This book collects wide-ranging contributions such as case studies, reviews, reports on technological developments, outputs of research/studies, and examples of successful projects, presenting current knowledge and raising awareness to help the agriculture and forestry sectors find solutions for mitigating climate variability and adapting to change. It brings the topic of ecosystem services closer to education and learning, as targeted by the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020. Climate change and its impacts on agriculture and agroforestry have been observed across the world during the last 50 years. Increasing temperatures, droughts, biotic stresses and the impacts of extreme events have continuously decreased agroforestry systems’ resilience to the effects of climate change. As such, there is a need to adapt farming and agroforestry systems so as to make them better ableto handle ever-changing climate conditions, and to preserve habitats and ecosystems services.
Author Biography:
Paula Cristina Castro is currently an Invited Auxiliary Professor at the Department of Life Sciences of the University of Coimbra. She began her teaching activity in 1997, having taught several courses in the fields of Biology, Ecology, Environmental Management, Soil Ecology and Pollution, Environmental Impact Assessment, Integrated Management Systems, and Environmental Education. She is a Senior Researcher at the Centre for Functional Ecology, University of Coimbra and her main research interests include climate-resilient ecosystem’s services and sustainability (urban, agriculture, agroforestry), environmental education and the application of GIS as a tool for analysis and prediction of future scenarios and to support decision making in biodiversity, ecology and ecosystem management.
Anabela Marisa Azul is at Center of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra. Her investigation has being centred on understanding the mutual interactions between plant and fungi and their functional role in the sustainability in Mediterranean forests, fully engaging in participatory research. She is currently supporting the implementation of Translational Research that link health and life/environmental sciences, as well as actively promoting new research-education strategies that bring together the scientific community and the different social/ economical players. Her research interests include education research, science-art collaborations, and research & innovation that combine health and sustainability chains.
Walter Leal Filho (BSc, PhD, DSc, DPhil, DEd, DL, DLitt) is a Senior Professor and Head of the Research and Transfer Centre "Applications of Life Sciences" at Hamburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany, and Chair of Environment and Technology at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. He is the initiator of the Word Sustainable Development Symposia (WSSD-U)series, and chairs the Inter-University Sustainable Development Research Programme. Professor Leal Filho has written, co-written, edited or co-edited more than 300 publications, including books, book chapters and papers in refereed journals.
Ulisses M Azeiteiro is a Senior Professor and Coordinator of the Climate Change and Biodiversity Assets Unit from the Biology Department and Integrated Member/Senior Researcher of the Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) at University of Aveiro in Portugal. His main interests are the impacts of climate change in the marine environment (biology and ecology of global change) and adaptation to climate change in the context of sustainable development (social and environmental sustainability and climate change). Professor Azeiteiro has written, co-written, edited or co-edited more than 200 publications, including books (> 20), book chapters (> 50), special issues of scientific journals and papers in refereed journals ( 50 peer reviewed).
