This book focuses on sediments as a pollutant in natural freshwater and marine habitats, and as a vector for the transfer of chemicals such as nutrients and contaminants. Sediment-water research is carried out all over the world within a variety of disciplines. The selected papers cover three main topics relating to assessment and/or restoration of disturbed watersheds, sediment-water linkages in terrestrial and aquatic environments and evaluation of sediment and ecological changes in marine and freshwater habitats. Innovative research in both developed and less developed countries is included. Both fundamental research, insight into applied research and system management are covered. The volume will also appeal to readers involved in sediment geochemistry and dynamics, aquatic habitats, water quality, aquatic ecology, river morphology, restoration techniques and catchment management.

The marine environment has been, and continues to be, a fruitful source of novel chemical compounds that are not found in terrestrial and freshwater organisms. Many of these substances show potential biomedical applications, which could lead to development of new pharmaceutical products. Research on the utilization of natural products from marine organisms is growing by leaps and bounds; one important reason why being that, investigators, through new diving technologies, are becoming able to explore at greater depths. Studies of these marine natural products include investigations of neuronal membrane-active toxins, ion channel blockers, antitumor and antiviral agents, and anti-inflammatory molecules. This volume is the sixth in the ongoing series.

Providing a synthesis of basic and applied research, The Everglades, Florida Bay, and Coral Reefs of the Florida Keys: An Ecosystem Sourcebook takes an encyclopedic look at how to study and manage ecosystems connected by surface and subsurface water movements. The book examines the South Florida hydroscape, a series of ecosystems linked by hydrology in a region of intense human development and profound modifications to the natural environment.

The book presents scientific studies in the South Florida Hydroscape, discusses policy and management by government and nonprofit groups, and explores how the whole watershed approach must be used to successfully protect coral reefs. The contributions range from the traditional to the controversial, questioning current management schemes and summarizing the results of state-of-the-art research.

Billions of dollars, countless man-hours, and innumerable resources have been spent studying the various South Florida ecosystems and how they are linked. The Everglades, Florida Bay, and Coral Reefs of the Florida Keys: An Ecosystem Sourcebook shows you how the principles learned in this region can be applied to other tropical and subtropical hydroscapes.

While the reality of the taxon Turbellaria has been called into question lately, turbellarians are nevertheless the subject of active research by a sizable group of biologists. Turbellarians are relatives of the major groups of parasitic platyhelminthes - monogeneans, digeneans, and tapeworms - and most are free-living. Because the ancestors to the major parasitic groups would be classified as turbellarians, strict application of princi- ples of phylogenetic systematics dictates that the Turbellaria is not properly considered a separate taxon; i. e. , it is, in the parlance of systematics, a paraphyletic group. The relationships of turbellarians to other inver- tebrates are even more problematic than their relationships to other platyhelminthes; their relatively simple morphology has been variously interpreted as quintessentially primitive - meaning a turbellarian-like ances- tor would have given rise to most of the major groups of invertebrates - or as secondary simplification, meaning they would essentially be a dead-end group. Modern research on turbellarians covers a broad spectrum. Questions of phylogenetics have inspired ultrastructural studies; the simply structured nervous systems of turbellarians make them good subjects for neurophysiology; simplicity of their tissue structure and the limited number of cell types make them good subjects of embryological and regeneration studies; they are emerging as iIIJ. portant indicator species in ecolo- gy; and improvements in biochemical methodology have meant they are at last amenable - despite their small size - to molecular biological study.

The Middle Parana river is one of the largest in the world. Exceptionally rich in fauna and flora, it provides researchers with a glimpse into an ecosystem yet undisturbed by human civilization. This fascinating book covers all the key aspects of the Parana s fluvial limnology and ecology, arranged in discrete and easily navigable sections. First, the physical and chemical environment is explained, then the river s plant life, followed by its invertebrate life, and finally the vertebrates that inhabit the river.

