Marine Ecology: Concepts and Applications

This book began life as a series of lectures given to second andthird year undergraduates at Oxford University. Theselectures were designed to give students insights as to how marineecosystems functioned, how they were being affected by natural andhuman interventions, and how we might be able to conserve them andmanage them sustainably for the good of people, both recreationallyand economically. This book presents 10 chapters, beginningwith principles of oceanography important to ecology, throughdiscussions of the magnitude of marine biodiversity and the factorsinfluencing it, the functioning of marine ecosystems at withintrophic levels such as primary production, competition anddispersal, to different trophic level interactions such asherbivory, predation and parasitism. The final three chapterslook at the more applied aspects of marine ecology, discussionfisheries, human impacts, and management and conservation. Other textbooks covering similar topics tend to treat the topicsfrom the point of view of separate ecosystems, with chapters onreefs, rocks and deep sea. This book however is topic drivenas described above, and each chapter makes full use of examplesfrom all appropriate marine ecosystems. The book is illustratedthroughout with many full colour diagrams and high qualityphotographs. The book is aimed at undergraduate and graduate students atcolleges and universities, and it is hoped that the many examplesfrom all over the world will provide global relevance andinterest. Both authors have long experience of research and teaching inmarine ecology. Martin Speight s first degree was inmarine zoology at UCNW Bangor, and he has taught marine ecology andconservation at Oxford for 25 years. His research studentsstudy tropical marine ecology from the Caribbean through EastAfrica to the Far East. Peter Henderson is a Senior ResearchAssociate at the University of Oxford, and is Director of PiscesConservation in the UK. He has worked on marine andfreshwater fisheries, as well as ecological and economic impactsand exploitation of the sea in North and South America as well asEurope.