The Great Lakes of the World (GLOW)


Book Description

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 East African Great Lakes: Limnology, Palaeolimnology and Biodiversity


Book Description

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.




Emerging Marine Biotoxins


Book Description

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.




The Lakes Handbook


Book Description

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.




State of Lake Ontario


Book Description

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.




Environmental Geochemistry


Book Description

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.




A Pilot Constructed Treatment Wetland for Pulp and Paper Mill Wastewater


Book Description

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




The Once and Future Great Lakes Country


Book Description

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.




Evolution in Action


Book Description

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.




Tropical Conservation Biology


Book Description

This introductory textbook examines diminishing terrestrial and aquatic habitats in the tropics, covering a broad range of topics including the fate of the coral reefs; the impact of agriculture, urbanization, and logging on habitat depletion; and the effects of fire on plants and animal survival. Includes case studies and interviews with prominent conservation scientists to help situate key concepts in a real world context Covers a broad range of topics including: the fate of the coral reefs; the impact of agriculture, urbanization, and logging on habitat depletion; and the effects of fire on plants and animal survival Highlights conservation successes in the region, and emphasizes the need to integrate social issues, such as human hunger, into a tangible conservation plan Documents the current state of the field as it looks for ways to predict future outcomes and lessen human impact “Sodhi et al. have done a masterful job of compiling a great deal of literature from around the tropical realm, and they have laid out the book in a fruitful and straightforward manner...I plan to use it as a reference and as supplemental reading for several courses and I would encourage others to do the same.” Ecology, 90(4), 2009, pp. 1144–1145