This compendium contains a wide variety of current research on temperate and tropical great lakes, with a common thread being the health and integrity of these important systems. The promise of this book is that it will enhance our understanding of how large lakes function, and thereby provide the tools necessary to ensure their continuing and viability.
The Second International Symposium on the East African Lakes was held from 10-15 January 2000 at Club Makokola on the southern shore of Lake Malawi. The symposium was organized by the International Decade for the East African Lakes (IDEAL), a research consortium of African, European and North American scientists interested in promoting the investigations of African Great Lakes as archives of environmental and climatic dynamics. Over one hundred African, European and North American scientists with special expertise in the tropical lakes participated in the symposium which featured compelling presentations on the limnology, climatology, palaeoclimatology and biodiversity of the East African Lakes. It is their papers that comprise this book. The large lakes of East Africa are important natural resources that are heavily utilized by their bordering countries for transportation, water supply, fisheries, waste disposal, recreation and tourism. The lakes are unique in many ways: they are sensitive to climatic change and their circulation dynamics, water-column chemistry and biological complexity differ significantly from large lakes at higher latitudes; they have long, continuous, high resolution records of past climatic change; and they have rich and diverse populations of endemic organisms. These unique properties and the significance of the palaeolimnological records demand and attract research interest from around the world.
The emergence of marine and freshwater toxins in geographical areas where they have never been reported before is a concern due to the considerable impact on (sea)food contamination, and consequently, on public health. Several groups of marine biotoxins, in particular tetrodotoxins, ciguatoxins, and palytoxins, are included among the relevant marine biotoxins that have recently emerged in several coastal areas. A similar situation has been observed in freshwater, where cyanobacterial toxins, such as microcystins, could end up in unexpected areas such as the estuaries where shellfish are cultivated. Climate change and the increased availability of nutrients have been considered as the key factors in the expansion of all of these toxins into new areas; however, this could also be due to more intense biological invasions, more sensitive analytical methods, or perhaps even an increased scientific interest in these natural contaminations. The incidences of human intoxications due to the consumption of seafood contaminated with these toxins have made their study an important task to accomplish in order to protect human health. This Special Issue has a focus on a wide variety of emerging biotoxin classes and techniques to identify and quantify them.
Continuing concern about water supply and quality, ecosystem sustainability and restoration demands that the modern approach to the management of lakes and reservoirs should be based on a sound understanding of the application of the scientific and ecological principles that underlie freshwater processes. The Lakes Handbook provides an up-to-date overview of the application of ecologically sound approaches, methods and tools using experience gained around the world for an understanding of lakes and their management. Volume one of the Handbook addresses the physical and biological aspects of lakes pertinent to lake management, emphasising those aspects particularly relevant to large, still bodies of water. Volume two then considers lake management, with particular emphasis on sustainability, restoration and rehabilitation. This handbook will be invaluable to ecologists, environmental scientists, physical geographers and hydrologists involved in limnological research, as well as advanced undergraduate and graduate students looking for authoritative reviews of the key areas of limnological study.
This State of Lake Ontario volume reflects the breadth of scientific inquiry, the wealth of information on the past and present, and the future of this large ecosystem. The luxury of knowledge and understanding of the Lake Ontario ecosystem speaks volumes to its uniqueness as a long-term ecological site and, more important, as a barometer of ecological change globally.
The Treatise on Geochemistry is the first work providing a comprehensive, integrated summary of the present state of geochemistry. It deals with all the major subjects in the field, ranging from the chemistry of the solar system to environmental geochemistry. The Treatise on Geochemistry has drawn on the expertise of outstanding scientists throughout the world, creating the reference work in geochemistry for the next decade. Each volume consists of fifteen to twenty-five chapters written by recognized authorities in their fields, and chosen by the Volume Editors in consultation with the Executive Editors. Particular emphasis has been placed on integrating the subject matter of the individual chapters and volumes. Elsevier also offers the Treatise on Geochemistry in electronic format via the online platform ScienceDirect, the most comprehensive database of academic research on the Internet today, enhanced by a suite of sophisticated linking, searching and retrieval tools.
North America's Great Lakes country has experienced centuries of upheaval. Its landscapes are utterly changed from what they were five hundred years ago. The region's superabundant fish and wildlife and its magnificent forests and prairies astonished European newcomers who called it an earthly paradise but then ushered in an era of disease, warfare, resource depletion, and land development that transformed it forever. The Once and Future Great Lakes Country is a history of environmental change in the Great Lakes region, looking as far back as the last ice age, and also reflecting on modern trajectories of change, many of them positive. John Riley chronicles how the region serves as a continental crossroads, one that experienced massive declines in its wildlife and native plants in the centuries after European contact, and has begun to see increased nature protection and re-wilding in recent decades. Yet climate change, globalization, invasive species, and urban sprawl are today exerting new pressures on the region’s ecology. Covering a vast geography encompassing two Canadian provinces and nine American states, The Once and Future Great Lakes Country provides both a detailed ecological history and a broad panorama of this vast region. It blends the voices of early visitors with the hopes of citizens now.
This study, conducted in Kenya, gives the first insight into the performance of a constructed treatment wetland receiving pulp and paper mill wastewater in the tropics.The wetland effectively removed organic matter, suspended solids, phenols and nutrients. BOD and phenols reduction rates are reported for the first time. Design parameters and guidel
Radiations, or Evolution in Action We have just celebrated the “Darwin Year” with the double anniversary of his 200th birthday and 150th year of his masterpiece, “On the Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection”. In this work, Darwin established the factual evidence of biological evolution, that species change over time, and that new organisms arise by the splitting of ancestral forms into two or more descendant species. However, above all, Darwin provided the mechanisms by arguing convincingly that it is by natural selection – as well as by sexual selection (as he later added) – that organisms adapt to their environment. The many discoveries since then have essentially con?rmed and strengthened Darwin’s central theses, with latest evidence, for example, from molecular genetics, revealing the evolutionary relationships of all life forms through one shared history of descent from a common ancestor. We have also come a long way to progressively understand more on how new species actually originate, i. e. on speciation which remained Darwin’s “mystery of m- teries”, as noted in one of his earliest transmutation notebooks. Since speciation is the underlying mechanism for radiations, it is the ultimate causation for the biological diversity of life that surrounds us.
Effects of global warming on the physical, chemical, ecological structure and function and biodiversity of freshwater ecosystems are not well understood and there are many opinions on how to adapt aquatic environments to global warming in order to minimize the negative effects of climate change. Climatic Change and Global Warming of Inland Waters presents a synthesis of the latest research on a whole range of inland water habitats – lakes, running water, wetlands – and offers novel and timely suggestions for future research, monitoring and adaptation strategies. A global approach, offered in this book, encompasses systems from the arctic to the Antarctic, including warm-water systems in the tropics and subtropics and presents a unique and useful source for all those looking for contemporary case studies and presentation of the latest research findings and discussion of mitigation and adaptation throughout the world. Edited by three of the leading limnologists in the field this book represents the latest developments with a focus not only on the impact of climate change on freshwater ecosystems but also offers a framework and suggestions for future management strategies and how these can be implemented in the future. Limnologists, Climate change biologists, fresh water ecologists, palaeoclimatologists and students taking relevant courses within the earth and environmental sciences will find this book invaluable. The book will also be of interest to planners, catchment managers and engineers looking for solutions to broader environmental problems but who need to consider freshwater ecology.
