Synopsis Ecology has made great strides during the past few decades. Emerging out of the shadows of a descriptive science, ecology has grown into an interdisciplinary synthetic science with great importance to the resolution of anthropogenic environmental problems. Ecology forms the backbone of natural resources conservation and management, and the restoration and rehabilitation of degraded landscapes. Ecology has expanded its scope and influence by taking benefit of technological developments (such as remote sensing and computer modeling) and by developing linkages with social sciences, particularly sociology and economics. The volume includes invited contributions from eminent scientists from 12 countries, representing all the five continents, who provide detailed assessments of the developments and contemporary thinking in ecological research. Major areas covered in the volume include: biodiversity, global climate change, landscape ecology and conservation, ecology-economics interface, restoration and management of degraded ecosystems, soil biology and fertility, mangroves, chemical ecology and methodological approaches (such as remote sending, statistical ecology and ecological modeling).