Books published by publisher VDM Verlag Dr. Müller

Many African countries have recently embarked through decentralized forest management schemes such as through Participatory Forest Management (PFM). In Ethiopia context, PFM has been initiated since the 1990s. Despite such moves to devolve management responsibilities to forest adjacent communities research done on the subject is still quite inadequate. On top of this, the application of community forestry (such as PFM)varies across different social and environmental context. Thus, this has made the learning so peculiar that a wealth of lesson needs to be drawn to mainstream community participation into national forest policy and practices. In addition, it is also highly important to study factors affecting people's participation in PFM and associated challenges entailed in its implementation and gather lessons to apply them for further participatory natural resource management schemes. Similarly,the lessons drawn from such study may contribute to current efforts by governments, NGOs and researchers to find better policy options to address the problem of forest degradation.

Sir Richard Owen (1804-1892) was an English biologist and palaentologist with a special gift for interpreting fossils - he named dinosaurs. In addition to this, he was in strict opposition to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. After studying medicine in Edinburgh and London, he soon became assistant curator of the Hunterian Museum in London. In the following years, Owen identified and labeled 13,000 human and animal anatomical specimens of the Hunterian Collection. Also, he published a catalogue of this work. In 1836, Owen was appointed Professor of Comparative Anatomy and Physiology; and in 1856 he became superintendent of the natural history department of the British Museum. All in all, he published more than 600 scientific papers on which "History of British Fossil Mammals and Birds" is one of his most famous works.

In Pakistan, most of the chilli production comes from Punjab province where climatic conditions are favorable for whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) which acts as vector for the spread of Chilli leaf curl virus (ChilCV) disease. Over last few years high incidence of ChiLCV disease has been reported. This handbook takes into account an attempt to figure out the whitefly population density during chilli cropping season and its relation to the occurrence of the disease. This information is important to effectively manage the disease either without the use of pesticides (i.e. by shifting the sowing and harvesting dates to avoid the peak period of whitefly infestation) or minimal use of pesticides (i.e. by applying pesticides at optimum time).

Ninety seven species of macro-molluscs were collected from four rocky beaches viz. Manora, Buleji, Nathiagali and Cape Monze along the Karachi coast from December 1993 to December 1995. More species were recorded from Buleji (68) and Manora (63) compared to Nathiagali (55) and Cape Monze (57). Gastropods dominated on all the four sites studied. Four species were commonly abundant on all the four sites viz.: Turbo coronatus, Nerita albicilla, Morula granulata and Cerithium rubus. The average number of species decreased with increase in the tidal heights at Manora, Buleji and Nathiagali whereas this was greater in the high tidal zone at Cape Monz rocky shore. The average number of individuals of molluscs was greater in mid tidal zone at Manora and Buleji rocky shore whereas it was greater in low tidal zone at Nathiagali and Cape Monz.

The present study deals with the damages caused by subterranean termites with the help of survey of infested houses in Lahore. Results of the survey have been made on the basis of most important destructive termite species in various parts of the city, classification of damage in different structures, and counter measures adopted against termite infestation.Feeding activity of Heterotermes indicola (Wasmann) was also observed against commercial timbers of Pakistan under Laboratory conditions in Modified Wood Block Test. Foraging activity and territory of Coptotermes heimi (Wasmann) in Jallo Forest Park, Lahore were studied by a mark release recapture method.Moreover present study also deals with the termiticidal performance of treated wood after exposure to soil burial under laboratory conditions.Degradation of chemicals and changes to termiticidal effectiveness has been discussed. The longevity and persistence of formulated insecticides was tested by applying both Ground Stake Test (GST) and Modified Ground Board Test (MGBT) under field trials. The visual observations of termite attack were made on wooden stakes and blocks which were in contact with termiticide-treated soil.

