Skip to main content
  • Textbook
  • © 2021

Stream Ecology

Structure and Function of Running Waters

  • Thoroughly updated and expanded third edition
  • Superb compilation of both the latest and time-honored concepts of the ecology of fluvial systems
  • Covers the key ecological factors and processes in a very variable ecosystem
  • Includes significant advances in our understanding of environmental factors, biological interactions, and ecosystem processes, and how these vary with hydrological, geomorphological, and landscape setting

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check for access.

Table of contents (15 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvii
  2. Rivers in the Anthropocene

    • J. David Allan, Maria M. Castillo, Krista A. Capps
    Pages 1-17
  3. Streamflow

    • J. David Allan, Maria M. Castillo, Krista A. Capps
    Pages 19-44
  4. Fluvial Geomorphology

    • J. David Allan, Maria M. Castillo, Krista A. Capps
    Pages 45-73
  5. Streamwater Chemistry

    • J. David Allan, Maria M. Castillo, Krista A. Capps
    Pages 75-100
  6. The Abiotic Environment

    • J. David Allan, Maria M. Castillo, Krista A. Capps
    Pages 101-139
  7. Primary Producers

    • J. David Allan, Maria M. Castillo, Krista A. Capps
    Pages 141-176
  8. Detrital Energy and the Decomposition of Organic Matter

    • J. David Allan, Maria M. Castillo, Krista A. Capps
    Pages 177-224
  9. Stream Microbial Ecology

    • J. David Allan, Maria M. Castillo, Krista A. Capps
    Pages 225-245
  10. Trophic Relationships

    • J. David Allan, Maria M. Castillo, Krista A. Capps
    Pages 247-284
  11. Species Interactions

    • J. David Allan, Maria M. Castillo, Krista A. Capps
    Pages 285-324
  12. Lotic Communities

    • J. David Allan, Maria M. Castillo, Krista A. Capps
    Pages 325-355
  13. Energy Flow and Nutrient Cycling in Aquatic Communities

    • J. David Allan, Maria M. Castillo, Krista A. Capps
    Pages 357-381
  14. Nutrient Dynamics

    • J. David Allan, Maria M. Castillo, Krista A. Capps
    Pages 383-420
  15. Carbon Dynamics and Stream Ecosystem Metabolism

    • J. David Allan, Maria M. Castillo, Krista A. Capps
    Pages 421-452
  16. How We Manage Rivers, and Why

    • J. David Allan, Maria M. Castillo, Krista A. Capps
    Pages 453-480
  17. Back Matter

    Pages 481-485

About this book

Stream Ecology: Structure and Function of Running Waters is designed to serve as a textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, and as a reference source for specialists in stream ecology and related fields. This Third Edition is thoroughly updated and expanded to incorporate significant advances in our understanding of environmental factors, biological interactions, and ecosystem processes, and how these vary with hydrological, geomorphological, and landscape setting.

The broad diversity of running waters – from torrential mountain brooks, to large, lowland rivers, to great river systems whose basins occupy sub-continents – makes river ecosystems appear overwhelming complex. A central theme of this book is that although the settings are often unique, the processes at work in running waters are general and increasingly well understood.

Even as our scientific understanding of stream ecosystems rapidly advances, the pressures arising from diverse humanactivities continue to threaten the health of rivers worldwide. This book presents vital new findings concerning human impacts, and the advances in pollution control, flow management, restoration, and conservation planning that point to practical solutions.

Reviews of the first edition:

".. an unusually lucid and judicious reassessment of the state of stream ecology" 
Science Magazine

"..provides an excellent introduction to the area for advanced undergraduates and graduate students…" Limnology & Oceanography

"… a valuable reference for all those interested in the ecology of running waters." Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 

Reviews of the second edition:

"Overall, a must for the field centre and a good starter text in stream ecology." (TEN News, October, 2007)

"Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty." (P. R. Pinet, CHOICE, Vol. 45 (7), 2008)

"... a very good, fluidly readable book which contains the latest key scientific knowledge of the ecology of running waters." (Daniel Graeber, International Review of Hydrobiology, Vol. 94 (2), 2009)


Authors and Affiliations

  • School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    J. David Allan

  • Departamento de Ciencias de la Sustentabilidad, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico

    María M. Castillo

  • Odum School of Ecology and the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

    Krista A. Capps

About the authors

David J. Allan is Professor Emeritus at the School of Natural Resources & Environment, at the University of Michigan. His work emphasizes the application of ecological knowledge to species conservation and ecosystem management. Research interests center on the influence of human activities on the condition of rivers and their watersheds, including the effects of land use on stream health, assessment of variation in flow regime, and estimation of nutrient loads and budgets. Additional, collaborative activities are directed at the translation of aquatic science into useful products for management, conservation, and restoration of running waters. 

He has authored many publications and multiple books, including the previous editions of Stream Ecology published by Springer. 

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Stream Ecology

  • Book Subtitle: Structure and Function of Running Waters

  • Authors: J. David Allan, María M. Castillo, Krista A. Capps

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61286-3

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life Sciences, Biomedical and Life Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-61285-6Published: 18 March 2021

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-61288-7Published: 19 March 2022

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-61286-3Published: 17 March 2021

  • Edition Number: 3

  • Number of Pages: XVII, 485

  • Number of Illustrations: 239 b/w illustrations, 42 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Freshwater & Marine Ecology, Ecosystems, Biodiversity

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access