Contested Waterscapes in the Mekong Region

Contested Waterscapes in the Mekong Region
Author: François Molle
Publisher: Earthscan
Total Pages: 449
Release: 2012
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1849770867

The water resources of the Mekong river catchment area, from China, through Thailand, Cambodia and Laos to Vietnam, are increasingly contested. Governments, companies and banks are driving new investment in roads, dams, diversions, irrigation schemes, navigation facilities, power plants and other emblems of conventional "development." Their plans and interventions pose multiple burdens and risks to the livelihoods of millions of people dependent on wetlands, floodplains, fisheries and aquatic resources.

The Mekong

The Mekong
Author: Ian Charles Campbell
Publisher: Academic Press
Total Pages: 647
Release: 2009-11-20
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0080920632

The Mekong is the most controversial river in Southeast Asia, and increasingly the focus of international attention. It flows through 6 counties, China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam. The 4 downstream countries have formed the Mekong River Commission to promote sustainable development of the river and many of their people depend on it for their subsistence ? it has possible the largest freshwater fishery in the world, and the Mekong waters support rice agriculture in the delta in Viet Nam (which produces about 40% of that country's food) as well as in Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. China is now building the first large mainstream dam on the river, and has proposals for several more. These dams are likely to affect the downstream countries. Several of the downstream countries also have plans for large scale hydropower and irrigation development which could also impact the river. This book will provide a solid overview of the biophysical environment of the Mekong together with a discussion of the possible impacts, biophysical, economic and social, of some possible development scenarios. It is intended to provide a technical basis which can inform the growing political and conservation debate about the future of the Mekong River, and those who depend on it. It is aimed at river ecologists, geographers, environmentalists and development specialists both in the basin and (especially) outside for whom access to this material is most difficult. This book will be the first comprehensive treatment of the Mekong system. - The first comprehensive overview of all aspects of the Mekong River system - Deals with a regionally critical ecosystem and one under threat - The Mekong supports the world's largest freshwater fishery and provides water underpinning a major regional rice paddy system - Presents the authoritative findings of the Mekong River Commission's research for a wider audience for the first time outside of limited distribution reports

The Biodiversity Observation Network in the Asia-Pacific Region

The Biodiversity Observation Network in the Asia-Pacific Region
Author: Shin-ichi Nakano
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 478
Release: 2012-07-26
Genre: Science
ISBN: 4431540326

Biological diversity is important for ecosystem function and services, which in turn is essential for human well-being. Under the Convention on Biological Diversity, international efforts have been made to achieve a significant reduction in the current rate of biodiversity loss. The loss continues, however. The Asia-Pacific region includes both developing countries with high biodiversity and developed countries with sophisticated data collection and analyses, but only limited information about the status quo of biodiversity in this region has been available. Many Asia-Pacific countries have rapidly grown their economies and social infrastructures, causing a loss of biodiversity and requiring an urgent mandate to achieve a balance between development and conservation in the region. In December 2009, scientists successfully organized the Asia-Pacific Biodiversity Observation Network in the region, to establish a network for research and monitoring of ecosystems and biodiversity and to build a cooperative framework. The present volume is the first collection of information on biodiversity in the Asia-Pacific and represents a quantum step forward in science that optimizes the synergy between development and biodiversity conservation.

Fishes of the Cambodian Mekong

Fishes of the Cambodian Mekong
Author: Walter J. Rainboth
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
Total Pages: 340
Release: 1996
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9789251037430

This field guide covers the major resource groups likely to be encountered in the fisheries of the Cambodian Mekong. These groups include sharks, batoid fishes and bony fishes. The introduction outlines the geographical, environmental and ecological factors influencing fisheries, and the basic components of the fisheries of the Cambodian Mekong. As an aid to identification to higher taxonomic levels, a pictorial index to families and an illustrated guide to orders and families are included. Each species account provides scientific nomenclature, FAO names in English, local names, sizes, notes on fisheries, habitat and biology, and one or more illustrations. The guide is fully indexed and a list of related literature is appended. Finally, 27 colour plates are presented.