Crater Lake is located in the caldera of Mount Mazama in Crater Lake National Park, Oregon. The lake has a surface area of about 53 km2 at an elevation of 1882 m and a maximum depth of 594 m a" seventh deepest in the world. Limited studies of this ultraoligotrophic lake conducted between 1896 and 1981, lead to a 10-year limnological study to evaluate any potential degradation of water quality. No long-term variations in water quality were observed that could be attributed to anthropogenic activity. Building on the success of this study, a permanent limnological program has been established with a long-term monitoring program to insure a reliable data base for use in the future. Of equal importance, this program serves as a research platform to develop and communicate to the public a better understanding of the coupled biological, physical, and geochemical processes in the lake and its surrounding environment.

This special volume represents our current state of knowledge of the status of this pristine ecosystem including its special optical properties, algal nutrient limitations, pelagic bacteria, and models of the inter-relationships of thermal properties, nutrients, phytoplankton, deep-water mixing, and water budgets.

Our understanding of the ecology of running waters has come a long way during the past few years. From being a largely descriptive subject, with a few under tones concerned with such things as fisheries, pollution or control of blackflies, it has evolved into a discipline with hypotheses, such as the River Continuum Concept (Vannote et a/. 1980), and even a book suggesting that it offers opportunity for the testing of ecological theory (Barnes & Minshall 1983). However, perusal of the literature reveals that, although some of the very early studies were concerned with large rivers (references in Hynes 1970), the great mass of the work that has been done on running water has been on streams and small rivers, and information on larger rivers is either on such limited topics as fisheries or plankton, scattered among the journals, or not available to the general limnologist. The only exceptions are a few books in this series of publications, such as those on the Nile (Rz6ska 1976), the Volga (Morduckai Boltovskoi 1979) and the Amazon {Sioli 1984), and the recent compendium by Whitton (1984) on European rivers, among which there are a few that rate as large."

The extraordinary ability of dolphins to echolocate has fascinated scientists and the public since its discovery in the late 1950's. This is the first book to summarize modern research in this area, and presents a broad synthesis of this very interdisciplinary subject. The author is an internationally-recognized expert on dolphin sonar and is thus in a unique position to bring together research on the physiological, mathematical and engineering aspects of the subject. Of interest to auditory researchers, electrical engineers, acoustical physicists, and mammalian physiologists.

Ecotones are interface zones between different ecosystems. Their ecological role and significance with regard to ecological management and conservation has become increasingly appreciated. For the management of freshwater resources, for example, an improved understanding of the role of land/inland water interfaces, will be essential for reducing negative human impacts by engineering, nutrient loading, siltation, etc. The management of ecotones, on the other hand, offers the possibility to control aquatic system processes via stock control of fish populations. Fish apparently are both excellent indicators of ecotone quality as well as determiners of its structure and function.

Coastal and marine ecosystems, some severely degraded, other still pristine, control rich resources of inshore environments and coastal seas of Latin America's Pacific and Atlantic margins. Conflicts between the needs of the region's nations and diminishing revenues and environmental quality have induced awareness of coastal ecological problems and motivated financial support for restoration and management.
The volume provides a competent review on the structure, processes and function of 22 important Latin American coastal marine ecosystems. Each contribution describes the environmental settings, biotic components and structure of the system, considers trophic processes and energy flow, evaluates the modifying influence of natural and human perturbations, and suggests management needs. Although the focus of the book is on basic ecological research, the results have application for coastal managers.

This book examines the application of fish community characteristics to evaluate the sustainability and biological integrity of freshwaters. Topics include perspectives on use of fish communities as environmental indicators in program development, collaboration, and partnership forming; influence of specific taxa on assessment of the IBI; regional applications for areas where the IBI had not previously been developed; and specific applications of the IBI developed for coldwater streams, inland lakes, Great Lakes, reservoirs, and tailwaters.

Proceedings from a Symposium on Biology and Management of Sturgeon, held during the 113th Annual Meeting of American Fisheries Society at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, August 16-20, 1983

This volume is taken from an ecological study of wetlands undertaken in northern Lake Victoria (East Africa) between 1993 and 1996 with the major aim of characterizing shallow vegetation-dominated interface habitats, and evaluating their importance for fish, in particular, for the Nile tilapia.

