This book offers a comprehensive review of current systems for fish protection and downstream migration. It offers the first systematic description of the currently available technologies for fish protection at hydropower intakes, including accurate and timely data collected by the authors and other researchers. It describes how to design and test them in agreement with the guidelines established from the EU Water Framework Directive. The book includes important information about fish biology, with a special focus on swimming and migration mechanisms. It offers a robust bridge between concepts in applied ecology and civil hydraulic engineering, thus providing biologists and hydraulic engineers with an authoritative reference guide to both the theory and practice of fish protection. It is also of interest for planners, public authorities as well as environmental consultants

This text, written by a leading researcher in the field, describes the origin and formation of lakes in order to give context to the question of how lacustrine deposits form. It explains the process of sedimentation in lakes and the chemistry of those deposits and describes how the age of lake deposits is determined. Additionally, this book shows how different groups of fossils are used in interpreting the paleontological record of lakes. In order to illustrate the more synthetic approaches to interpreting the history of lakes, the author also discusses such special topics as lake-level history, lake evolution, and the impact of environmental change on lakes.

This book is a collective effort by world experts, bringing together assorted contributions presented during the Ocean Science Session OS-017, of the AOGS-AGU Joint Assembly held in Singapore in 2012 (the Asia Tsunami and Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami events). The chapters cover assessment, evaluation, forecast and lessons learned as well as environmental and societal impacts of the latest tsunamis that occurred in the Indian Ocean in 2004 and the Pacific Ocean in Japan 2011.

The book is aimed at experts, scientists and decision makers seeking recent updated information, knowledge and experiences to better understand, quantify, forecast and protect coastal water resources, ecosystems, communities and human settlements which are often affected by tsunamis.

"

The Fly River and its tributaries, the Ok Tedi and Strickland rivers, are located in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea. All three rivers have their source in the rugged central mountain range of the island and eventually flow, via the Fly River delta, into the Gulf of Papua to the north of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. With a catchment area still largely covered by tropical rainforest and relatively few human inhabitants, this remote part of Papua New Guinea presents a rare opportunity to document and understand the dynamics of a large tropical river system largely unaffected by human activity.
In 1984 the Ok Tedi Mining Company Limited began mining copper and gold mineralisation from Mt. Fubilan, which is located at the headwaters of the Ok Tedi. In 1990, mining begin at the Porgera gold mine located at the headwaters of the Strickland River. Since that time both companies have intensely monitored the environment of the Fly River system in order to better understand the possible impact of mining.
This book is intended to assemble and summarise this vast amount of information, much of it contained in internal company reports, to better understand the environmental complexity and dynamics of this large and relatively undisturbed tropical river system.
The approach to be taken in achieving this outcome is to solicit contributions summarising each of the scientific disciplines to be covered from recognised experts with experience in the region.
* documents physical and biologic change in a large tropical river system brought about largely by mining in an otherwise pristine environment.
* this book brings together a broad rand of disciplines to provide acomprehensive overview of change in a complex and dynamical tropical river system based largely on previously unpublished company reports.
* the book provides examples of state-of-the-art strategies and methodologies for monitoring environmental impact in a large river system.

This book focuses on how marine systems respond to natural and anthropogenic perturbations (ENSO, overfishing, pollution, tourism, invasive species, climate-change). Authors explain in their chapters how this information can guide management and conservation actions to help orient and better manage, restore and sustain the ecosystems services and goods that are derived from the ocean, while considering the complex issues that affect the delicate nature of the Islands. This book will contribute to a new understanding of the Galapagos Islands and marine ecosystems. "

Reef fish spawning aggregations, ranging from small groups to many tens of thousands of individuals, are spectacular but poorly known natural phenomena whereby fish assemble at specific times and locations to spawn. For some species these large groups may be the only form of reproduction, the high fish numbers briefly giving a false impression of stability and abundance-an 'illusion of plenty'. They are often a focus for intensive seasonal fishing because of their predictability and because many important commercial fishes form them. Highly vulnerable to overexploitation, many aggregations and their associated fisheries, have disappeared or are in decline. Few are effectively managed or incorporated into protected areas. Aggregations are not well understood by fishery scientists, managers and conservationists and their significance little appreciated by fishers or the wider public. To ensure their persistence to replenish important fisheries in coral ecosystems, maintain their ecosystem function and continue to delight divers, a significant change in perspective is needed to foster protection and management. This book provides comprehensive and practical coverage of the biology, study and management of reef fish aggregations, exploring their how, when, where, and why. It explores ways to better protect, study, manage and conserve them, while identifying key data gaps and questions. The text is extensively illustrated with many unique, never before published, photographs and graphics. Case studies on over 20 interesting and important fishes are included, outlining their biology and fisheries and highlighting major concerns and challenges.

