Encyclopedia Of Estuaries

The Encyclopedia of Estuaries, part of Springer's Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series, provides a single, state-of-the-art, comprehensive reference volume on estuaries for research scientists, educators, students, and others. Consisting of almost 270 subject entries in an easy-to-use format, this volume covers the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of estuaries. In total more than 225 authors from around the world have contributed to the encyclopedia on such diverse subjects as biotic communities, essential habitats, food webs, fisheries, hydrology, pollution, conservation, and many more. The Encyclopedia of Estuaries will meet the needs of professionals worldwide by supplying detailed information from world-class estuarine and marine scientists as well as experts from other fields of study.

A reference volume discussing the dynamics, mixing, sediment regimes and morphological evolution in estuaries for researchers, students and engineers.

Estuaries is a comprehensive introductory text emphasizing the physical processes involved in the mixing of sea and river water and the transport of fine sediments within the complex estuarine topographic context. The theoretical and mathematical formulation of these processes are treated at a fairly elementary level, and are used to develop a foundation for more extensive study. The second edition retains the classical approaches to the tidally averaged circulation and mixing conditions but broadens them to consider recent advances in the understanding of processes occurring within the tide. The scope has also been widened to include more detail on the morphology of estuaries and their development, the fluxes of suspended fine sediments, and the generation and maintenance of turbidity maximum. The book provides an excellent introduction for research students in oceanography, environmental science, geography, geology, and water and coastal engineering. It will also be useful as a reference book for those working in water quality, morphological modelling and estuarine environmental management.

Estuaries are of high socioeconomic importance with twenty-two of the thirty-two largest cities in the world located on river estuaries. Estuaries bring together fluxes of fresh and saline water, as well as fluvial and marine sediments, and contain high biological diversity. Increasingly sophisticated field observation technology and numerical modeling have produced significant advances in our understanding of the physical properties of estuaries over the last decade. This book introduces a classification for estuaries before presenting the basic physics and hydrodynamics of estuarine circulation and the various factors that modify it in time and space. It then covers special topics at the forefront of research such as turbulence, fronts in estuaries and continental shelves, low inflow estuaries, and implications of estuarine transport for water quality. Written by leading authorities on estuarine and lagoon hydrodynamics, this volume provides a concise foundation for academic researchers, advanced students and coastal resource managers.

Estuaries and their surrounding wetland regions are among the most productive ecosystems in the world, with more than half of humanity inhabiting their shores. Anthropogenic factors make estuaries highly susceptible to ecosystem degradation. Coastal waters are closely connected with human activity, and their dynamic processes may greatly affect coastal environments. This book provides a compendium of studies on estuarine dynamics, river plumes, and coastal water dynamics, studies that have investigated the changes in estuarine and coastal zones in response to sea-level rise and other environmental factors, and policy and management strategies to ensure the health and economy of coastal zones. This book aims to display novel frontiers in these fields and may help to inspire in-depth studies in the future.

This landmark publication collates information and studies on the use of estuaries, and specific habitats within them, as nursery, feeding and refuge areas, and migration routes of marine and other fish, many of which are of commercial and conservation importance. The editors and authors of the book have carefully compiled a huge wealth of information from the work of 18 organizations across 11 countries, providing a unique collection of data never before brought together within the covers of one book. Chapters within this exceptional publication cover habitat use by fishes, recruitment and production in estuaries, links between fish and other trophic levels, endangered and rare species, estuarine development and restoration, environmental quality of estuaries and the management of estuarine fishes. The book notably contains extensive chapters on field methods and data analysis. Fishes in Estuaries is an essential tool and reference source for fisheries and environmental managers, fish biologists, environmental scientists, aquatic ecologists and conservation biologists. Libraries in all universities and research establishments where biological sciences are studied and taught should have copies of this book on their shelves, as should personnel employed in regulatory and consultant capacities, such as within rivers authorities, environment agencies and fish and wildlife departments. Comprehensive coverage of commercially exploited species. Internationally known and respected contributors. Multi-contributor approach providing very detailed coverage. Estuaries are a vitally important ecosystem.

The principle objective of this book is to review the biological characteristics of estuaries. The volume has been as a text for undergraduates and graduate students as well as reference for scientists conducting research on estuarine systems. And the rapid development of estuarine ecology as a field of scientific inquiry reflects a growing awareness of the immense societal importance of a coastal ecosystem. While the volume of literature on estuaries amassed, scientists deemed it necessary to synthesize the field periodically. Consiquently, several books have been produced in recent years which examine variuous aspects of the disicpline.

These books are divided into two volumes. The first focuses on estuarine physics and physical processes and interpretations. I have, for the most parts, intentionally downplayed engineering applications to estuaries. It is my bias that a deeper understanding is accomplished with a physical approach, whereas an engineering approach is largely geared toward finding a solution to a problem. Of course, it is not always easy to make this distinction. The second volume is a presentation of physical case studies of several important estuaries, spanning the major geomorphic types. I believe that it can be very useful to all areas of the world. I have consciously strived to be more international to scope in selection of both authors and estuarine case studies.

The importance and ecological significance of estuaries has been long appreciated. In the last few years, there has been increased research activity, resulting in significant advances in understanding of estuarine ecology. This special thematic volume of Advances in Ecological Research provides an overview of a number of the important areas. Ranging from the macroscale: how differences in river basins influence the loads of nutrients, through the impacts and fates of the nutrient loads, to how both phytoplanktonic and benthic estuarine primary production are regulated. There is also a review of the key factors influencing the outcome of management decisions for estuaries from the point of sustainability of estuarine resources. This volume is essential reading and reference for all those interested in estuaries including ecologists, environmental scientists, botanists, and zoologists.