Review by Choice Review
Wetland environments are intermediate between aquatic and terrestrial, and some alternate in time between these two states. About half of all US wetlands were filled or drained for agriculture before the rather recent realization of their important roles in improving water quality, flood control, and biological diversity. This hefty, multiauthored survey highlights the mainly unsung roles of invertebrate animals in wetlands ecosystems and provides some guidance for creating, restoring, and maintaining their habitats. Except for a synthetic introduction and summary, the organization is strictly geographic: about ten chapters each for the Southeast, North, and North Central regions and about five each for the West and coastal freshwater wetlands. The coverage ranges from the Florida Everglades to snowmelt ponds and beaver ponds, California ricelands, pitcher plants, and artificially constructed marshes. Most chapters emphasize the physical context, giving broad ecosystem perspectives. The roles of the major invertebrates in these communities are discussed where known, but some accounts inform minimally on this aspect. Few stress systematics and autecology of the invertebrates themselves, but Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates, ed. by James H. Thorp and Alan P. Covich (1991), covers much of this material. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals. A. J. Kohn; emeritus, University of Washington
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
