Authored by world-class scientists and scholars, the Handbook of Natural Resources, Second Edition, is an excellent reference for understanding the consequences of changing natural resources to the degradation of ecological integrity and the sustainability of life. Based on the content of the bestselling and CHOICE awarded Encyclopedia of Natural Resources, this new edition demonstrates the major challenges that the society is facing for the sustainability of all wellbeing on planet Earth. The experience, evidence, methods, and models used in studying natural resources are presented in six stand-alone volumes, arranged along the main systems: land, water, and air. It reviews state-of-the-art knowledge, highlights advances made in different areas, and provides guidance for the appropriate use of remote sensing data in the study of natural resources on a global scale. The six volumes in this set cover: Terrestrial Ecosystems and Biodiversity; Landscape and Land Capacity; Wetlands and Habitats; Fresh Water and Watersheds; Coastal and Marine Environments; and finally Atmosphere and Climate. Written in an easy-to-reference manner, the Handbook of Natural Resources, Second Edition, as a complete set, is essential for anyone looking for a deeper understanding of the science and management of natural resources. Public and private libraries, educational and research institutions, scientists, scholars, and resource managers will benefit enormously from this set. Individual volumes and chapters can also be used in a wide variety of both graduate and undergraduate courses in environmental science and natural science courses at different levels and disciplines, such as biology, geography, Earth system science, ecology, etc.

Ponds and pools are a common feature of our landscape – there are at least ten times as many ponds as lakes in the UK – and they are also important wildlife habitats. This book provides a comprehensive and detailed account of these freshwater habitats. The first chapter discusses what ponds, pools and puddles are, how they differ from rivers and lakes, their origin – natural or man-made, the different types of ponds and their abundance and distribution in Britain. A second chapter looks at ponds as ancient natural habitats that have existed for millennia on the earth’s surface. Ancient pond communities, as preserved in inter- and post-glacial sediments, are compared with modern pond communities. This chapter also examines the physical and chemical environment of ponds, covering aspects such as size, shape and depth, hydrology, oxygen and temperature. Ponds, pools and puddles are important wildlife habitats; they are as rich in species as rivers, and support rare and uncommon taxa including about half of Britain’s Red Data Book wetland plant and animal species. The authors give a comprehensive survey of the variety of plant and animal life for which ponds, pools and puddles are a habitat, with a chapter each on plants, invertebrates, amphibians, and fish, birds and mammals. The book discusses the importance of ponds to each of these groups and the ways in which the organisms exploit ponds, describing their habitats and major variations in life cycles. The pond ecosystem and colonisation and succession are discussed in two further chapters, before the final chapter, which is devoted to the subject of conservation and how best to protect and manage ponds and pond wildlife in Britain today. In spite of their evident importance, ponds have been largely ignored by freshwater biologists during this century. Ponds, Pools and Puddles makes an invaluable contribution to raising awareness of these popular, yet frequently underrated freshwater habitats, giving them the attention they rightly deserve.

Imagine a ferocious marine hunter up to 20 metres long, weighing twice as much as a humpback whale and ten times more than Tyrannosaurus rex. With jaws that open three metres wide, crammed with 276 serrated fangs, it can bite down with the greatest force of any animal that has ever lived. This is the Megalodon, and it once existed 3 million years ago. Next to the dinosaurs, wiped out 66 million years ago, it is but a stone's throw into our murky past when monsters reigned. Its name means 'giant tooth' but everything about it is gigantic: its exceptional lifespan, each stalking the ocean deep for more than a century, and its pups, born at more than two metres long, having likely eaten their siblings in the womb. Marking a milestone in paleontology, in Big Meg acclaimed conservationist, palaeontologist and explorer Tim Flannery and his scientist daughter Emma tell the story of this enthralling great shark for the first time - what we know about where and how it lived, bred, hunted and died. He also shows how it continues to fascinate us. Despite its extinction, the big meg continues to kill a few humans each year: its victims those who dive in murky and dangerous waters in search of its glorious, magnetically beautiful relics. From the stories we tell about it, to the quest to uncover more of the mystery surrounding it, this is the biography of the ultimate apex predator and a compelling exploration of its awesome grip on the human imagination today.