This book reviews the latest research and developments concerning the biodiversity and biocontamination assessment of aquatic ecosystems in Poland. The authors present expert analyses of the current biological status of Polish surface waters, and examine a broad range of elements related to aquatic ecosystems, including macrophytes, phytoplankton, zooplankton and macroinvertebrates, microorganisms, fish, and selected invasive aquatic species. A set of conservation and restoration practices, and a review of protected sites within the Polish basins and catchment areas, are also provided. This book and the companion volume Polish River Basins and Lakes - Part I: Hydrology and Hydrochemistry offer valuable resources for students, environmental chemists, biologists, geologists, hydrologists and surface waters managers interested in the environmental conditions of Poland's surface waters.

The supply and management of fresh water for the world's billions of inhabitants is likely to be one of the most daunting challenges of the coming century. For countries that share river basins with others, questions of how best to use and protect precious water resources always become entangled in complex political, legal, environmental, and economic considerations. This book focuses on the issues that face all international river basins by examining in detail the Nile Basin and the ten countries that lay claim to its waters.

John Waterbury applies collective action theory and international relations theory to the challenges of the ten Nile nations. Confronting issues ranging from food security and famine prevention to political stability, these countries have yet to arrive at a comprehensive understanding of how to manage the Nile's resources. Waterbury proposes a series of steps leading to the formulation of environmentally sound policies and regulations by individual states, the establishment of accords among groups of states, and the critical participation of third-party sources of funding like the World Bank. He concludes that if there is to be a solution to the dilemmas of the Nile Basin countries, it must be based upon contractual understandings, brokered by third-party funders, and based on the national interests of each basin state.

Up-to-date coverage and a unique, multidisciplinary approach

The ongoing effort to protect our valuable ground-water resources necessarily involves scientists and engineers from many disciplines. Ground-Water Microbiology and Geochemistry, Second Edition is designed to bridge the historical lack of communication among these disciplines by detailing–in language that cuts across specialties–the impact of microorganisms and microbial processes on ground-water systems.

Carefully revised to reflect the many recent discoveries that have been made in the field, the Second Edition begins with an overview of microbiology, ideal for hydrologists and others who may lack formal training in the field. These initial chapters systematically cover the kinds of microorganisms found in subsurface environments, focusing on their growth, metabolism, genetics, and ecology.

The second part of the book offers a hydrologic perspective on how microbial processes affect ground-water geochemistry in pristine systems. It also introduces the different classes of ground-water systems, and gives an overview of techniques for sampling subsurface environments. Readers gain an understanding of biogeochemical cycling in ground-water systems–in coverage unique to this book–and how ground-water chemistry can be used to study microbial processes in aquifer systems.

The final section of the book deals with the biodegradation of human-introduced contaminants in ground-water systems, with an up-to-date review of the physiology, biochemistry, and redox conditions that favor biodegradation processes.

Ground-Water Microbiology and Geochemistry, Second Edition is important reading for geoscientists, hydrologists, and environmental engineers, as well as for water planners and lawyers involved in environmental issues. It also serves as a compelling text for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in ground-water chemistry.

