Mangroves and seagrasses form extensive and highly productive ecosystems that are both biologically diverse and economically valuable. This book, now in its third edition and fully updated throughout, continues to provide a current and comprehensive introduction to all aspects of the biology and ecology of mangroves and seagrasses. Using a global range of examples and case studies, it describes the unique adaptations of these plants to their exacting environments; the rich and diverse communities of organisms that depend on mangrove forests and seagrass meadows (including tree-climbing shrimps, synchronously flashing fireflies, and 'gardening' seacows); the links between mangrove, seagrass, and other habitats; and the evolution, biodiversity, and biogeography of mangroves and seagrasses. The economic value of mangroves and seagrasses is also discussed, including approaches to rational management of these vital resources and techniques for the restoration of degraded habitats. A final chapter, new to this edition, examines the potential effects of global climate change including sea level rise. As with other titles in the Biology of Habitats Series, particular emphasis is placed on the organisms that dominate these fascinating aquatic ecosystems although pollution, conservation, and experimental aspects are also considered. This accessible textbook assumes no previous knowledge of mangrove or seagrass ecology and is intended for senior undergraduate and graduate students, as well as professional ecologists, conservation practitioners, and resource managers.

Comprising by far the largest and most diverse group of vertebrates, fishes occupy a broad swathe of habitats ranging from the deepest ocean abyss to the highest mountain lakes. Such incredible ecological diversity and the resultant variety in lifestyle, anatomy, physiology and behavior, make unraveling the evolutionary history of fishes a daunting task. The successor of a classic volume by the same title, Interrelationships of Fishes, provides the latest in the "state of the art" of systematics and classification for many of the major groups of fishes. In providing a sound phylogenetic framework from leading authorities in the field, this book is an indispensable reference for a broad range of biologists, especially students of fish behavior, anatomy, physiology, molecular biology, genetics and ecology--in fact, anyone who wishes to interpret their work on fishes in an evolutionary context.
* Provides thorough and comprehensive treatment of the Phylogency of fishes
* Assembles an International team of expert contributors
* Useful to a wide variety of fish biologists

This book documents the current state of research by Chinese scientists on fish biology and fisheries and brings together manuscripts by authors from research institutions, universities and government agencies. There are papers on aquaculture, life history, genetics, marine and freshwater biology, conservation, physiology, new species descriptions, and truly amazing hypogean fishes. The information on these remarkable cave species shows how much we have yet to learn from that incredible fauna. There are papers dealing with some of the largest fishes and some of the smallest cave species. There are papers dealing with some of the most traditional forms of aquaculture and others with the most modern molecular techniques. The volume includes papers on critically threatened native fishes as well as the most common food species, such as grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella). The information on rare and threatened species shows how China is dealing with their endangered fishes. The information on their carp species will be invaluable to those in other countries who will either take advantage of the productive carp species in aquaculture or try to manage them as invasive species outside China. For the first time we bring together a complete overview of the state of fisheries research in China.

Coral reefs are the most spectacular and diverse ecosystems in the marine environment. Over the last decades, however, dramatic declines of coral reef communities have been observed. Corals are endangered due to natural and anthropogenic detrimental factors, such as global warming and environmental pollution.

Based on an international meeting on "Coral Health and Disease" in Eilat, Israel in April 2003, the book starts with case studies of reefs, e.g. the Red Sea, Caribbean, Japan, Indian Ocean and the Great Barrier Reef. The second part on microbial ecology and physiology describes the symbiotic relations of corals and microbes, and the microbial role in nutrition or bleaching resistance of corals. Particular coral diseases such as aspergillosis, white pox, black and white band diseases are treated in the third part. Finally, various hypotheses of the mechanisms of coral bleaching, including a projection of the future of coral reefs, are discussed.

The proceedings of the joint BMB 15 and ECSA 27 Symposium provides the reader with some of the advances in the study of biology, ecology, and physical and biochemical modelling of enclosed or semi-enclosed marine, brackish and estuarine systems (the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, the White Sea, the Black Sea, and the Ionian Sea). The book covers a wide range of topics in this field, including hydrography and modelling, eutrophication, environmental gradients, pelagic and benthic communities, introduced species and case studies of environmental impact. This volume of 28 papers summarizes current knowledge on the broad-scale topics of enclosed and semi-enclosed marine systems, and should be of interest to scientists, students and administrators within the field of marine ecology, environmental impact control and conservation.