Introducing the Collins Modern Classics, a series featuring some of the most significant books of recent times, books that shed light on the human experience - classics which will endure for generations to come. What if intelligent life on earth not only evolved on land, but also in the sea? Other Minds is a bold new story of how nature became aware of itself - a story that largely occurs in the ocean, where animals first appeared. Tracking the mind's fitful development over millennia, Other Minds explores the incredible evolutionary journey of the cephalopods. What kind of intelligence do they possess? And how did the octopus, a solitary creature with little social life, become so smart? Heralded as the 'scuba-diving philosopher' when Other Minds first published, Peter Godfrey-Smith explores the underwater world and the concept of sentience to trace the question of inner life back to its roots. By comparing human beings with our most remarkable animal relatives, Other Minds casts crucial new light on the octopus mind - and on our own.

BBC R4 Book of the Week 'Brilliant' Guardian 'Fascinating and often delightful' The Times What if intelligent life on Earth evolved not once, but twice? The octopus is the closest we will come to meeting an intelligent alien. What can we learn from the encounter? In Other Minds, Peter Godfrey-Smith, a distinguished philosopher of science and a skilled scuba diver, tells a bold new story of how nature became aware of itself - a story that largely occurs in the ocean, where animals first appeared. Tracking the mind's fitful development from unruly clumps of seaborne cells to the first evolved nervous systems in ancient relatives of jellyfish, he explores the incredible evolutionary journey of the cephalopods, which began as inconspicuous molluscs who would later abandon their shells to rise above the ocean floor, searching for prey and acquiring the greater intelligence needed to do so - a journey completely independent from the route that mammals and birds would later take. But what kind of intelligence do cephalopods possess? How did the octopus, a solitary creature with little social life, become so smart? What is it like to have eight tentacles that are so packed with neurons that they virtually 'think for themselves'? By tracing the question of inner life back to its roots and comparing human beings with our most remarkable animal relatives, Godfrey-Smith casts crucial new light on the octopus mind - and on our own.

About seventy-one per cent of the Earth's surface is water, and even on dry land we remain closely connected to aquatic life. It provides us with oxygen, food, medicine and materials. Wild waterlife infiltrates our lives in many surprising ways. Every other breath we take is filled with oxygen provided by ocean-dwelling microscopic plants. A type of seaweed provides a means to directly test whether people are infected with viruses, including Covid-19. Robotics design takes inspiration from a pike's ability to accelerate with greater g-force than a Porsche. Wild Waters by Susanne Masters is a celebration of the breadth of wildlife that can be found in and around our varied waterways, from oceans and rivers to rock pools and ponds. Armchair explorers can read a fascinating account of how aquatic plants and animals enrich human life. Swimmers, paddleboarders, dog walkers, families and anyone with a passion for the great outdoors can learn about local wildlife, including when and where to look for different species without causing any harm. With stunning illustrations by Alice Goodridge, Wild Waters provides a tantalising insight into the world beneath the surface.

This is the most up-to-date guide to the management of coastal waters.Some of the world's most important bodies of water, from the Black Sea to the Bay of Bengal, are classified as 'semi-enclosed marine systems' (SEMS). Separated from the open seas by a strait, island archipelago, or physical process, SEMS are particularly vulnerable to environmental damage and particularly difficult to fully understand and manage."Watersheds, Bays, and Bounded Seas" provides state-of-the-science information about these complex systems and identifies best management practices to preserve them. With contributions by natural and social scientists, the book examines both the political and biophysical forces affecting semi-enclosed marine systems.SEMS comprise a substantial portion of the coasts - areas with high population density - and we rely on them for often-competing services such as navigation and transport, disposal of waste, provision of food, extraction of minerals, and leisure. The book describes how human activities could irrevocably alter these fragile ecosystems, exploring threats from runoff to climate change. It also addresses the unique challenges of managing SEMS, including cooperation between multiple nations.

