Engineering Within Ecological Constraints

Engineering within Ecological Constraints presents a rare dialogue between engineers and environmental scientists as they consider the many technical as well as social and legal challenges of ecologically sensitive engineering. The volume looks at the concepts of scale, resilience, and chaos as they apply to the points where the ecological life support system of nature interacts with the technological life support system created by humankind.

Among the questions addressed are: What are the implications of differences between ecological and engineering concepts of efficiency and stability? How can engineering solutions to immediate problems be made compatible with long-term ecological concerns? How can we transfer ecological principles to economic systems?

The book also includes important case studies on such topics as water management in southern Florida and California and oil exploration in rain forests.

From its conceptual discussions to the practical experience reflected in case studies, this volume will be important to policymakers, practitioners, researchers, educators, and students in the fields of engineering, environmental science, and environmental policy.

• Front Matter
• Overview and Perspectives
• Determining the Balance Between Technological and Ecosystem Services
• Engineering Resilience versus Ecological Resilience
• A Scalar Approach to Ecological Constraints
• A Perspective on the Relationship Between Engineering and Ecology
• Designing Sustainable Ecological Economic Systems
• Ecological Integrity and Ecological Health Are Not the Same
• Ecological Engineering: A New Paradigm for Engineers and Ecologists
• Why Aren't All Engineers Ecologists?
• Engineering for Development in Environmentally Sensitive Areas: Oil Operations in a Rain Forest
• Lessons in Water Resource and Ecosystem Regulation from Florida's Everglades and California's Bay/Delta Estuary
• Engineering Studies Based on Ecological Criteria
• 'Do No Harm': A New Philosophy for Reconciling Engineering and Ecology
• Biographical Data
• Index