Stream Ecology - Structure and function of running waters

Stream Ecology: Structure and Function of Running Waters is designed to serve as a textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, and as a reference source for specialists in stream ecology and related fields. The Second Edition is thoroughly updated and expanded to incorporate significant advances in our understanding of environmental factors, biological interactions, and ecosystem processes, and how these vary with hydrological, geomorphological, and landscape setting.

The broad diversity of running waters - from torrential mountain brooks, to large, lowland rivers, to great river systems whose basins occupy sub-continents - makes river ecosystems appear overwhelming complex. A central theme of this book is that although the settings are often unique, the processes at work in running waters are general and increasingly well understood.

Even as our scientific understanding of stream ecosystems rapidly advances, the pressures arising from diverse human activities continue to threaten the health of rivers worldwide. This book presents vital new findings concerning human impacts, and the advances in pollution control, flow management, restoration, and conservation planning that point to practical solutions.

Reviews of the first edition:

".. an unusually lucid and judicious reassessment of the state of stream ecology"
Science Magazine

"..provides an excellent introduction to the area for advanced undergraduates and graduate students..." Limnology & Oceanography

"... a valuable reference for all those interested in the ecology of running waters."
Transactions of the American Fisheries Society

List of contents

An introduction to fluvial ecosystems.- Streamflow.- Fluvial geomorphology.- Streamwater chemistry.- The abiotic environment.- Primary producers.- Detrital energy sources.- Trophic relationships.- Species interactions.- Lotic communities.- Nutrient dynamics.- Stream ecosystem metabolism.- Human impacts.- The foundations of stream ecology.

Summary

Stream Ecology: Structure and Function of Running Waters is designed to serve as a textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, and as a reference source for specialists in stream ecology and related fields. The Second Edition is thoroughly updated and expanded to incorporate significant advances in our understanding of environmental factors, biological interactions, and ecosystem processes, and how these vary with hydrological, geomorphological, and landscape setting.

The broad diversity of running waters – from torrential mountain brooks, to large, lowland rivers, to great river systems whose basins occupy sub-continents – makes river ecosystems appear overwhelming complex. A central theme of this book is that although the settings are often unique, the processes at work in running waters are general and increasingly well understood.

Even as our scientific understanding of stream ecosystems rapidly advances, the pressures arising from diverse human activities continue to threaten the health of rivers worldwide. This book presents vital new findings concerning human impacts, and the advances in pollution control, flow management, restoration, and conservation planning that point to practical solutions.

Reviews of the first edition:

".. an unusually lucid and judicious reassessment of the state of stream ecology"
Science Magazine

"..provides an excellent introduction to the area for advanced undergraduates and graduate students…" Limnology & Oceanography

"… a valuable reference for all those interested in the ecology of running waters."
Transactions of the American Fisheries Society

Additional text

From the reviews of the second edition:

"There is a continual need for current introductory material in key ecological areas. … This is an interesting text. It has a wealth of detail … that means it is for the more ‘advanced’ beginner. … However, it does provide both teachers and field study centres with a much-needed overview of stream ecology. … Overall, a must for the field centre and a good starter text in stream ecology." (TEN News, October, 2007)
"Allan and Castillo offer this superb compilation of both the latest and time-honored concepts of the ecology of fluvial systems at scales ranging from small mountain brooks to large, continental- sized river basins. Richly illustrated and with more than 1,500 reference citations, the book is divided into 14 chapters … . Best of all, the book is written in a lively, engaging manner and with remarkable clarity, given the technical nature of the material. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty." (P. R. Pinet, CHOICE, Vol. 45 (7), 2008)
"The second edition of the book ‘Stream Ecology’ covers the key ecological factors and processes in a very variable ecosystem … . I recommend ‘Stream Ecology’ to people with knowledge of the basics of ecology, e.g., graduates and advanced undergraduates … . To my knowledge, there is no other book available, which gives such a good overview of the issue. One gets a very good, fluidly readable book which contains the latest key scientific knowledge of the ecology of running waters." (Daniel Graeber, International Review of Hydrobiology, Vol. 94 (2), 2009)

Report

From the reviews of the second edition:

"There is a continual need for current introductory material in key ecological areas. ... This is an interesting text. It has a wealth of detail ... that means it is for the more 'advanced' beginner. ... However, it does provide both teachers and field study centres with a much-needed overview of stream ecology. ... Overall, a must for the field centre and a good starter text in stream ecology." (TEN News, October, 2007)
"Allan and Castillo offer this superb compilation of both the latest and time-honored concepts of the ecology of fluvial systems at scales ranging from small mountain brooks to large, continental- sized river basins. Richly illustrated and with more than 1,500 reference citations, the book is divided into 14 chapters ... . Best of all, the book is written in a lively, engaging manner and with remarkable clarity, given the technical nature of the material. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty." (P. R. Pinet, CHOICE, Vol. 45 (7), 2008)
"The second edition of the book 'Stream Ecology' covers the key ecological factors and processes in a very variable ecosystem ... . I recommend 'Stream Ecology' to people with knowledge of the basics of ecology, e.g., graduates and advanced undergraduates ... . To my knowledge, there is no other book available, which gives such a good overview of the issue. One gets a very good, fluidly readable book which contains the latest key scientific knowledge of the ecology of running waters." (Daniel Graeber, International Review of Hydrobiology, Vol. 94 (2), 2009)

Product details

• Authors: J Davi Allan, J David Allan, J. David Allan, J.D. Allan, J.David Allan, María M Castillo, Maria M. Castillo, María M. Castillo
• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 28.08.2007
• EAN: 9781402055829
• ISBN: 978-1-4020-5582-9
• No. of pages: 436
• Dimensions: 191 mm x 24 mm x 235 mm
• Weight: 842 g
• Illustrations: XIV, 436 p. 300 illus.
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Biology > Ecology; B, Ecology, Applied ecology, Environmental Management, Ecological science, the Biosphere, Biomedical and Life Sciences, Environmental management,, Ecosystems, Freshwater & Marine Ecology, Aquatic ecology, Hydrobiology, Freshwater and Marine Ecology