The Reef 2010 Torrent

The Reef Aquarium

Coviability of Social and Ecological Systems: Reconnecting Mankind to the Biosphere in an Era of Global Change

This second volume is the work of more than 55 authors from 15 different disciplines and includes complex systems science which studies the viability of components, and also the study of empirical situations. As readers will discover, the coviability of social and ecological systems is based on the contradiction between humanity, which adopts finalized objectives, and the biosphere, which refers to a ecological functions. We see how concrete situations shed light on the coviability’s determinants, and in this book the very nature of the coviability, presented as a concept-paradigm, is defined in a transversal and ontological ways. By adopting a systemic approach, without advocating any economic dogma (such as development) or dichotomizing between humans and nature, while emphasizing what is relevant to humans and what is not, this work neutrally contextualizes man’s place in the biosphere. It offers a new mode of thinking and positioning of the ecological imperative, and will appeal to all those working with social and ecological systems.

River, Coastal and Estuarine Morphodynamics

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the recent developments on river, coastal and estuarine morphodynamics through a collection of review papers written by well-recognized experts in the field. Apart from geoscientists it is also of special interest to people involved in fluid mechanics who want to understand near wall turbulence and the effects of coherent structures on the mechanisms of sediment transport. Though aimed at geomorphologists and sedimentologists the terminology employed in the book makes it generally accessible to engineers, physicists and applied mathematicians at the postgraduate level. The contributions are well illustrated with splendid pictures of various morphodynamic natural patterns.