a r t i c l e i n f o A recent paper (Ecological Economics 69, 2010, pp. 1604–1609) has addressed the issues of dimensional homo-geneity of equations and non-linear transformations of variables in economic and ecological economic models. The authors argued that logarithmic transformation cannot be used when variables are dimensional, presented several examples of purportedly incorrect use in ap...

Although secondary metabolites with antimicrobial and other bioactivities are explored extensively, the natural or ecological role(s) of secondary metabolites is not yet clearly known. We review here the different hypotheses for the ecological role of antibiotics, with particular focus on the genus Streptomyces which is unparalleled in the richness of secondary metabolites. We first lay down ou...

Most rural development projects include ecological considerations, and most conservation projects include some reference to sustainable development. However, conservation projects frequently fail because they do not incorporate local communities' perceptions and needs. Many development projects are also unsuccessful because they are not based on adequate ecological assessment. We focus here on ...

Hyperaccumulators are plants that accumulate toxic elements to extraordinary levels. Selenium (Se) hyperaccumulators can contain 0.1-1.5% of their dry weight as Se, levels toxic to most other organisms. In this review we summarise what is known about the ecological functions and implications of Se (hyper)accumulation by plants. Selenium promotes hyperaccumulator growth and also offers a plant s...

An increasing amount of information is being collected on the ecological and socio-economic value of goods and services provided by natural and semi-natural ecosystems. However, much of this information appears scattered throughout a disciplinary academic literature, unpublished government agency reports, and across the World Wide Web. In addition, data on ecosystem goods and services often app...

This study analyzes the primary factors influencing farmers’ awareness of ecosystem services. This study, through questionnaires, conducts research on farmers’ awareness of and demand for ecosystem service functions. The research encapsulates 156 households from 21 groups of villagers in the Guangxi Karst Ecological Immigration District in China. The results of the factors influencing farmers’ ...