzweig, Alexander C Ruane, and Peter J Thorburn) --- AgMIP Climate Data and Scenarios for Integrated Assessment (Alexander C Ruane, Jonathan M Winter, Sonali P McDermid, and Nicholas I Hudson) --- Cropping Systems Modeling in AgMIP: A New Protocol-Driven Approach for Regional Integrated Assessments (Peter J Thorburn, Kenneth J Boote, John N G Hargreaves, Perry L Poulton, and James W Jones) --- Representative Agricultural Pathways and Scenarios for Regional Integrated Assessment of Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerability, and Adaptation (Roberto O Valdivia, John M Antle, Cynthia Rosenzweig, Alexander C Ruane, Joost Vervoort, Muhammad Ashfaq, Ibrahima Hathie, Sabine Homann-Kee Tui, Richard Mulwa, Charles Nhemachena, Paramasivam Ponnusamy, Herath Rasnayaka, and Harbir Singh) --- Data Interoperability Tools for Regional Integrated Assessments (Cheryl H Porter, Chris Villalobos, Dean Holzworth, Roger Nelson, Jefffrey W White, Ioannis N Athanasiadis, Meng Zhang, Sander Janssen, Rob Knapen, James W Jones, Kenneth J Boote, John Hargreaves, and John M Antle) --- The AgMIP GRIDded Crop Modeling Initiative (AgGRID) and the Global Gridded Crop Model Intercomparison (GGCMI) (Joshua Elliott and Christoph Müller) --- The AgMIP Coordinated Climate-Crop Modeling Project (C3MP): Methods and Protocols (Sonali P McDermid, Alexander C Ruane, Cynthia Rosenzweig, Nicholas I Hudson, Monica D Morales, Prabodha Agalawatte, Shakeel Ahmad, L R Ahuja, Istiqlal Amien, Saseendran S Anapalli, Jakarat Anothai, Senthold Asseng, Jody Biggs, Federico Bert, Patrick Bertuzzi, Virender S Bhatia, Marco Bindi, Ian Broad, Davide Cammarano, Ramiro Carretero, Ashfaq Ahmad Chattha, Uran Chung, Stephanie Debats, Paola Deligios, Giacomo De Sanctis, Thanda Dhliwayo, Benjamin Dumont, Lyndon Estes, Frank Ewert, Roberto Ferrise, Thomas Gaiser, Guillermo Garcia, Sika Gbegbelegbe, Vellingiri Geethalakshmi, Edward Gerardeaux, Richard Goldberg, Brian Grant, Edgardo Guevara, Jonathan Hickman, Holger Hoffmann, Huanping Huang, Jamshad Hussain, Flavio Barbosa Justino, Asha S Karunaratne, Ann-Kristin Koehler, Patrice K Kouakou, Soora Naresh Kumar, Arunachalam Lakshmanan, Mark Lieffering, Xiaomao Lin, Qunying Luo, Graciela Magrin, Marco Mancini, Fabio Ricardo Marin, Anna Dalla Marta, Yuji Masutomi, Theodoros Mavromatis, Greg McLean, Santiago Meira, Monoranjan Mohanty, Marco Moriondo, Wajid Nasim, Lamyaa Negm, Francesca Orlando, Simone Orlandini, Isik Ozturk, Helena Maria Soares Pinto, Guillermo Podesta, Zhiming Qi, Johanna Ramarohetra, Muhammad Habib ur Rahman, Helene Raynal, Gabriel Rodriguez, Reimund Rötter, Vaishali Sharda, Lu Shuo, Ward Smith, Val Snow, Afshin Soltani, K Srinivas, Benjamin Sultan, Dillip Kumar Swain, Fulu Tao, Kindie Tesfaye, Maria I Travasso, Giacomo Trombi, Alex Topaj, Eline Vanuytrecht, Federico E Viscarra, Syed Aftab Wajid, Enli Wang, Hong Wang, Jing Wang, Erandika Wijekoon, Lee Byun-Woo, Yang Xiaoguang, Ban Ho Young, Jin I Yun, Zhigan Zhao, and Lareef Zubair) --- Uncertainty in Agricultural Impact Assessment (Daniel Wallach, Linda O Mearns, Michael Rivington, John M Antle, and Alexander C Ruane) --- Uncertainties in Scaling-Up Crop Models for Large-Area Climate Change Impact Assessments (Frank Ewert, Lenny G J van Bussel, Gang Zhao, Holger Hoffmann, Thomas Gaiser, Xenia Specka, Claas Nendel, Kurt-Christian Kersebaum, Carmen Sosa, Elisabet Lewan, Jagadeesh Yeluripati, Matthias Kuhnert, Fulu Tao, Reimund Rötter, Julie Constantin, Helene Raynal, Daniel Wallach, Edmar Teixeira, Balasz Grosz, Michaela Bach, Luca Doro, Pier Paolo Roggero, Zhigan Zhao, Enli Wang, Ralf Kiese, Edwin Haas, Henrik Eckersten, Giacomo Trombi, Marco Bindi, Christian Klein, Christian Biernath, Florian Heinlein, Eckart Priesack, Davide Cammarano, Senthold Asseng, Joshua Elliott, Michael Glotter, Bruno Basso, Guillermo A Baigorria, Consuelo