The widely distributed American Lobster, Homarus americanus, which inhabits coastal waters from Canada to the Carolinas, is an important keystone species. A valuable source of income, its abundance or rarity often reflects the health of ecosystems occupied by these crustaceans. This comprehensive reference brings together all that is known of these fascinating animals. It will appeal to biologists, zoologists, aquaculturalists, fishery biologists, and researchers working with other lobster species, as well as neurobiologists looking for more information on the model system they so often use.
Key Features
* First comprehensive book on the American lobster since Herrick's century-old monograph
* Provides crucial background for neurobiologists who use this crustacean as a model organism
* Contains a comprehensive treatment of the lobster fishery and its management

The Alboran Sea represents a regional Mediterranean space where North and South worlds merges, creating a geopolitical region where marine resources and maritime activities should be managed from a national and international perspectives. It is widely known, that currently the planet is suffering a global change, and it is also affecting the Alboran Sea, its ecosystems and populations. An important first step to update a paramount vision on this region is to understand the climatic, geologic and oceanographic, including biochemical cycles, process which shapes the rich geodiversity, biodiversity, the productivity, and the sustainable use of the marine resources from Alboran Sea. The fisheries management system should take into account marine environmental variability to achieve biological sustainability of marine resources. Well-funded policy-makers' decisions require a sound science based knowledge of the interaction between the marine environment and commercial stocks. This is because the role of marine environment in the evolution of fish stocks is sometimes even more important than the one played by fishers in the commercial exploitation of them. Finally, we should analyze the different aspects of political context that could affect the management of the resources from Alboran Sea in the context of climate change. This book reviews different aspects of the Alboran Sea to help understand the current situation from the original Tethis Ocean. The book is divided into four blocks: (i) Oceanographic, geological and ecological context (chapters 2 to 7), (ii) biodiversity and ecosystems distribution (chapters 8 to 12), (iii) fisheries resources and aquaculture (chapters 13 to 20), and (iv) conservation, management and marine polices (chapters 21 to 25).

Meiobenthology is the science of the tiny animals that live in huge numbers in all aquatic sediments. This fully revised and enlarged second edition emphasizes new discoveries and developments in this field. Major progress has been made in three general areas: - Systematics, diversity and distribution, - Ecology, food webs, and energy flow, - Environmental aspects, including studies of anthropogenic impacts.

The meiobenthos of polar and tropical regions, deep-sea bottoms and hydrothermal vents are now studied in more detail. The high number of species found to survive under such extreme conditions puts them at the forefront of biodiversity studies. Molecular screening methods enable large numbers to be analyzed upon applying reasonable effort. The aim of this book is to synthesize these modern scientific achievements such that meiobenthology can play a key role in aquatic research and in assessing the health of our environment.

This volume focuses on the nutrient and organic matter inputs in estuaries and other coastal ecosystems, their effects on geochemistry and community structure and possibilities for recovery of the systems to a trophic state that is beneficial for man and nature.
The book provides many examples of the effects of the enhanced supply of nutrients and organic matter on the chemical features of the water and on the structure, metabolism and trophic pathways of the biological communities.
Also included are several case studies providing considerable insight into the response of the different coastal ecosystems to long term changes in the trophic state of the water.
Current knowledge on modeling as a tool to manage the trophic state of the coastal ecosystems is also dealt with, making this book one of interests to scientist and students as well as managers.

