Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 367 (2008) 266

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Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology

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Book review

Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review, volume45, R.N.Gibson, R.J.A. Atkinson, J.D.M. Gordon, Taylor and Francis (2007), ISBN978-1420050936 (Hardback), 547pp.

It is difficult for a reviewer to add anything new to the praise thathas already been heaped on previous volumes in this series frommanyquarters. Suffice it to say that the high standards of the scholarly andthorough reviews, the quality of editing and of production havecertainly been maintained in Volume 45. As an author of a review in aprevious volume, I am aware that much of the credit is due to theunusually close interaction between the editors and authors, allowingthe authors considerable freedom in the length and content of thereviews whilst maintaining a meticulous attention to detail andproviding invaluable indices to the authors of cited publications,taxonomy and subjects.

The reviews in this series intentionally cover the whole range ofmarine sciences. The first in this volume, by W.R. Clavano, E. Boss &L. Karp-Boss, covers the optical properties of non-spherical “marine-like”particles. The inherent optical properties (IOPs) can now be usedroutinely to estimate ecologically important properties of suspendedparticles such as organic carbon, chlorophyll-a, DOM, nitrate etc., and theauthors show convincingly that particle shape plays a significant role indetermining the IOPs and that models that assume all particles arespherical are inappropriate, since most particles are not.

The global ecology of the giant kelpMacrocystis is reviewed byM.H.Graham, J.A. Vásquez & A.H. Buschmann, who point to the greatvariation inmorphology, production, physiology, population dynamicsand community interactions of this kelp worldwide, despite evidencesuggesting that it is only one species. It provides food (mainly viadetrital pathways) and habitat for relatively diverse assemblages ofother plants and animals, the high productivity of the systems inwhichit lives overriding consumptive processes in regulating its ecology.

Coastal marine mysids have a lifestyle dependent on horizontalfluxes and P.A Jumars' review suggests that because they migratebetween habitats they are badly underrepresented in food-webmodels,despite their obviously important trophic role (they are extraordinarilyomnivorous) and their importance in benthic-pelagic coupling.

R.S. Carney reviews the use of diversity estimations in the study ofsedimentary benthic communities, following the historical develop-ment of community descriptors from those based on characterisingspecies, through traditional diversity measures based on speciesrichness and evenness to more recent developments including indicesthat include taxonomic relationships and the extrapolation of fullspecies richness from observed values.

The coral reefs of the Andaman Sea are among the least studied inthe world because visiting scientists have been hampered by politicalconstraints. The reefs there are subjected to a variety of stresses due totheir dynamic nature (high turbidity inshore, large tidal range leadingto aerial exposure, negative sea-level anomalies, earthquakes and

doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2008.08.015

tsunamis), despite which the reefs generally display a high cover andhigh coral diversity. B.E. Brown's review suggests that the in-builtstress resistance of many of the corals could result in the region beingan important refuge during an era of global warming.

The Humboldt Current system of Chile is one of the mostproductive ecosystems on earth, and 38 authors working in differentdisciplines have come together to produce an extremely comprehen-sive review of the oceanography, chemistry, primary producers,zooplankton consumers, fish consumers, seabirds and mammals,benthic habitats, ecology of selected species, fisheries, management,conservation etc. of this system. At 149 pages almost a book in itself!

L. Airoldi & M.W. Beck provide a disturbing review of the status ofcoastal marine habitats in Europe. In recent centuries land reclama-tion, coastal development, overfishing and pollution have nearlyeliminated coastal wetlands, seagrass meadows, shellfish beds,biogenic reefs and other productive and diverse coastal habitats.Every day between 1960 and 1995 a kilometre of European coastlinewas developed! The various policies and directives aimed atameliorating these problems have been sadly ineffective.

The manifold projections of climate change and its consequencesare likely to have considerable ecological and economic importancefor the highly diverse and endemic marine life of Australia. E.S.Poloczanska and nine other authors lament the poor observationalrecords of climate impacts there, with some notable exceptions suchas thewidespread bleaching of corals on the Great Barrier Reef and thepoleward shifts in temperate fish distributions. There are many openquestions as to how Australian marine ecosystems will respond.

One earlier reviewer has already made the point that most marinescientists can usually guarantee finding at least one review in everyissue of this series in which to take interest. I found one directly in myfield but, being obliged to read all of them, I agree with anotherreviewer that this volume is an invaluable information source forindividual researchers who wish to keep abreast of topics goingbeyond their own (often narrow) fields of interest. I enjoyed them alland learned a lot. I could not express my view better than the editorsthemselves: “The series is an essential reference text for researchersand students in all fields of marine science and related subjects, and itfinds a place in libraries of not only marine stations and institutes, butalso universities. It is consistently among the highest ranking impactfactors for the marine biology category of the citation indicescompiled by the Institute for Scientific Information”.

Richard WarwickResearch Fellow, Plymouth Marine Laboratory,

Prospect Place, Plymouth PL1 3DH, UKE-mail address: rmw@pml.ac.uk