Ecologists sometimes have a less-than-rigorous background in quantitative methods, yet research within this broad field is becoming increasingly mathematical. Written in a step-by-step fashion, Fractals and Multifractals in Ecology and Aquatic Science provides scientists with a basic understanding of fractals and multifractals and the techniques for utilizing them when analyzing ecological phenomenon. With illustrations, tables, and graphs on virtually every page - several in color - this book is a comprehensive source of state-of-the-art ecological scaling and multiscaling methods at temporal and spatial scales, respectfully ranging from seconds to months and from millimeters to thousands of kilometers. It illustrates most of the data analysis techniques with real case studies often based on original findings. It also incorporates descriptions of current and new numerical techniques to analyze and deepen understanding of ecological situations and their solutions. Includes a Wealth of Applications and Examples This book also includes nonlinear analysis techniques and the application of concepts from chaos theory to problems of spatial and temporal patterns in ecological systems. Unlike other books on the subject, Fractals and Multifractals in Ecology and Aquatic Science is readily accessible to researchers in a variety of fields, such as microbiology, biology, ecology, hydrology, geology, oceanography, social sciences, and finance, regardless of their mathematical backgrounds. This volume demystifies the mathematical methods, many of which are often regarded as too complex, and allows the reader to access new and promising concepts, procedures, and related results.

The evolution of observational instruments, simulation techniques, and computing power has given aquatic scientists a new understanding of biological and physical processes that span temporal and spatial scales. This has created a need for a single volume that addresses concepts of scale in a manner that builds bridges between experimentalists and theoreticians in aquatic ecology.

Handbook of Scaling Methods in Aquatic Ecology: Measurement, Analysis, Simulation is the first comprehensive compilation of modern scaling methods used in marine and freshwater ecological research. Written by leading researchers, it presents a systematic approach to dealing with space and time in aquatic ecology. This is a compendium that analyzes themes related to the response or behavior of organisms to processes occurring over multiple spatial and temporal scales.

This book covers: novel techniques for data collection, focusing on processes over a broad range of scales (from bacteria to ocean basins); newly-developed concepts and data analysis algorithms; and innovative computer models and simulations to mimic complex biological processes.

The Handbook serves as a reference volume for investigators seeking insight into new experimental approaches and data analysis, as well as the sensor design required for optimal sampling. Many of the algorithms and models provided are directly applicable to your experimental data. This comprehensive treatment of scaling methods and applications can help foster a unified understanding of subject matter among the modeling, experimental, and field research communities.

The evolution of observational instruments, simulation techniques, and computing power has given aquatic scientists a new understanding of biological and physical processes that span temporal and spatial scales. This has created a need for a single volume that addresses concepts of scale in a manner that builds bridges between experimentalists and theoreticians in aquatic ecology. Handbook of Scaling Methods in Aquatic Ecology: Measurement, Analysis, Simulation is the first comprehensive compilation of modern scaling methods used in marine and freshwater ecological research. Written by leading researchers, it presents a systematic approach to dealing with space and time in aquatic ecology. This is a compendium that analyzes themes related to the response or behavior of organisms to processes occurring over multiple spatial and temporal scales. This book covers: novel techniques for data collection, focusing on processes over a broad range of scales (from bacteria to ocean basins); newly-developed concepts and data analysis algorithms; and innovative computer models and simulations to mimic complex biological processes. The Handbook serves as a reference volume for investigators seeking insight into new experimental approaches and data analysis, as well as the sensor design required for optimal sampling. Many of the algorithms and models provided are directly applicable to your experimental data. This comprehensive treatment of scaling methods and applications can help foster a unified understanding of subject matter among the modeling, experimental, and field research communities.

Copepods are among the most abundant multi-celled organisms on Earth and can literally be found everywhere there is (even not so much) water. This very diverse group of small (typically in the 1-10 mm range) crustaceans -- known for more than two millennia -- exhibit a range of free living forms, either in the open water or in various types of sediments. They are also often found as both internal and external parasites of most phyla of animals in water. Copepods also play a fundamental ecological role in the open waters of lakes, rivers, estuaries and oceans. They are the classical herbivorous link between the primary production of phytoplankton and the larvae and juveniles of fishes -- hence ultimately whales and fisheries -- in most pelagic ecosystems. In oligotrophic waters, copepods also play an essential role in transferring (i) the organic carbon released by phytoplankton (ie: up to 50% of the carbon fixed through photosynthesis) and subsequently assimilated by heterotrophic bacteria, and (ii) the inorganic carbon fixed by prokaryotic and eukaryotic picoplankton (ie: up to 70 % of the carbon fixation in oligotrophic systems) towards higher trophic levels through copepod grazing on microzooplankton (ie: heterotrophic flagellates and ciliated protozoans).