C Romero, and Marco Moriondo) --- Statistical Analysis of Large Simulated Yield Datasets for Studying Climate Change Effects (David Makowski, Senthold Asseng, Frank Ewert, Simona Bassu, Jean-Louis Durand, Pierre Martre, Myriam Adam, Pramod K Aggarwal, Carlos Angulo, Christian Baron, Bruno Basso, Patrick Bertuzzi, Christian Biernath, Hendrik Boogaard, Kenneth J Boote, Nadine Brisson, Davide Cammarano, Andrew J Challinor, Sjakk J G Conijn, Marc Corbeels, Delphine Deryng, Giacomo De Sanctis, Jordi Doltra, Sebastian Gayler, Richard Goldberg, Patricio Grassini, Jerry L Hatfield, Lee Heng, Steven Hoek, Josh Hooker, Tony L A Hunt, Joachim Ingwersen, Cesar Izaurralde, Raymond E E Jongschaap, James W Jones, Armen R Kemanian, Christian Kersebaum, Soo-Hyung Kim, Jon Lizaso, Christoph Müller, Naresh S Kumar, Claas Nendel, Garry J O'Leary, Jorgen E Olesen, Tom M Osborne, Taru Palosuo, Maria V Pravia, Eckart Priesack, Dominique Ripoche, Cynthia Rosenzweig, Alexander C Ruane, Fredirico Sau, Mickhail A Semenov, Iurii Shcherbak, Pasquale Steduto, Claudio Stöckle, Pierre Stratonovitch, Thilo Streck, Iwan Supit, Fulu Tao, Edmar I Teixeira, Peter Thorburn, Denis Timlin, Maria Travasso, Reimund Rötter, Katharina Waha, Daniel Wallach, Jeffrey W White, Jimmy R Williams, and Joost Wolf) --- Crop Diseases and Climate Change in the AgMIP Framework (Ariena H C van Bruggen, James W Jones, Jose Mauricio C Fernandes, Karen Garrett, and Kenneth J Boote) --- Perspectives on Climate Effects on Agriculture: The International Efforts of AgMIP in Sub-Saharan Africa (Job Kihara, Dilys S MacCarthy, Andre Bationo, Saidou Koala, Jonathan Hickman, Jawoo Koo, Charles Vanya, Samuel Adiku, Yacob Beletse, Patricia Masikate, Karuturi P C Rao, Carolyn Z Mutter, Cynthia Rosenzweig, and James W Jones) --- Climate Change Impacts on West African Agriculture: An Integrated Regional Assessment (CIWARA) (Samuel G K Adiku, Dilys S MacCarthy, Ibrahima Hathie, Madina Diancoumba, Bright S Freduah, Joseph Amikuzuno, P C Sibiry Traore, Seydou Traore, Eric Koomson, Alhassane Agali, Jon I Lizaso, Dougbedji Fatondji, Myriam Adams, Lodoun Tigana, Daouda Z Diarra, Ousmane N'diaye, and Roberto O Valdivia) --- Impacts of Climate Variability and Change on Agricultural Systems in East Africa (Karuturi P C Rao, Gummadi Sridhar, Richard M Mulwa, Mary N Kilavi, Anthony Esilaba, Ioannis N Athanasiadis, and Roberto O Valdivia) --- Projected Impacts of Climate Change Scenarios on the Production of Maize in Southern Africa: An Integrated Assessment Case Study of the Bethlehem District, Central Free State, South Africa (Yacob G Beletse, Wiltrud Durand, Charles Nhemachena, Olivier Crespo, Weldemichael A Tesfuhuney, Matthew R Jones, Mogos Y Teweldemedhin, Sunshine M Gamedze, Pontsho M Bonolo, Syanda Jonas, SueWalker, Patrick Gwimbi, Thembeka N Mpuisang, Davide Cammarano, and Roberto O Valdivia) --- Crop-Livestock Intensification in the Face of Climate Change: Exploring Opportunities to Reduce Risk and Increase Resilience in Southern Africa by Using an Integrated Multi-modeling Approach (Patricia Masikati, Sabine Homann-Kee Tui, Katrien Descheemaeker, Olivier Crespo, Sue Walker, Christopher J Lennard, Lieven Claessens, Arthur C Gama, Sebastiao Famba, Andre F van Rooyen, and Roberto O Valdivia) --- Integrated Assessments of the Impacts of Climate Change on Agriculture: An Overview of AgMIP Regional Research in South Asia (Sonali P McDermid, Guntuku Dileepkumar, K M Dakshina Murthy, S Nedumaran, Piara Singh, Chukka Srinivasa, B Gangwar, N Subash, Ashfaq Ahmad, Lareef Zubair, and S P Nissanka) --- Impact of Climate Change on the Rice–Wheat Cropping System of Pakistan (Ashfaq Ahmad, Muhammad Ashfaq, Ghulam Rasul, Syed Aftab Wajid, Tasneem Khaliq, Fahd Rasul, Umer Saeed, Muhammad Habib ur Rahman, Jamshad Hussain, Irfan Ahmad Baig, Syed Asif Ali Naqvi, Syed