附註:Includes bibliographical references (pages 228-238) and index.
Cover -- Contents -- List of Plates, Figures and Tables -- Foreword -- Preface -- List of Acronyms and Abbreviations -- Introduction -- There is a Limited Understanding of the Constraints -- A New or Alternative Form of Knowledge is Needed -- The Fundamental Dilemma -- Blue and Green Water Flows -- The Book -- Part 1: Water Functions in the Life-support System -- Chapter 1: Water -- The Bloodstream of the Biosphere -- Water as the Liquid of Life -- Focusing on Invisible Water -- Different Scales of Water-Plant Interactions -- Human Landscape Interventions -- Summary -- Chapter 2: Water Availability -- Expanding the Perspective -- A Conceptual Shift to Incorporate Water for Ecosystems -- Introducing Soil Water into the Water Balance Equation -- Water Resource Estimates -- Summary -- Chapter 3: Human Water Requirements -- Household and Industrial Water Needs -- Distinguishing Between Water Use and Consumptive Water Use -- Current Green Water Requirements for Food Production -- Generic Human Water Requirements -- Additional Water Requirements to Feed Humanity by 2050 -- Summary -- Chapter 4: Incorporating Water for Ecosystem 'Services' -- Expanding the Water Paradigm -- Water Flows to Sustain Food Production -- Green Water Flows Are Sustaining Major Biomes -- Committed and Uncommitted Water Flows -- The Blue Water Bias Is Unwarranted -- Summary -- Chapter 5: Regional Differences -- The Green Water Perspective -- The Blue Water Perspective -- The Combined Perspective -- Summary -- Part 2: Closing Up on the Vulnerable Savanna Zone -- Chapter 6: Vulnerability of the Savanna Zone -- Drylands -- the Cradle of Mankind -- Savanna Agro-ecosystems -- A Most Difficult Challenge -- Hydroclimatic Challenges and Opportunities -- The Need to Distinguish Droughts and Dry Spells -- Summary -- Chapter 7: Water Perspectives on Feeding Humanity -- More Crop per Drop -- Can Irrigation Expansion Solve the Food Challenge? -- Potential to Increase Rainfed Production -- More Crop per Drop
摘要:This work exposes how water flow links nature and society through water's many parallel functions as the "blood stream" of both the natural environment and the embedded human environment - and the resulting conflicts that arise. The authors argue that a sustainable future depends fundamentally on our ability to manage these trade-offs. They advocate an ecological approach to land/water/environmental problems and argue for viewing precipitation as the gross water resource.; Distinguishing between terrestrial aquatic ecosystems, they show how an ecological approach can be expressed in water-related trade-offs, incorporating criteria for long-term resilience. Based on per capita needs for an acceptable nutritional diet, the authors analyse the amounts of water needed for global food production by 2050 and identify potential sources. Drawing on small-scale experiences in Africa and Asia, they also cover the vulnerability of the semi-arid tropics, disentangling it into green and blue water scarcity components.