Human beings have a long historical relationship with the coast. Initially it provided food and security, later forming important locations for industrial and commercial development. Now the emphasis has shifted towards leisure and conservation, although the former functions remain crucial. However, it is only very recently that people have started viewing the coast as a common and valuable resource that requires rational utilisation and scientific management in order to sustain its attractiveness. Of course, enlightened management comes only through understanding of the complicated coastal regions, which enables coastal managers to balance pressures from different sectors and to minimize risks. Scientific knowledge will continue to be the most important basis for resolving the conflicts between coastal users and interest groups such as developers and ecologists. Coastal management has also shifted from traditional restorative or remedial actions towards planned avoidance of other conflicts. Despite rapid advancement in coastal sciences over recent decades, most of the major coastal issues have remained outstanding in the agenda. Control of shoreline erosion and protecting sea level rise continue to be crucial problems facing coastal scientists. Destructive coastal storms still cause tremendous damage, particularly in low altitudes. Wetland and estuary reclamation have led to the loss of the most valuable estuary wetlands which are required to sustain biological productivity and biodiversity. This volume includes papers on marine and coastal pollution, eutrophication, aquaculture, conservation and utilization, coastal wetlands, and coastal zone management.

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.

Biological processes in the oceans play a crucial role in regulating the fluxes of many important elements such as carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, oxygen, phosphorus, and silicon. As we come to the end of the 20th century, oceanographers have increasingly focussed on how these elements are cycled within the ocean, the interdependencies of these cycles, and the effect of the cycle on the composition of the earth's atmosphere and climate. Many techniques and tools have been developed or adapted over the past decade to help in this effort. These include satellite sensors of upper ocean phytoplankton distributions, flow cytometry, molecular biological probes, sophisticated moored and shipboard instrumentation, and vastly increased numerical modeling capabilities. This volume is the result of the 37th Brookhaven Symposium in Biology, in which a wide spectrum of oceanographers, chemists, biologists, and modelers discussed the progress in understanding the role of primary producers in biogeochemical cycles. The symposium is dedicated to Dr. Richard W. Eppley, an intellectual giant in biological oceanography, who inspired a generation of scientists to delve into problems of understanding biogeochemical cycles in the sea. We gratefully acknowledge support from the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Electric Power Research Institute, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Special thanks to Claire Lamberti for her help in producing this volume.

This review series covers trends in modern biotechnology, including all aspects of this interdisciplinary technology, requiring knowledge, methods, and expertise from chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, genetics, chemical engineering and computer science.

The main themes of the Symposium were biodiversity in enclosed and semi-enclosed seas and artificial habitats, and the restoration of degraded systems. These themes are highly relevant today. The papers dealing with the first theme represent current research and concerns about marine biodiversity in enclosed seas. The papers in the second theme represent a synthesis of up-to-date knowledge on artificial habitats.

During recent decades, large-scale effects of pollution on marine estuaries and even entire enclosed coastal seas have become apparent. One of the first regions where this was observed is the Baltic Sea, whereby the appearance of anoxic deep basins, extensive algal blooms and elimination of top predators like eagles and seals indicated effects of both increased nutrient inputs and toxic substances.
This book describes the physical, biochemical and ecological processes that govern inputs, distribution and ecological effects of nutrients and toxic substances in the Baltic Sea. Extensive reviews are supplemented by budgets and dynamic simulation models.
This book is highly interdisciplinary and uses a systems approach for analyzing and describing a marine ecosystem. It gives an overview of the Baltic Sea, but is useful for any marine scientist studying large marine ecosystems.

The 32nd European Marine Biology Symposium was held in Lysekil, Sweden on August 16-22, 1997, organised by Kristineberg Marine Research Station. The selected topics were: `Recruitment and colonisation' and `Physical and Chemical Forcing on Marine Biological Systems', partly reflecting the present research interests at Kristineberg. In this volume, recruitment and colonisation processes cover primarily the dynamics of interspecific interactions within assemblages as well as the effects of hydrodynamic variables. Both laboratory and field studies are emphasised. The contribution of papers within the topic `Physical and Chemical Forcing on Marine Biological Systems' deals with structuring effects of, for example, tides, temperatures, nutrients and hypoxia on the physiology and ecology of marine organisms. The book covers many aspects of marine life. It is our hope that the selected topics will fascinate readers and be of wide interest to students and researchers in marine biology.

