On a clear night, the bright lights of oil platforms sparkle in the Gulf of Mexico. Thousands of these platforms off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana play an important role in the lives of underwater species who find food, shelter, and permanent homes in the ecosystem created by these big, three-dimensional structures standing on the flat sea floor. They may also play lesser-known roles “above the waves” in the migration of birds and even insects. Tapping into years of diving experience, marine biologist Mary Wicksten looks at the inhabitants and visitors of these “vertical reefs”, explaining how life arrives on the platforms, what species settle and stay (like barnacles), and which ones visit then disappear (like silky sharks). She looks at how different life forms take up occupancy from the surface downward, and she shows how these communities vary on nearshore and deepwater platforms. While most people may never experience the undersea world of oil platforms, this book will bring a better understanding of it to any teacher, beachgoer, angler, diver, or coastal resident who ever wondered what was going on beneath those far-off lights.

Artificial habitats have been used for centuries to successfully modify environments for the benefit of Man. In the aquatic environment, the use of artificial habitat technologies is of growing interest worldwide. Opportunities exist in both developed and developing nations to apply these technologies in many areas, including classical scientific investigations of ecosystem structure and function, engineering advances in underwater technology, and fisheries and environmental management. The applications of artificial habitat technologies are taking on ever greater economic, social, and environmental importance globally, not only in developed countries such as Japan where highly sophisticated technologies are used, but also in developing nations, where lower cost practices are in use. There is growing pressure to increase production, while at the same time preserve or enhance the environments and ecosystems surrounding fisheries. This book provides a comprehensive review of the facts, issues, and global trends emerging regarding the use of artificial habitats in aquatic ecosystems. It presents the most recent scientific advances in ecology and engineering technologies related to the building of artificial habitats, and it also presents many of the fisheries management and socioeconomic and environmental issues. Artificial Habitats for Marine and Freshwater Fisheries will be of interest to a broad audience including natural resource scientists, planners, and managers, particularly those interested in aquatic and fisheries science and management; organizations and individuals interested in commercial and recreational fishing; ecologists; environmental economists, engineers, lawyers, and social scientists; and geographers. - Presents a global scope - Draws together, for the first time, disparate literature - Contains contributions by authors in the United States and Japan - Features engineering chapters that focus on Japanese advanced technology often not available to the English language audience

Coral reefs are the largest landforms built by plants and animals. Their study therefore incorporates a wide range of disciplines. This encyclopedia approaches coral reefs from an earth science perspective, concentrating especially on modern reefs. Currently coral reefs are under high stress, most prominently from climate change with changes to water temperature, sea level and ocean acidification particularly damaging. Modern reefs have evolved through the massive environmental changes of the Quaternary with long periods of exposure during glacially lowered sea level periods and short periods of interglacial growth. The entries in this encyclopedia condense the large amount of work carried out since Charles Darwin first attempted to understand reef evolution. Leading authorities from many countries have contributed to the entries covering areas of geology, geography and ecology, providing comprehensive access to the most up-to-date research on the structure, form and processes operating on Quaternary coral reefs.

This book summarizes what is known about mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) geographically and by major taxa. MCEs are characterized by light-dependent corals and associated communities typically found at depths ranging from 30-40 m. and extending to over 150 m. in tropical and subtropical ecosystems. They are populated with organisms typically associated with shallow coral reefs, such as macroalgae, corals, sponges, and fishes, as well as specialist species unique to mesophotic depths. During the past decade, there has been an increasing scientific and management interest in MCEs expressed by the exponential increase in the number of publications studying this unique environment. Despite their close proximity to well-studied shallow reefs, and the growing evidence of their importance, our scientific knowledge of MCEs is still in its early stages. The topics covered in the book include: regional variation in MCEs; similarities and differences between mesophotic and shallow reef taxa, biotic and abiotic conditions, biodiversity, ecology, geomorphology, and geology; potential connectivity between MCEs and shallow reefs; MCE disturbances, conservation, and management challenges; and new technologies, key research questions/knowledge gaps, priorities, and future directions in MCE research.