The biology of soft shores and estuaries /
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Oxford ; New York :
Oxford University Press,
2000.
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| Series: | Biology of habitats.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Table of contents Publisher description |
| Abstract: | This book focuses on marine and estuarine soft sediments as complex and essential habitats for an astonishing variety of animals and plants whose lifestyles are intimately bound up with sediment structure. It discusses sediments as habitats first, then takes in turn the ecosystems found on sandy shores, mudflats and seagrass beds, salt marshes and mangrove swamps, and life below the tidemarks. Adaptations of the organisms are described, and each chapter ends with a section on techniques. Later chapters discuss estuarine and lagoonal habitats, both of which contain primarily soft sediments, but add further complicating characteristics to those found in the sea. A discussion of estuarine food webs emphasizes the ways in which organisms interact. The book ends with a discussion of the ways in which marine and estuarine soft sediments have been abused by man, and some of the opportunities that have been taken to counteract these abuses. |
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| Physical Description: | ix, 252 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 222-236) and index. |
| ISBN: | 0198504268 0198504276 9780198504276 9780198504269 |