Waters in Peril

by Bendell-Young, Leah; Gallaugher, Patricia

• ISBN13: 9780792375043
• ISBN10: 0792375041
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-11-01
• Publisher: Kluwer Academic Pub

Summary

Waters in Peril presents the most recent scientific evidence produced by internationally renowned ocean scientists on the current state of ocean ecosystems, globally. Covering over seventy percent of the earth's surface, the ocean is the world's largest common property resource, jointly owned by over six billion humans. It is the foundation for life on earth as we know it. The content ranges from the movement of essential nutrients in the sea to the loss of diversity as a consequence of overharvesting practices and habitat loss. Essential to the maintenance of complex ecosystems is the proper functioning of biogeochemical cycles within the oceans. Waters in Peril addresses this topic by detailing behavior of the essential nutrients, nitrogen and phosphorus, and discussing how these cycles are being altered so as to compromise the function of ocean ecosystems. Issues regarding how man-made activities are further altering the structure of oceanic systems are also discussed. In addition, the mechanism for and consequences of the loss of biodiversity are described, with issues such as overfishing, the invasion of exotic species, and the loss of ocean habitat being presented in such a way that the average reader can readily grasp the concepts. Rather than end on a negative 'Doomsday' note, the final chapters provide recommendations and directions for solutions as to how to reverse these human-induced trends.

Table of Contents

Foreword: Who Speaks for the Oceans?	xvii
John Nightingale
Preface:	xix
Waters in Peril	xxi
Patricia Gallaugher
Leah Bendell-Young
Acknowledgments	xxiii
PART I --- BIODIVERSITY
Biological Invasions of Marine Ecosystems: Patterns, Effects, and Management	3	(16)
Gregory M. Ruiz
Jeffrey A. Crooks
Known and Unknown Biodiversity, Risk of Extinction and Conservation Strategy in The Sea	19	(16)
Marjorie L. Reaka-Kudla
Deep-Sea Fisheries: Perspectives and Lessons	35	(12)
Richard L. Haedrich
Fishing Down Marine Food Webs: An Update	47	(10)
Daniel Pauly
Maria Lourdes D. Palomares
Ecological Implications of the Shellfishery; A Case Study on the West Coast of British Columbia, Canada	57	(16)
Leah I. Bendell-Young
Ron C. Ydenberg
PART II --- MARINE ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION
The Oceanic Nitrogen Cycle: A Double-Edged Agent of Environmental Change?	73	(30)
Louis A. Codispoti
Beyond Algal Blooms, Oxygen Deficits and Fish Kills: Chronic, Long-Term Impacts of Nutrient Pollution on Aquatic Ecosystems	103	(24)
JoAnn M. Burkholder
Responses of Pelagic Marine Ecosystems to Climate Change --- Can We Predict Them?	127	(8)
Kenneth L. Denman
The Arctic Ocean and Contaminants: Pathways that Lead to Us	135	(16)
Robie W. Macdonald
Shouldn't We Be Putting Our Sulphide-Rich Mine Tailings in the Ocean or in Lakes Rather than on Land?	151	(14)
Thomas F. Pedersen
PART III --- TOWARDS SOLUTIONS
The Cumulative Effects of Climate Warming and Other Human Stresses on Canadian Freshwaters in the New Millennium	165	(22)
David W. Schindler
Marine Biological Diversity: Conserving Life in the Neglected Ninety-nine Percent	187	(14)
Elliott A. Norse
Human Ecology, Material Consumption, and the Sea: Indices of Human Ecological Dysfunction	201	(20)
William E. Rees
Prevention is Better Than Cure: Systems of `No-Take' Marine Reserves	221	(12)
Bill Ballantine
Index	233