Ecology of Threatened Semi-Arid Wetlands

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvi

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2. Introductory Chapter

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. The Wetland, Its Catchment Settings and Socioeconomic Relevance: An Overview

      • S. Sánchez-Carrillo, D. G. Angeler, S. Cirujano, M. Álvarez-Cobelas

      Pages 3-20

3. Abiotic Environment and Historical Reconstructions

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 21-21

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   2. Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction of Las Tablas de Daimiel and Its Evolution During the Quaternary Period

      • B. Ruiz-Zapata, M. J. Gil-García, I. de Bustamante

      Pages 23-43

   3. Climate and Hydrologic Trends: Climate Change Versus Hydrologic Overexploitation as Determinants of the Fluctuating Wetland Hydrology

      • S. Sánchez-Carrillo, M. Álvarez-Cobelas

      Pages 45-83

   4. The Effects of Anthropogenic Stressors on Wetland Loss and Habitat Quality Deterioration in the Upper Guadiana River Basin: A Long-Term Assessment (1970–2000)

      • R. Sánchez-Andrés, M. O. Viedma, S. Sánchez-Carrillo

      Pages 85-107

   5. A Story of the Wetland Water Quality Deterioration: Salinization, Pollution, Eutrophication and Siltation

      • M. Álvarez-Cobelas, S. Sánchez-Carrillo, S. Cirujano, D. G. Angeler

      Pages 109-133

4. Ecological Communities

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 135-135

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   2. Plankton Ecology and Diversity

      • C. Rojo, M. A. Rodrigo

      Pages 137-173

   3. Macrophyte Ecology and Its Long-term Dynamics

      • S. Cirujano, M. Álvarez-Cobelas, R. Sánchez-Andrés

      Pages 175-195

   4. Fish and Avian Communities: A Testimony of Wetland Degradation

      • M. Álvarez-Cobelas

      Pages 197-212

5. Applied Issues

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 213-213

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   2. Biomanipulation: A Useful Tool for Wetland Rehabilitation

      • D. G. Angeler

      Pages 215-228

   3. Analysis of Applied Environmental Management Strategies for Wetland Conservation During the Last 30 Years: A Local History

      • S. Cirujano, M. Álvarez-Cobelas, C. Ruíz de la Hermosa

      Pages 229-237

6. Cultural and Societal Aspects

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 239-239

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   2. The Man and Las Tablas de Daimiel

      • M. Alvarez-Cobelas, S. Cirujano, A. Meco

      Pages 241-254

7. Concluding Chapter

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 255-255

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   2. Synthesis: The Past, Present and Future of Las Tablas de Daimiel

      • David G. Angeler, Salvador Sánchez-Carrillo

      Pages 257-277

8. Back Matter

   Pages 279-292

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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 temperate climates (such as the Florida Everglades, and Czech biosphere reserve). This new book adds to the existing wetlands literature, providing a unique reference in basic and applied Mediterranean wetland ecology, based on results from long-term interdisciplinary research at the RAMSAR and UNESCO Biosphere site, of Las Tablas de Daimiel, Spain. Dating back to the early 1990s the research highlights changes in the biotic and abiotic environment in response to cumulative anthropogenic stressors, and provide guidance on applying this understand to sound management and conservation. With particular relevance to researchers dealing with semi-arid wetlands in the Mediterranean and elsewhere, as well as to resource managers, the book discusses the complexity of the interacting abiotic and biotic environment across different spatial and temporal scales and across various levels of biological hierarchy is highlighted, and reveals how management based on poor knowledge causes more damage than repair. The book will be of interest to researchers interested in freshwater ecology, hydrobotany, hydrology, geology, biogeochemistry, landscape ecology and environmental management.

• Ecology
• Environmental Management
• Transpiration
• biosphere
• carr
• ecosystem
• ecosystems
• eutrophication
• groundwater
• hydrology
• silt
• siltation
• vegetation
• water quality
• wetland

• Instituto de Recursos Naturales, CSIC Madrid, Madrid, Spain

  Salvador Sánchez-Carrillo

• Sciences (SLU), Dept. Aquatic Sciences & Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural, Uppsala, Sweden

  David G. Angeler

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