This book describes how natural or constructed wetlands can be used to reduce pollution of freshwater and coastal ecosystems, while still preserving their biodiversity and ecological functions. Through a series of case histories described in 10 chapters in the monograph, the readers will gain an understanding of the opportunities, as well as the challenges associated with reducing point and non-point source pollution using natural, restored or constructed wetlands. The target audience will be water practitioners involved in projects utilizing integrated watershed management approaches to pollution abatement, as well as researchers who are designing projects focused on this topic.

Beginning with an overall picture of the religious vocation, the author describes how the nun tries to cultivate virtue in her continual search for sanctity. She outlines the history and developments of the sisterhoods since their beginnings in the second century. The customs, the requirements and the work of the first groups are compared with those of today, and both the similarities and the differences of each era reveal the continuity and adaptability of the orders. The traditional consecration of the virgins, the habit, the different vows, the community life--all these aspects and many more are discussed at length.