Applied Freshwater Biology

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Direct Price: $69.95

By John S. Richardson, Ph.D.
Hardcover, 7×10, 350 pages
ISBN: 978-1-60427-169-0
e-ISBN: 978-1-60427-857-6
May 2024

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Description

Through rivers, wetlands, streams, and lakes, the flow of water sustains life. In addition to the myriad lifeforms that freshwater ecosystems support, including our own, they also provide opportunities for recreation and personal reflection. Unfortunately, our freshwaters have become seriously impacted and degraded by various stressors, including pollution, forestry, agriculture, urbanization, exploitation of species, and more.

In this comprehensive book, Richardson lays out the origins and nature of the most prominent environmental stressors to freshwater systems. The first two chapters provide a review of freshwater biology and hydrology. Each of the next 12 chapters focuses on a particular class of stressors, interactions they may have with other stressors, and a range of solutions currently available to mitigate the problems they cause. The last two chapters pull together key concepts to focus on the restoration of freshwater ecosystems and the importance of long-term monitoring.

This work is ideally suited for students in upper and graduate-level college courses focused on freshwater ecology, biology, environmental sciences, and environmental engineering, as well as practitioners in these respective fields. Today, more than ever, we need trained individuals who understand how to protect and restore freshwater ecosystems for both human and non-human use, and this book provides the essential information required to get there.

Key Features

  • Provides 28 case studies demonstrating scientific applications for the mitigation of stressors/impacts on aquatic ecosystems and nearly 100 color illustrations and charts
  • Delves into impacts from both point source and non-point source pollution
  • Addresses issues with water withdrawals and transfers, as well as flow management and channelization
  • Discusses solutions to problems resulting from erosion and sediment transport
  • Designed for use as a one-term college course, with each chapter covering two class periods
  • Chapters include thought-provoking homework activities for students
  • Includes comprehensive references for additional reading and research
  • WAV features selected graphs, tables, and images from the book—available from the Web Added Value™ Download Resource Center at www.jrosspub.com/wav

About the author(s)

John S. Richardson was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, and earned his first degree from the University of Toronto (B.Sc. 1979). From there, his academic career took him west as he earned degrees from the University of Alberta (M.Sc. 1983) and the University of British Columbia (Ph.D. 1989). Dr. Richardson spent three years at Simon Fraser University as a post-doctoral fellow before landing a faculty position at the University of British Columbia.

Dr. Richardson has held many professional roles including faculty member, Head of Department, member of the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, and a member of the editorial boards of several high-ranking journals. He has also been on many panels dealing with endangered species, riparian regulations, and other applications of his research.

John’s research has focused on freshwater and riparian area ecology, primarily as a population, community, and ecosystem ecologist. He has successfully mentored many excellent graduate students and post-doctoral fellows and enjoys working in a global community of scholars with many outstanding colleagues.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1 – HYDROLOGY AND FRESHWATER BIOLOGY

Hydrology

Important Parameters of Water Quality

Water Temperature – The “Master Variable”

The Force of Flow

Oxygen Content

Nutrients

Acidity

Turbidity

Light

Biology of Freshwater Organisms

Micro-Organisms

Algae and Plants

Animals

Food Resources

Food Webs

Community Ecology

Ecosystem Processes

CHAPTER 2 – FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS: HABITAT TYPES AND GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION

Introduction

Types of Freshwater Ecosystems

Streams

Classification of Streams

Lakes

Wetlands

Estuaries

Other Freshwaters

Discontinuities

Substrate

CHAPTER 3 – SEDIMENT

Introduction

Sediments as Habitat

Impacts

Turbidity

Smothering, Abrasion, and Suffocation

Food-Web Effects

Interactions with Other Stressors

Solutions

Limiting Erosion of Sediments

Protecting Infrastructure and Reducing Bank Erosion

Too Little Sediment

Perspectives

Activities

CHAPTER 4 – NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION

Introduction

Impacts

Eutrophication

Toxic Metals and Synthetic Chemicals

Genetic Alterations

Hormone Disruption and Other Effects

Radiation Exposure

Interactions with Other Stressors

Solutions

The Field of Ecotoxicology

Controlling or Removing Nutrients

Controls on Pesticides

Regulation of Effluents

Reduce Use of Plastics

Perspectives

CHAPTER 5 – POINT SOURCE POLLUTION

Introduction

Impacts

Domestic Water Supplies and Wastewater Treatment Plants

Livestock

Electric Plants

Landfills

Mining

Interactions with Other Stressors

Solutions

Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants and Stormwater

Industrial Treatment

Livestock

Landfills

Mining

Monitoring

Perspectives

Activities

CHAPTER 6 – WATER WITHDRAWALS AND TRANSFERS

Introduction

Impacts

Interactions with Other Stressors

Solutions

Governance, Management, and the Surface-to-Ground Water Connection

Irrigation

Water Supply Costs

Perspectives

Activities

CHAPTER 7 – FLOW MANAGEMENT AND CHANNELIZATION

Introduction

Impacts

Dams and Reservoirs

Channelization and Diking

Interactions with Other Stressors

Solutions

Environmental Flows

Connecting Habitat

Restoration of Habitats Downstream of Dams

Removal of Dams

Flow Management for Environmental Restoration

Monitoring

Perspectives

Activities

CHAPTER 8 – FOREST AND AGRICULTURE MANAGEMENT

Introduction

Impacts

Hydrological Impacts

Shade Removal

Sediments and Organic Matter Inputs

Large Wood and Shoreline Vegetation

Nutrients and Pesticides

Interactions with Other Stressors

Solutions

Pesticide Exclusion Zones

Silt Fences and Landscape Cloths

Riparian Areas and Buffers

Forestry

Crop Agriculture

Livestock Management

Perspectives

Activities

CHAPTER 9 – URBAN WATERBODIES

Introduction

Impacts

Urban Stream Syndrome

Water Quality Changes

Overflows from Combined Sewer Systems

Channelization

Lakes and Wetlands

Ecological Traps

Interactions with Other Stressors

Solutions

Functional Waterbodies

Making Urban Streams and their Floodplains More Natural

Increase Urban Green Spaces and Vegetation

Protecting Water Quality

Maintain Urban Wetlands and Lakes

Incorporate Constructed Wetlands and Other Green Infrastructure

Increase Connectivity and Reduce Ecological Traps

Public Participation

Perspectives

Activities

CHAPTER 10 – EXPLOITATION OF SPECIES

Introduction

Impacts

Reduction in Wild Numbers

Aquaculture

Rice Production

Interactions with Other Stressors

Disruption of Wild Freshwater Ecosystems

Unintended Consequences of Rice and Other Crops

Solutions

Fishery Population Management

Avoid Inadvertent Introductions of Nonindigenous Species

Exploitation of Species Other than Fish

Hatcheries

Aquaculture

Rice Production

Perspectives

Activities

CHAPTER 11 – INVASIVE SPECIES

Introduction

Impacts

Predation, Competition, and the Disruption of Food Webs

Damage to Infrastructure

Environmental Changes that Alter Behavior

Spreading of Disease

Interactions with Other Stressors

Solutions

Policy and Public Awareness

Physical Removal

Biological Control and Poison

Barriers

Activities

CHAPTER 12 – ENDANGERED SPECIES

Introduction

Impacts

Interactions with Other Stressors

Solutions

Laws, Rules, and Agreements

Number of Occurrences

Habitat Protection and Connectivity

Captive Breeding, Headstarting, and Reintroductions

Activities

CHAPTER 13 – MULTIPLE STRESSORS AND CUMULATIVE EFFECTS

Introduction

Impacts

Interactions with Other Stressors

Solutions

Better Statistical Models and Experimental Tests

Advances in Ecotoxicology for Multiple Stressors

Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification

Perspectives

Activities

CHAPTER 14 – CLIMATE CHANGE AND CLIMATE PROOFING

Introduction

Impacts

Extreme Weather Events

Quantity and Quality of Water

Thermal Stress on Organisms

Potential Return of Acid Rain

Interactions with Other Stressors

Solutions

Water Storage Strategies

Limiting Increases in Water Temperatures and Evaporation Rates

Defenses against Extreme Weather

Novel Ideas

Perspectives

Activities

CHAPTER 15 – RESTORATION

Introduction

Impacts

Interactions with Other Stressors

Solutions

Stewardship

Riparian Zone Restoration

Stream and River Restoration

Restoration of Wetlands

Restoration of Lakes

Adding Nutrients

Replacement, Conservation Offsets, and Mitigation Banking

Perspectives

Activities

CHAPTER 16 – MONITORING

Introduction

Limitations

Solutions

Physical and Chemical Measures

Biomonitoring for Chemicals

Biological Measures

Biomonitoring Based on Communities or Indicators

Genetics and Genomics

Decision Support Tools

Perspectives

Activities

REFERENCES

INDEX

Reviews

“This book is exceptional in that it represents the perfect balance of fundamental knowledge about aquatic ecosystems as well as lucid examples of how that knowledge can be applied to solve complex problems, including those that can transcend scale—from single populations to watershed processes that connect land and water over vast landscapes.”

—Steven J. Cooke, Professor, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada

“Great book for teaching and training. Unique in my view with a strong applied focus.”

—Margaret A. Palmer, Distinguished University Professor, University of Maryland, and Director of the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center

“This book is perfectly timed to be an invaluable resource for students in upper-level and graduate classes. Moreover, it will be a major information source for freshwater managers, government agencies, and conservationists. Each chapter addresses pivotal environmental issues affecting freshwater ecosystems and includes a solution-based approach for advancing conservation and mitigation strategies.”

—Klement Tockner, Ph.D., Director General of the Senckenberg Society for Natural Research, Frankfurt, Germany

“For factors ranging from sediment loading to polluting solutes and microplastics, water diversions, impoundments and withdrawals, and finally, invasions by exotic species, Richardson vividly describes consequences to freshwater life but then presents case studies of rehabilitation and management efforts that are helping restore more natural regimes.”

—Mary E. Power, Professor, University of California, Berkley

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