Interfaces between media, whether air-water or sediment-water interfaces or organisms themselves, pose considerable problems to marine organisms attempting to live at these boundaries. In the present volume, a number of authors address various aspects of these two topics. Locations under scrutiny range from intertidal areas to the deep sea, while both macro-and meiofaunal organisms are investigated. Distribution patterns and effects of variable temperatures, pressures, and salinities are analysed. Aspects of fouling induction and prevention are also addressed. This book is intended as a progress report from the 33rd European Marine Biology Symposium held in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, in September 1998.

Oceanographic discontinuities (e. g. frontal systems, upwelling areas, ice edges) are often areas of enhanced biological productivity. Considerable research on the physics and biology of the physical boundaries defining these discontinues has been accomplished (see [I D. The interface between water and sediment is the largest physical boundary in the ocean, but has not received a proportionate degree of attention. The purpose of the Nato Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) was to focus on soft-sediment systems by identifying deficiencies in our knowledge of these systems and defining key issues in the management of coastal sedimentary habitats. Marine sediments play important roles in the marine ecosystem and the biosphere. They provide food and habitat for many marine organisms, some of which are commercially important. More importantly from a global perspective, marine sediments also provide "ecosystem goods and services" [2J. Organic matter from primary production in the water column and contaminants scavenged by particles accumulate in sediments where their fate is determined by sediment processes such as bioturbation and biogeochemical cycling. Nutrients are regenerated and contaminants degraded in sediments. Under some conditions, carbon accumulates in coastal and shelf sediments and may by removed from the carbon cycle for millions of years, having a potentially significant impact on global climate change. Sediments also protect coasts. The economic value of services provided by coastal areas has recently been estimated to be on the order of $12,568 9 10 y" [3J, far in excess of the global GNP.

A. Rorsch Member of the TNO Board of Management Like all living creatures man has from the very outset influenced the environment. Initially, the traces of human activity were hardly noticeable and so were their effects on the equilibrium of the ecosystem as such. However, as soon as man learned how to use tools, he was able to influence his surroundings more drastically, and to proliferate more rapidly. As a matter of fact that is the time when things went wrong, because a process was started off which was to continue with ever-increasing speed and on an ever increasing scale. The present condition of nature as a result of the activities of mankind is generally known. Whether it is an accident with a nuclear plant or the vanishing of tropical rain forests, acid deposition or the pollution of soil, water and air, environmental disasters almost seem to be the order of the day. It is striking that with all these - more or less arbitrary - examples the provision of energy plays a role. In this respect one can add an even more important energy carrier to the list, namely: crude oil."

Advances in Marine Biology, Volume 92 highlights new advances in the field, with this new volume presenting interesting chapters on topics including A Review of Coral Reef Rehabilitation Efforts in the Coral Triangle. Each chapter in this series is written by an international board of authors.

An international symposium entitled "Ocean, River and Lakes: Energy and Substance Transfers at Interfaces" was held in Nantes, France in October 1996. It was the third International Joint Conference on Limnology and Oceanography which brings together specialists of both environments. Considered to be necessary in Europe, this confrontation of two different aspects of common subjects could produce innovative approaches. The main purpose concerns scientific researches relative to the interfaces between various aquatic environment compartments. The principal treated topics are bioavailability and mobility of substances, influence of biotic and abiotic factors on transfers, and fluxes at the interfaces. It is particularly interesting to note the contribution of limnologists and oceanographers on the impact of nutrients and pollutants, and flux quantification of river basin inputs. As well as scientists, this book is also of interest to all engineers and consultants involved in teaching and working in aquatic management, restoration and enhancement.

Members of the gastropod family Littorinidae are common throughout the world. They form a very abundant component of many intertidal and shallow subtidal ecosystems and, by their grazing, often play a central role in shaping these communities. They also display a wide range of life history strategies and many are polymorphic, making them attractive model organisms for ecologists, evolutionary biologists and physiologists alike. Areas of particular interest include ecological interactions with other animals and with algae, the effects of pollutants and the use of littorinids as sentinel species for monitoring pollution, the effects of parasites on growth and ecology, taxonomy, and the study of genotypic/phenotypic responses to environmental factors. There is still much to be done, and the Littorinids are proving to be an ideal group on which to work. The text is primarily targeted at the research level, but should also provide useful information for advanced first-degree students conducting research projects.