Ahsan Ali Bokhari, Shakeel Ahmad, Wajid Naseem, Gerrit Hoogenboom, and Roberto O Valdivia) --- Integrated Climate Change Assessment through Linking Crop Simulation with Economic Modeling — Results from the Indo-Gangetic Basin (Nataraja Subash, Babooji Gangwar, Harbir Singh, Guillermo Baigorria, Alok Kumar Sikka, and Roberto O Valdivia) --- Integrated Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on Maize Farms and Farm Household Incomes in South India: A Case Study from Tamil Nadu (Paramasivam Ponnusamy, Geethalakshmi Vellingiri, Raji Reddy Danda, Lakshmanan Arunachalam, Dakshina Murthy, Sunandini Prema, Sreenivas Gade, Sonali P McDermid, and Roberto O Valdivia) --- Climate Change Impacts on Rice Farming Systems in Northwestern Sri Lanka (Lareef Zubair, Sarath P Nissanka, W M W Weerakoon, Dumindu I Herath, Asha S Karunaratne, A S M Prabodha, M B Agalawatte, Rasnayaka M Herath, S Zeenas Yahiya, B V R Punyawardene, Janan Vishwanathan, Punya Delpitiya, A Erandika N Wijekoon, Janaka Gunaratna, Sewwandhi S K Chandrasekara, P Wickramagamage, K D N Weerasinghe, Champa M Navaratne, Ruchika S Perera, Asela I Gunesekara, G M Pradeep Kumara, Daniel Wallach, Roberto O Valdivia, and Sonali P McDermid) --- AgMIP Regional Activities in a Global Framework: The Brazil Experience (Eduardo D Assad, Fábio R Marin, Roberto O Valdivia, and Cynthia Rosenzweig) --- AgMIP Regional Activities in a Global Framework: The China Experience (Fulu Tao and Erda Lin) --- AgMIP Training in Multiple Crop Models and Tools (Kenneth J Boote, Cheryl H Porter, John Hargreaves, Gerrit Hoogenboom, Peter Thorburn, and Carolyn Mutter) --- Major Findings and Future Activities (Cynthia Rosenzweig and Daniel Hillel)

Description / Table of Contents: Chapter 1: Multi-Species Stand Classification: Definition and Perspectives by Ana Cristina Gonçalves --- Chapter 2: Effects of Experimental Sowing on Agroforestry Ecosystem Primary Production during Recovery from Agricultural Abandonment in a Semi-Arid Region of Central Western Spain by Jimmy-Edgar Alvarez-Diaz, María del Carmen Santa-Regina and Ignacio Santa-Regina --- Chapter 3: Methodological Considerations in the Study of Earthworms in Forest Ecosystems by Dylan Rhea-Fournier and Grizelle González --- Chapter 4: Characterizing Predictability of Fire Occurrence in Tropical Forests and Grasslands: The Case of Puerto Rico by Ana Carolina Monmany, William A. Gould, María José Andrade- Núñez, Grizelle González and Maya Quiñones --- Chapter 5: Remote Sensing and Forest Conservation: Challenges of Illegal Logging in Kursumlija Municipality (Serbia) by Miomir M. Jovanović and Miško M. Milanović --- Chapter 6: From Paper to Carbon Money: Financing Forest Conservation and Offset by Valny Giacomelli Sobrinho

Description / Table of Contents: Zambon, I.; Colosimo, F.; Monarca, D.; Cecchini, M.; Gallucci, F.; Proto, A.; Lord, R.; Colantoni, A. An Innovative Agro-Forestry Supply Chain for Residual Biomass: Physicochemical Characterisation of Biochar from Olive and Hazelnut Pellets. Energies 2016, 9(7), 526; doi:10.3390/en9070526. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/9/7/526 --- Liu, P.; Wang, Q.; Yan, D.; Fang, W.; Mao, L.; Wang, D.; Li, Y.; Ouyang, C.; Guo, M.; Cao, A. Effects of Biochar Amendment on Chloropicrin Adsorption and Degradation in Soil. Energies 2016, 9(11), 869; doi:10.3390/en9110869. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/9/11/869 --- Fang, W.; Cao, A.; Yan, D.; Han, D.; Huang, B.; Li, J.; Liu, X.; Guo, M.; Wang, Q. The Effect of Two Types of Biochars on the Efficacy, Emission, Degradation, and Adsorption of the Fumigant Methyl Isothiocyanate. Energies 2017, 10(1), 16; doi:10.3390/en10010016. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/1/16 --- Long, J.; Boyette, M. Analysis of Micronized Charcoal for Use in a Liquid Fuel Slurry. Energies 2017, 10(1), 25; doi:10.3390/en10010025. