Synopses & Reviews
and#147;
Wetland Habitats of North America is essential reading for everyone who studies, manages, or visits North American wetlands. It fills an important void in the wetland literature, providing accessible and succinct descriptions of all of the continentand#8217;s major wetland types.and#8221;
Arnold van der Valk, Iowa State University
and#147;Batzer and Baldwin have compiled the most comprehensive compendium of North American wetland habitats and their ecology that is presently availableand#151;a must for wetland scientists and managers.and#8221;
Irving A. Mendelssohn, Louisiana State University
"If you want to gain a broad understanding of the ecology of North Americaand#8217;s diverse wetlands, Wetland Habitats of North America is the book for you. Darold Batzer and Andrew Baldwin have assembled an impressive group of regional wetland scientists who have produced a virtual encyclopedia to the continentand#8217;s wetlands. Reading the book is like a road trip across the Americas with guided tours of major wetland types by local experts. Your first stop will be to coastal wetlands with eight chapters covering tidal wetlands along the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts. Then youand#8217;ll travel inland where you can visit any or all of 18 types ranging from bottomland swamps of the Southeast to pothole marshes of the Northern Prairies to montane wetlands of the Rockies to tropical swamps of Central America and desert springs wetlands. All in one bookand#151;Iand#8217;m impressed! Every wetlander should add this book to her or his swampland library.
Ralph Tiner, University of Massachusettsand#150;Amherst
Review
and#8220;The editors are to be highly commended for . . . the straightforward and honest writing style that continually weaves its way throughout this text.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Provides a comprehensive introduction to the great ecological breadth and complexity that wetlands exhibit ranging from microbial process to biogeography and global climate.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;An essential component of the library of anyone working in the realm of freshwater ecology.and#8221;
Review
"Wetland Habitats of North America offers plenty of information for the variety of wetland types that are discussed, will be a valuable reference for all wetland scientists and deserves a place in their library."
Synopsis
This second edition of this important and authoritative survey provides students and researchers with up-to-date and accessible information about the ecology of freshwater and estuarine wetlands.
Prominent scholars help students understand both general concepts of different wetland types as well as complex topics related to these dynamic physical environments. Careful syntheses review wetland soils, hydrology, and geomorphology; abiotic constraints for wetland plants and animals; microbial ecology and biogeochemistry; development of wetland plant communities; wetland animal ecology; and carbon dynamics and ecosystem processes. In addition, contributors document wetland regulation, policy, and assessment in the US and provide a clear roadmap for adaptive management and restoration of wetlands. New material also includes an expanded review of the consequences for wetlands in a changing global environment.
Ideally suited for wetlands ecology courses, Ecology of Freshwater and Estuarine Wetlands, Second Edition, includes updated content, enhanced images (many in color), and innovative pedagogical elements that guide students and interested readers through the current state of our wetlands.
Synopsis
Praise for the First Edition
The editors are to be highly commended for . . . the straightforward and honest writing style that continually weaves its way throughout this text.”Mark W. Hester, Ecology
Provides a comprehensive introduction to the great ecological breadth and complexity that wetlands exhibit, ranging from microbial process to biogeography and global climate.”Wetlands
Covers a series of highly relevant topics. . . . An extensive reference to literature sources is particularly valuable to scientists and students.”Current Books on Gardening and Botany
Synopsis
Praise for the First Edition
The editors are to be highly commended for . . . the straightforward and honest writing style that continually weaves its way throughout this text.”Mark W. Hester, Ecology
Provides a comprehensive introduction to the great ecological breadth and complexity that wetlands exhibit, ranging from microbial process to biogeography and global climate.”Wetlands
A comprehensive and timely introduction to wetlands ecology . . . Would serve as an excellent textbook for classes focusing on wetlands, wetland ecology, and related classes where system ecology and function may be of interest.”Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas
Synopsis
Designed as a textbook, this volume is an important, up-to-date, authoritative, and accessible survey in ecology of freshwater and estuarine wetlands. Prominent wetland scholars address the physical environment, geomorphology, biogeochemistry, soils, and hydrology of both freshwater and estuarine wetlands. Careful syntheses review how hydrology and chemistry constrain wetlands plants and animals. In addition, contributors document the strategies employed by plants, animals, and bacteria to cope with stress. Focusing on the ecology of key organisms, each chapter is relevant to wetland regulation and assessment, wetland restoration, how flood pulses control the ecology of most wetland complexes, and how human regulation of flood pulses threatens wetland biotic integrity. Ideal for the classroom, this book is a fundamental resource for anyone interested in the current state of our wetlands.
Synopsis
"An exciting new wetlands book with an international flavor that provides a synthesis of basic and applied research. Written by experts in the field the volume focuses on ecosystem processes, plant and animal ecology and wetland restoration."and#151;Curtis J. Richardson, Director of the Duke University Wetland Center.
