Freshwater Aquatic Biomes PDF
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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 This page intentionally left blank 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 vii 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. ix
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