The definitive field guide to all the sharks, rays and chimaeras of the European Atlantic and Mediterranean The waters of the northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea are home to an amazing variety of sharks, rays and chimaeras. This comprehensive and easy-to-use field guide covers all 146 species found in the Mediterranean, the waters of the European Atlantic and Iceland, along all the Scandinavian coasts, in the Black Sea and as far south as the Canary Islands. Detailed species accounts describe key identification features, habitat, biology and status. Every species account comes with a colour distribution map, a depth guide, at-a-glance icons and colour illustrations. This must-have field guide also features illustrated key guides that enable you to accurately identify down to species, comparison plates of similar species, illustrations of eggcases where known and plates of teeth. The first field guide to cover all 146 species Features hundreds of colour illustrations, photos, maps and diagrams Describes key features, habitat, biology and status Includes depth guides, at-a-glance icons, key guides and teeth plates

Protozoa may be found in almost every aquatic habitat, each containing dozens of species. The diversity can provide invaluable insights into the nature of the habitat. Protozoa can thus be used to illustrate biological principles. This colour guide makes the identification of individual protozoa easily accessible to students and professionals and provides information on protozoan communities found in different environments by means of a wealth of colour photomicrographs supported by original and detailed line drawings and concise text. The guide has been welcomed by professional practitioners, researchers and instructors, by graduate, undergraduate and secondary level students, in a wide range of disciplines, for its clarity in providing a logical system for learning and recognition, the first step towards understanding and using the protozoan community as a biological indicator of environmental change, pollution and contamination.

Winner of the Marsh Book of the Year Award (2015) Throughout British history rivers have been of profound economic, social and cultural importance - yet as we see with increasing frequency they have the potential to wreak great destruction. This book describes the natural and not-so-natural changes that have affected British rivers since the last ice age and looks at the many plants and animals that live along, above and within them. Detailed case studies of the Meon, Dee and Endrick illustrate the incredibly varied nature of our river ecosystems, and the natural and human factors that make each one different. Written by two widely respected river ecologists, the book looks not only at rivers as they were and are but also at how they can be managed and cared for. Full of interesting facts and stunning images, Rivers is essential reading for anyone professionally involved in rivers and for the naturalist, conservationist and layman alike. It is the one book you need to understand this singularly important and often contentious feature of the British landscape.

- draws on the expertise of marine researchers from across the natural and social sciences - examines how the tools of transdisciplinarity can be used to return us to a sustainable co-existence with the ocean - draws on case studies from the nexus of the research and practices of engagement with a variety of stakeholder groups around the globe - will be of great interest to students and scholars studying marine science and ocean research across the natural and social sciences - will also be of interest to those looking to build a greater understanding of transdisciplinary research and knowledge co-production

On rocky coastlines, receding tides leave standing pools that have long held a fascination for the amateur seashore naturalist, revealing glimpses of colourful and curious marine plants and animals. Animal diversity is far greater in the sea than in terrestrial or freshwater habitats, and the hugely varied fauna of rock pools reflects that fact. Rock pools also undergo dramatic shifts in temperature, salinity and pH, making such habitats crucibles of adaptation and change. This Naturalists' Handbook offers a comprehensive introduction to this captivating world, with chapters covering rock-pool ecology, seaweeds, animals, identification and guidelines for possible fieldwork and further study. Also presented are detailed keys to all the main groups likely to be encountered when rockpooling around Britain and Ireland - from sea squirts to chitons, from anemones to sea spiders, from amphipods to fishes. Rock pools is an indispensable tool in discovering these kaleidoscopic habitats and their multitudinous inhabitants.

