Comments:
"While many others have addressed issues of ecosystem management, Layzer is one of the few to provide a comparative assessment of several cases by the same author, using the same analytical framework. This book is significant for several reasons. First, it provides useful information for seven intriguing cases. Layzer does this in a lively, informed style. Second, it provides important lessons for debates regarding issues such as the impact of collaborative planning and adaptive management. Third, it contributes to efforts to improve ecosystems." —William Lowry, Washington University in St. Louis

Comments:
(From the Publisher)

This volume takes the view that ecosystems and other complex systems are inherently discontinuous and that such fields as ecology, economics, and urban studies greatly benefit from this paradigm shift. Contributors present evidence of the ubiquity of discontinuous distributions in ecological and social systems and how their analysis provides insight into complex phenomena.