Marine Ecological Processes is a modern review and synthesis of marine ecology that provides the reader - particularly the graduate student - with a lucid introduction to the intellectual concepts, approaches, and methods of this evolving discipline. Comprehensive in its coverage, this book focuses on the processes controlling marine ecosystems, communities, and populations and demonstrates how general ecological principles - derived from terrestrial and freshwater systems as well - apply to marine ecosystems. Numerous illustrations, examples, and references clearly impart to the reader the current state of research in this field; its achievements as well as unresolved controversies.
The aquatic coastal zone is one of the most challenging targets for environmental remote sensing. Properties such as bottom reflectance, spectrally diverse suspended sediments and phytoplankton communities, diverse benthic communities, and transient events that affect surface reflectance (coastal blooms, runoff, etc.) all combine to produce an optical complexity not seen in terrestrial or open ocean systems. Despite this complexity, remote sensing is proving to be an invaluable tool for "Case 2" waters. This book presents recent advances in coastal remote sensing with an emphasis on applied science and management. Case studies of the operational use of remote sensing in ecosystem studies, monitoring, and interfacing remote sensing/science/management are presented. Spectral signatures of phytoplankton and suspended sediments are discussed in detail with accompanying discussion of why blue water (Case 1) algorithms cannot be applied to Case 2 waters. Audience This book is targeted for scientists and managers interested in using remote sensing in the study or management of aquatic coastal environments. With only limited discussion of optics and theory presented in the book, such researchers might benefit from the detailed presentations of aquatic spectral signatures, and to operational management issues. While not specifically written for remote sensing scientists, it will prove to be a useful reference for this community for the current status of aquatic coastal remote sensing.
Coastal Ecosystem Processes, written by the renowned marine scientist Daniel Alongi, describes how pelagic and benthic food webs, from beaches and tidal flats to the continental edge, process energy and matter. This volume focuses on recent advances and new developments on how food webs are closely intertwined with the geology, chemistry, and physics of coastal seas. Dr. Alongi presents a process-functional approach as a way of understanding how the energetics of coastal ecosystems rely not only on exchanges within and between food chains, but how such functions are influenced by terrigenous and atmospheric processes. There is a need for documentation and an awareness of just how necessary, yet delicate, is the interplay of biological and physical forces between coastal ocean, land, and the atmosphere. Marine scientists today need to make informed management decisions about sustainable development and conservation of these fragile ecosystems. Coastal Ecosystem Processes provides present and future marine scientists the latest coastal ecosystem information to make the right decisions concerning the ecology of our oceans.
Bivalve filter-feeding mollusks are important components of coastal ecosystems because they remove large quantities of suspended material from the water and excrete abundant amounts of reactive nutrients. These animals are also major prey for numerous predators including birds, fish, mammals, and invertebrates; furthermore, they are significant food resources for humans. While studies on the organismic and population level have dominated bivalve ecology, the recent focus on the ecosystem roles of filter feeding systems has led to larger-scale investigations. With this approach the specific topics of physiology, grazing, predation, nutrient cycling, physical environment, computer simulation modeling, and environmental management are combined into a meaningful whole.
The aquatic coastal zone is one of the most challenging targets for environmental remote sensing. Properties such as bottom reflectance, spectrally diverse suspended sediments and phytoplankton communities, diverse benthic communities, and transient events that affect surface reflectance (coastal blooms, runoff, etc.) all combine to produce an optical complexity not seen in terrestrial or open ocean systems. Despite this complexity, remote sensing is proving to be an invaluable tool for "Case 2" waters. This book presents recent advances in coastal remote sensing with an emphasis on applied science and management. Case studies of the operational use of remote sensing in ecosystem studies, monitoring, and interfacing remote sensing/science/management are presented. Spectral signatures of phytoplankton and suspended sediments are discussed in detail with accompanying discussion of why blue water (Case 1) algorithms cannot be applied to Case 2 waters. Audience This book is targeted for scientists and managers interested in using remote sensing in the study or management of aquatic coastal environments. With only limited discussion of optics and theory presented in the book, such researchers might benefit from the detailed presentations of aquatic spectral signatures, and to operational management issues. While not specifically written for remote sensing scientists, it will prove to be a useful reference for this community for the current status of aquatic coastal remote sensing.
