This book gives a broad and well-integrated overview of recent major scientific results in wetland science and their applications in natural resource management. After an introduction into the field, 12 chapters contributed by internationally known experts summarize the state of the art on a multitude of topics. The coverage is divided into three sections: Functioning of Plants and Animals in Wetlands; Conservation and Management of Wetlands; and Wetland Restoration and Creation.

^iEco-Hydrology is the first book to offer an overview of the complex relationships between plants and water across a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic environments. Leading ecologists and hydrologists present reviews of the eco-hydrology of drylands, wetlands, temperate and tropical rain forests, streams, and rivers and lakes. Contents include: * background information on the water relations of plants, from individual cells to strands of plants * the role of mathematical models in eco-hydrology * explanations of how plants affect patterns and rates of water movement and storage in a range of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Forty-two chapters by international experts from a wide range ofdisciplines make The Wetlands Handbook the essential toolfor those seeking comprehensive understanding of the subject. Adeparture from more traditional treatises, this text examinesfreshwater wetland ecosystem science from the fundamentals toissues of management and policy. Introductory chapters address the scope and significance ofwetlands globally for communities, culture and biodiversity.Subsequent sections deal with processes underpinning wetlandfunctioning, how wetlands work, their uses and values for humansand nature, their sensitivity to external impacts, and how they maybe restored. The text is illustrated by numerous examples,emphasising functional and holistic approaches to wetlandmanagement, including case studies on the wise use andrehabilitation of wetlands in farmed, urban, industrial and otherdamaged environments, highlighting the long-term benefits ofmultiple use. The Wetlands Handbook will provide aninvaluable reference for researchers, managers, policy-makers andstudents of wetland sciences.

Proceedings of a Symposium held in Arnhem, the Netherlands, December 1989

This series presents studies that have used the paradigm of landscape ecology. Other approaches, both to landscape and landscape ecology are common, but in the last decade landscape ecology has become distinct from its predecessors and its contemporaries. Landscape ecol ogy addresses the relationships among spatial patterns, temporal pat terns and ecological processes. The effect of spatial configurations on ecological processes is fundamental. When human activity is an import ant variable affecting those relationships, landscape ecology includes it. Spatial and temporal scales are as large as needed for comprehension of system processes and the mosaic included may be very heteroge neous. Intellectual utility and applicability of results are valued equally. The International Association for Landscape Ecology sponsors this series of studies in order to introduce and disseminate some of the new knowledge that is being produced by this exciting new environmental science. Gray Merriam Ottawa, Canada Preface In Europe, during the seventies, landscape ecology emerged as a fusion of the spatial approach of geographers and the functional approach of ecologists. The latter focused on ecosystem functioning, regarding eco systems as homogeneous, almost abstract units in space, with input and output of energy and matter to and from the undefined surroundings.

Due to their high nutritive value and the presence of secondary metabolites, wetland plants can be consumed by humans as food and utilized as medicinal drugs. Significant numbers of ethno-botanic resources have been reported to extract useful compounds, which can be used as pharmaceuticals. Wetland plants are also very valuable as an energy source, as fuel for fish smoking and for domestic energy. These plants can be harvested as wild stock, or cultivated in flooded paddies for aquaculture, food and for livestock fodder. All parts of plants can be utilized for foodstuff, compost, mulch, medicine, and for construction. Wetland Plants: A Source of Nutrition and Ethnomedicine aims to promote public understanding of this remarkable resource, exploring not only their role in the ecosystem but also their nutritional and medicinal purposes. Based on original research, the text focuses on species identification (with original pictures of wetland plants including morphological features), nutritive value and ethno-medicinal uses. This book serves as an important and basic reference material for further research into the basic biological as well as the applied medicinal aspects of traditional medicinal wetland plants.