Book Review

by Paul Ganderton

Barnes RSK. And Hughes RN. 1999. An Introduction to Marine Ecology - 3rd e. Blackwell Science. Pp vii + 286. ISBN 0 86542 834 4. £22.50.

The increase in research material dealing with marine ecology has prompted a review of this text. Several areas have been updated in this new edition and three contributors have been brought in to deal with specific growth areas in the subject. It retains much of the structure of the second edition, manages to add new material and considerably upgrade the illustrations (including many colour photographs) whilst reducing the number of pages! The result of this work has been to improve the readability of the text and increase its usability by focussing on areas of special general interest such as fisheries and human impact. The 12 chapters cover the same ground as before. The opening chapter takes a global perspective in discussing the oceans' organisms and habitats. Here, the basic concepts of physical environment, marine biology and productivity are outlined. The next 7 chapters cover, in turn, one of the elements of the marine environment. This starts with surface waters and continues through continental shelf, salt marshes and mangroves, rocky shores, reefs, deep sea and fish (i.e. nektons). The value of this is that it enables the reader to study one area in detail whilst still being able to relate it to the overall picture. The two chapters which follow this deal with specific ecological areas of interest to marine science: life histories and speciation/biodiversity. Life histories are crucial when considering the impact of fishing and similar activities. Speciation can be important to consider especially given the increasing interference with coastal processes e.g. building a sea-level Panama canal might seriously influence the biodiversity at either end. A penultimate chapter acts as a summation of the separate sections on marine organisms when it looks at whole-system functioning. Finally, there is a brief overview of human impact.

This is a very readable introduction to marine ecology. The upgrades serve only to improve this text which must been seen as one of the standard basic works on the subject.