Coastal wetlands are under a great deal of pressure from the dual forces of rising sea level and the intervention of human populations both along the estuary and in the river catchment. Direct impacts include the destruction or degradation of wetlands from land reclamation and infrastructures. Indirect impacts derive from the discharge of pollutants, changes in river flows and sediment supplies, land clearing, and dam operations. As sea level rises, coastal wetlands in most areas of the world migrate landward to occupy former uplands. The competition of these lands from human development is intensifying, making the landward migration impossible in many cases. This book provides an understanding of the functioning of coastal ecosystems and the ecological services that they provide, and suggestions for their management. In this book a CD is included containing color figures of wetlands and estuaries in different parts of the world. - Includes a CD containing color figures of wetlands and estuaries in different parts of the world.
The ocean has absorbed a significant portion of all human-made carbon dioxide emissions. This benefits human society by moderating the rate of climate change, but also causes unprecedented changes to ocean chemistry. Carbon dioxide taken up by the ocean decreases the pH of the water and leads to a suite of chemical changes collectively known as ocean acidification. The long term consequences of ocean acidification are not known, but are expected to result in changes to many ecosystems and the services they provide to society. Ocean Acidification: A National Strategy to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Ocean reviews the current state of knowledge, explores gaps in understanding, and identifies several key findings. Like climate change, ocean acidification is a growing global problem that will intensify with continued CO2 emissions and has the potential to change marine ecosystems and affect benefits to society. The federal government has taken positive initial steps by developing a national ocean acidification program, but more information is needed to fully understand and address the threat that ocean acidification may pose to marine ecosystems and the services they provide. In addition, a global observation network of chemical and biological sensors is needed to monitor changes in ocean conditions attributable to acidification.
This book describes critical environmental issues that face coastal ocean and Great Lakes areas, including eutrophication, habitat modification, hydrologic and hydrodynamic disruption, exploitation of resources, toxic effects on ecosystems and humans, introduction of nonindigenous species, global climate change and variability, and shoreline erosion and hazardous storms. These issues can be approached through science activities (including research, monitoring, and modeling) discussed in this book and through coordination among federal agencies.
Coastal Governance provides a clear overview of how U.S. coasts are currently managed and explores new approaches that could make our shores healthier. Drawing on recent national assessments, Professor Richard Burroughs explains why traditional management techniques have ultimately proved inadequate, leading to polluted waters, declining fisheries, and damaged habitat. He then introduces students to governance frameworks that seek to address these shortcomings by considering natural and human systems holistically. The book considers the ability of sector-based management, spatial management, and ecosystem-based management to solve critical environmental problems. Evaluating governance successes and failures, Burroughs covers topics including sewage disposal, dredging, wetlands, watersheds, and fisheries. He shows that at times sector-based management, which focuses on separate, individual uses of the coasts, has been implemented effectively. But he also illustrates examples of conflict, such as the incompatibility of waste disposal and fishing in the same waters. Burroughs assesses spatial and ecosystem-based management’s potential to address these conflicts. The book familiarizes students not only with current management techniques but with the policy process. By focusing on policy development, Coastal Governance prepares readers with the knowledge to participate effectively in a governance system that is constantly evolving. This understanding will be critical as students become managers, policymakers, and citizens who shape the future of the coasts.
Studies of marine ecology have traditionally been approached through lectures and field courses devoted mainly to intertidal and inshore habitats, and it is surprising in these days of increased awareness of man's environmental impact that so little attention has been given to integrated approaches involving the whole coastal zone and including the terrestrial part, which is man's major habitat. The coastal zone has been the subject of extensive investigation, not only because of its biological diversity and accessibility, but also because of its economic and aesthetic importance to man. This book is written with the intention of providing a concise but readable account of coastal ecology for advanced undergraduates and immediate postgraduates. We have adopted a habitat-organismal ap proach because we believe that a knowledge of biota and major features of their environment is the best key to an understanding of both larger-scale processes, such as energy flow and nutrient cycling, and smaller-scale but equally fundamental processes, such as behavioural and physiological ecology. Examples have been selected from polar, temperate and tropical regions of the world. The breadth of the subject has dictated selectivity from sources too numerous to acknowledge individually, but we have included an up-to-date reference list for the main subjects of each chapter.
