Marine Biodiversity: Patterns and Processes

by Edited by Rupert F. G. Ormond , John D. Gage , Martin V. Angel , Foreword by Crispin Tickell

• ISBN13: 9780521022651
• ISBN10: 0521022657
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-11-10
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The biodiversity of many ecosystems is under threat and although seas cover the majority of our planet's surface, far less is known about the biodiversity of marine environments than that of terrestrial systems. It is also not clear whether many of the patterns known to occur on land also occur in the sea. Until we have a firmer idea of the diversity of a wide range of marine habitats and what controls it, we have little hope of conserving biodiversity, or determining the impact of human activities such as mariculture, fishing, dumping of waste and pollution. This book brings together key studies from the deep sea and open ocean, to tropical shores and polar regions to consider how comparable the patterns and processes underlying diversity are in these different ecosystems. Marine Biodiversity will be a major resource for all those interested in biodiversity and its conservation.

Table of Contents

List of contributors	ix
Foreword: The value of diversity.
Sir Crispin Tickell	xiii
1 Marine biodiversity in its global context.
M. Williamson	1	(17)
2 Gradients in marine biodiversity.
J.S. Gray	18	(17)
3 Pelagic biodiversity.
M.V. Angel	35	(34)
4 Biological diversity in oceanic macrozooplankton: More than counting species.
A.C. Pierrot-Bults	69	(25)
5 Large-scale patterns of species diversity in the deep-sea benthos.
M.A. Rex, R.J. Etter and C.T. Stuart	94	(28)
6 Diversity, latitude and time: Patterns in the shallow sea.
A. Clarke and J.A. Crame	122	(26)
7 High benthic species diversity in deep-sea sediments: The importance of hydrodynamics.
J.D. Gage	148	(30)
8 Diversity and structure of tropical Indo-Pacific benthic communities: Relation to regimes of nutrient input.
J.D. Taylor	178	(23)
9 Why are coral reef communities so diverse?
A.J. Kohn	201	(15)
10 The biodiversity of coral reef fishes.
R.F.G. Ormond and C.M. Roberts	216	(42)
11 The historical component of marine taxonomic diversity gradients.
J.A. Crame and A. Clarke	258	(16)
12 Population genetics and demography of marine species.
J.E. Neigel	274	(19)
13 Discovering unrecognised diversity among marine molluscs.
J. Grahame, S.L. Hull, P.J. Mill and R. Hemingway	293	(26)
14 Ecosystem function at low biodiversity – the Baltic example.
R. Elmgren and C. Hill	319	(18)
15 Land—seascape diversity of the USA East Coast coastal zone with particular reference to estuaries.
G.C. Ray, B.P. Hayden, M.G. McCormick-Ray and T.M. Smith	337	(35)
16. The development of mariculture and its implications for biodiversity.
M.C.M. Beveridge, L.G. Ross and J.A. Stewart	372	(22)
17. Protecting marine biodiversity and integrated coastal zone management.
J.S.H. Pullen	394	(21)
18. Conserving biodiversity in North-East Atlantic marine ecosystems.
K. Hiscock	415	(14)
Author index	429	(8)
Species index	437	(6)
Subject index	443