The Maryland Amphibian and Reptile Atlas

The Maryland Amphibian and Reptile Atlas
Author: Heather R. Cunningham
Publisher: JHU Press
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2018-11-26
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1421425963

The definitive resource for finding, identifying, and conserving Maryland’s amphibians and reptiles. Naturalists, herpetologists, and ecologists alike agree that tracking herpetofauna is a challenging undertaking. Scientists are concerned about the decline of once-familiar species, but evidence has often been too anecdotal to support firm conclusions. To better understand the distribution of amphibians and reptiles in Maryland and forecast species' futures in a time of accelerated environmental threats, conducting a comprehensive statewide survey updating 1970s-era distribution maps seemed ideal. However, this endeavor was of an impossibly ambitious scope for scientists alone to tackle. Enter the Maryland Amphibian and Reptile Atlas project, comprising nearly a thousand dedicated citizen scientists who discovered and recorded the locations of herpetofauna throughout every corner of Maryland. In The Maryland Amphibian and Reptile Atlas, Heather R. Cunningham and Nathan H. Nazdrowicz present the findings of this massive undertaking. This definitive guide combines nearly 160 comprehensive new herpetological maps with historical distribution maps and in-depth species accounts. Color photos illustrate the natural history of the 89 species of frogs, salamanders, turtles, snakes, and lizards that call the state home. Essays discuss historical studies, the effects of Maryland's current climate, geology, and habitat diversity—and the myriad conservation issues these animals face. This richly detailed book represents a triumph of citizen science and the culmination of an intensive research partnership. It will appeal to both amateurs and professionals interested in herpetology, natural history, or ecology, as well as those with a special interest in Maryland's biodiversity.

Carbonate Depositional Systems: Assessing Dimensions and Controlling Parameters

Carbonate Depositional Systems: Assessing Dimensions and Controlling Parameters
Author: Hildegard Westphal
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 235
Release: 2010-08-27
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9789048193639

Carbonate sediments are of increasing relevance for archives of past environmental conditions and for economical reasons in areas of geothermal energy and hydrocarbon reservoirs. Complex interaction of physical and chemical parameters with biological parameters determines the architecture and composition of carbonate sedimentary bodies. This book closes some of the still existing gaps in our understanding of the influence and interplay of physical, chemical, and biological parameters with carbonate sedimentation. An understanding of this interaction is not only required for reliable prediction of reservoir quality but also for a robust interpretation of environmental conditions in the past and the present. It is written by geologists for geologists in order to provide an easily accessible overview of the large amount of relevant information provided by the neighbouring sciences. The approach of the book is to document the modern depositional environments of three classical areas of carbonate deposition, each characteristic for a specific sedimentological setting (isolated platform, attached shelf, ramp) in order to assess both the range of physical, biological and chemical parameters and their sedimentary response. This book presents a comprehensive compilation based on data from published work and unpublished theses, and the integration of these data in order to extract previously undiscovered relationships between the discussed parameters and carbonate deposition.

Carbonate Sedimentology and Sequence Stratigraphy

Carbonate Sedimentology and Sequence Stratigraphy
Author: Wolfgang Schlager
Publisher: SEPM Soc for Sed Geology
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2005
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1565761162

Sedimentology and stratigraphy are neighbors yet distinctly separate entities within the earth sciences. Sedimentology searches for the common traits of sedimentary rocks regardless of age as it reconstructs environments and processes of deposition and erosion from the sediment record. Stratigraphy, by contrast, concentrates on changes with time, on measuring time and correlating coeval events. Sequence stratigraphy straddles the boundary between the two fields. This book, dedicated to carbonate rocks, approaches sequence stratigraphy from its sedimentologic background. This book attempts to communicate by combining different specialities and different lines of reasoning, and by searching for principles underlying the bewildering diversity of carbonate rocks. It provides enough general background, in introductory chapters and appendices, to be easily digestible for sedimentologists and stratigraphers as well as earth scientists at large.

Coral Reef Remote Sensing

Coral Reef Remote Sensing
Author: James A. Goodman
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 446
Release: 2013-04-18
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 9048192927

Remote sensing stands as the defining technology in our ability to monitor coral reefs, as well as their biophysical properties and associated processes, at regional to global scales. With overwhelming evidence that much of Earth’s reefs are in decline, our need for large-scale, repeatable assessments of reefs has never been so great. Fortunately, the last two decades have seen a rapid expansion in the ability for remote sensing to map and monitor the coral reef ecosystem, its overlying water column, and surrounding environment. Remote sensing is now a fundamental tool for the mapping, monitoring and management of coral reef ecosystems. Remote sensing offers repeatable, quantitative assessments of habitat and environmental characteristics over spatially extensive areas. As the multi-disciplinary field of coral reef remote sensing continues to mature, results demonstrate that the techniques and capabilities continue to improve. New developments allow reef assessments and mapping to be performed with higher accuracy, across greater spatial areas, and with greater temporal frequency. The increased level of information that remote sensing now makes available also allows more complex scientific questions to be addressed. As defined for this book, remote sensing includes the vast array of geospatial data collected from land, water, ship, airborne and satellite platforms. The book is organized by technology, including: visible and infrared sensing using photographic, multispectral and hyperspectral instruments; active sensing using light detection and ranging (LiDAR); acoustic sensing using ship, autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and in-water platforms; and thermal and radar instruments. Emphasis and Audience This book serves multiple roles. It offers an overview of the current state-of-the-art technologies for reef mapping, provides detailed technical information for coral reef remote sensing specialists, imparts insight on the scientific questions that can be tackled using this technology, and also includes a foundation for those new to reef remote sensing. The individual sections of the book include introductory overviews of four main types of remotely sensed data used to study coral reefs, followed by specific examples demonstrating practical applications of the different technologies being discussed. Guidelines for selecting the most appropriate sensor for particular applications are provided, including an overview of how to utilize remote sensing data as an effective tool in science and management. The text is richly illustrated with examples of each sensing technology applied to a range of scientific, monitoring and management questions in reefs around the world. As such, the book is broadly accessible to a general audience, as well as students, managers, remote sensing specialists and anyone else working with coral reef ecosystems.

World Atlas of Coral Reefs

World Atlas of Coral Reefs
Author: Mark Spalding
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 442
Release: 2001
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9780520232556

An up-to-date, detailed, and fully-illustrated account of the biodiversity and status of coral reefs.

Coral Reefs in the Anthropocene

Coral Reefs in the Anthropocene
Author: Charles Birkeland
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2015-11-03
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9401772495

This volume investigates the effects of human activities on coral reefs, which provide important life-supporting systems to surrounding natural and human communities. It examines the self-reinforcing ecological, economic and technological mechanisms that degrade coral reef ecosystems around the world. Topics include reefs and limestones in Earth history; the interactions between corals and their symbiotic algae; diseases of coral reef organisms; the complex triangle between reef fishes, seaweeds and corals; coral disturbance and recovery in a changing world. In addition, the authors take key recent advances in DNA studies into account which provides new insights into the population biology, patterns of species distributions, recent evolution and vulnerabilities to environmental stresses. These DNA analyses also provide new understandings of the limitations of coral responses and scales of management necessary to sustain coral reefs in their present states. Coral reefs have been essential sources of food, income and resources to humans for millennia. This book details the delicate balance that exists within these ecosystems at all scales, from geologic time to cellular interactions and explores how recent global and local changes influence this relationship. It will serve as an indispensable resource for all those interested in learning how human activities have affected this vital ecosystem around the world.