Description
Book SynopsisEcologists have long struggled to understand community dynamics. In this groundbreaking book, leading fish ecologists William Matthews and Edie Marsh-Matthews apply long-term studies of stream fish communities to several enduring questions. This critical synthesis reaches to the heart of ecological theory, testing concepts against the four decades of data the authors have collected from numerous warm-water stream fish communities in the central and eastern United States. Stream Fish Community Dynamics draws together the work of a single research team to provide fresh analyses of the short- and long-term dynamics of numerous streams, each with multiple sampling sites. Conducting repeated surveys of fish communities at temporal scales from months to decades, the authors' research findings will fascinate anyone searching for a deeper understanding of community ecology. The study sites covered by this book range from small headwater creeks to large prairie rivers in Oklahoma and from Ozark
Trade ReviewOverall, this text offers significant insight from two leading researchers in the field, and will serve as a valuable tool for those individuals who wish to delve further into the research. Essential.
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ChoiceThis book is at once a memoir and love letter to a couple of brilliant research careers, and essential reading for those early-career scientists and others entering the stream fish community ecology topic now, who need to catch up. In both regards, the book is a real pleasure to read. For agency scientists involved in biomonitoring using fishes, and stream restoration, this book should be considered a primer in just how much we do, and do not, understand about the underlying factors that dictate why fishes are where they are.
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Reviews in Fisheries Science and AquacultureIn conclusion, Stream Fish Community Dynamics—A Critical Synthesis represents a valuable synopsis of the tremendous scientific careers of Bill and Edie Matthews, careers that will continue to influence generations of future scientists.
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Fisheries MagazineHelps us rethink hypotheses about our stream fishes and their relationships to each other and to their habitat, and add context to questions related to climate change. At the end of our careers, we can only hope that our cumulative scientific work will be significant enough to be published as a book like this one.
—Brooke E. Penaluna & Ivan Arismendi,
Environmental Biology of FishesTable of ContentsContents Preface Chapter 1: Studying Stream Fish Communities Chapter 2: The Stream Fish Community Study SystemsChapter 3: Characterizing the Fish CommunitiesChapter 4: Traits of Species That Influence Community DynamicsChapter 5: Interactions among Species Chapter 6: Disturbance: Weather Extremes, Flood and Drought, and Fish Community DynamicsChapter 7: Temporal Dynamics of Fish Communities and the "Loose Equilibrium" ConceptChapter 8: Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Stream Fish CommunitiesChapter 9: "What's it All Mean?" (Ecosystem Effects)Chapter 10: A Critical Synthesis References Index
