Ecology of Shallow Lakes brings together current understanding of the
mechanisms that drive the diametrically opposite states of water
clarity, shown by the cover paintings, found in many shallow lakes and
ponds. It gives an outline of the knowledge gained from field
observations, experimental work, and restoration studies, linked by a
solid theoretical framework.
The book focuses on shallow lakes, but the lucid treatment of plankton
dynamics, resuspension, light climate and the role of vegetation is
relevant to a much wider range of aquatic systems. The models that are
used remain simple and most analyses are graphical rather than
algebraic. The text will therefore appeal to students, scientists and
policy makers in the field of ecology, fisheries, pollution studies and
water management, and also to theoreticans who will benefit from the
many real-world examples of topics such as predation and competition
theory, bifurcation analysis and catastrophe theory. Perhaps most
importantly, the book is a remarkable example of how large field
experiments and simple models can catalyze our insight into complex
ecosystems.
Marten Scheffer wrote this book while at the Institute of Inland Water
Management and Waste Treatment, RIZA, Lelystad, The Netherlands. He is
currently at the Department of Water Quality Management and Aquatic
Ecology of the Wageningen Agricultural University.
Reviews
`Much rarer are textbooks that so succinctly sum up the
state-of-the-art knowledge about a subject that they become instant
`bibles'. This book is one of these. It is probably one of the best
biological textbooks I have read. Scheffer masterfully pulls all this
information together under one cover and presents a coherent account,
which will serve as a benchmark for the subject. The reader will not
gain any great insight into the breeding biology of pike from this book,
nor learn much about dragonflies or newts. They will, however, come to
understand the essential nature of shallow lakes or, as the author puts
it, `how shallow lakes work'. Overall, this book will be of great
interest to practical and theoretical ecologists, students and managers
in all fields of biology. All freshwater ecologists should certainly
read it.'
Simon Harrison in Journal of Ecology, 86
`The book by Scheffer can be seen as a milestone in the recognition of
shallow lakes as a research topic in its own right. Scheffer uses three
approaches concurrently to unravel the functioning of shallow lakes: 1)
statistical analysis of large datasets from a variety of lakes; 2)
simple abstract models made up of a few non-linear ordinary differential
equations, which he calls `mini-models'; and 3) logical reasoning based
on a mixture of results from fieldwork, experiments and models. What is
new is that Scheffer links mathematics very nicely with what one feels
is a correct description of the functioning of a shallow lake. Employing
logical reasoning, Scheffer combines all these sources of knowledge into
a general, coherent picture of the functioning of a shallow lake.'
Wolf Mooij in Aquatic Ecology, 32
