Freshwater Aquatic Biomes (Greenwood Guides to Biomes of the World)

260 Pages·2008·4.79 MB·English

by  Richard A. Roth

Freshwater Aquatic Biomes
GREENWOOD GUIDES TO
BIOMES OF THE WORLD
IntroductiontoBiomes
SusanL.Woodward
TropicalForestBiomes
BarbaraA.Holzman
TemperateForestBiomes
BerndH.Kuennecke
GrasslandBiomes
SusanL.Woodward
DesertBiomes
JoyceA.Quinn
ArcticandAlpineBiomes
JoyceA.Quinn
FreshwaterAquaticBiomes
RichardA.Roth
MarineBiomes
SusanL.Woodward
Freshwater
Aquatic
B I O M E S
RichardA.Roth
GreenwoodGuidestoBiomesoftheWorld
SusanL.Woodward,GeneralEditor
GREENWOODPRESS
Westport,Connecticut•London
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Roth,RichardA.,1950–
Freshwateraquaticbiomes/RichardA.Roth.
p.cm.—(Greenwoodguidestobiomesoftheworld)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-313-33840-3(set:alk.paper)—ISBN978-0-313-34000-0
(vol.:alk.paper)
1.Freshwaterecology.I.Title.
QH541.5.F7R682009
577.6—dc22 2008027511
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationDataisavailable.
Copyright(cid:2)C 2009byRichardA.Roth
Allrightsreserved.Noportionofthisbookmaybe
reproduced,byanyprocessortechnique,withoutthe
expresswrittenconsentofthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:2008027511
ISBN:978-0-313-34000-0(vol.)
978-0-313-33840-3(set)
Firstpublishedin2009
GreenwoodPress,88PostRoadWest,Westport,CT06881
AnimprintofGreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc.
www.greenwood.com
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Thepaperusedinthisbookcomplieswiththe
PermanentPaperStandardissuedbytheNational
InformationStandardsOrganization(Z39.48–1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Preface vii
HowtoUseThisBook ix
TheUseofScientificNames xi
Chapter1.
IntroductiontoFreshwaterAquaticBiomes 1
Chapter2.
Rivers 25
Chapter3.
Wetlands 85
Chapter4.
LakesandReservoirs 141
Glossary 209
Bibliography 215
Index 225
v
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Preface
Thisvolumedescribesthefreshwateraquaticbiome,whichconsistsoflakes,rivers,
and wetlands. These life zones are distinguished from terrestrial biomes, such as
desertsandtropicalforests,andfromthemarinebiome.Theythusoccupyaunique
placeinthebiosphere.Thatsaid,asisthecasewithotherbiomes,ourconceptual
categories are much neater than living nature, which is much more likely to have
fluctuating gradients rather than sharp dividing lines. Thus, for example, fresh-
waterandsaltwatertidalmarshesexistalongacontinuumofsalinity;riparianwet-
lands may be part of the river at times. Nonetheless, our use of concepts and
categorieshelpsustomakesenseoftheworld,andinthisvolume,manyconcepts
applicabletofreshwatersystemsareintroduced.
JustasthisseriesfollowstheconventionalbiogeographicdivisionofEarth’sliv-
ingsystemsintothemajorbiomes,Ihavefollowedstandardpracticeincategoriz-
ing the freshwater aquatic biome into the three major categories of rivers, lakes,
andwetlands.Onetypeoflifeenvironmentthatdoesnotfiteasilyintoanyofthese
threefreshwaterenvironmentsissaltlakes.Theyarenotfreshwaterenvironments;
nonethelesstheyareincludedinthisvolume,because,onemightsay,asaltlakeis
morelikealakethanliketheocean.
Ineachofthemajorfreshwateraquaticenvironments,threeexamplesarepre-
sented in some depth. In each case, I describe a low-, a mid-, and a high-latitude
system. Whilethisapproach isalittle different from thatfollowed inthevolumes
on terrestrial biomes, it offers a broader range of specific manifestations of fresh-
wateraquaticenvironments.Forexample,lakesatverydifferentlatitudesarelikely
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viii Preface
toencompassagreaterrangeofphysicalconditionsthanlakesatthesamelatitude
ondifferentcontinentsorindifferentbiogeographicrealms.
In the chapters on rivers, lakes, and wetlands, I spend considerable time
explaining the range of physical conditions within which life has evolved in these
environments. I also describe how lifeforms have adapted to the conditions. For
example, wetland environments are characterized by low oxygen conditions, par-
ticularlyinthesubstrate.Whatadaptationsmakeitpossibleforplantstosurvivein
suchconditions?
Throughout,withaneyetowardwhatIsupposetobetheneedsandcapabilities
ofthereadersofthisvolume,Ihavetriedtofindtherightbalancebetweengeneral
conceptsandspecificmanifestations.Ihaveattemptedtosupplyenoughtechnical
detailtounderstandaparticularenvironmentwithoutunnecessarilyburdeningthe
reader.
Ithanktheserieseditor,Dr.SusanWoodward,forherassistance,collegiality,
goodhumor,encouragement,andmanyhelpfulsuggestions.
How to Use This Book
The book is arranged with a general introduction tothe freshwater aquatic biome
andachapteroneachofthethreegenerallyrecognizedformsofthatbiome:rivers,
wetlands, and lakes. Salt lakes, although not freshwater, are also included in the
chapteronlakes,asaremanmadelakes(reservoirs).Thebiomechaptersbeginwith
ageneraloverview,proceedtodescribethedistinctivephysicalandbiologicalchar-
acteristics ofeach form, and thenfocus onthreeexamples ofeach in somedetail.
Each chapter and each examplecan more or lessstand onitsown,but the reader
will finditinstructive toinvestigatetheintroductory chapterand theintroductory
sectionsinthelaterchapters.Morein-depthcoverageoftopicsperhapsnotsothor-
oughlydevelopedintheexamplesusuallyappearsintheintroductions.
TheuseofLatinorscientificnamesforspecieshasbeenkepttoaminimumin
thetext.However,thescientificnameofeachplantoranimalforwhichacommon
nameisgiveninachapterappearsinanappendixtothatchapter.Aglossaryatthe
end of the book gives definitions of selected terms used throughout the volume.
Thebibliographyliststheworksconsultedbytheauthorandisarrangedbybiome
andtheregionalexpressionsofthatbiome.
All biomes overlap to some degree with others, so you may wish to refer to
other books among Greenwood Guides to the Biomes of the World. The volume
entitled Introduction to Biomes presents simplified descriptions of all the major bio-
mes. It also discusses the major concepts that inform scientists in their study and
understandingofbiomesanddescribesandexplains,ataglobalscale,theenviron-
mentalfactorsandprocessesthatservetodifferentiatetheworld’sbiomes.
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