Challenge 12: Manage the Nitrogen Cycle
Biology of the Nitrogen Cycle by All organisms require nitrogen to live and grow. The movement of nitrogen between the atmosphere, biosphere, and geosphere in different forms is described by the nitrogen cycle. This book is an activity of the COST 856 Action on Denitrification. It covers all aspects of the N-cycle: chemistry, biology (enzymology, molecular biology), physics, applied aspects (greenhouse effect, N-pollution problems, practices in farming, in waste-water treatment, and more). In this book, leading editors offer the latest research available on dentrification (reduction of nitrates or nitrites commonly by bacteria- as in soil). * Provides details on denitrification and its general role in the environment * Offers latest research in N-Cycle and its reactions * Discusses impacts on various environments: agriculture, wetlands, plants, waste-water treatment and more * The only book available in the field since the last 20 years * Contains 27 chapters written by internationally highly recognized experts in the field * Covers all modern aspects, emphasizes molecular biology and ecology * Written in an easily understandable way
The Story of N: a social history of the nitrogen cycle and the challenge of sustainability by In The Story of N, Hugh S. Gorman analyzes the notion of sustainability from a fresh perspective--the integration of human activities with the biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen--and provides a supportive alternative to studying sustainability through the lens of climate change and the cycling of carbon. It is the first book to examine the social processes by which industrial societies learned to bypass a fundamental ecological limit and, later, began addressing the resulting concerns by establishing limits of their own The book is organized into three parts. Part I, "The Knowledge of Nature," explores the emergence of the nitrogen cycle before humans arrived on the scene and the changes that occurred as stationary agricultural societies took root. Part II, "Learning to Bypass an Ecological Limit," examines the role of science and market capitalism in accelerating the pace of innovation, eventually allowing humans to bypass the activity of nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Part III, "Learning to Establish Human-Defined Limits," covers the twentieth-century response to the nitrogen-related concerns that emerged as more nitrogenous compounds flowed into the environment. A concluding chapter, "The Challenge of Sustainability," places the entire story in the context of constructing an ecological economy in which innovations that contribute to sustainable practices are rewarded.
The World's Greatest Fix: a history of nitrogen and agriculture by In the tradition of Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel, this gives the very early history of how human ingenuity overcame the risk of famine through productive agriculture. Starting with a layman's guide to the chemistry of nitrogen fixation, the book goes on to show how humans emerged from nomadic lifestyles and began developing towns and settlements. When they for the first time began planting the same fields year after year, they noticed quickly the need to ensure soil fertility. But how? The method they came up with is still in use to this day.
Sustainable Agriculture and New Biotechnologies by Taking a broad and innovative informational approach, Sustainable Agriculture and New Biotechnologies is the first book to apply omic technologies to address issues related to understanding and improving agricultural sustainability in the food production process. The transformation from industrial to sustainable agriculture is discussed within the frameworks of new biotechnologies and global environmental changes. While considering this transformation, the book covers: The use of new biotechnologies to help in the creation of more sustainable agricultural practices, including methods in molecular biology, genetic engineering, and the new emerging technologies, such as metabolomics, metagenomics, nutrigenomics, and ionomics The path to reach the goal of the global sustainable agricultural and food production systems in a world of limited natural resources and growing environmental degradation Principles that regulate the new agricultural and food production systems including breeding programs for more sustainable crops, soil management, and environment preservation It is clear that biotechnological approaches will become increasingly important in the future and that a shift from industrial to a sustainable agriculture will be necessary. While many books tend to make "a quick and easy link" between these two different worlds, Sustainable Agriculture and New Biotechnologies describes exactly how omics can contribute to greater food productivity and security, and agricultural sustainability in the future.C. Driscoll et al., "Nitrogen pollution in the northeastern United States: Sources, effects and management options," BioScience 53 (2003), pp. 357-374.
C. Driscoll et al., "Nitrogen pollution: Sources and consequences in the U.S. Northeast,"Environment 45 (2003), pp. 8-22.
K. Fisher and W.E. Newton, “Nitrogen Fixation,” Encyclopedia of Applied Plant Sciences (Elsevier, 2004), pp. 634-642.
Galloway et al., Bioscience 53 (2003), p. 241.
R.W. Howarth, "The nitrogen cycle," Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Change, Vol. 2, The Earth System: Biological and Ecological Dimensions of Global Environmental Change (Chichester: Wiley, 2002), pp. 429-435.
R.W. Howarth et al., "Nutrient pollution of coastal rivers, bays and seas," Issues in Ecology 7 (2000), pp. 1-15.
R.W. Howarth et al., Ecosystems and Human Well-being, Vol. 3, Policy Responses, The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2005), Chapter 9, pp. 295-311.
D.A. Jaffe and P.S. Weiss-Penzias, “Nitrogen Cycle,” Encyclopedia of Atmospheric Sciences (Elsevier, 2003), pp. 205-213.
National Research Council, Clean Coastal Waters: Understanding and Reducing the Effects of Nutrient Pollution (Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2000).
Robert H. Socolow, “Nitrogen Management and the Future of Food: Lessons From the Management of Energy and Carbon,”
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96 (May 1999), pp. 6001-6008.
"Reactive N in the environment," UNEP, 2007.
"No 4.: Human alteration of the nitrogen cycle: Threats, benefits and opportunities," UNESCO-SCOPE Policy Briefs (2007).
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