The Riverine Ecosystem Synthesis: Toward Conceptual Cohesiveness in River Science

ISBN-13: 9780123706126 / Angielski / Twarda / 2008 / 208 str.

James H Thorp

Opis

This book presents the most comprehensive model yet for describing the structure and functioning of running freshwater ecosystems. Riverine Ecosystems Synthesis (RES) is a result of combining several theories published in recent decades, dealing with aquatic and terrestrial systems. New analyses are fused with a variety of new perspectives on how river network ecosystems are structured and function, and how they change along longitudinal, lateral, and temporal dimensions. Among these novel perspectives is a dramatically new view of the role of hydrogeomorphic forces in forming functional process zones from headwaters to the mouths of great rivers. Designed as a useful tool for aquatic scientists worldwide whether they work on small streams or great rivers and in forested or semi-arid regions, this book will provide a means for scientists to understand the fundamental and applied aspects of rivers in general and includes a practical guide and protocols for analyzing individual rivers. Specific examples of rivers in at least four continents (Africa, Australia, Europe and North America) serve to illustrate the power and utility of the RES concept.

• Develops the classic, seminal article in River Research and Applications, "A Model of Biocomplexity in River Networks Across Space and Time" which introduced the RES concept for the first time
• A guide to the practical analysis of individual rivers, extending its use from pristine ecosystems to modern, human-modified rivers
• An essential aid both to the study fundamental and applied aspects of rivers, such as rehabilitation, management, monitoring, assessment, and flow manipulation of networks

Recenzje

"The book provides a good overview for all those interested in the development of river science with critical reviews of current theories. It is more than simply an overview however, in that it presents a well- argued, detailed synthesis of these theories inviting comments and further developments from academics. A useful resource for any undergraduate or postgraduate student studying river systems, along with academic researchers and practitioners, the RES outlines the developments in river science that will no doubt shape future research for many years to come."--River Research and Applications

Spis treści

Framework for the Riverine Ecosystem Synthesis (RES); Introduction to the RES; Historical Perspectives on Lotic Concepts; Functional Process Zones along a River's Longitudinal Dimension; Hierarchical Patch Dynamics in River Networks; Some Proposed Model Tenets; Applying the RES to Individual Rivers; Defining the Hydrogeomorphic Character of a River Network; Applying Hierarchical Patch Dynamics in Lotic Research; Systems to Modern Working Rivers; Practical Applications of the RES; Concluding Remarks

O autorze

Dr. James H. Thorp has been a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of
Kansas (Lawrence, KS, USA) and a Senior Scientist in the Kansas Biological Survey since 2001. Prior to returning to
his alma mater, Professor Thorp was a Distinguished Professor and Dean at Clarkson University, Department
Chair and Professor at the University of Louisville, Associate Professor and Director of the Calder Ecology Center of
Fordham University, Visiting Associate Professor at Cornell,and Research Ecologist at the University of Georgia's
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. He received his Baccalaureate from the University of Kansas (KU) and both
Masters and PhD degrees from North Carolina State. Those degrees focused on zoology, ecology, and marine biology,
with an emphasis on the ecology of freshwater and marine invertebrates. Dr. Thorp has been on the editorial board of
three freshwater journals and is a former President of the International Society for River Science. He teaches freshwater,
marine, and invertebrate courses at KU, and his Master and Doctoral graduate students work on various
aspects of the ecology of communities through macrosystems in rivers, reservoirs, and wetlands. Professor
Thorp's research interests and background are highly diverse and span the gamut from organismal biology to community,
ecosystem, and macrosystem ecology. He works on both fundamental and applied research topics using descriptive,
experimental, and modeling approaches in the field and lab.While his research emphasizes aquatic invertebrates, he also
studies fish ecology, especially as related to food webs. He has published more than 130 refereed journal articles, books,
and chapters, including three single-volume editions of Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater
Invertebrates (edited by J.H. Thorp and A.P. Covich) and five volumes in the current fourth edition of Thorp and
Covich's Freshwater Invertebrates. Michael Delong is a Professor of Biology and Director of the Large River Studies Center at Winona State University, Winona, Minnesota USA. Delong has studied rivers for over 30 years, with a focus on community and ecosystem ecology and has engaged in research in a number of rivers in the U.S. as well as rivers in Australia. A primary focus of his research has been on food web ecology, with both applied and basic implications. As director of the LRSC, Delong engaged over 160 undergraduate students in research of aquatic systems. Delong has published 30 peer-reviewed journal articles and contributed to three books on river science.