The Mediterranean Sea: Its History and Present Challenges

ISBN-13: 9789402401868 / Angielski / Miękka / 2016 / 678 str.

Stefano Goffredo; Zvy Dubinsky

Opis

This richly illustrated book offers a multidisciplinary exploration of the Mediterranean Sea, from its geological birth to its myths, its place in biology and in the origins of Western human culture and its future in the changing global climate and economy.

Recenzje

"The editors have done a superb job of bringing together an updated, multidisciplinary survey of the Mediterranean Sea as we know it today. ... This book belongs in university libraries and on the desks and bookshelves of all researchers interested in the Mediterranean Sea. It is a credit to the science and study of the Mediterranean Sea, and as such it makes an important contribution to the literature." (Charles W. Finkl, Journal of Coastal Research, Vol. 31 (3), May, 2015)

Spis treści

PART I: Geology, chemical and physical oceanography

1. The Geological origins and paleoceanographic history of the Mediterranean region: Tethys to Present

2. A channeled shelf fan initiated by flooding of The Black Sea

3. Past, present and future patterns of the thermohaline circulation and characteristic water masses of the Mediterranean Sea

4. Past, present and future patterns in the nutrient chemistry of the Eastern Mediterranean

5. Marine chemosynthesis in the Mediterranean Sea 

PART II: Ecology: Taxa and Trophic Levels 

6. Microbial components

7. Mediterranean Sea - Primary Productivity

8. Autochthonous seaweeds

9. Autochthonous seagrasses

10. Alien benthic algae and seagrasses in the Mediterranean Sea and their connection to global warming

11.  The zooplankton

12. Zoobenthos

13. Foraminifera

14. Mediterranean corals through time: from Miocene to present

15. Mediterranean coral population dynamics: a tale of 20 years of field studies

16. The making of the Mediterranean molluscan biodiversity

17. Recent variations in the distribution of autochthonous marine molluscs in the Mediterranean Sea

18. Advances in predicting the impacts of global warming on the mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis in the Mediterranean Sea

19. Holoplanktonic Mollusca: development in the Mediterranean Basin during the last 30 million years and their future

20. Ocean acidification and warming effects on Crustacea: possible future scenarios

21. Bryozoan constructions in a changing Mediterranean Sea

22. The fishes of the Mediterranean a biota under siege

23. Physiological responses of marine animals towards adaptation to climate changes 

Part III: Global Climate Change and Ecosystem Effects  

24. A comparative analysis of trophic structure and functioning in large-scale Mediterranean marine ecosystems

25. Bioconstructions in the Mediterranean: present and future

26. Marine bioerosion

27. Metamorphoses: Bioinvasions in the Mediterranean Sea

28. Future trends of  Mediterranean biodiversity

29. Regime shifts in the marine environment: How do they affect ecosystem services? 

PART IV: Mediterranean Man and Sea: Myths, origins, challenges and opportunities 

30. Mediterranean culture and climatic change: past patterns and future trends

31. The Mediterranean human population: an Anthropological Genetics perspective

32. The Mediterranean and the voices transported by time

33. Mediterranean royal purple: Biology through ritual

34. Socioeconomic Aspects: Human migrations, Tourism and Fisheries

35. Effect of climatic and anthropogenic disturbances on sponge fisheries

36. Seafood safety and human health implications

37. Mediterranean aquaculture in a changing climate

38. Climate change, extreme weather events and health effects

39. Conflicts and Security Risks of Climate Change in the Mediterranean Region

40. Developing Resource Management and Marine Policy for the Eastern Mediterranean Sea

 

Blurb

This volume is an indispensable addition to the multidisciplinary coverage of the science of the Mediterranean Sea. The editors have gathered leading authorities from the fields of Marine Biology, Ecology, paleoclimatology, Chemical and Physical Oceanography, Zoology, Botany, Aquatic Photosynthesis, Socioeconomics, Mariculture,  Mediterranean History and Science of Humanity.

 

Beginning with the birth of the Mediterranean Sea and its myths. From coral to fish, an introduction is given to its major inhabitants of plants and animals past and present. The chapters illustrate how organisms interact as part of the structure and function of the Sea's main ecosystems. The rise of the Mediterranean as the cradle of the Western Civilization leads to a discourse on the status of human interaction with the sea. Accelerating global climate change, water warming, ocean acidification and sea level rise, and analyses of their effects on key organisms, entire ecosystems and  human socioeconomics are given. Forecasting and predictions are presented taking into account different future scenarios from the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change).

 

The volume is richly illustrated in color, with an extensive bibliography. A valuable addition to the limited literature in the field, offering up-to-date broad coverage merging science and humanities.