Having finished its exploration of an extra-solar gas giant Lalande A, documenting a strange civilization living beneath the clouds of its giant blue spot, the crew of the giant space ark Goddard must now return home. Their route takes them past Lalande B, the second of two Jupiter-sized gas giants orbiting a red dwarf star. But as they pass by it they see something strange; an artificial ring, which compels them to investigate. Once more Alex Rose and Mary Seventeen are called upon to use their shuttle to investigate and find themselves caught up in another strange adventure of discovery. After that harrowing mission the Goddard must now return home, 10.5 light years away, to bring the news of their discoveries to Earth. When they arrive ... if they arrive ... will they be welcomed as heroes? Or will they find their home world changed by conditions they can only imagine? The answers prove even stranger than the mission itself. Rather than ending their voyage their journey among the stars may be just beginning. At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).

Physical Oceanographic Processes of the Great Barrier Reef is the first comprehensive volume describing the water circulation and its influence in controlling the distribution of marine life on the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. The book uses exhaustive field and numerical studies to show how the influence of the salient topography occurs at all scales.

While in the past Australians wrestled with what the Reef is, today they are struggling to reconcile what it will be ... To do this, we need to understand the Reef' s intertwining human story. The Great Barrier Reef has come to dominate Australian imaginations and global environmental politics. Saving the Reef charts the social history of Australia' s most prized yet vulnerable environment, from the relationship between First Nations peoples and colonial settlers, to the Reef' s most portentous moment &– the Save the Reef campaign launched in the 1960s. Through this gripping narrative and interwoven contemporary essays, historian Rohan Lloyd reveals how the Reef' s continued decline is forcing us to reconsider what &‘ saving' the Reef really means.

If one does not understand the biology of the coral reef, one does not understand the reef at all. So, using more than 250 illustrations and specially drawn ecological reconstructions of reef communities, Rachel Wood provides a unique evolutionary approach to the understanding of ancient coral reef ecosystems. Marine organisms have aggregated to form reefs for over 3.5 billion years--creating the largest biologically constructed feature on earth, some visible from space. However, their study has been largely descriptive. Reef Evolution, documents the fundamental biological processes and innovations which have molded the evolution of reef ecosystems and given rise to the highly complex communities found today. The appearance of clonality, the acquisition of photosymbiosis, and the radiation of predator groups are all discussed in depth. Data from the fossil record documents the evolutionary development of reef ecosystems. Although reefs only occupy a small percentage of the oceans, their importance to the marine environment is many-faceted and global. They create harbors and allow the development of shallow basins with associated mangrove or seagrass communities; they protect coastlines from erosion; are involved in the regulation of atmospheric carbon, which in turn contributes to climate control. can provide extensive oil and gas reservoirs. From a biological standpoint, however, the great significance of reefs lies in their ability to generate and maintain a substantial proportion of tropical marine biodiversity. This unique interdisciplinary approach provides students and researchers in evolution, marine biology, ecology, paleontology, biodiversity, and geology with a text that will allow them to truly understand the biological innovations which have molded the evolution of coral reefs and given rise to the highly complex communities found today.

The local diversity and global richness of coral reef fishes, along with the diversity manifested in their morphology, behaviour and ecology, provides fascinating and diverse opportunities for study. Reflecting the very latest research in a broad and ever-growing field, this comprehensive guide is a must-read for anyone interested in the ecology of fishes on coral reefs. Featuring contributions from leaders in the field, the 36 chapters cover the full spectrum of current research. They are presented in five parts, considering coral reef fishes in the context of ecology, patterns and processes, human intervention and impacts, conservation, and past and current debates. Beautifully illustrated in full-colour, this book is designed to summarise and help build upon current knowledge and to facilitate further research. It is an ideal resource for those new to the field as well as for experienced researchers.

In the last two decades since publication of the first edition, substantial advancements have been made in the science, the need for transdisciplinary approaches to coral reef protection greater than ever before. This new edition, now in full color throughout with accompanying animations, goes beyond identifying foundational information and current problems to pinpoint science-based solutions for managers, stakeholders and policy makers. Coral reefs are connected by currents that carry plankton and the larvae of many reef-based organisms. Further, they supply food to reefs. Currents also bring pollutants from the land and, together with the atmosphere, affect the surrounding ocean. The chapters in this book provide a much-needed review of the biophysics of reefs with an emphasis on the Great Barrier Reef as an ecosystem. The focus is on interactions between currents, waves, sediment and the dynamics of coastal and reef-based ecosystems. The topographic complexity of reefs redirects mainstream currents, creates tidal eddies, mushroom jets, boundary layers, stagnation zones, and this turbulence is enhanced by the oceanographic chaos in the adjoining Coral Sea. This is the environment in which particles and organisms, of a range of sizes live, from tiny plankton to megafauna. This generates faunal connectivity at scales of meters to thousands of km within the Great Barrier Reef and with the adjoining ocean. Pollution from land-use is increasing and remedial measures are described both on land and on coral cays. The impact of climate change is quantified in case studies about mangroves and corals. Modelling this biophysical complexity is increasing in sophistication, and the authors suggest how the field can advance further.