Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction to Biological and environmental hazards, risks, and disasters / Ramesh Sivanpillai -- Algal blooms / Suzanne McGowan -- Large-scale grasshopper infestations on North American rangeland and crops / Scott P. Schell -- Locusts : an introduction / Jeffrey A. Lockwood -- The Australian plague locust : risk and response / Chris Adriaansen, James D. Woodman, Edward Deveson, and V. Alistair Drake -- Desert locust / Keith Cressman -- Other locusts / Ramesh Sivanpillai -- Decline of bees and other pollinators / Norman Carreck -- Bark beetle-induced forest mortality in the North American Rocky Mountains / Kevin Hyde, Scott Peckham, Thomas Holmes and Brent Ewers -- Novel approaches for reversible field releases of candidate weed biological control agents : putting the genie back into the bottle / James P. Cuda -- Animal hazards : their nature and distribution / Rachel M. Cavin and David R. Butler -- Loss of biodiversity : concerns and threats / Robert M. May -- Chronic environmental diseases : burdens, causes, and response / Kirsten M.M. Beyer -- Land degradation and environmental change / Paolo D'Odorico and Sujith Ravi -- Desertification / John Oswald and Sarah Harris -- Grassland degradation / Abbey F. Wick, Benjamin A. Geaumont, Kevin K. Sedivec and John R. Hendrickson -- Land degradation in rangeland ecosystems / Jay P. Angerez, William E. Fox and June E. Wolfe -- Deforestation / Richard A. Houghton -- Deforestation in Southeast Asia / Edgar C. Turner and Jake L. Snaddon -- Deforestation in Nepal : causes, consequences, and responses / Ram P. Chaudhary, Yadav Uprety and Sagar Kumar Rimal -- Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon / Tim Boekhout van Solinge -- Ecological impacts of climate change / George P. Malanson and Kathryn J. Alftine -- Meteor impact hazard / René A. De Hon.

Biological and Environmental Hazards, Risks, and Disasters provides an integrated look at major impacts to the Earth's biosphere. Many of these are caused by diseases, algal blooms, insects, animals, species extinction, deforestation, land degradation, and comet and asteroid strikes that have important implications for humans. This volume, from Elsevier's Hazards and Disasters Series, provides an in-depth view of threats, ranging from microscopic organisms to celestial objects. Perspectives from both natural and social sciences provide an in-depth understanding of potential impacts.