The Estuarine Ecosystem Ecology, Threats, and Management

by McLusky, Donald S.; Elliott, Michael

• ISBN13: 9780198530916
• ISBN10: 0198530919
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-06-17
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

For the inhabitants of many of the world's major towns and cities, estuaries provide their first and nearest glimpse of a natural habitat. Despite the attempts of man to pollute or reclaim it, the estuarine ecosystem continues to provide a fascinating insight into a natural world where energy is transformed from sunlight into plant material, and then through the steps of a food chain is converted into a rich food supply for birds and fish. When the previous editions of this book appeared, biologists were beginning to realize that the estuarine ecosystem was an ideal habitat in which to observe the processes controlling biological productivity. In the intervening period, many more estuaries and their inhabitants have been studied intensively. It is now possible to answer many of the questions posed by the earlier editions, and to pursue further the explanation of high productivity in estuaries and of energy utilization at different trophic levels within estuarine food webs. A significant amount of new information has also been accumulated on the human use and abuse of these habitats, particularly the effects of pollution. Although the world's seas are vast and may appear capable of receiving unlimited quantities of human effluent, such waste is often first discharged into the confined waters of estuaries. In practice, marine pollution is often essentially estuarine pollution. To reflect the huge impact of humans on estuaries, and to consider how we may either modify, remove or enrich the estuarine ecosystem, three completely new chapters have been prepared in this edition. These consider anthropogenic change (including pollution) in estuaries, the diverse uses and abuses of the estuarine habitat by man, and the methods used to study human induced changes in estuaries. Finally, this text examines the ways in which estuarine management can monitor, control or prevent the pollution and destruction of this fragile ecosystem.

Author Biography

DSM: Senior Lecturer, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling
British. Born Harrogate, Yorkshire 27 June 1945
Editor of the journal Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science and Trustee of the Estuarine and Coastal Sciences Association
ME: Director, Institute of Estuarine & Coastal Studies (IECS), and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Hull
British, born Nottingham, England, 3 November 1952
Honorary Secretary of the Estuarine & Coastal Sciences Association; Fellow of the Institute of Biology, Course Co-ordinator of a MSc in Estuarine & Coastal Science & Management; member of Editorial Boards of the journals: Marine Pollution Bulletin, Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science, Marine Ecology Progress Series, Marine Environmental Research; advisor to national and international bodies concerned with environmental change in estuaries and coasts.

Table of Contents

The estuarine environment	1	(18)
Introduction	1	(4)
Estuarine circulation	5	(4)
Estuarine sediments	9	(3)
Other physico-chemical factors	12	(3)
Brackish seas and coastal lagoons	15	(4)
Life in estuaries	19	(15)
Distribution of estuarine organisms	19	(3)
Problems of life in estuaries	22	(5)
The estuarine food web	27	(7)
Primary producers: plant production and its availability	34	(19)
Introduction	34	(2)
Salt marshes	36	(3)
Mangroves	39	(1)
Intertidal plants and macroalgae	39	(3)
Microphytobenthos	42	(1)
Phytoplankton	43	(3)
Detritus	46	(3)
Summation of plant and microbial production in estuaries	49	(4)
Primary consumers: herbivores and detritivores	53	(20)
Introduction	53	(3)
The mud dwellers---benthic deposit feeders	56	(4)
The surface dwellers---benthic suspension-feeders and algal grazers	60	(1)
Meiofauna	61	(3)
Zooplankton	64	(4)
The primary consumer community	68	(2)
Role of primary consumers in the estuarine ecosystem	70	(3)
The secondary consumers: carnivores	73	(19)
Introduction	73	(1)
Fish	74	(8)
Invertebrates	82	(2)
Birds	84	(5)
The impact of the secondary consumers	89	(1)
Role of the secondary consumers in the estuarine ecosystem	90	(2)
Estuarine uses and users	92	(45)
Introduction	92	(2)
Estuarine pollution	94	(3)
Sewage pollution	97	(1)
Diffuse sources of nutrients	98	(3)
Organic enrichment	101	(1)
Overall system change	102	(3)
Fisheries and aquaculture	105	(8)
Industrial contamination	113	(8)
Land-claim, coastal defences, and engineering works	121	(7)
Power generation	128	(3)
Estuarine barriers and barrages	131	(4)
Other uses	135	(1)
Conflicting uses	136	(1)
Methods for studying human-induced changes in estuaries	137	(21)
Introduction	137	(3)
Individual change	140	(6)
Population responses: Population dynamics, growth, mortality rates, and population models	146	(1)
Community level assessments	147	(5)
Integrated estuarine assessments and ecosystem changes	152	(1)
Monitoring, surveillance, and survey design	153	(3)
Final comments	156	(2)
The management of estuaries	158	(32)
Introduction	158	(1)
Policies and philosophies	158	(2)
Planning and designations	160	(12)
Practice	172	(16)
Final remarks	188	(2)
Reading list	190	(19)
Index	209