Part travelogue, part history, and part environmental treatise, "Mekong - The Occluding River" is above all else an urgent warning that factors such as pollution, ecological devastation, and the depletion of natural resources are threatening the very existence of the Mekong River. Author Ngo The Vinh combines his vivid travel notes and collection of photographs with a meticulously researched history of the environmental degradation of the Mekong River. Translated from Vietnamese, the best-selling treatise outlines the myriad threats facing the river today. From oil shipments feeding the industrial cities of southwestern China to gigantic hydroelectric dams known as the Mekong Cascades in Yunnan province, China is the worst environmental offender, though the other nations along Mekong's banks behave no better. From Thailand to Laos to Vietnam, hydroelectric dams that threaten the Mekong and its inhabitants are being built at an alarming rate. To save the Mekong, Ngo The Vinh calls upon all the nations that benefit from its life-giving water to observe the "Spirit of the Mekong" in the implementation of all future development projects. To achieve this end, there must be a concerted and sustained commitment to cooperation and sustainability. At this critical cross-roads, we should remind ourselves of the mantra from Sea World San Diego: "Extinction is forever. Endangered means we still have time."

This book provides a broad overview of how the promotion of ocean and coastal literacy is being planned, applied and evaluated in Brazil, a country of continental dimensions with a great diversity of cultural, educational and social realities. It discusses a range of target groups, from children to adults; formal and informal strategies; and various promoting players, such as groups/institutions. Researchers representing Brazilian academic institutions and NGOs share their environmental education (EE) experiences in Brazil and describe the main concerns regarding the marine and coastal environments as well as how they are addressing these concerns in their EE projects. This book is of interest to anyone who is looking for ways of designing and implementing EE activities with a robust theoretical background in different socio-cultural scenarios.

The Rhine is one of Europe 's most researched rivers and this book presents a compilation of that research in one volume. Topics include the river 's catchment area, its hydrology, the development of water protection requirements and early warning systems on the Rhine. Additionally the book describes many aspects of water quality from the Rhine but also from alpine lakes, tributaries, estuary and adjacent coastal waters connected with the river.

Presented in an accessible, user-friendly format, this atlas sets out all the major features revealed during one of the largest ever deep-sea mapping campaigns. A unique insight into the morphology of the seabed along the continental margin of the North-East Atlantic, it reveals for the first time many features that have hitherto been hidden beneath the waves. It is organised both thematically and by region, with the sea floor and its biological hotspots - areas of high biodiversity such as seamounts - shown at a resolution not possible before. The atlas presents everything from submarine canyons to coral carbonate mounds, using digital terrain models generated from multibeam data and photographs taken from unmanned deep-water vehicles (ROVs).

The full-colour imagery includes digital three-dimensional seabed maps as well as the photographs, with concise text descriptions and topic boxes used to highlight and explain the geological, biological and hydrographical features, in addition to their importance and context in the deep-sea realm. Alongside the wealth of background information and topic boxes on special highlights, extensive on-line resources link the reader to full data sets and GIS locations, while suggestions for further reading point to ongoing research highlights. This is a fascinating resource that will be of use to anyone involved in off-shore and underwater activities, whether scientific or commercial.

This book presents the latest developments and recent research trends in the field of plankton, highlighting the potential ecological and biotechnological applications. It critically and comprehensively discusses strain selection, growth characteristics, large-scale culturing, and biomass harvesting, focusing on the screening and production of high-value products from algae, and evaluating carbon dioxide sequestration from fuel gas as a climate change mitigation strategy. The latter areas of research are clearly central to the sustainable development approach that is currently attracting global attention. Over the decades, much of the literature on has focused on the biological and ecological aspects of phytoplankton found in freshwater, marine and brackish water environments. However, these organisms are known to also inhabit various other environments. More recently, there has been a substantial shift toward the concept of sustainable development and the "green economy" with emphasis on exploiting biological systems for the benefit of mankind. The significance of these plankton cannot be underestimated as they contribute approximately 40% of the oxygen in the atmosphere. Therefore, there is potential for exploitation of this invaluable biomass source that could lead to significant environmental and economic benefits for man. Providing a comprehensive outline of the most recent developments and advances in the field of industrial applications of these plankton, this book is an excellent reference resource for researchers and practitioners.

In a rapidly evolving world of knowledge and technology, do you ever wonder how hydrology is catching up? This book takes the angle of computational hydrology and envisions one of the future directions, namely, quantitative integration of high-quality hydrologic field data with geologic, hydrologic, chemical, atmospheric, and biological information to characterize and predict natural systems in hydrological sciences.

