Enclosed ecosystem experiments have gained in popularity as research tools in ecological science, particularly in the study of coastal aquatic environments. These systems provide scientists with a degree of experimental control that is not achievable through field experiments. Yet to date, techniques for systematically extrapolating results from small-scale experimental ecosystems to larger, deeper, more open, more biologically diverse, and more heterogeneous ecosystems in nature have not been well developed. Likewise, researchers have lacked methods for comparing and extrapolating information among natural ecosystems that differ in scale. Enclosed Experimental Ecosystems and Scale: Tools for Understanding and Managing Coastal Ecosystems provides scientists, managers, and policy makers with an introduction to what has been termed the "problem of scale", and presents information that will allow for improved design and interpretation of enclosed experimental aquatic ecosystems. The book integrates the results of a 10-year research project involving a multi-disciplinary team of scientists and students to explore scale-related questions in a variety of coastal habitats. Anticipating use as a reference, the book has been designed so that individual sections and individual pages can function as stand alone units.

This text is aimed at a student readership but will also be useful to life science researchers faced with the task of isolating a protein.

The logic of the overall approach to protein isolation is explained and the physical principles of each separation method are made clear by the use of simple models and analogies drawn from everyday experiences. The author's aim has been to deepen the readers' insight into protein isolation methods, so that they may tackle new problems and perhaps devise new approaches to old problems. Many of the methods described are drawn from the author's own research and are thus uniquely described here; examples are three-phase partitioning, non-linear electrophoresis and a simple approach to buffer making. In this 2nd edition, the treatment of the basic physical principles has been expanded and clarified, the importance of ionic strength in measuring enzyme pH optima is emphasised and a computer program for the calculation of buffers of defined ionic strength is provided. The section on three-phase partitioning has been expanded to include the latest research findings on the use of t-butanol to inhibit enzymes and minimise homogenisation artefacts, the treatment of HPLC has been expanded and the most common practical methods are explained in detail in a new chapter. Additional study questions are provided, as are the answers to all study questions.

It is a truism of science that the more fundamental the subject, the more universally applicable it is. Neverthelens, it is important to strike a level of "fundamentalness" appropriate to the task in hand. For example, an in-depth study of the mechanics of motor cars would tell one nothing about the dynamics of traffic. Traffic exists on a different "level" - it is dependent upon the existence of motor vehicles but the physics and mathematics of traffic can be adequately addressed by considering motor vehicles as mobile "blobs," with no consideration of how they become mobile. To start a discourse on traffic with a consideration of the mechanics of motor vehicles would thus be inappropropriate. In writing this volume, I have wrestled with the question of the appropriate level at which to address the physics underlying many of the techniques used in protein isolation. I have tried to strike a level as would be used by a mechanic (with perhaps a slight leaning towards an engineer) - i.e. a practical level, offering appropriate insight but with minimal mathematics. Some people involved in biochemical research have a minimal grounding in chemistry and physics and so I have tried to keep it as simple as possible.

It is a truism of science that the more fundamental the subject, the more universally applicable it is. Nevertheless, it is important to strike a level of "fundamentalness" appropriate to the task in hand. For -depth study of the mechanics of motor cars would tell one example, an in nothing about the dynamics of traffic. Traffic exists on a different "level" - it is dependent upon the existence of motor vehicles but the physics and mathematics of traffic can be adequately addressed by considering motor vehicles as mobile "blobs",with no consideration of how they become mobile. To start a discourse on traffic with a consideration of the mechanics of motor vehicles would thus be inappropropriate. In writing this volume, I have wrestled with the question of the appropriate level at which to address the physics underlying many of the techniques used in protein isolation. I have tried to strike a level as would be used by a mechanic (with perhaps a slight leaning towards an engineer) - i.e. a practical level, offering appropriate insight but with minimal mathematics. Some people involved in biochemical research have a minimal grounding in chemistry and physics and so I have tried to keep it as simple as possible.