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/1/25 --- Fuente-Hernández, A.; Lee, R.; Béland, N.; Zamboni, I.; Lavoie, J. Reduction of Furfural to Furfuryl Alcohol in Liquid Phase over a Biochar-Supported Platinum Catalyst. Energies 2017, 10(3), 286; doi:10.3390/en10030286. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/3/286 --- Brassard, P.; Godbout, S.; Raghavan, V.; Palacios, J.; Grenier, M.; Zegan, D. The Production of Engineered Biochars in a Vertical Auger Pyrolysis Reactor for Carbon Sequestration. Energies 2017, 10(3), 288; doi:10.3390/en10030288. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/3/288 --- González-Vázquez, M.; García, R.; Pevida, C.; Rubiera, F. Optimization of a Bubbling Fluidized Bed Plant for Low-Temperature Gasification of Biomass. Energies 2017, 10(3), 306; doi:10.3390/en10030306. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/3/306 --- Yang, X.; Wang, H.; Strong, P.; Xu, S.; Liu, S.; Lu, K.; Sheng, K.; Guo, J.; Che, L.; He, L.; Ok, Y.; Yuan, G.; Shen, Y.; Chen, X. Thermal Properties of Biochars Derived from Waste Biomass Generated by Agricultural and Forestry Sectors. Energies 2017, 10(4), 469; doi:10.3390/en10040469. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/4/469 --- Ellison, C.; McKeown, M.; Trabelsi, S.; Boldor, D. Dielectric Properties of Biomass/Biochar Mixtures at Microwave Frequencies. Energies 2017, 10(4), 502; doi:10.3390/en10040502. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/4/502 --- Kang, S.; Sim, B.; Kim, J. Volume and Mass Measurement of a Burning Wood Pellet by Image Processing. Energies 2017, 10(5), 603; doi:10.3390/en10050603. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/5/603 --- Tamošiūnas, A.; Chouchène, A.; Valatkevičius, P.; Gimžauskaitė, D.; Aikas, M.; Uscila, R.; Ghorbel, M.; Jeguirim, M. The Potential of Thermal Plasma Gasification of Olive Pomace Charcoal. Energies 2017, 10(5), 710; doi:10.3390/en10050710. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/5/710 --- Guizani, C.; Jeguirim, M.; Valin, S.; Limousy, L.; Salvador, S. Biomass Chars: The Effects of Pyrolysis Conditions on Their Morphology, Structure, Chemical Properties and Reactivity. Energies 2017, 10(6), 796; doi:10.3390/en10060796. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/6/796 --- Zhao, S.; Ta, N.; Wang, X. Effect of Temperature on the Structural and Physicochemical Properties of Biochar with Apple Tree Branches as Feedstock Material. Energies 2017, 10(9), 1293; doi:10.3390/en10091293. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/9/1293 --- Wanassi, B.; Hariz, I.; Ghimbeu, C.; Vaulot, C.; Jeguirim, M. Green Carbon Composite-Derived Polymer Resin and Waste Cotton Fibers for the Removal of Alizarin Red S Dye. Energies 2017, 10(9), 1321; doi:10.3390/en10091321. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/9/1321 --- Ghouma, I.; Jeguirim, M.; Sager, U.; Limousy, L.; Bennici, S.; Däuber, E.; Asbach, C.; Ligotski, R.; Schmidt, F.; Ouederni, A. The Potential of Activated Carbon Made of Agro-Industrial Residues in NOx Immissions Abatement. Energies 2017, 10(10), 1508; doi:10.3390/en10101508. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/10/1508 --- Jeguirim, M.; Limousy, L. Biomass Chars: Elaboration, Characterization and Applications. Energies 2017, 10(12), 2040; doi:10.3390/en10122040. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/12/2040

