The Ecology of Sulawesi is a comprehensive ecological survey of one of Indonesia's least populated and most diverse islands. It is hoped that it will prove useful to resource managers, ecologists, environmental scientists and local government personnel, and be enlightening to Sulawesi's inhabitants and visitors. Sulawesi is one of the least-known islands of Indonesia, and wise environmental management, including the proper assessment of environmental management, including the proper assessment of environmental impacts arising from development projects and other activities, is currently very difficult.

Combining historical geography with historical demography, and conceived as a study in environmental history, this book examines the long-term relationship between population, economy and environment in the northern half of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Using a rich variety of Dutch historical sources, including VOC and missionary archives, it attempts to reconstruct and analyse patterns of demographic, economic and landscape change throughout this large and ecologically diverse region over a period of almost three and a half centuries. Particular attention is given to the articulation between demographic and economic growth, to levels and determinants of reproductive fertility, to changing disease environments, and to the question of agricultural sustainability and its preconditions. The results call into question some common views regarding the reasons for low population growth, and the relationship between population density and landscape change, in the Southeast Asian past.

A beautifully illustrated reference work on the biology, ecology, conservation status and management of all thirteen species of wild cattle and buffalo. This book will be a valuable resource for students, researchers, and professionals in animal behaviour, behavioural ecology, evolutionary biology and conservation biology.

Having broken away from Luwu District in 2001, the Luwu Utara District Government has faced many problems in its three years of implementing decentralization. The obstacles to implementing decentralization were due mainly to the inconsistency of national laws and regulations, unclear division of responsibility and authority between district, provincial and central governments, an unfair balancing mechanism for reforestation funds between producing and non-producing districts, increased claims of tenure by local communities, low levels of public participation in decision-making processes and a lack of spatial planning at the district level. This study found that at the beginning of decentralization the district government was not very well prepared and lacked adequate human resources and facilities for taking over the management of its forests. As time progressed, the Luwu Utara District Government, especially the Forestry and Estate Crops Offi ce, strove continuously to improve its forest management capacity. However, due to a lack of resources and uncertain division of authority, many aspects of forest management are still not handled properly. By using an inclusive decision-making process for the research process, this study helped the district government and local communities to look at underlying causes of problems in implementing forestry sector decentralization in their areas and to find alternative solutions to these problems. As a result, the district Forestry Offi ce has undertaken many activities in direct response to the outcomes of this research project, such as a social forestry programme for local forest-dependent communities and the adoption of more inclusive processes for ...

Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo, is a global centre for biodiversity. This work presents a complete summary of scientific knowledge about the riverine, rainforest and coastal ecosystems of Kalimantan. Using maps, colour photographs, and line-drawings, it examines each of the major ecosystems of the island, and the interrelationship between some of their component species. It also focuses on the people of Kalimantan and their use of natural resources, as a major part of these ecosystems.

In this book we undertake one of the first global-scale comparisons of the relationships between tropical plants and frugivorous animal communities, comparing sites within and across continents. In total, 12 primary contributors, including noted plant and animal ecologists, present newly-analyzed long-term datasets on the floristics and phenological rhythms of their study sites, identifying important seed dispersers and key plant taxa that sustain animal communities in Africa, Madagascar, Australasia, and the Neotropics.

In many ecosystems dung beetles play a crucial role--both ecologically and economically--in the decomposition of large herbivore dung. Their activities provide scientists with an excellent opportunity to explore biological community dynamics. This collection of essays offers a concise account of the population and community ecology of dung beetles worldwide, with an emphasis on comparisons between arctic, temperate, and tropical species assemblages. Useful insights arise from relating the vast differences in species' life histories to their population and community-level consequences. The authors also discuss changes in dung beetle faunas due to human-caused habitat alteration and examine the possible effects of introducing dung beetles to cattle-breeding areas that lack efficient native species. "With the expansion of cattle breeding areas, the ecology of dung beetles is a subject of great economic concern as well as one of intense theoretical interest. This excellent book represents an up-to-date ecological study covering important aspects of the dung beetle never before presented."--Gonzalo Halffter, Instituto de Ecologia, Mexico City Originally published in 1991. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Cacao agroforestry systems are common in Indonesia, but differences in local management affect biodiversity and related ecosystem services. Importantly, birds and bats alike strongly contribute to biological pest control in cacao, thereby promoting yields and sustainable farming. Our findings from many years of ecological field research, in close collaboration with Indonesian cacao farmers, are summarized and discussed in this bilingual book, written in both English and Indonesian. It is designed to communicate scientific information as well as to facilitate transdisciplinary discussions and more biodiversity-friendly management in tropical agroforestry systems. We consider this book as a tool to improve the collaboration of local communities, farmers and scientists, as well as to improve the application of scientific knowledge in agricultural practice - particularly in tropical land use areas. Bea Maas, the first author of this book, is postdoctoral researcher at the University of Vienna (Austria), working in the fields of biology, ecology and conservation. She conducted the research and workshops presented here in close collaboration and with support from the University of Göttingen (Germany) and the University of Tadulako (Indonesia).