Wetland Ecology
Rating: 
Wetlands are rightly recognised as crucial, but often endangered, ecosystems. It follows that anything promoting them is welcomed. There’s also something about a second or subsequent addition that piques the interest. Clearly it was worth the publishing effort (suggesting a good book, in demand) but it also allows the author to update and gives the reader an insight into what has happened. According to the preface, quite a lot! There’s the addition of work on ecosystem health, much in line with current ideas as this topic spreads. There’s updates on biodiversity and research as well as general organisation.This does ramp up the expectation.
The opening chapter, starts as most with an overview of the topic – global distributions, definitions, key processes etc. It also alerts the reader to the style of the text. Copious illustrations, drawing and images bring the material provide a conducive milieu to following the main work. The use of colour and headings etc. provides a way of separating out the main components, again, a good device for the beginner. Since wetlands are dominated by water, and not always permanent, flooding is the first main topic. This looks at how water flow and timing dominate the system, positing the idea that these processes need to be understood if managing the system. It’s this management that needs to be kept at the back of the mind because this is a text aimed at conservation. In a more applied text like this, one tends to find key points highlighted at the expense of lesser ones for the sake of space or clarity. The next chapter, dealing with fertility, focusses mainly on nitrogen and phosphorous, noting how abundance/scarcity of these can alter the ecosystem (especially abundance where eutrophication is a major issue. Of course, there’s more to this than growth. Wetlands are often places experiencing disturbances both natural and human and these can considerably alter the ecosystem and its services. We get to see ice and fire and storm but also fire (unlikely for a wetland but important in areas like the Florida Everglades). The text moves from the abiotic to the biotic with chapters exploring competition and herbivory. Again, the practical side of the text comes out with key ecological processes used to demonstrate how management plans could be constructed. Somewhat unusually, the next chapter focusses on burial arguing that sediment deposition and the subsequent burial of plants is key in understanding wetlands. In fact, the chapters up to this point have been seen as central. The author sees their order in the book as a metaphor for importance in ecology. So, next up are the minor players, those factors which cause little overall change such as salinity and roads (although one might argue that human population (relegated here as minor) is increasingly important!
We now move towards the more practical aspects. It starts with biodiversity but not as a theoretical discussion but a practical demonstration of how diversity can be measured and what factors are likely to explain it. Most likely ,as we see subsequently, there’s some form of environmental gradient. Despite the diversity of wetlands, there’s always a gradient somewhere! After a brief discussion about the theory of gradients, we look at ways of studying them. Much of this work has led us towards the final few chapters where the conservation side comes to the fore. We get a very good grounding of the importance of wetlands by studying their services. Some of the research we can perform is highlighted (a useful addition as many texts mention it but fail to give it this prominence). The final two chapters look at restoration (for the most badly degraded) and conservation for those worth saving.
There is much to like in this book. The layout, changed in response to earlier comments, certainly arranges the concepts more logically. The idea of focussing on the abiotic as the key determinant of the system, followed by the biotic is sound. The removal of minor concepts and the reinforcement of those most crucial to conservation means that the beginner sees the main points whilst also being aware of the minutiae that lie behind each individual wetland. Additions on ecosystem services bring the text in line with current thinking. Finally, production is first-rate making the text both readable and accessible to the beginner.