Description / Table of Contents: The copper-cobalt outcrops of Upper Katanga and north-western Zambia host a particular flora which comprises an estimated 750 species of which more than 400 are treated in this copper-cobalt field guide. The aim of this book, resulting from several years of intensive field work and study, is to bring together the basic knowledges permitting an easy approach to the identification of a great number of the species to be encountered. More than 400 species are illustrated with color photographs and/or drawings together with comments concerning synonyms, habit, description, ecology and distribution. Plant species are listed and colour-coded according to classification: Cyanoprocaryota, lichenized Fungi, Anthocerophyta, Marchantiophyta and Bryophyta (red edge), Lycophyta and Monilophyta (green edge), Magnoliopsida (blue edge) and Liliopsida (yellow edge). An index allows easy location either according to genus and species. An account of the research on copper-cobalt ecosystems carried out during the last ten years in southeastern D.R. Congo is also presented. The editors have spent more than twenty years in the area concerned and have collected more than 8,500 voucher specimens, including eleven species new to science (holotypes).

Description / Table of Contents: Prior to May 2015, the oil-rich jurisdiction of Alberta had, for over four decades, been a one-party state. During that time, the rule of the Progressive Conservatives essentially went unchallenged, with critiques of government policy falling on deaf ears and Alberta ranking behind other provinces in voter turnout. Given the province’s economic reliance on oil revenues, a symbiotic relationship also developed between government and the oil industry. Cross-national studies have detected a correlation between oil-dependent economies and authoritarian rule, a pattern particularly evident in Africa and the Middle East. Alberta Oil and the Decline of Democracy in Canada sets out to test the “oil inhibits democracy” hypothesis in the context of an industrialized nation in the Global North.In probing the impact of Alberta’s powerful oil lobby on the health of democracy in the province, contributors to the volume engage with an ongoing discussion of the erosion of political liberalism in the West. In addition to examining energy policy and issues of government accountability in Alberta, they explore the ramifications of oil dependence in areas such as Aboriginal rights, environmental policy, labour law, women’s equity, urban social policy, and the arts. If, as they argue, reliance on oil has weakened democratic structures in Alberta, then what of Canada as whole, where the short-term priorities of the oil industry continue to shape federal policy? In Alberta, the New Democratic Party is in a position to reverse the democratic deficit that is presently fuelling political and economic inequality. The findings in this book suggest that, to revitalize democracy, provincial and federal leaders alike must find the courage to curb the influence of the oil industry on governance.

Description / Table of Contents: Chapter 1: Introductory Chapter: The Main Directions and Tasks of Pure and Applied Biogeography in Solving the Global Problems of Our Time by Levente Hufnagel --- Chapter 2: Are Historical Biogeographical Events Able to Promote Biological Diversification? by Julián A. Velasco --- Chapter 3: Ecological Responses to Climate Change at Biogeographical Boundaries by Melinda Pálinkás --- Chapter 4: A Synopsis of Global Mapping of Freshwater Habitats and Biodiversity: Implications for Conservation by Ryan A. McManamay, Natalie A. Griffiths, Christoper R. DeRolph and Brenda M. Pracheil --- Chapter 5: Plant Antiherbivore Defense in Diverse Environments by Alina Morquecho-Contreras, Carmen Zepeda-Gómez and Hermilo Sánchez-Sánchez --- Chapter 6: Vachellia (Acacia) karroo Communities in South Africa: An Overview by Mamokete Dingaan and Pieter J. du Preez --- Chapter 7: Ecological Biogeography of West Usambara Mountains: A Study on the Influence of Abiotic Factors to Spatial Distribution of Plant and Animal Species by Joel Loitu Meliyo, Kenneth F.G. Masuki, Balthazar M. Msanya, Didas N. Kimaro and Loth S. Mulungu