This book breaks new ground with the integration of geography, oceanography, plankton and benthic biology, as well as fish, to present a comprehensive account of the ecology of the tropical ocean. Proceeding from a description of the geomorphology, sediments, and vegetation of tropical continental shelves and the oceanography of tropical regions, the authors describe the benthos, plankton, and fish communities of tropical seas. An examination of the production of plant and animal life in tropical oceans is presented together with the numerical population biology of fish and invertebrates.

Tropical Stream Ecology describes the main features of tropical streams and their ecology. It covers the major physico-chemical features, important processes such as primary production and organic-matter transformation, as well as the main groups of consumers: invertebrates, fishes and other vertebrates. Information on concepts and paradigms developed in north-temperate latitudes and how they do not match the reality of ecosystems further south is expertly addressed. The pressing matter of conservation of tropical streams and their biodiversity is included in almost every chapter, with a final chapter providing a synthesis on conservation issues. For the first time, Tropical Stream Ecology places an important emphasis on viewing research carried out in contributions from international literature. - First synthetic account of the ecology of all types of tropical streams - Covers all of the major tropical regions - Detailed consideration of possible fundamental differences between tropical and temperate stream ecosystems - Threats faced by tropical stream ecosystems and possible conservation actions - Descriptions and synstheses life-histories and breeding patterns of major aquatic consumers (fishes, invertebrates)

This book explores how we can solve the urgent problem of optimizing the use of variable, uncertain but finite fisheries resources while maintaining sustainability from a marine-ecosystem conservation perspective. It offers readers a broad understanding of the current methods and theory for sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources, and introduces recent findings and technological developments. The book is divided into three parts: Part I discusses fish stock dynamics, and illustrates how ecological processes affecting life cycles and biological interactions in marine environments lead to fish stock variability in space and time in major fish groups; small pelagic fish, demersal fish and large predatory fish. These insights shed light on the mechanisms underlying the variability in fish stocks and form the essential biological basis for fisheries management. Part II addresses the technologies and systems that monitor changes in fisheries resources and marine ecosystems using two approaches: fishery-dependent and fishery-independent data. It also describes acoustic surveys and biological sampling, as well as stock assessment methods. Part III examines management models for effectively assessing the natural variability in fisheries resources. The authors explore ways of determining the allowable catch in response to changes in stock abundance and how to incorporate ecological processes and monitoring procedures into management models. This book offers readers a broad understanding of sustainable exploitation as well as insights into fisheries management for the next generation.

A global assessment of the current state of freshwater fish biodiversity and the opportunities and challenges to conservation.

This selection of methods is based on lecture notes used at a FAO/DANIDA training course held in Mombasa, Kenya, in May-June 1980. The methods presented are: regression and correlation, estimation of growth parameters from length-frequency data, estimation of mortalities (total, natural, fishing mortality) and analysis of catch and effort data. A brief annotated bibliography of tropical fish stock assessment is included.

This book really began in 1980 with our first microcomputer, an Apple II +. The great value of the Apple II + was that we could take the computer programs we had been building on mainframe and mini-computers, and make them available to the many fisheries biologists who also had Apple II + 's. About 6 months after we got our first Apple, John Glaister came through Vancouver and saw what we were doing and realized that his agency (New South Wales State Fisheries) had the same equipment and could run the same programs. John organized a training course in Australia where we showed about 25 Australian fisheries biologists how to use microcomputers to do many standard fisheries analyses. In the process of organizing this and sub sequent courses we developed a series of lecture notes. Over the last 10 years these notes have evolved into the chapters of this book.

The fields of fish population dynamics and stock assessment have seen major advances in the 1980s and 1990s, creating the need for a new synthesis. This text attempts that synthesis by presenting a contemporary approach for quantitative fisheries science that incorporates modern statistical and mathematical techniques. It emphasizes the link between biology and theory by explaining the assumptions inherent in the quantitative methods and models. The book covers key topics that are often overlooked in other texts, such as optimal harvesting, migratory stocks, and complex age and size-structured models. Quantitative Fish Dynamics is an ideal textbook for graduate and undergraduate courses in fish population dynamics and stock assessment. It is an indispensable reference work for fisheries scientists and others interested in conservation biology, fish and wildlife management, population ecology, and statistical applications.

This book presents new approaches to studying food webs, using practical and policy examples to demonstrate the theory behind ecosystem management decisions.