Estuarine Ecology

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding as textbook, or as personal reference source.
Review: While taking an Introductory course in Oceanography at St.Petersburg Jr.College (FL) I found a copy of this wonderful work in the library. Their acquisition cost was just over $50.00, I see that it now sells for over $100.00, thus I am not sure I wish to buy my own copy. For anyone in the field, it would be a fine additon to their personal library, if one was not in the nearby Public, or College, stacks. While I was particularly interested in the Ecology of Tamp Bay (Fl.) I still found enough basic information which I can related to our Estuary here. I am particularly interested in NEKTON (Blue Crabs and Shriimp) and this text treated them sufficiently well to answer my basic questons. (Net surfers: use your browser on topics such as Estuarine research, Tampa Bay Estuary, etc as a good starting point. This is a fine text, and a scholarly work. It is published by Wiley-Interscience Pubs and certainly carries their fine reputation for worthwhile reading. Those who can handle a modicum of math will enjoy the text, but I rather doubt that the casual reader will ''stay with it'', although it certainly makes a pleasant read, for either an Introductory student, like the undersigned, or for someone who is researching the Science of Oceanography. Too bad it so expensive, it would make a good first year course. As a retired pharmacist, I read many science texts and can only conclude by saying that this one text would certainly fill an important niche in your own personal science library, if you were looking for something on this topic. I guess I will order myself a copy, as I feel that John Day, Charles Hall and W.Mchael Kemp have done a splendid job. Alejandro Yanex-Arancibia brings his vast knowledge of ecology as seen by one from the areas south of the US, in an interesting manner. How would I approve on it? If they ever do an update version, I would love to see chapters on South Pacific benthic organisms, as well as some treatment of life under the Arctic and Antarctic Seas, and maybe throw in some information on other extreme environments such as the Dead Sea, and ocean vent tube worms, that sort of thing... Thanks for the opportunity to review this fine text. William R.Bell, RPh, St. Pete Fla. (14Feb1999) You may contact me at '' [e-mail] '' *end of text