Through quiet meadows, rolling hills, leafy suburbia, industrial sites, and a changing London riverside, Mick Sinclair tracks the Thames from source to sea, documenting internationally-known landmarks such as Tower Bridge and Windsor Castle and revealing lesser known features such as Godstow Abbey, Canvey Island, the Sanford Lasher, and George Orwell's tranquil grave.

Rivers under Siege is a wrenching firsthand account of how human interventions, often well intentioned, have wreaked havoc on West Tennessee's fragile wetlands. For more than a century, farmers and developers tried to tame the rivers as they became clogged with sand and debris, thereby increasing flooding. Building levees and changing the course of the rivers from meandering streams to straight-line channels, developers only made matters worse. Yet the response to failure was always to try to subdue nature, to dig even bigger channels and construct even more levees-an effort that reached its sorry culmination in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' massive West Tennessee Tributaries Project during the 1960s. As a result, the rivers' natural hydrology descended into chaos, devastating the plant and animal ecology of the region's wetlands. Crops and trees died from summer flooding, as much of the land turned into useless, stagnant swamps. The author was one of a small group of state waterfowl managers who saw it all happen, most sadly within the Obion-Forked Deer river system and at Reelfoot Lake. After much trial and error, Johnson and his colleagues in the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency began by the 1980s to abandon their old methods, resorting to management procedures more in line with the natural contours of the floodplains and the natural behavior of rivers. Preaching their new stewardship philosophy to anyone who might listen-their supervisors, duck hunters, conservationists, politicians, federal agencies-they were often ignored. The campaign dragged on for twenty years before an innovative and rational plan came from the Governor's Office and gained wide support. But then, too, that plan fell prey to politics, legal wrangling, self-interest, hardheadedness, and tradition. Yet, despite such heartbreaking setbacks, the author points to hopeful signs that West Tennessee's historic wetlands might yet be recovered for the benefit of all who use them and recognize their vital importance. Jim W. Johnson, now retired, was for many years a lands management biologist with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. He was responsible for the overall supervision and coordination of thirteen wildlife management areas and refuges, primarily for waterfowl, in northwest Tennessee.

Twelve months of visits to a mountain lake tells more than twelve tales. The solitude found during a Wednesday in the winter is completely different than the chaos found on a Saturday in the summer. The seasons make one set of changes. We make the other. The combination produces a much more interesting set of experiences that can't be revealed in one visit or in a page of some guidebook.Barclay Lake sits about an hour northeast of Seattle on the soggy side of the Cascade Mountains. It is an easy hike within challenging terrain and is one of those rare places where the extremes of hiking can be found. Families can camp with kids and climbers can assault rocky spires.Different experiences give people different points of view. It is no wonder that debates about the environment and land-use are so complex and confusing. Barclay Lake is one place where those various points of view meet and conflict.

There is an increasing awareness that rivers need more room in order to safeguard flood safety under climate change conditions. Contemporary river management is creating room in the floodplains and allowing, within certain bounds, natural processes of sedimentation and erosion. One of the aims is to restore dynamic conditions, so as to get a sustainable and more diverse river ecosystem that can cope with floods. This new approach requires understanding of the interaction between the biotic and abiotic components of river systems. More specifically, it requires a better understanding of the interaction between flora and fauna and geomorphological factors. This is the object of investigation of the interdiscipline of biogeomorphology. Modelling biogeomorphological processes in river floodplains is the topic of this thesis.

The size and form of lakes regulate many general transport processes, such as sedimentation, resuspension, diffusion, mixing, burial and outflow. Lakes: Form and Function discusses how much of the variations among lakes in fundamental ecosystem characteristics may be related to lake morphometry, catchment area features, climatological factors and measurement uncertainties. The transport processes regulate many important variables, such as concentrations of phosphorus, suspended particulate matter, pH and color. These variables, in turn, affect primary production, which regulates secondary production, for example of zooplankton and fish. This book discusses such relationships using both empirical data and statistical analyses, and mechanistic principles and models. Researchers and students in limnology, as well as consultants and administrators interested in management and studies of lake systems, will enjoy reading this book. Lars Hakanson received his PhD in Physical Geography from Uppsala University, Sweden. He has written several papers and books related to recent sedimentological processes in lakes, rivers and coastal areas, to mass-balance modelling of radionuclides, nutrients and metals, to aquatic foodweb models and to water pollution.

