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This volume is a compilation of data from streams throughout the world using the templet of the River Continuum Concept (RCC) as a model for analysis. Each chapter evaluates the usefulness of ecosystem level measurements in explaining the structure and function of flowing water ecosystems in a particular geographic region.
From the publisher's announcement:
This volume is a compilation of data from streams throughout the world using the templet of the River Continuum Concept (RCC) as a model for analysis. Various models have been offered to explain the structure and function of flowing water systems as holistic ecosystems, including the catchment basin in which they are found. The first widely used such model was the RCC, and despite the several modifications and adjustments that have been made to it, it continues to be a most useful model for streams in North America and in Europe. Other useful concepts include Nutrient Spiraling, Stream Patch Dynamics, Hydraulic Stream Ecology, Riparian Influence, and the newly formulated Flood Pulse Concept. Each of these offer useful corollaries to the RCC, and it is highly likely that the integration of tenants of all of these models will contribute to more meaningful generalizations of how flowing water ecosystems function.
Each chapter in this book evaluates the usefulness of ecosystem level measurements in explaining the structure and function of flowing water ecosystems in a particular geographic region. Authors examined data sets pertaining to community metabolism (primary production, respiration, etc.), macroinvertebrates (secondary production, functional groups, etc.), allochthonous inputs and fates, suspended and benthic organic matter, and vertebrates for streams of varying sizes and then synthesized this information in terms of a stream continuum. Using this approach, each chapter then evaluated the usefulness of the various ecosystem models in terms of their value in explaining the structure and function of streams in their geographic region.
Preface. List of Contributors. Introduction: An overview of stream ecosystems (K.W. Cummins, C.E. Cushing, G.W. Minshall). North America. River and stream ecosystems of Alaska (M.W. Oswood, J.G. Irons, III, A. Milner). River and stream ecosystems of Canada (R.J. Mackay). Stream ecosystems of the Western United States (S.G. Fisher). Stream ecosystems of the Central United States (A.V. Brown, W.J. Matthews). Organic processes in streams of the Eastern United States (J.R. Webster, J.B. Wallace, E.F. Benfield). Central America and South America. Middle American streams and rivers (C.L. de la Rosa). Rivers of Northern South America (W.M. Lewis, Jr., S.K. Hamilton, J.F. Saunders, III). Southern South American streams and rivers (A.A. Bonetto, I.R. Wais). Europe. Rivers of the Nordic countries (R.C. Petersen, G.M. Gislason, L.B.-M. Petersen). River and stream ecosystems of Great Britain (D.F. Westlake, M. Ladle). River and stream ecosystems: Northwestern European Atlantic river systems (France, Belgium, The Netherlands) (G. Billen et al.). The Ter: a Mediterranean river case-study in Spain (F. Sabater et al.). River and stream ecosystems in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland (B. Statzner, F. Kohmann). The rivers of Italy (A. Cattaneo, G. Salmoiraghi, S. Gazzera). Africa. Northeastern Africa rivers and streams (A.D. Harrison). River and stream ecosystems: Northwestern Africa (C. Leveque). River and stream ecosystems in Southern Africa: predictably unpredictable (B.R. Davies, J.H. O'Keeffe, C.D. Snaddon). Asia. The ecosystem of the Amur river. (V. Bogatov, S. Sirotsky, D. Yuryev). Rivers and streams of Tropical Asia (D. Dudgeon). Australia and New Zealand. Of floods and droughts - river and stream ecosystems of Australia (P.S. Lake). Stream ecosystems in New Zealand (M.J. Winterbourn). Oceana. Streams and rivers of Oceana (V.H. Resh, F.A. de Szalay). Glossary. Systematic Index. Author Index. General Index.
Colbert E. Cushing, formerly at the Ecosystems Department of Batelle Pacific NW Laboratories, is affiliated with Streamside Programs in Estes Park, Colorado. His books include Streams: Their Ecology and Life (2001, coauthored with J.D. Allan). Kenneth W. Cummins is Co-director of the Institute for River Ecosystems and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Fisheries Biology at Humboldt State University. His books include An Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America (third edition, 1996, coedited with R.W. Merritt). G. Wayne Minshall is Professor Emeritus of Ecology at Idaho State University. Among his books is Stream Ecology (1995, coedited with J.R. Barnes).
