An Estuary Food Chain

Welcome to a North American estuary! As you travel through the swamp’s murky water, you wade through green duckweed and push ahead to the moss-draped trees at the water’s edge. Everything seems green and still. But the estuary is full of life, from an American alligator lying in wait for a cottonmouth snake, to a swarm of biting midges stinging you. Day and night in the estuary, the hunt is on to find food - and to avoid becoming someone else’s next meal. All living things are connected to one another in a food chain, from animal to animal, animal to plant, plant to insect, and insect to animal. What path will you take to follow the food chain through the estuary? Will you ...swoop through the sky with a barred owl chasing a mouse? Join a family of opossums munching on a poisonous snake? Nibble on some water plants with a swamp rabbit? Follow all three chains and many more on this who-eats-what adventure!

Reflecting the recent surge of activity in food web research fueled by new empirical data, this authoritative volume successfully spans and integrates the areas of theory, basic empirical research, applications, and resource problems. Written by recognized leaders from various branches of ecological research, this work provides an in-depth treatment of the most recent advances in the field and examines the complexity and variability of food webs through reviews, new research, and syntheses of the major issues in food web research. Food Webs features material on the role of nutrients, detritus and microbes in food webs, indirect effects in food webs, the interaction of productivity and consumption, linking cause and effect in food webs, temporal and spatial scales of food web dynamics, applications of food webs to pest management, fisheries, and ecosystem stress. Three comprehensive chapters synthesize important information on the role of indirect effects, productivity and consumer regulation, and temporal, spatial and life history influences on food webs. In addition, numerous tables, figures, and mathematical equations found nowhere else in related literature are presented in this outstanding work. Food Webs offers researchers and graduate students in various branches of ecology an extensive examination of the subject. Ecologists interested in food webs or community ecology will also find this book an invaluable tool for understanding the current state of knowledge of food web research.

Welcome to the Nile River in Egypt! As you slosh through the river bank and puddle-jump the marshy areas, you can hear birds calling, frogs peeping and little scurrying sounds from the underbrush. The Nile River is full of life, from Egyptian vultures snatching ostrich eggs to golden jackals gnawing on a dead rabbit. Day and night in the Nile River delta, the hunt is on to find food - and to avoid becoming someone else’s next meal. All the living things are connected to one another in a food chain, from animal to animal, animal to plant, plant to insect, and insect to animal. What path will you take to follow the food chain through the river delta? Will you . . . Swoop through the air with an Egyptian slit-faced bat hunting insects? Stalk for frog dinner through thick reeds with a swamp cat? Scavenge for road kill with a striped hyena? Follow all three chains and many more on this who-eats-what adventure!

Welcome to the Galápagos Islands! As you follow a path through the black lava rock on one of the islands, you may hear the sea lions barking or the hum of a white-lined sphinx moth flying past your head. The Galápagos Islands are full of life, from a huge tortoise trudging toward a cactus patch to a Galápagos barn owl gliding in the air, ready to snatch up a Santa Fe rice rat. Day and night in the Galápagos Islands, the hunt is on to find food - and to avoid becoming someone else’s next meal. All the living things are connected to one another in a food chain, from animal to animal, animal to plant, plant to insect, and insect to animal. What path will you take to follow the food chain through the islands? Will you . . . Go fishing with a blue-footed booby? Snack on some crabs with a Galápagos sea lion? Dive under the reef in search of algae with a marine iguana? Follow all three chains and many more on this who-eats-what adventure!

This textbook covers the physical and chemical aspects of estuaries, the biology and ecology of key organisms, the flow of organic matter through estuaries, and human interactions, such as the environmental impact of fisheries on estuaries and the effects of global climate change on these important ecosystems. Each chapter will begin with basic concepts and then move on to describing applications and current practice. This new edition is being authored by a team of world experts from the estuarine science community.

Paying special attention to the fertile boundaries between terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems, this work shows not only what this new methodology means for ecology, conservation, and agriculture but also serves as a fitting tribute to Gary Polis and his major contributions to the field

The objective of this book is to review the physical and chemical characteristics of estuaries. The volume has been designed principally as a reference for scientists, but administers, managers, decision makers, and other professionals involved in some way with estuarine research can find value in the text.