First Published in 1998. This important work looks at an alternative approach to resource production systems, taking the view that many environmental problems associated withconventional resource management are avoidable if we work with nature, instead of trying to dominate it. Jordan argues that achieving sustainability in production systems is best accomplished by encouraging a change in the relationship between humans and nature-from one of exploitation through control to one of sustainability through cooperation.

Carl F. Jordan is a senior ecologist at the University of Georgia's Institute of Ecology, in Athens. For more than 25 years, he and his students have studied nutrient cycles in tropical ecosystems, and the impact of forestry and agriculture.

INTRODUCTION 1 THE RATCHET EFFECT 2 THE PROBLEM OF SCALE 3 AN ALTERNATIVE PHILOSOPHY 4 THE BOTTOMS-UP APPROACH 5 PLANT-PLANT INTERACTIONS 6 INTERACTIONS IN THE SOIL