Aquatic Ecosystems explains the interplay between various movements of matter and energy through ecosystems mediated by Dissolved Organic Matter. This book provides information on how much DOM there is in a particular aquatic ecosystem and where it originates. It explains whether the DOM composition varies from time to time and place to place. It also details how DOM becomes incorporated into microbial food webs, and gives a better, clarifying, understanding to its significance of DOM.
- There are many ways to study DOM and this book focuses on several central questions: How much DOM is there in a particular aquatic ecosytem? Where does it come from? Does the composition of the DOM vary from time to time and place to palce?
- How does DOM become incorporated into microbial food webs, which are the basis of plant, invertebrate and vertebrate food webs?
- How can the answers to these and other questions about DOM be considered together so that a better understanding of the significance of DOM can emerge?
"This book is a must have for researchers and graduate students who wish to be more familiar with DOM cycling...The editors have done an excellent job of gathering together a group of DOM experts and compiling their expertise into a book whose worth extends beyond DOM research...provides a wealth of information that is nicely organized, condensed, and critically examined." --E.F. Benfield, Department of Biology, Virginia Tech, September 2004
"...is well structured, easy to understand, and has a reasonable amount of well-illustrated graphics...these features make the book suitable not only for specialists working in the field, but also for 'beginners,' graduate students, or those who simply want to learn more about the complex world of DOM...is an important contribution to the existing body of literature on DOM...highly recommended to anyone interested in DOM and suggest it as a valuable selection for university libraries." --JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL MARINE BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY, July 2003
"...this book is ideal for researchers and upper level students (MSc/PhD) who wish to be more familiar with the freshwater 'side' of DOM cycling." --EGU NEWSLETTER, 2003