"An excellent interdisciplinary team provides a fresh synthesis that has continuity among chapters, is refreshingly honest and cautionary, and is responsive to societal pressures and opportunities. A road forward from society's dismal swamp of past behaviors and missed opportunities."and#151;R. Eugene Turner, Louisiana State University
"There's everything here from biogeography, climate change, wetland soils and hydrology to descriptions of wetland types and their biota viruses, bacteria, all the way up to the charismatic megafauna and megaflora, to chapters on wetland regulation and policy, restoration, and biodiversity."and#151;Stephen Threlkeld, University of Mississippi
Synopsis
Wetlands are prominent landscapes throughout North America. The general characteristics of wetlands are controversial, thus there has not been a systematic assessment of different types of wetlands in different parts of North America, or a compendium of the threats to their conservation. Wetland Habitats of North America adopts a geographic and habitat approach, in which experts familiar with wetlands from across North America provide analyses and syntheses of their particular region of study. Addressing a broad audience of students, scientists, engineers, environmental managers, and policy makers, this book reviews recent, scientifically rigorous literature directly relevant to understanding, managing, protecting, and restoring wetland ecosystems of North America.
About the Author
Darold P. Batzer is Professor of Entomology at the University of Georgia. He is the coeditor of several volumes, including
Wetland Habitats of North America (UC Press),
Invertebrates in Freshwater Wetlands of North America, and
Bioassessment and Management of North American Freshwater Wetlands. He served as Editor-in-Chief of
Wetlands, the scholarly journal of the Society of Wetland Scientists, and he has taught courses in wetland ecology and aquatic ecology.
Rebecca Sharitz is Professor of Plant Biology at the University of Georgia and coeditor of two books for the US Atomic Energy Commission. She has taught courses in wetland ecology.
Table of Contents
List of Contributors
Preface
1. Ecology of Freshwater and Estuarine Wetlands:
An Introduction
What Is a Wetland?
Why Are Wetlands Important?
Wetland Loss and Degradation
What This Book Covers
2. Wetland Geomorphology, Soils, and Formative Processes
Wetland Geomorphology and Wetland Soils
Specific Wetland Types: Formative Processes, Geomorphology, and Soils
Conclusions
3. Wetland Hydrology
Hillslope Hydrologic Processes
Geomorphic Controls on Wetland Hydrology
Wetland Water Budgets
Hydropattern
Hydraulics and Water Quality
Effects of Land Use Changes on Wetland Hydrology
4. Abiotic Constraints for Wetland Plants and Animals
Hydrology
Salinity
5. Biogeochemistry and Bacterial Ecology of Hydrologically
Dynamic Wetlands
Chapter Themes
A Primer on Wetland Bacteriology
The Hydrology of Temporary Wetlands
Biogeochemical Cycles in Temporary Wetlands
Organic-matter Decay in Temporary Wetlands
Nutrient Uptake and Release in Temporary Wetlands
Integration and Synthesis: Biogeochemistry, Hydrology, and Sediments in Temporary Wetlands
Integration and Synthesis: Biogeochemistry, Hydrology, and Aquatic Plants in Temporary Wetlands
6. Development of Wetland Plant Communities
Importance of Hydrologic Conditions
Plant Community Development
Plant Distributions in Wetlands
Primary Productivity
Limiting Nutrients in Wetlands
Characteristics of Selected Wetlands
7. Wetland Animal Ecology
Trophic Ecology
Community Ecology
Focal Wetland Animals
8. Wetland Ecosystem Processes
Wetlands as Ecosystems
Generation and Retention of High Amounts of Organic Matter
Fluxes of Organic Matter and Energy in Aquatic Ecosystems
Attached Microbial Community Metabolism and Interactions
Modulation of Macrophytes and Periphyton by Mortality and Losses: What Do They Mean to Higher Trophic Levels?
Defensive Mechanisms and Allelochemical and#147;Communicationand#8221; Within Wetlands
Potential Effects of Global Changes in Climate and Related Environmental Conditions on Ecosystem Processes
9. United States Wetland Regulation and Policy
Wetland Definitions
Federal Jurisdiction of Wetlands
Wetland Delineation
Wetland Functions and Values
Functional Assessment Methods
Summary
10. Wetland Restoration
Catastrophic Versus Chronic Degradation
Enabling Restoration Efforts
Restore What?
Identifying Feasible Goals
How Theory Can Help
Restoring Functions at the Watershed Scale
Site-based Tactics
Surprises and Their Lessons
Evaluating Progress and Outcomes
Long-term Stewardship
Adaptive Restoration: An Approach That Simultaneously Advances Ecology and Accomplishes Restoration
11. Flood Pulsing and the Development and Maintenance of Biodiversity
in Floodplains
Characterization of Flood-pulsing Systems
Definition and Classification of Wetland Organisms
Strategies to Survive Flooding and Drought
Speciation and Extinction: The Impact of Paleoclimatic History on Species Diversity
Species Exchange Between Floodplains and Permanent Water Bodies
Species Exchange Between Floodplains and Terrestrial Habitats
Species Exchange Between Different Floodplains
Species Exchange Between Intertidal Wetlands and Other Habitats
Altering the Flood Pulse: Impacts on Biodiversity
Conclusions
12. Consequences for Wetlands of a Changing Global Environment
Assumptions
Effects on Carbon Balance
Effects on Species Composition and Redistribution
Effects on Wetland Types
Management and Policy Options
Summary
Literature Cited
Index