Victor S. Kennedy – författare

This book discusses the impact of recent advances in the theory of "scaling relationships" and identifies critical issues that must be considered if experimental results are used to understand the temporal and spatial scales of actual ecosystems. The complexity of ecosystems complicates experimental design. How, for example, does a scientist draw boundaries when studying species effects and interactions? Once these boundaries are drawn, how does one treat factors external to that study? Will the failure to consider external factors affect one's ability to extrapolate information across temporal and spatial scales? This volume provides a compilation from a broad range of ecologists with extensive experimental research experience that addresses these and other questions of scaling relations.

This book discusses the impact of recent advances in the theory of "scaling relationships" and identifies critical issues that must be considered if experimental results are used to understand the temporal and spatial scales of actual ecosystems. The complexity of ecosystems complicates experimental design. How, for example, does a scientist draw boundaries when studying species effects and interactions? Once these boundaries are drawn, how does one treat factors external to that study? Will the failure to consider external factors affect one's ability to extrapolate information across temporal and spatial scales? This volume provides a compilation from a broad range of ecologists with extensive experimental research experience that addresses these and other questions of scaling relations.

Enclosed ecosystem experiments have gained in popularity as research tools in ecological science, particularly in the study of coastal aquatic environments. These systems provide scientists with a degree of experimental control that is not achievable through field experiments. Yet to date, techniques for systematically extrapolating results from small-scale experimental ecosystems to larger, deeper, more open, more biologically diverse, and more heterogeneous ecosystems in nature have not been well developed. Likewise, researchers have lacked methods for comparing and extrapolating information among natural ecosystems that differ in scale.Enclosed Experimental Ecosystems and Scale: Tools for Understanding and Managing Coastal Ecosystems provides scientists, managers, and policy makers with an introduction to what has been termed the "problem of scale", and presents information that will allow for improved design and interpretation of enclosed experimental aquatic ecosystems. The book integrates the results of a 10-year research project involving a multi-disciplinary team of scientists and students to explore scale-related questions in a variety of coastal habitats. Anticipating use as a reference, the book has been designed so that individual sections and individual pages can function as stand alone units.

A fascinating look at the diamond-backed terrapin—an important, iconic, and imperiled American reptile.The diamond-backed terrapin is not only a uniquely evolved and beautiful turtle, it also has a long history as a vital American food source. Once so numerous that people reportedly grew tired of eating them, diamond-backed terrapins are greatly reduced in numbers today and have become an icon of salt marsh conservation. Considerably diminished in some areas and struggling to survive, this distinctive brackish water turtle is the focus of intense conservation efforts. In Ecology and Conservation of the Diamond-backed Terrapin, leading terrapin researcher Willem M. Roosenburg and experienced science editor Victor S. Kennedy have brought together a group of expert scientists to summarize our current understanding of terrapin biology, physiology, behavior, and conservation efforts. Over the course of 19 comprehensive chapters, contributors • review the latest information on this charismatic species • provide a detailed summary of the terrapin's natural history • explain the threats to terrapin population stability throughout their range• examine ongoing conservation efforts to ensure the reptile's survival• present convincing arguments for the value of the diamond-backed terrapin as an estuarine indicator organism• use the terrapin as a model for studying the consequences of exploitation and environmental degradation on long-lived speciesThis exceptional book provides pivotal information for estuarine and turtle biologists, terrapin enthusiasts, natural historians, educators, conservationists, resource managers, and students. Ecology and Conservation of the Diamond-backed Terrapin is the definitive volume on this important American reptile.Contributors: Benjamin K. Atkinson, Harold W. Avery, Patrick J. Baker, Ralph E.J. Boerner, Russell L. Burke, Joseph A. Butler, Randolph M. Chambers, Paul E. Converse, Brian A. Crawford, Rusty D. Day, Dana J. Ehret, J. Whitfield Gibbons, Kathryn M. Greene, Leigh Anne Harden, Andrew S. Harrison, Kristen M. Hart, George L. Heinrich, Dawn K. Holliday, Victor S. Kennedy, Shawn R. Kuchta, Lori A. Lester, Jeffrey E. Lovich, John C. Maerz, David Owens, Allen R. Place, Taylor Roberge, Willem M. Roosenburg, Richard A. Seigel, Amanda Southwood Williard, Edward A. Standora, Anton D. Tucker, Diane C. Tulipani, Timothy J. Walsh, Thane Wibbels, Will Williams, Roger C. Wood

This environmental history of America’s largest estuary provides insight into how and why its former productivity and abundant fisheries have declined.The concept of “shifting baselines”—changes in historical reference points used in environmental assessments—illuminates a foundational challenge when evaluating the health of ecosystems and seeking to restore degraded wildlife populations. In this important book, Victor S. Kennedy examines the problem of shifting baselines for one of the most productive aquatic resources in the world: the Chesapeake Bay.Kennedy explains that since the 1800s, when the Bay area was celebrated for its aquatic bounty, harvest baselines have shifted downward precipitously. Over the centuries, fishers and hunters, supported by an extensive infrastructure of boats, gear, and processing facilities, overexploited the region’s fish, crustaceans, terrapin, and waterfowl, squandering a profound resource. Beginning with the colonial period and continuing through the twentieth century, Kennedy gathers an unparalleled collection of scientific resources and eyewitness reports by colonists, fishers, managers, scientists, and newspaper reporters to create a comprehensive examination of the Chesapeake’s environmental history.Focusing on the relative productivity and health of its fisheries and wildlife and highlighting key species such as shad, oysters, and blue crab, Shifting Baselines in the Chesapeake Bay helps readers understand the remarkable extent of the Bay’s natural resources in the past so that we can begin to understand what has changed since, and why. Such knowledge can help illustrate the Bay’s potential fertility and stimulate efforts to restore this pivotal maritime system’s ecological health and productivity.

Estuarine Comparisons compares the knowledge gained about many of the world''s estuaries. The book compares the Pacific, Gulf, and Atlantic coast estuaries, and the physical, chemical, and biological parameters in estuaries throughout the world. The text also compares the features of North Sea, east and West Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific estuaries, as well as of pioneering work in the Chang Jiang estuary of China, one of the largest in the world. Comparisons of anadromous fisheries, estuarine microbiology, and many other interactive features over a wide variety of latitudinal and longitudinal variation are also encompassed. People interested in estuaries, including ecologists, will find the book invaluable.

The Estuary as a Filter contains the proceedings of the Estuarine Research Federation''s seventh biennial conference at Virginia Beach, Virginia, in late October, 1983. In five invited sessions, scientists and managers considered the physical, geological, chemical-geochemical, and biological processes involved in the ""filtering"" role of estuaries and reflected on management implications of these matters. Most of their presentations and reflections are included in this book in order to demonstrate what is known and what needs to be explored further. The papers in this volume are grouped as they were presented at the conference. Thus, physical oceanographers begin the work by considering turbulence, mixing, and circulation processes in estuaries. Geologists then examine estuarine sedimentation, including the roles of flocculation and bioturbation in accelerating this process. Chemists and geochemists describe the interactions among and effects of inputs of nutrients, metals, and organic matter into estuaries, and the fate of radionuclides in these systems. Biological and biochemical processes involving surface foam, microbes, sea grasses, and wetlands are considered, along with carefully derived nutrient budgets of selected estuarine regions. Finally, some of the problems facing managers of estuarine ecosystems in three areas of the United States are described, along with the success story of the ongoing rehabilitation of the Thames Estuary in England.