Shark picks up where previous Adrenaline titles such as Rough Water and Deep Blue left off, with a collection focusing on man's terrifying interactions with one of the planet's most frightening beasts--an animal that arouses our most primal fears--fears that were recently brought to the surface by an outbreak of fatal attacks on this country's beaches. From novelists to sailors to oceanographers to divers, man's encounters with sharks have produced a diverse body of gripping, often inspired writing by great names in adventure literature. Along with 16 black-and-white photos, selections feature a wide range of work with an emphasis on thrills and chills, including Peter Matthiessen on the great white shark, Edward Marriott on hunting man-eaters off Nicaragua, Richard Fernicola's account of the 1916 shark attacks that inspired Peter Benchley's Jaws, and Jacques Cousteau's studies of the creatures.

Encompassing habitats as diverse as alpine forests and subtropical swamps, the Mid-Atlantic region has a richly diverse fish fauna. Outside of the important sport and commercial species, however, few are known to the average person. This book provides information on how to identify some 260 species of freshwater fish, from the largemouth bass to the rosyside dace.

Illustrated with more than 200 color photographs, most by James Parnell, this guide provides a detailed description of each species as well as notes on its distribution and abundance, habitat, and natural history (diet, spawning habits, growth, and so forth). Range maps show the distribution of each species. Of particular interest in this time of heightened awareness of environmental degradation are the many references to threatened and endangered species and the effects of deteriorating water quality on their survival.

In this social and ecological account of the Chicago River, Libby Hill tells the story of how a sluggish waterway emptying into Lake Michigan became central to the creation of Chicago as a major metropolis and transportation hub. This widely acclaimed volume weaves the perspectives of science, engineering, commerce, politics, economics, and the natural world into a chronicle of the river from its earliest geologic history through its repeated adaptations to the city that grew up around it. While explaining the river's role in massive public works, such as drainage and straightening, designed to address the infrastructure needs of a growing population, Hill focuses on the synergy between the river and the people of greater Chicago, whether they be the tribal cultures that occupied the land after glacial retreat, the first European inhabitants, or more recent residents. In the first edition, Hill brought together years of original research and the contributions of dozens of experts to tell the Chicago River's story up until 2000. This revised edition features discussions of disinfection, Asian carp, green strategies, the evolution of the Chicago Riverwalk, and the river's rejuvenation. It also explores how earlier solutions to problems challenge today's engineers, architects, environmentalists, and public policy agencies as they address contemporary issues. Revealing the river to be a microcosm of the uneasy relationship between nature and civilization, The Chicago River offers the tools and knowledge for the city's residents to be champions on the river's behalf.

A presentation of key findings and insights from over two decades of research, education, and community engagement in the acclaimed Baltimore Ecosystem Study In a world of more than seven billion people-who mostly reside in cities and towns-the Baltimore Ecosystem Study is recognized as a pioneer in modern urban social-ecological science. After two decades of research, education, and community engagement, there are insights to share, generalizations to examine, and research needs to highlight. This timely volume synthesizes the key findings, melds the perspectives of different disciplines, and celebrates the benefits of interacting with diverse communities and institutions in improving Baltimore's ecology. These widely applicable insights from Baltimore contribute to our understanding the ecology of other cities, provide a comparison for the global process of urbanization, and inform establishment of urban ecological research elsewhere. Comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and highly original, it gives voice to the wide array of specialists who have contributed to this living urban laboratory.

Bridget MacCaskill has been observing otters for many years and studies undertaken with her late husband Don resulted in books and a film about otters and their environment. Otters are fascinating and delightful creatures but to watch them in their natural habitat requires immense patience over a long period of time and an appreciation of their way of life. For those of us who wish to know more, this book presents an intimate account of an extended otter family. It is written in the form of a story by an unseen observer and tells of the lives of two otter cubs from birth until adulthood, their relationship with their parents and the other otter family on the loch, and their interaction with some of the other creatures there. Enter Coll and Coire, Kyle and Kelpie. All the events in this book are based on actual observation, either from watching the animals themselves or by interpreting signs of their presence. The result is a book that is true to nature and not in the least sentimental. But it conveys a serious message - we must be aware of the need to minimize pollution, disruption of habitat and other harmful intrusions if we are to benefit from the presence of these wonderful creatures. The book should appeal to everyone with an interest in otters and all lovers of wildlife and the natural landscape.