Intelligent computation and information fusion are the key words. The aim is to provide both established scientists and graduate students with a summary of recent developments in this topic. The chapters of this edited volume cover some of the most important ingredients for quantitative hydrological information fusion, including data fusion techniques, interactive computational environments, and supporting mathematical and numerical methods. Real-life applications of hydrological information fusion are also addressed.

One of the major questions in the evolution of animals is the transition from unicellular to multicellular organization, which resulted in the emergence of Metazoa through a hypothetical Urmetazoa. The Comparative Embryology of Sponges contains abundant original and literary data on comparative embryology and morphology of the Porifera (Sponges), a group of 'lower Metazoa'. On the basis of this material, original typization of the development of Sponges is given and the problems concerning origin and evolution of Porifera and their ontogenesis are discussed. A morphogenetic interpretation of the body plan development during embryogenesis, metamorphosis and asexual reproduction in Sponges is proposed. Special attention is given to the analysis of characteristic features of the ontogenesis in Porifera. The book pursues three primary goals: 1) generalization of all existing information on individual development of sponges, its classification and a statement according to taxonomical structure of Porifera; 2) revealing of heterogeneity of morphogenesis and peculiarities of ontogeneses in various clades of Porifera, and also their correlations with the organization, both adult sponges, and their larvae; 3) revealing homology of morphogeneses in both Porifera and Eumetazoa, testifying to the general evolutionary roots of multicellular animals, and peculiar features of sponges' morphogeneses and ontogenesis. This book will be of interest to embryologists, zoologists, morphologists and researchers in evolutionary biology.

Delphus E. Carpenter (1877-1951) was Colorado's commissioner of interstate streams during a time when water rights were a legal battleground for western states. A complex, unassuming man as rare and cunning in politics and law as the elusive silver fox of the Rocky Mountain West, Carpenter boldly relied on negotiation instead of endless litigation to forge agreements among states first, before federal intervention. In Silver Fox of the Rockies, Daniel Tyler tells Carpenter's story and that of the great interstate water compacts he helped create. Those compacts, produced in the early twentieth century, have guided not only agricultural use but urban growth and development throughout much of the American West to this day. In Carpenter's time, most western states relied on the doctrine of prior appropriation--first in time, first in right--which granted exclusive use of resources to those who claimed them first, regardless of common needs. Carpenter feared that population growth and rapid agricultural development in states sharing the same river basins would rob Colorado of its right to a fair share of water. To avoid that eventuality, Carpenter invoked the compact clause of the U.S. Constitution, a clause previously used to settle boundary disputes, and applied it to interstate water rights. The result was a mechanism by which complex issues involving interstate water rights could be settled through negotiation without litigating them before the U.S. Supreme Court. Carpenter believed in the preservation of states' rights in order to preserve the constitutionally mandated balance between state and federal authority. Today, water remains critically important to the American West, and thegreat interstate water compacts Carpenter helped engineer constitute his most enduring legacy. Of particular significance is the Colorado River Compact of 1922, without which Hoover Dam could never have been built.

This book provides an introductory understanding of fluvial geomorphic principles and how these principles can be integrated with geochemical data to cost-effectively characterize, assess and remediate contaminated rivers. The book stresses the importance of needing to understand both geomorphic and geochemical processes. Thus, the overall presentation is first an analysis of physical and chemical processes and, second, a discussion of how an understanding of these processes can be applied to specific aspects of site assessment and remediation. Such analyses provide the basis for a realistic prediction of the kinds of environmental responses that might be expected, for example, during future changes in climate or land-use.

Most of the time series analysis methods applied today rely heavily on the key assumptions of linearity, Gaussianity and stationarity. Natural time series, including hydrologic, climatic and environmental time series, which satisfy these assumptions seem to be the exception rather than the rule. Nevertheless, most time series analysis is performed using standard methods after relaxing the required conditions one way or another, in the hope that the departure from these assumptions is not large enough to affect the result of the analysis. A large amount of data is available today after almost a century of intensive data collection of various natural time series. In addition to a few older data series such as sunspot numbers, sea surface temperatures, etc., data obtained through dating techniques (tree-ring data, ice core data, geological and marine deposits, etc.), are available. With the advent of powerful computers, the use of simplified methods can no longer be justified, especially with the success of these methods in explaining the inherent variability in natural time series. This book presents a number of new techniques that have been discussed in the literature during the last two decades concerning the investigation of stationarity, linearity and Gaussianity of hydrologic and environmental times series. These techniques cover different approaches for assessing nonstationarity, ranging from time domain analysis, to frequency domain analysis, to the combined time-frequency and time-scale analyses, to segmentation analysis, in addition to formal statistical tests of linearity and Gaussianity. It is hoped that this endeavor would facilitate further research into this important area.

