The new edition of this established textbook, now with full colour illustration, has been extensively revised and continues to provide a comprehensive, stimulating, readable and authoritative coverage of freshwater habitats, their communities and their functioning, the world over.
The new edition of this established textbook, now with full colour illustration, has been extensively revised and continues to provide a comprehensive, stimulating, readable and authoritative coverage of freshwater habitats, their communities and their functioning, the world over.
Professor Brian Moss retired from the University of Liverpool following a career in Africa, the USA and the UK. He was awarded medals by the International Society of Limnology, of which he was President from 2007 to 2013, and the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management. He was given the International Institute of Ecology Prize for Excellence in Ecology in 2009 and the book written for that prize, Liberation Ecology, received the British Ecological Society's Marsh Book of the Year Award in 2013.
Inhaltsangabe
Preface: why? xiii
1 The world as it was and the world as it is 1
1.1 Early ecological history 1
1.2 The more recent past 5
1.3 Characteristics of freshwater organisms 7
1.4 Freshwater biodiversity 8
1.5 A spanner in the works? 11
1.6 Politics and pollution 14
1.7 On the nature of textbooks 15
1.8 Further reading 17
2 Early evolution and diversity of freshwater organisms 18
2.1 Introduction 18
2.2 The freshwater biota 19
2.3 Bacteria 20
2.4 The variety of bacteria 22
2.5 Viruses 24
2.6 Two sorts of cells 25
2.7 The diversity of microbial eukaryotes 27
2.8 Algae 28
2.9 Kingdoms of eukaryotes 30
2.10 Further reading 37
3 Diversity continued: multicellular organisms in freshwaters 38
3.1 Introduction 38
3.2 Osmoregulation 38
3.3 Reproduction, resting stages and aestivation 39
3.4 Getting enough oxygen 41
3.5 Insects 41
3.6 Big animals, air-breathers and swamps 42
3.7 Dispersal among freshwaters 44
3.8 Patterns in freshwater diversity 46
3.9 Fish faunas 49
3.10 The fish of Lake Victoria 51
3.11 Overall diversity in freshwaters 53
3.12 Environmental DNA 56
3.13 Further reading 57
4 Water: a remarkable unremarkable substance 58
4.1 Introduction 58
4.2 The molecular properties of water and their physical consequences 59
4.3 Melting and evaporation 60
4.4 How much water is there and where is it? 61
4.5 Patterns in hydrology 62
4.6 Bodies of water and their temperatures 66
4.7 An overview of mixing patterns 70
4.8 Viscosity of water and fluid dynamics 71
4.9 Diffusion 73
4.10 Further reading 73
5 Water as a habitat: some background water chemistry 74
5.1 Introduction 74
5.2 Polar and covalent compounds 74
5.3 The atmosphere 75
5.4 Carbon dioxide 76
5.5 Major ions 77
5.6 The big picture 81
5.7 Further reading 83
6 Key nutrients, trace elements and organic matter 84
6.1 Introduction 84
6.2 Concepts of limiting substances 85
6.3 Experiments on nutrient limitation 86
6.4 Nutrient supply and need 91
6.5 Phosphorus 91
6.6 Nitrogen 92
6.7 Pristine concentrations 93
6.8 Trace elements and silicon 96
6.9 Organic substances 98
6.10 Substance budgets and movements 101
6.11 Sediment-water relationships 104
6.12 Further reading 106
7 Light thrown upon the waters 108
7.1 Light 108
7.2 Effects of the atmosphere 109
7.3 From above to under the water 110
7.4 Remote sensing 114
7.5 Further reading 116
8 Headwater streams and rivers 118
8.1 Introduction 118
8.2 General models of stream ecosystems 118
8.3 The basics of stream flow 121
8.4 Flow and discharge 122
8.5 Laminar and turbulent flow 122
8.6 Particles carried 124
8.7 The response of stream organisms to shear stress 125
8.8 Community composition in streams 126
8.9 Algal and plant communities 127
8.10 Macroinvertebrates 128
8.11 Streams in different climates: the polar and alpine zones 132