The coast cannot be left to nature to determine its fate. Wealth, property, economic interests, recreation, tourism and wildlife are all threatened. Coasts are an administrative battle ground and one of the most important and widely examined topics in environmental management.
Coastal and Estuarine Management examines the issues surrounding the human use and abuse of estuarine and coastal environments. Emphasising the importance and significance of this natural resource, the uses and conflicts which occur and the results of human activity, this book explains the ways in which conservation and management policies and practices can protect this productive and diverse ecosystem.
Examples and real-life case studies illustrate the effect of human intervention, both from an historic and contemporary perspective. Exposing the environmental consequences of estuarine pollution, Peter French highlights the need for management strategies to promote a sustainable development ethic for estuaries.

Estuaries are highly dynamic systems subject to changes occurring over a spectrum of time scales ranging from very short periods (e. g. over a tidal cycle) to geologic time scales. The nature of an estuary reflects complex responses to many driving forces, each having a characteristic frequency (or frequencies) of change. For example, freshwater inflow to estuaries varies daily in response to short-term events such as storms, seasonally, and between years as a result of longer-term climatic variability. Other important components of weather, e. g. wind speed/ direction and daily insolation, also vary over time scales ranging from hours to years. Tidal amplitude changes continuously with dominant frequencies associated with the semi-diurnal cycle, the fortnightly neap-spring, and the semi-annual cycle. Temporal dynamics of these driving forces evoke responses in the form of changing (I) circulation patterns and mixing, (2) sediment composition and transport, (3) solute speciation and distribution, (4) composition and abundance of particulates, (5) biomass, species composition, and productivity of plant and animal communities, (6) rates of material exchange between the sediments, water column, and atmosphere, and (7) bioavailability of trace metals and other pollutants. The purpose of this book is to examine the temporal dynamics of these properties and processes in the San Francisco Bay estuary.

Advances in Marine Biology, Volume 82, the latest release in a series that has been providing in-depth and up-to-date reviews on all aspects of marine biology since 1963, updates on many topics that will appeal to postgraduates and researchers in marine biology, fisheries science, ecology, zoology and biological oceanography. Chapters in this new release include Predatory Bivalves, The Oceanography of the Eastern English Channel Past: Present and Future, Parasites and Pathogens in Seabirds: Effects and Wider Ecological Implications, Progress in Marine Genomics and Bioinformatics, and more.

This volume contains the papers and abstracts of the posters given at the symposium on Long-term Changes in Coastal Benthic Communities organized by the Commission of the European Communities in Brussels, Belgium from 9 till 12 December 1985. The organization of this symposium came to conclude five years of activities in the COST 647 project on Coastal Benthic Ecology, the rationale of which is explained in the foreword by B. F. Keegan. The importance of this volume is that for the first time special attention is given to long-term data series of relevant biological variables collected in different marine benthic habitats. Many of the data presented here are the result of years of careful data collection by some of the leading scientists in the field of benthic ecology. Some of the series, such as the Macoma balthica data from the Wadden Sea or the macrofauna data from Loch Linnhe, to name just those two, are already classics in the marine biological literature. Other data were collected in the framework of a monitoring programme and are now analyzed for the first time in the different perspective of the COST 647 project. Several papers are from related fields where they represent well known case studies; they were chosen in order to see how problems have been tackled elsewhere.

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.