From the author of the international Bestseller Breath Covering a diving championship in Greece on a hot and sticky assignment for Outside magazine, James Nestor discovered free diving. He had stumbled on one of the most extreme sports in existence: a quest to extend the frontiers of human experience, in which divers descend without breathing equipment, for hundreds of feet below the water, for minutes after they should have died from lack of oxygen. Sometimes they emerge unconscious, or bleeding from the nose and ears, and sometimes they don't come up at all. The free divers were Nestor's way into an exhilarating and dangerous world of deep-sea pioneers, underwater athletes, scientists, spear fishermen, billionaires and ordinary men and women who are poised on the brink of some amazing discoveries about the ocean. Soon he was visiting the scientists who live 60ft underwater (and are permanently high on nitrous dioxide), swimming with the notorious man-eating sharks of Reunion and descending thousands of feet in a homemade submarine. And on the way down, he learnt about the amazing amphibious reflexes activated in the human body under deep-water conditions, why dolphins were injected with LSD in an attempt to teach them to talk, and why sharks like AC/DC. The sea covers seventy per cent of Earth's surface, and still contains answers to questions about the world we are only beginning to ask: Deep blends science and adventure to uncover its amazing secrets.

Discusses the importance, threats, and management of biodiversity of freshwater ecosystems Provides detailed coverage of modern and updated techniques used in the evaluation and conservation of freshwater biodiversity Looks at the impact of pesticides pollution on freshwater environs on aquatic and terrestrial life Reviews how global climate change affects freshwater biodiversity

The meeting of Aquatic Noise 2013 will introduce participants to the most recent research data, regulatory issues and thinking about effects of man-made noise and will foster critical cross-disciplinary discussion between the participants. Emphasis will be on the cross-fertilization of ideas and findings across species and noise sources. As with its predecessor, The Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life: 3rd International Conference will encourage discussion of the impact of underwater sound, its regulation and mitigation of its effects. With over 100 contributions from leading researchers, a wide range of sources of underwater sound will be considered. 

Echinoderms are an ancient and diverse group of marine animals with a rich fossil record. They occur abundantly in all modern oceans and at all depths, where they contribute importantly to patterns in biodiversity and to the structure and functioning of marine systems. It is therefore vital to understand how they will respond to a rapidly changing ocean climate and other anthropogenic stressors, informed by both the dynamics of the fossil record and responses of extant species. The theme of the 13th International Echinoderm Conference (Hobart, Tasmania, 5-9 January 2009) was the response of echinoderms to global change. Echinoderms in a Changing World contains a selection of plenary and contributed papers, and a comprehensive presentation of abstracts of all oral papers and posters. The collection will be useful to all students of echinoderm biology, ecology and palaeontology, from undergraduate level to professional researchers.

Authored by world-class scientists and scholars, The Handbook of Natural Resources, Second Edition, is an excellent reference for understanding the consequences of changing natural resources to the degradation of ecological integrity and the sustainability of life. Based on the content of the bestselling and CHOICE-awarded Encyclopedia of Natural Resources, this new edition demonstrates the major challenges that the society is facing for the sustainability of all well-being on the planet Earth. The experience, evidence, methods, and models used in studying natural resources are presented in six stand-alone volumes, arranged along the main systems of land, water, and air. It reviews state-of-the-art knowledge, highlights advances made in different areas, and provides guidance for the appropriate use of remote sensing and geospatial data with field-based measurements in the study of natural resources. Volume 3, Wetlands and Habitats, provides fundamental information on wetlands and their integral functions as a productive ecosystem. The topics it covers include wetlands biodiversity, wetlands classification and monitoring, floods, river ecosystems, pollution, and more. New to this edition are discussions on wetland vegetation, assessment of current wetland health status, restoration, sea-level rises and coastal storm, vulnerability to human impacts, and lakes and wetlands remote sensing. This volume demonstrates the key processes, methods, and models used through many case studies from around the world. Written in an easy-to-reference manner, The Handbook of Natural Resources, Second Edition, as individual volumes or as a complete set, is an essential reading for anyone looking for a deeper understanding of the science and management of natural resources. Public and private libraries, educational and research institutions, scientists, scholars, and resource managers will benefit enormously from this set. Individual volumes and chapters can also be used in a wide variety of both graduate and undergraduate courses in environmental science and natural science at different levels and disciplines, such as biology, geography, earth system science, and ecology.