Freshwater Biodiversity

Freshwater Biodiversity
Author: David Dudgeon
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 517
Release: 2020-05-21
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1108882625

Growing human populations and higher demands for water impose increasing impacts and stresses upon freshwater biodiversity. Their combined effects have made these animals more endangered than their terrestrial and marine counterparts. Overuse and contamination of water, overexploitation and overfishing, introduction of alien species, and alteration of natural flow regimes have led to a 'great thinning' and declines in abundance of freshwater animals, a 'great shrinking' in body size with reductions in large species, and a 'great mixing' whereby the spread of introduced species has tended to homogenize previously dissimilar communities in different parts of the world. Climate change and warming temperatures will alter global water availability, and exacerbate the other threat factors. What conservation action is needed to halt or reverse these trends, and preserve freshwater biodiversity in a rapidly changing world? This book offers the tools and approaches that can be deployed to help conserve freshwater biodiversity.

Freshwater Fisheries Ecology

Freshwater Fisheries Ecology
Author: John F. Craig
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 920
Release: 2016-01-12
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1118394402

Inland fisheries are vital for the livelihoods and food resources of humans worldwide but their importance is underestimated, probably because large numbers of small, local operators are involved. Freshwater Fisheries Ecology defines what we have globally, what we are going to lose and mitigate for, and what, given the right tools, we can save. To estimate potential production, the dynamics of freshwater ecosystems (rivers, lakes and estuaries) need to be understood. These dynamics are diverse, as are the earths freshwater fisheries resources (from boreal to tropical regions), and these influence how fisheries are both utilized and abused. Three main types of fisheries are illustrated within the book: artisanal, commercial and recreational, and the tools which have evolved for fisheries governance and management, including assessment methods, are described. The book also covers in detail fisheries development, providing information on improving fisheries through environmental and habitat evaluation, enhancement and rehabilitation, aquaculture, genetically modified fishes and sustainability. The book thoroughly reviews the negative impacts on fisheries including excessive harvesting, climate change, toxicology, impoundments, barriers and abstractions, non-native species and eutrophication. Finally, key areas of future research are outlined. Freshwater Fisheries Ecology is truly a landmark publication, containing contributions from over 100 leading experts and supported by the Fisheries Society of the British Isles. The global approach makes this book essential reading for fish biologists, fisheries scientists and ecologists and upper level students in these disciplines. Libraries in all universities and research establishments where biological and fisheries sciences are studied and taught should have multiple copies of this hugely valuable resource. About the Editor John Craig is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Fish Biology and has an enormous range of expertise and a wealth of knowledge of freshwater fishes and their ecology, having studied them around the globe, including in Asia, North America, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. His particular interests have been in population dynamics and life history strategies. He is a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London and the Royal Society of Biology.

The Mekong River Basin

The Mekong River Basin
Author: Hong Quan Nguyen
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 674
Release: 2024-04-22
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0323914500

The Mekong River Basin: Ecohydrological Complexity from Catchment to Coast, Volume Three presents real facts, data and predictions for quantifying human-induced changes throughout the Mekong watershed, including its estuaries and coasts, and proposes solutions to decrease or mitigate the negative effect and enable sustainable development. This is the first work to link socio–ecological interaction study over the whole Mekong River basin through the lens of ecohydrology. Each chapter is written by a leading expert, with coverage on climate change, groundwater, land use, flooding drought, biodiversity and anthropological issues. Human activities are enormous in the whole watershed and are still increasing throughout the catchment, with severe negative impacts on natural resources are emerging. Among these activities, hydropower dams, especially a series of 11 dams in China, are the most critical as they generate massive changes throughout the system, including in the delta and to the livelihoods of millions of people and they threaten sustainability. - Presents an extensive collection of eco-hydrological changes in the river basin driven by both nature and anthropological factors - Provides state of the art modeling, data analysis methodologies for complex socio-ecological complexity applied in the Mekong river basin - Includes specific cases of ecohydrology in the river basin, especially from the Mekong delta