Lake Issyk-Kul is a closed lake located in the Tien Shan mountain belt of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. It is the world's fifth deepest lake (668 m) and the second largest high altitude lake in the world (1607 m above sea level). The lake is affected by several environmental threats of both anthropogenic and natural origin: decline of the lake level resulting in progressively increasing salinity, incomplete vertical water exchange, and risk of contamination by past and present industrial activity.
Although the lake has been intensively studied, the information is only available in unpublished reports or local scientific journals. This book presents for the first time to an international audience the main physical, chemical, biological and geological characteristics of the lake, the fruits of many years of observations, complemented by recent results of international projects. Case studies of similar problems in other parts of the world are presented, together with ethical aspects of the environmental protection of the lake.

Large lakes are important because of their size and ecological distinctiveness as well as their economic and cultural value. Optimal management of them requires a proper understanding of anthropogenic impacts both on the lake ecosystems as such and on the services they provide for society. The specific structural and functional properties of large lakes, e.g. morphology, hydrography, biogeochemical cycles and food-web structure, are all directly related to their size. Although large lakes are among the best-studied ecosystems in the world, the application to them of environmental regulations such as the European Water Framework Directive is a challenging task and requires that several natural and management aspects specific to these water bodies are adequately considered. These vulnerable ecosystems often suffer from accelerated eutrophication, over-fishing, toxic contamination and invasive species. Large lakes offer socio-economic benefits and can be used in many ways, and are often areas in which economic, cultural and political interests overlap. In this book the problems regarding the present status of European large lakes and the directions of change are discussed. Threats caused by direct human impact and by climate change, protection needs and restoration measures are considered.

This is a synthesis of several studies on fluxes of carbon, water and energy conducted in a range of European forests encompassing different climates, soils and biomes. The volume covers methodological issues, particularly the eddy covariance technique describing its limitations and practical use. Further, major insights in ecosystem processes gained through investigations in evergreen coniferous, mediterranean and broad-leaved forests are presented. In an integrated effort, atmospheric physicists, ecologists, ecosystem modellers, and remote sensing scientists elucidate the impact of terrestrial ecosystems on the global biogeochemistry of the earth.

This volume presents recent advances in the research on meromictic lakes and a state-of-the art overview of this area. After an introduction to the terminology and geographic distribution of meromictic lakes, three concise chapters describe their physical, chemical and biological features. The following eight chapters present case studies of more than a dozen meromictic lakes, showing the variety of physical and biochemical processes that promote meromixis. The result is a broad picture of the ecology and biochemistry of meromictic lakes in tropical and cold regions, in man-made pit lakes and euxinic marine lakes, and in freshwater as well as hypersaline lakes. In the final chapter the editors provide a synthesis of the topic and conclude that the study of meromictic lakes also offers new insights into the limnology of inland lakes. The book appeals to researchers in the fields of ecology, limnology, environmental physics and biophysics.

The Red Lake is a natural barrier lake at the foot of the Hasmasu Mare Mountains in the Eastern Carpathian Range in Romania. It was formed when the Bicaz River was blocked by a natural dam resulting from two landslides during an extreme heavy storm in 1837. This book presents an interdisciplinary and comprehensive study on the physical, chemical, geographical and ecological aspects of Red Lake (Lacu Rosu). The first three chapters cover the formation and geological setting and its relationship with the Bicaz Gorges-Haghimas national park. Subsequent chapters present the sedimentological, morphological and hydrological evolution of this unique natural laboratory and climatological setting. The final chapters deal with ecological aspects of Red Lake waters and adjacent ecosystems such as wetlands and water resource management issues.