Tropical Marine Ecology
Daniel M. Alongi
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
Tropical Marine Ecology
Daniel M. Alongi
About This Book
No realm onEarth elicits thoughts of paradise more than the tropics.The tropical marine realm is special in myriad ways and for many reasons from seas of higher latitude, in housing iconic habitats such as coral reefs, snow white beaches, crystal clear waters, mangrove forests, extensive and rich seagrass meadows and expansive river deltas, such as the exemplar, the Amazon.But the tropics also hasan even morecomplexside: tropical waters give rise to cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons, andunique oceanographic phenomena including the El Niño- Southern Oscillation which affects global climate patterns.
Tropical Marine Ecology documentsthe structure and function of tropical marine populations, communities, and ecosystems in relation to environmental factors including climate patterns and climate change, and patterns of oceanographic phenomena such as tides and currents and major oceanographic features, as well as chemical and geological drivers. The book focuses on estuarine, coastal, continentalshelf and open ocean ecosystems.The first part of the book dealswith the climate, physics, geology, and chemistry of the tropical marine environment. The second section focuses on the origins, diversity, biogeography, and the structure and distribution of tropical biota. The third part explores the rates and patterns of primary and secondary production, and their drivers, and the characteristics ofpelagic and benthicfood webs. The fourth part examines how humans are altering tropical ecosystems via unsustainable fisheries, the decline and loss of habitat and fragmentation, Further, pollution is altering an earth already in the throes of climate change.
Tropical Marine Ecology is anauthoritative and comprehensive introduction to tropical marine ecology for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students.It is also a richresource and reference work for researchers and professional managers in marine science.