THE NEVER-BEFORE-TOLD STORY OF HOW THE TROUT CAME TO CALL INDIAN RIVERS ITS HOME. When the East India Company's business venture with India turned into a full-fledged occupation of the country, the British in India, apart from establishing their governance, were concerned with one more thing - how to make their surroundings here more akin to their homeland. Even as they dotted the Indian terrain with their manicured gardens, clock towers and pristine colonial structures, many among them (particularly a clutch of British anglers) increasingly felt the absence of one essential fish in Indian rivers - the trout. A Fish in Alien Streams presents the astounding story of a motley group of mavericks, adventurers and eccentric naturalists who, driven by their peculiar fixation, were obsessed with introducing the trout to India's rivers. This delightful account of an unknown slice of India's colonial past combines incredible research involving antique books, rare documents and letters of wistful longing for the trout with the minutiae of fishing and skilful planning. Spanning the Kashmir valley, Kullu, Uttarkashi, the Nilgiris, Travancore and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), this unique and incredible tale is about magnificent passions, countless failures and ultimate triumph.

THE NEVER-BEFORE-TOLD STORY OF HOW THE TROUT CAME TO CALL INDIAN RIVERS ITS HOME. When the East India Company's business venture with India turned into a full-fledged occupation of the country, the British in India, apart from establishing their governance, were concerned with one more thing - how to make their surroundings here more akin to their homeland. Even as they dotted the Indian terrain with their manicured gardens, clock towers and pristine colonial structures, many among them (particularly a clutch of British anglers) increasingly felt the absence of one essential fish in Indian rivers - the trout. A Fish in Alien Streams presents the astounding story of a motley group of mavericks, adventurers and eccentric naturalists who, driven by their peculiar fixation, were obsessed with introducing the trout to India's rivers. This delightful account of an unknown slice of India's colonial past combines incredible research involving antique books, rare documents and letters of wistful longing for the trout with the minutiae of fishing and skilful planning. Spanning the Kashmir valley, Kullu, Uttarkashi, the Nilgiris, Travancore and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), this unique and incredible tale is about magnificent passions, countless failures and ultimate triumph.

Table of contents

In Alien Species and Evolution, biologist George W. Cox reviews and synthesizes emerging information on the evolutionary changes that occur in plants, animals, and microbial organisms when they colonize new geographical areas, and on the evolutionary responses of the native species with which alien species interact. The book is broad in scope, exploring information across a wide variety of taxonomic groups, trophic levels, and geographic areas. It examines theoretical topics related to rapid evolutionary change and supports the emerging concept that species introduced to new physical and biotic environments are particularly prone to rapid evolution. The author draws on examples from all parts of the world and all major ecosystem types, and the variety of examples used gives considerable insight into the patterns of evolution that are likely to result from the massive introduction of species to new geographic regions that is currently occurring around the globe. Alien Species and Evolution is the only state-of-the-art review and synthesis available of this critically important topic, and is an essential work for anyone concerned with the new science of invasion biology or the threats posed by invasive species.

Running waters are enormously diverse, ranging from torrential mountain brooks, to large lowland rivers, to great river systems whose basins occupy subcontinents. While this diversity makes river ecosystems seem overwhelmingly complex, a central theme of this volume is that the processes acting in running waters are general, although the settings are often unique. The past two decades have seen major advances in our knowledge of the ecology of streams and rivers. New paradigms have emerged, such as the river continuum and nutrient spiraling. Community ecologists have made impressive advances in documenting the occurrence of species interactions. The importance of physical processes in rivers has attracted increased attention, particularly the areas of hydrology and geomorphology, and the inter-relationships between physical and biological factors have become better understood. And as is true for every area of ecology during the closing years of the twentieth century it has become apparent that the study of streams and rivers cannot be carried out by excluding the role of human activities, nor can we ignore the urgency of the need for conservation. These developments are brought together in Stream Ecology: Structure and function of running waters, designed to serve as a text for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, and as a reference book for specialists in stream ecology and related fields.