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Despite the abundance of high altitude aquatic ecosystems in certain regions, their biology and ecology has never been summarized in detail. Although poorly considered in classical textbooks of ecology and limnology, these threatened and exploited habitats have much to offer existing (aquatic) ecological theories and applications.
List of contents
- 1: The high altitude environment
- 2: The waterscape at high altitudes
- 3: Living conditions in high altitude waters
- 4: Organisms and diversity patterns at high altitudes
- 5: Strategies and adaptations to the aquatic life at high altitude
- 6: Community dynamics in highland watersheds
- 7: Energy flow and species interactions at the edge
- 8: High altitude waters in the face of climate change
- 9: A growing human footprint in the highlands
- 10: Conserving sustainable ecosystem services
About the author
Dr. Dean Jacobsen has a permanent position as Associate Professor in freshwater ecology at the Freshwater Biological Section, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Since 1994 he has been doing a large part of his research in Andean streams in Ecuador, in addition to projects in other high places such as Bolivia, Peru, and Tibet. His work has focused on biodiversity, community ecology, eco-physiology, bio-assessment, climate change, and glacial influence, with benthic fauna as a model system. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, popular dissemination, and reports.
Dr. Olivier Dangles has a permanent position as a director of investigations in ecology and development at the French Institute for Research and Development (IRD). He has a broad interest in community ecology, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable development in both natural and cultivated systems. Over the last ten years, he has focused his research on biodiversity dynamics in the face of climate change in the tropical Andes, mainly Ecuador and Bolivia where he has worked for 9 and 2 years, respectively. He has more than 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals and has contributed to 3 books.
Summary
Despite the abundance of high altitude aquatic ecosystems in certain regions, their biology and ecology has never been summarized in detail. Although poorly considered in classical textbooks of ecology and limnology, these threatened and exploited habitats have much to offer existing (aquatic) ecological theories and applications.
Additional text
This book is useful and thought provoking for those dedicated to the beauty of or intellectual challenge provided by high altitude lakes and for students and researchers of any ecosystem at the edge of aquatic extremes in temperature, pH, or salinity.