There is increasing concern in the media, among politicians and within environmental organizations, about the effects of chemicals in our environment that affect the endocrine systems of wildlife and humans. At its simplest these are referred to as gender-bending' chemicals or environmental estrogens'. The chemicals in question (pesticides, PCBs, plasticizers, petrochemicals, and a variety of industrial chemicals) have been known to decrease human sperm counts, cause fish to change sex', and increase male genital abnormalities. A great deal of pressure has been placed on environmental protection agencies to devise regulatory tests for the effects of these chemicals and to require limitations on their manufacture and release. Fish are increasingly recognized as an excellent model for such tests, in that the aquatic environment may provide early warnings of the effects that these chemicals will have on human health. In addition, the large number of eggs which fish produce provides an excellent model to examine the effects on female fertility. Endocrine Disruption in Fish provides a simple yet extensive background to the field of fish endocrinology in order to assist those toxicologists who have a limited background in either mammalian or fish endocrinology. It shows that environmental estrogens do not simply affect male reproductive potential, but that they may equally well affect the female. It is possible that these chemicals may have a complex effect on the brain, hypothalamus, pituitary, gonad and liver of both sexes. There are many other chemicals which affect both the gonads and other parts of the endocrine system to cause decreased fertility, abnormal sexual differentiation andbehavior, decreased response to stress, immune deficiency or altered basal metabolism. Many thousand man-made chemicals are released into the environment, but very few have been tested for endocrine disrupting activity. This book covers only the minute fraction for which evidence has been collected.

During the last few years, lake acidification has become a topic of international interest because of the detrimental effects of this problem on lake ecosystems. The stratigraphic record of diatoms and other paleoindicators in lake sediments has been used increasingly to document past limnological conditions. Because many diatom taxa are sensitive indicators of lakewater pH, this approach is especially useful in assessing impacts of atmospheric pollutants and watershed land use on lake pH. The idea that a book be prepared on this subject originated at a workshop entitled 'Reconstructing pH from sedimentary diatom remains - recent insights and update on methods' organized by R.B. Davis and held at the XXII Congress of the International Association of Limnology at Lyon, France in August 1983. At this workshop, presentations were made by many of the authors in this volume. The rapid progress in this field was evident when a second workshop, this time organized by R.W. Battarbee and R.J. Flower, was held one year later at the VII International Symposium on Diatoms at Paris, France. Many individuals helped with the preparation of this volume, most notable were our referees, who thoughtfully reviewed the manuscripts and suggested many improvements. I would also like to thank my colleagues at Queen's University who helped in innumerable ways over the last two years. A special word of gratitude is due to Dr. M.M. Boucherle, Dr. S.R. Brown, Ms. T.C. Oliver, and Mr. P.R. Leavitt. J.

This volume presents selected contributions given to the 38th European Marine Biology Symposium, held in Aveiro, Portugal, in September 2003. Understanding the functioning of marine ecosystems is the first step towards measuring and predicting the influence of Man, and to find solutions for the enormous array of problems we face today. This volume is organised according to the four subthemes of the symposium and to issues commonly perceived as relevant by scientists concerned with the study, protection and management of Marine Biodiversity: patterns and processes, assessment, threats and management and conservation. The 32 papers that make up this book represent current research and concerns about Marine Biodiversity in Europe, and will have wide appeal to all those interested in understanding and preserving the marine ecosystems of the world's oceans.

Preface. Water and Society. Bacterial and Microbial Processes. Phytoplankton Dynamics and Community Structure. Productivity and Energy Flows. Fish and Fisheries. Interactions between Tropic Levels. Monitoring and Modelling. Water Pollution and Water Management. Concluding Remarks. Index.

Echinoderms are now considered as a biological and geological model that underlies researches of primary importance. The extent of the contributions made by the International Echinoderm Conferences to various fields of research is attested by the scope covered by presentation at the international conferences. These proceedings contain the complete papers or abstracts of all the presentations and posters presented at the eighth International Echinoderm Conference, held in Dijon, France in September, 1994. Coverage includes: general; extinct classes; crinoids; asteroids; ophiuroids; holothuroids; and echinoids.

This volume provides a refereed selection of the proceedings of the 31st European Marine Biology Symposium, held in St. Petersburg, Russia, in September 1996. State-of-the-art reviews and studies on adaptational processes in marine organisms such as adaptations to fluctuations in salinity, temperature, oxygen and pollutants which are reflected in different types of ecophysiological responses and interactions of marine organisms, including predation, parasitism, intraspecific competition and epibiosys were presented at the symposium proceedings. Research from both eastern and western Europe contributed to this project and during the symposium differences in scientific approaches and views between these two groups became apparent. The contents of this volume reflect these differences. Researchers and students in marine biology as well as those involved in coastal management and environmental studies will find this volume of interest.