The Colorado River Basin's importance cannot be overstated. Its living river system supplies water to roughly forty million people, contains Grand Canyon National Park, Bears Ears National Monument, and wide swaths of other public lands, and encompasses ancestral homelands of twenty-nine Native American tribes. John Wesley Powell, a one-armed Civil War veteran, explorer, scientist, and adept federal administrator, articulated a vision for Euro-American colonization of the "Arid Region" that has indelibly shaped the basin-a pattern that looms large not only in western history, but also in contemporary environmental and social policy. One hundred and fifty years after Powell's epic 1869 Colorado River Exploring Expedition, this volume revisits Powell's vision, examining its historical character and its relative influence on the Colorado River Basin's cultural and physical landscape in modern times. In three parts, the volume unpacks Powell's ideas on water, public lands, and Native Americans-ideas at once innovative, complex, and contradictory. With an eye toward climate change and a host of related challenges facing the basin, the volume turns to the future, reflecting on how-if at all-Powell's legacy might inform our collective vision as we navigate a new "Great Unknown."

Who would have guessed that a small province could hold so many falls? Overall, New Brunswick is home to more than 1,000 waterfalls -- some remote, and some surprisingly accessible. Spilling over an incredible range of ancient geological terrain, each of the fifty-five waterfalls photographed for this richly illustrated volume is complemented by descriptoins, directions, and background information on each site. Guitard's photographs are composed with an eye to the diversity and particular beauty and geological situation of each watercourse. A map locates each waterfall. Spanning all five regions of New Brunswick (Acadian Coastal, Appalachian Range, River Valley Scenic, Fundy Coastal, and Miramichi River), there's something for everyone -- you may even want to strap on your backpack and head out to experience them yourself.

An Atlantic BestsellerNova Scotia is blessed with numerous must-see waterfalls, and this volume from self-described "waterfall addict" Benoit Lalonde brings together 100 of the province's best.Conveniently categorized by the government of Nova Scotia scenic route system, this rich compendium includes famous waterfalls such as Garden of Eden Fall, Wentworth Falls, Cuties Hollow, Annandale Falls and Butcher Hill Falls, as well as lesser-known but easy to locate gems. In addition to providing useful information on the height, type, and hiking distance of each waterfall, their degree of difficulty to reach is also assessed for the convenience of both novice and advanced hikers alike.Featuring gorgeous colour photographs and individual maps of each location, Waterfalls of Nova Scotia offers an invaluable reference as well as a tribute to the beauty of the falls and the natural splendour waiting to be discovered.

Thirty years ago, the best thinking on urban stream management prescribed cement as the solution to flooding and other problems of people and flowing water forced into close proximity. Urban streams were perceived as little more than flood control devices designed to hurry water through cities and neighborhoods with scant thought for aesthetics or ecological considerations. Stream restoration pioneers like hydrologist Ann Riley thought differently. She and other like-minded field scientists imagined that by restoring ecological function, and with careful management, streams and rivers could be a net benefit to cities, instead of a net liability. In the intervening decades, she has spearheaded numerous urban stream restoration projects and put to rest the long-held misconception that degraded urban streams are beyond help. What has been missing, however, is detailed guidance for restoration practitioners wanting to undertake similar urban stream restoration projects that worked with, rather than against, nature. This book presents the author's thirty years of practical experience managing long-term stream and river restoration projects in heavily degraded urban environments. Riley provides a level of detail only a hands-on design practitioner would know, including insights on project design, institutional and social context of successful projects, and how to avoid costly and time-consuming mistakes. Early chapters clarify terminology and review strategies and techniques from historical schools of restoration thinking. But the heart of the book comprises the chapters containing nine case studies of long-term stream restoration projects in northern California. Although the stories are local, the principles, methods, and tools are universal, and can be applied in almost any city in the world.