Stream Ecosystems in a Changing Environment synthesizes the current understanding of stream ecosystem ecology, emphasizing nutrient cycling and carbon dynamics, and providing a forward-looking perspective regarding the response of stream ecosystems to environmental change. Each chapter includes a section focusing on anticipated and ongoing dynamics in stream ecosystems in a changing environment, along with hypotheses regarding controls on stream ecosystem functioning. The book, with its innovative sections, provides a bridge between papers published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and the findings of researchers in new areas of study. - Presents a forward-looking perspective regarding the response of stream ecosystems to environmental change - Provides a synthesis of the latest findings on stream ecosystems ecology in one concise volume - Includes thought exercises and discussion activities throughout, providing valuable tools for learning - Offers conceptual models and hypotheses to stimulate conversation and advance research

The Clean Water Act (CWA) requires that wetlands be protected from degradation because of their important ecological functions including maintenance of high water quality and provision of fish and wildlife habitat. However, this protection generally does not encompass riparian areasâ€"the lands bordering rivers and lakesâ€"even though they often provide the same functions as wetlands. Growing recognition of the similarities in wetland and riparian area functioning and the differences in their legal protection led the NRC in 1999 to undertake a study of riparian areas, which has culminated in Riparian Areas: Functioning and Strategies for Management. The report is intended to heighten awareness of riparian areas commensurate with their ecological and societal values. The primary conclusion is that, because riparian areas perform a disproportionate number of biological and physical functions on a unit area basis, restoration of riparian functions along America's waterbodies should be a national goal.

Ecohydrological Interfaces Comprehensive overview of the process dynamics and interactions governing ecohydrological interfaces Summarizing the interdisciplinary investigation of ecohydrological interface functioning, Ecohydrological Interfaces advances the understanding of their dynamics across traditional subject boundaries. It offers a detailed explanation of the underlying mechanisms and process interactions governing ecohydrological interface functioning from the micro scale to the ecosystem and regional scale. The multidisciplinary team of authors integrates and synthesises the current understanding of process dynamics at different ecohydrological interfaces to develop a unifying concept of their ecosystem functions. The work introduces novel experimental and model-based methods for characterizing and quantifying ecohydrological interface processes, taking account of innovative sensing and tracing technologies as well as microbial and molecular biology approaches. Key questions addressed in the book include: Which conditions stimulate the transformative nature of ecohydrological interfaces? How are ecohydrological interfaces organized in space and time? How does interface activity propagate from small to large scales? How do ecohydrological interfaces react to environmental change and what is their role in processes of significant societal value? As a research level text on the functionality and performance of ecohydrological interfaces, Ecohydrological Interfaces is primarily aimed at academics and postgraduate researchers. It is also appropriate for university libraries as further reading on a range of geographical, environmental, biological, and engineering topics.

The Prokaryotes is a comprehensive, multi-authored, peer reviewed reference work on Bacteria and Achaea. This fourth edition of The Prokaryotes is organized to cover all taxonomic diversity, using the family level to delineate chapters. Different from other resources, this new Springer product includes not only taxonomy, but also prokaryotic biology and technology of taxa in a broad context. Technological aspects highlight the usefulness of prokaryotes in processes and products, including biocontrol agents and as genetics tools. The content of the expanded fourth edition is divided into two parts: Part 1 contains review chapters dealing with the most important general concepts in molecular, applied and general prokaryote biology; Part 2 describes the known properties of specific taxonomic groups. Two completely new sections have been added to Part 1: bacterial communities and human bacteriology. The bacterial communities section reflects the growing realization that studies on pure cultures of bacteria have led to an incomplete picture of the microbial world for two fundamental reasons: the vast majority of bacteria in soil, water and associated with biological tissues are currently not culturable, and that an understanding of microbial ecology requires knowledge on how different bacterial species interact with each other in their natural environment. The new section on human microbiology deals with bacteria associated with healthy humans and bacterial pathogenesis. Each of the major human diseases caused by bacteria is reviewed, from identifying the pathogens by classical clinical and non-culturing techniques to the biochemical mechanisms of the disease process. The 4th edition of The Prokaryotes is the most complete resource on the biology of prokaryotes. The following volumes are published consecutively within the 4th Edition: Prokaryotic Biology and Symbiotic Associations Prokaryotic Communities and Ecophysiology Prokaryotic Physiology and Biochemistry Applied Bacteriology and Biotechnology Human Microbiology Actinobacteria Firmicutes Alphaproteobacteria and Betaproteobacteria Gammaproteobacteria Deltaproteobacteria and Epsilonproteobacteria Other Major Lineages of Bacteria and the Archaea

Streams around the world flow toward the sea in floodplains. All along this transit, there is exchange of water between the stream itself and the surrounding sediments which form the floodplain. Many chemical, biological, and geological processes occur when water moves back and forth between streams and these flood plain sediments. Streams and Groundwaters focuses on the consequences of water flow between streams, their underlying sediments, and surrounding landscapes. Certain to appeal to anyone interested in stream ecology, the management of stream ecosystems, or landscape ecology, this volume should become a oft-opened reference.

"National Water-Quality Assessment Project."