From the preface:

For more than a century, the ecologists have been engaged in the study of the patterns of diversity at different levels of organization (populations, communities and ecosystems) and their relationships with the biotic and abiotic environment. Accelerated rates of habitat destruction and consequent loss of species have caused global concern for the biological diversity, and it is reflected in the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted in 1992. International efforts are being made to inventorise, assess and monitor biodiversity, to understand its ecological functions, and to conserve it. Biodiversity issues have transcended beyond biology and ecology into the domains of technology, sociology, economics, anthropology, law and politics.
Most studies and discussions are focused on terrestrial ecosystems, particularly the tropical rainforests. The biodiversity of inland water ecosystems has just started receiving some attention. Though the wetlands are among the most fragile and threatened ecosystems, and are also considered to be highly productive and rich in biodiversity, there is very little information even on their total biological diversity, much less on the factors regulating it or on its functions. …
… Fourteen contributions in this volume deal with several kinds of wetlands &endash; riverine floodplains, mangroves, karst wetlands, bogs and fens, and seasonal wetlands of arid regions - and most of the groups of plants and animals, as well as microbes. The authors of these contributions examine species, habitat and functional diversity, and discuss a wide range of issues &endash; from factors governing biodiversity to restoration and conservation. The contributions in the second volume will extend the coverage geographically, and to more kinds of wetlands, organisms and issues. We will attempt a synthesis of the state of our knowledge at the end.

 

From the contents

Preface

Articles
- Biodiversity in wetlands: an introduction, Brij Gopal and W.J. Junk
- The importance of stream-wetland-systems for biodiversity: a tropical perspective, Karl Matthias Wantzen and Wolfgang Johannes Junk
- Riverine wetlands and biodiversity conservation in tropical asia, David Dudgeon
- Fish biodiversity in floodplains and their associated rivers,R.L Welcomme
- Biodiversity in the high paraná river floodplain,A.A. Agostinho, S.M. Thomaz, C.V. Minte-Vera and K.O. Winemiller
- Mechanisms for development and maintenance of biodiversity in neotropical floodplains, Wolfgang J. Junk
- Biodiversity of a danubian floodplain: structural, functional and compositional aspects, Klement Tockner, Christian Baumgartner, Fritz Schiemer and J.V. Ward
- Determinants of avian diversity in neotropical mangrove forests, Gaëtan Lefebvre and Brigitte Poulin
- Biodiversity in wetlands of dry regions (drylands),L. Brendonck and W.D.Williams
- Floristic diversity in the Okavango Delta, Botswana as an endogenous product of biological activity, W.N. Ellery, T.S. McCarthy and J.M. Dangerfield
- Karst wetlands biodiversity and continuity through major climatic change: an example from arid tropical western australia, W.F. Humphreys
- Biodiversity of estonian wetlands, Viktor Masing, Jaanus Paal and Andres Kuresoo
- Bacterial biodiversity in wetlands, Paul I. Boon - Restoration of biodiversity to coastal and inland wetlands, Joy B. Zedler
- International mechanisms for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands, Devin M. Bartley

Index

Tentative Contents of Vol. 2
-
Tropical wetlands in E. Africa, F. Bugenyi et al. - Macroinvertebrates in African wetlands, D.M. Harper
- Biodiversity in fens, J.T.A. Verhoeven - Macroinvertebrates diversity in Australia, J.A. Davis
- Functions of biodiversity in Central European wetlands, J. Kvet and S. Hasak
- Indian Mangroves, A.G. Untawale - Biodiversity in Parana River Floodplain, J.J. Neiff
- Biodiversity in R. Rhone floodplain, B. Statzner - Periphyton biodiversity, G. Lakatos
- Mangroves and Coastal wetlands, R.R. Twilley - Lower Danube floodplain biodiversity changes, A. Vadineanu
- Biodiversity in pantanal, C.J. da Silva and W.J. Junk
- Monosoonal wetlands, B. Gopal
- Synthesis, B. Gopal & W.J. Junk


 

Biodiversity in Wetlands:
Assessment, Function and Conservation

Volume 1


Edited by B. Gopal, W.J. Junk & J.A. Davis
2000, viii and 354 pages with 62 figures and 41 tables.
Paperbound.ISBN: 90-5782-059-5
€ 89