The present investigation was carried out to study the effect of the different processing treatments (blanching, sulfuring, freezing preservation and dehydration processes) on the chemical composition, enzyme activities and microbiological activities of the some vegetables(green peas, green beans and okra) during processing and storage. Results indicated that blanching treatment before freezing caused higher inhabitation of enzymes activities and load microbial in different vegetables depend on temperatures and time blanching. On the other hand, storage green vegetables frozen (peas, beans and okra) at -18 0C for 12 months caused slightly decreased after storage in chlorophylls, ascorbic acid and carotene content. Treatment of blanching before freezing led to great inhabitation effect of enzyme and reduce of load microbial in green vegetables compared with un-blanched during freezing. Also, blanching treatment protect the color, flavor and texture of samples especially samples blanched at 90 0C /5 minutes than other temperatures. The data indicated that both blanching and dehydration (sun or oven) for 12 months led to reduction of chemical composition and sensory evaluation.

Policy changes directly affect profitability for Texas crop producers as govern­ment payments make up a sizeable portion of their net farm income (NFI), but an economic model projecting NFI for Texas crops previously did not exist. Developed in the Agricultural & Food Policy Center at Texas A&M Uni­versity, the Texas crop model estimates state-level price, yields and produc­tion costs to project annual NFI for the state's corn, cotton, peanut, rice, sorghum, wheat and hay producers. Food & Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) projections of U.S. variables are used as input to the model, and stochastic simulation incorporates the risk left unexplained by Ordinary Least Squares equations relating Texas variables to U.S. variables to make the NFI projections stochastic. NFI projections are compared under alternative sets of FAPRI projections to show impacts of production cost and commodity prices changes. Researchers in Risk Analysis, Policy Analysis, or Production Economics will be interested in the methodology used to develop the model, while NFI projections under alterative baseline assumptions will be valuable to agricultural producers, agribusinesses and policy makers.

Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) is one of the most famous 19th-century naturalists. He shared his research with Charles Darwin and independently formulated the theory of natural selection. His most extensive fieldwork was carried out in the Amazon River Basin and in the Malay Archipelago, where his observations led him to propose an imaginary line running between the region''s islands. Today, this line is still known as “Wallace''s Line” and is the boundary between the organisms of the Australian and Asian regions. In later years, Wallace became more of a social activist.

While there has been considerable research on lesbian and/or gay parenting, very little research has focused on how the children of lesbian and gay parents negotiate between their family identity and the definitions of family imposed by society. Families headed by gay and lesbian parents do not fit into a "traditional", ideologically-driven definition of family - rendering them virtually invisible due to their lack of representation in the media, school curriculum, and "normal" society. This book is an exploration of the concept of family as it was defined by six early adolescents and their lesbian parents. In an era with increased political and social tension surrounding issues of gay and lesbian marriage rights and validity for same sex parents, this qualitative study explored how these youth experience the disjunctures between their family identity and the definitions of family imposed by the larger society. The authors of this study, informed by queer theory and inquiry, conclude that identity is not realized through definitive and rigid boundaries but within and between these locations. This book is addressed to counselors, educators, and researchers interested in understanding, and even promoting, social justice for those living in diverse family structures.

Arctic sea ice plays an important role in the global climate system due to its high reflectivity of solar radiance, isolation effects and melting- and freezing processes. Sea ice export through Fram Strait is the largest source of ice export from the Arctic into the North Atlantic Ocean. The author uses a global climate model to analyze Arctic climate variability with special focus on the Arctic sea ice export and its impact on northern hemispheric climate. The Fram Strait sea ice export shows pronounced interannual and decadal variability, which is mainly caused by variations of wind stress and sea ice thickness in Fram Strait. The physical mechanisms of these variations are investigated. Large Fram Strait sea ice export events affect oceanic and atmospheric climate conditions in the Labrador Sea one and two years later. Hence, Fram Strait sea ice export shows a high potential for predictability of climate in the Labrador Sea. This book is addressed to readers with physical and mathematical knowledge interested in Arctic climate.