Amazoniana


Book Description




The Amazon


Book Description

The Amazon -that name was given to the biggest river on earth and is often used for the whole area of its basin too. This geographical region is currently referred to as Amazonia, thus emphasizing the peculiar character of its aquatic and terrestrial reaches. The Amazon embodied the dream of many a naturalist to explore what for a long time was a terra incognita. In recent years, however, Amazonia has emerged as a main centre for 'development' by some of the countries in which it lies and by foreign industrialized nations. The development projects and enterprises have aroused woridwide interest and have given rise to discussions on their aims and their consequences to the Amazonian nature. Limnological and ecological investigations in Amazonia started only about 40 years ago. The editor had the good fortune to partake in them from the very beginning. He spent his decisive years in Amazonia, and dedicated his life's work to that research and to that country and the Amazonian people. Nearing the end of his scicntific activities, hc is gratcful to bc ablc to summarizc in this book most of the knowledge we possess at present of Amazonian limnology and landscape ecology.




The Ecology of River Systems


Book Description

Our understanding of the ecology of running waters has come a long way during the past few years. From being a largely descriptive subject, with a few under tones concerned with such things as fisheries, pollution or control of blackflies, it has evolved into a discipline with hypotheses, such as the River Continuum Concept (Vannote et a/. 1980), and even a book suggesting that it offers opportunity for the testing of ecological theory (Barnes & Minshall 1983). However, perusal of the literature reveals that, although some of the very early studies were concerned with large rivers (references in Hynes 1970), the great mass of the work that has been done on running water has been on streams and small rivers, and information on larger rivers is either on such limited topics as fisheries or plankton, scattered among the journals, or not available to the general limnologist. The only exceptions are a few books in this series of publications, such as those on the Nile (Rz6ska 1976), the Volga (Morduckai Boltovskoi 1979) and the Amazon {Sioli 1984), and the recent compendium by Whitton (1984) on European rivers, among which there are a few that rate as large.




Amazon Fish Parasites


Book Description




Handbook of Inland Aquatic Ecosystem Management


Book Description

Combining background knowledge and practical tools, Handbook of Inland Aquatic Ecosystem Management gives you an overview of how to manage inland waters in a holistic manner. It examines the problems that threaten aquatic inland water ecosystems and presents a set of toolboxes for solving them. The book focuses on lakes, reservoirs, ponds, rivers,




Wetlands of the World I: Inventory, Ecology and Management


Book Description

The impetus for this volume was the 2nd International Wetlands Conference which was held in June, 1984 at Trebon, Czechoslovakia. An overview of the worlds wetlands was one of the themes of the conference and it was decided that a useful follow-up would be a publication on the same topic. The initial goal was to cover as many of the worlds wetlands as possible in one volume and to have an emphasis on wetland ecology, biota, classification, and management. Individuals who made presentations at the Trebon confer ence were asked to prepare chapters and the editors also solicited other contributions. For a variety of reasons, the initial goal has been difficult to reach, especially coverage of the entire globe, and it has been necessary to publish the contributions in more than one volume. Volume 1 represents the com pletion of the first phase of the project and it covers most of the Western Hemisphere, Australia, most of Africa, the Indian subcontinent, the Mediter ranean region, and Papua New Guinea. Volume 2 will contain chapters on Western Europe, Northern Europe, Central Europe, most of northern and It is our hope that Volume western Asia, the Middle East, and Indonesia. 2 will appear in the near future and, if possible, a third volume will be published if authors can be secured to cover areas such as the Far East, other parts of the Indo-Pacific region, and New Zealand.







The Pantanal of Poconé


Book Description

There are many famous wetlands in the world that have been deemed important for the homeostasis ofthe biosphere and accorded some form ofprotected status in view of the richness of their flora and fauna. T}1e Pantanal, located almost directly in the center ofthe South American continent, is among the largest such wetlands in the world. It is, in fact, the largest wetland that is still in a nearly natural state and has not been extensively modified by man for agriculture. The extent of the region covered by flood waters at the end of each rainy season varies from year to year, sometimes considerably, so estimates of the exact area it occupies have varied enormously. The size of the 2 2 Pantanal has been reported to be between 80,000 km (Bonetto, 1975) and 250,000 km (Tundisi and Matsumura-Tundisi, 1985). The most co~on1y accepted estimates at the present time are approximately 130,000 to 140,000 km , supported by estimates made from Nimbus-7 satellite observations (Hamilton et al. , 1996). However, Por (1995) suggested that the area extending into Bolivia and Paraguay has not been satisfactorily 2 surveyed, leading him to accept the figure of 200,000 km as the area of the entire Pantanal, ineluding all of its extensions. The main reason for the year to year variation in the extent of the flooding is the considerable difference in timing of the rainfall on the watershed.




The Central Amazon Floodplain


Book Description

Floodplains are ecosystems which are driven by periodic inundation and oscillation between terrestrial and aquatic phases. An understanding of such pulsing systems is only possible by studying both phases and linking the results into an integrated overview. This book presents the results of a 15-year study of the structure and function of one of the largest tropical floodplains, the Amazon River floodplain. It covers qualitative aspects, e.g., adaptations of aquatic and terrestrial organisms to the flood pulse as well as quantitative aspects, e.g., studies of biomass, primary production, decomposition, and nutrient cycles. The authors interpret their findings and the most important data from other studies under an integrating scientific concept, the Flood Pulse Concept.




Man, Fishes, and the Amazon


Book Description

Few aspects of American military history have been as vigorously debated as Harry Truman's decision to use atomic bombs against Japan. In this carefully crafted volume, Michael Kort describes the wartime circumstances and thinking that form the context for the decision to use these weapons, surveys the major debates related to that decision, and provides a comprehensive collection of key primary source documents that illuminate the behavior of the United States and Japan during the closing days of World War II. Kort opens with a summary of the debate over Hiroshima as it has evolved since 1945. He then provides a historical overview of thye events in question, beginning with the decision and program to build the atomic bomb. Detailing the sequence of events leading to Japan's surrender, he revisits the decisive battles of the Pacific War and the motivations of American and Japanese leaders. Finally, Kort examines ten key issues in the discussion of Hiroshima and guides readers to relevant primary source documents, scholarly books, and articles.