Wetland habitats of North America : ecology and conservation concerns /

Wetlands are fascinating places that exist on the boundary between aquatic and terrestrial habitats. They are known for having high biodiversity and providing a wide variety of ecosystem services to humans, including flood control and water purification. Many have also been substantially altered by human activities. This book takes a geographic approach to describing the wetlands found in North America. It is an edited volume with an introduction followed by 25 chapters, each of which covers a specific regional type of wetland such as "Northern Peatlands" (chapter 9), "The Florida Everglades" (chapter 17), and "Tropical Freshwater Swamps and Marshes" (chapter 19). The chapters were written by experts; they average 15 to 20 pages in length and include color photographs of the wetlands and up-to-date references at the end. Each chapter covers hydrology, biogeochemistry, plant and animal communities, key ecological processes, and conservation concerns. The writing is fairly technical, making scientists the audience for the book, not the general public. This book will make a useful addition to most academic libraries. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, researchers/faculty, and professionals. M. P. Gustafson Texas Lutheran University

Batzer (entomology, Univ. of Georgia; co-editor, Invertebrates in Freshwater Wetlands of North America) and Baldwin (environmental science & technology, Univ. of Maryland) aim to provide a broad overview of the 56 different types of wetlands or estuaries in the United States. The book is modeled after similar profiles done mainly in the 1980s by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and is intended for an academic audience at the undergraduate or graduate level, though the editors note that non-students interested in the subject will also find it helpful. After an introduction, which contains several tables indicating which chapters cover various topics of interest such as climatic variation, sedimentation, and mercury contamination, the material is divided into two parts, "Coastal Wetlands" and "Inland Wetlands." Each chapter within these two parts contains subdivisions on geology, plant life, animal communities, and conservation concerns and ends with an extremely comprehensive listing of references. Relevant maps, tables, and statistical information appear throughout, and additional materials are available online. VERDICT This title succeeds as a textbook, given its many in-line citations and copious bibliographical references at the end of each chapter. For those not in academia, the citations may be more of a hindrance than a help. In addition, the print is small, so readability is compromised, all making the title of limited interest to general readers.--Christine Sharbrough, Derry P.L., Manchester, NH (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.