Ecology of Threatened Semi-Arid Wetlands; Preface; Acknowledgments; Contents; Contributors; Part I:Introductory Chapter; Part II:Abiotic Environment andHistorical Reconstructions; Part III:Ecological Communities; Part IV:Applied Issues; Part V:Cultural and Societal Aspects; Part VI:Concluding Chapter; Index
Summary
Playing a critical role in both influencing climate change and mitigating its impacts, the world's diverse wetlands have become one of the world's most threatened ecosystems as unsustainable land-use practices coupled with irrational use of water have already resulted in large-scale wetlands loss and degradation. To develop sound management and conservation schemes to assure wetlands sustainability in the long term requires long-term understanding of wetlands ecology. Yet until now, long-term interdisciplinary research into these systems has been limited to only a few systems from tropical or
