Wetlands is the definitive guide to this fragile ecosystem, providing the most comprehensive coverage and in-depth information available in print. Recently updated and expanded, this latest edition contains brand new information on Wetland Ecosystem Services and an updated discussion on Wetland, Carbon, and Climate Change and Wetland Creation and Restoration. Due to popular demand, the authors have brought back five streamlined chapters on wetland ecosystems that had been removed from previous editions, and provided more robust ancillary materials including an online color photo gallery, PowerPoint slides, and several video case studies.
As nature's kidneys, wetland ecosystems help the environment process toxins and excess fertilizers and maintain the relative health of our aquatic ecosystems. As the understanding of their importance grows, their management and ecology have gained increased attention and have become an area of professional specialization over the past two decades. This book gives readers a solid understanding of wetlands, how they work, what they do, and why the Earth can't live without them.
- Understand wetlands' role in the ecosystem, from local to global scales
- Appreciate the fact that wetlands may be the most logical and economical way to sequester carbon from the atmosphere
- Discover the unique characteristics that make wetlands critically important for improving water quality, reducing storm and flood damage, and providing habitat to support biodiversity
- Learn how wetlands are being managed or destroyed around the globe but also how we can create and restore them
- Examine the ways in which climate change is affecting wetland ecosystems and wetland ecosystems affect climate change
Wetlands are crucial to the health of the planet, and we've only begun to realize the magnitude of the damage that has already been done as we scramble to save them. A generation of ecologists, ecological engineers, land use planners, and water resource managers worldwide owe their knowledge of the wetlands to this book – for the next generation to follow in their footsteps, Wetlands 5th edition is the quintessential guide to these critical systems.
Table of Contents
Preface v
Part I Introduction
1 Wetlands: Human Use and Science 3
2 Wetland Definitions 27
3 Wetlands of the World 45
Part II The Wetland Environment
4 Wetland Hydrology 111
5 Wetland Soils 161
6 Wetland Biogeochemistry 179
7 Wetland Vegetation and Succession 215
Part III Wetland Ecosystems
8 Tidal Marshes 259
9 Mangrove Swamps 311
10 Freshwater Marshes 341
11 Freshwater Swamps and Riparian Ecosystems 373
12 Peatlands 413
Part IV Traditional Wetland Management
13 Wetland Classification 455
14 Human Impacts and Management of Wetlands 477
15 Wetland Laws and Protection 503
Part V Ecosystem Services
16 Wetland Ecosystem Services 527
17 Wetlands and Climate Change 563
18 Wetland Creation and Restoration 591
19 Wetlands and Water Quality 647
Appendix A. Wetland Losses by State in the United States, 1780s–1980s 701
Appendix B. Useful Wetland Web Pages 703
Appendix C. Useful Conversion Factors 705
Glossary 708
Index 721