A quick fish identification guide for divers and snorkellers in the Maldives and wider Indian Ocean region. A perfect guide to check on those mystery fishes seen during dives. Symbols highlight points of interest and differences between similar species. The Fish Field Guide Maldives is compact, easy to use and is designed to assist in field work and conservation initiatives. A companion guide to the book Fishes of the Maldives, Indian Ocean.

The first edition of the widely praised Marine Protected Areas for Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises, published in 2005, led to numerous new marine protected area proposals and a number of notable conservation successes around the world.

In this completely revised and expanded second edition, new developments in the Mediterranean, Caribbean and Pacific are described, as well as future directions for High Seas protection. New sections show how to design and manage Marine Protected Areas (MPA's) in an ever noisier ocean subject to climate change, increased shipping and hydrocarbon exploration. The process of protected area creation for cetaceans has been accelerated and more than 200 exciting new places are detailed in this edition. This book provides a route map for MPA managers, as well as countries, to meet the ambitious targets for highly protected MPA networks by 2012 and 2020.

Marine Protected Areas for Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises is a key conservation tool and a springboard for worldwide change in human attitudes toward the world ocean where all life originated and where the majority of life on Earth still lives.

Biology of Sharks and Their Relatives is an award-winning and groundbreaking exploration of the fundamental elements of the taxonomy, systematics, physiology, and ecology of sharks, skates, rays, and chimera. This edition presents current research as well as traditional models, to provide future researchers with solid historical foundations in shark research as well as presenting current trends from which to develop new frontiers in their own work. Traditional areas of study such as age and growth, reproduction, taxonomy and systematics, sensory biology, and ecology are updated with contemporary research that incorporates emerging techniques including molecular genetics, exploratory techniques in artificial insemination, and the rapidly expanding fields of satellite tracking, remote sensing, accelerometry, and imaging. With two new editors and 90 contributors from the US, UK, South Africa, Portugal, France, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, India, Palau, United Arab Emirates, Micronesia, Sweden, Argentina, Indonesia, Cameroon, and the Netherlands, this third edition is the most global and comprehensive yet. It adds six new chapters representing extensive studies of health, stress, disease and pathology, and social structure, and continues to explore elasmobranch ecological roles and interactions with their habitats. The book concludes with a comprehensive review of conservation policies, management, and strategies, as well as consideration of the potential effects of impending climate change. Presenting cohesive and integrated coverage of key topics and discussing technological advances used in modern shark research, this revised edition offers a well-rounded picture for students and researchers.

Reflecting increased interest in the field and its relevance in global environmental issues, Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review, Volume 47 provides authoritative reviews that summarize results of recent research in basic areas of marine research, exploring topics of special and topical importance while adding to new areas as they arise. This volume, part of a series that regards the all marine sciences as a complete unit, features contributions from experts involved in biological, chemical, geological, and physical aspects of marine science. These features along with the inclusion of a full color insert and an extensive reference list, make the text an essential reference for researchers and students in all fields of marine science.

Based on research in Bolinao, this book assesses the importance of small-scale disturbance by burrowing shrimps. It covers the distribution of burrowing shrimp disturbance, the behavior of the snapping shrimp Alpheus macellarius in situ and as observed from tank experiments, and the effects of short-term burial and leaf clipping on the growth patterns of the dominant seagrass Thalassia hemprichii. The book examines the role of bioturbation by burrowing shrimps in seagrass meadows, foraging strategies of A. macellarius and its mutualistic symbiosis with Cryptocentrus spp., shrimp disturbance and T. hemprichii, and small-scale disturbance and large-scale dynamics.