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Biology of freshwater pollution
Book Reviews drocarbons by a wide range of marine animals (corals, polychaetes` molluscs, crustaceans and fish). The range of species, the responses of various body tissues, the effects of different aromatic hydrocarbons and the influence of some environmental factors, all help to provide a comprehensive study and a useful contribution to the understanding of factors influencing the uptake and loss of petroleum hydrocarbons by marine animals. The fifth and final chapter, on the effects of petroleum on the behaviour of marine animals, is limited to a brief d e scription of the behavioural responses of two species of mollusc. When the contents of a book are restricted to the experimental studies of a single laboratory, it is inevitable that there will be deficiencies in some important areas and problems of imbalance. However. the authors of this book have been able to overcome, to a large extent, many of the potential short-comings by virtue of the volume of work and the wide ranging and integrated nature of the studies originating from their laboratory. This should provide a useful book for researchers concerned with the measurement and interpretation of chemical and biological effects in environments contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons. J. W I D D O W S
Biology of Freshwater Pollution. by C. F. Mason. Longman, London. 1982. 250 pp. £5.50. This book describes the biological effects on freshwater environments caused by biodegradable organic pollutants and toxicants, as well as nutrients that may stimulate plant development and cause eutrophication. The excellent balance that is maintained throughout the book between the physical, chemical and biological aspects of water pollution and the combination of essential theory with the practical application of up-to-date knowledge greatly help in the understanding, if not the solution of existing problems of water pollution. The reader is introduced to a subject in which increasing use is being made of information obtained by research on the effects of pollutants on single species of test organisms or on whole communities of organisms. The engineer or scientist or biologist will find lucid descriptions of the changes in river fauna and flora that occur following the discharge of pollutants and their breakdown by biological agencies. Besides chapters on organic pollution, eutrophication and toxic pollution the subjects of thermal discharges, mine water drainage and biological data processing are also dealt with. Water quality assessment by biological methods, techniques for applying them and their use in water management form the subject of additional chapters. Some excellent case studies have been selected to illustrate particular points, such as the effect of a strike by sewage works personnel (not provoked by enquiring biologists) which provided a text book illustration of the effect of four days of discharging crude sewage into a tributary of the River Thames; the tributary became deoxygenated, the previously existing fauna and flora were wiped out and heavy fish mortality occurred in the Thames. Yet after
1497
about a year the tributary and the main river recovered and the normal biological conditions were restored. The subject of toxic micropollutants in water has received much attention in recent years and become emotive because of the potential hazards created by certain chemicals in drinking water over long periods. The chapter in this book dealing with the effects of toxicants on river water flora and fauna emphasises the reaction of fish and invertebrates to such chemicals and their bioaccumulation in food chains, without neglecting to indicate how they affect micro-organisms or how these may side step such effects by processes of detoxification or by acquiring resistance factors. All these effects provide a fitting introduction to the subject of the management of surface freshwater and to the biological tests available to assess the suitability of water for sustaining fish or other test organisms, as well as to ao .ac~c_0u.nt of those water quality indicators that go under the name of biotic indices. Most of the information in the book comes from sources concerned with conditions in England and Wales, where rivers do not dry up and extremes of temperature are uncommon. However. the consistently pragmatic approach to the subject, combining the results of observed field and laboratory biological data with their application to the prevention of surface water pollution should make the book of general interest to most practitioners in water pollution control. In the development of the subject and in its presentation the book is faultless. Its 250 pages cover a wide range of topics in some detail because of the author's lucid and concise style of writing. Reviewers. all too often, have good reason to draw attention to excellent books that price themselves out of reach of the ordinary buyer. At £5.50 this book can take its place among the diminishing number of books that most students and all water pollution control officials and teachers can afford. S. H. JENKI~S
Freshwater Marshes. by M. W. Weller. Ecology and Wildlife Management, University of Minnesota Press. Minneapolis, 1981. 146 pp. Cloth $22.50. paper S8.95. +
This introductory text is mainly concerned with marshes in temperate North America, though other information is also included. The straightforward style, clear lay-out and many photographs and figures are well-suited to the author's intention of interesting amateur naturalists and professionals in other fields. The scope of the book is wide, including marsh basins, hydrology, substrate, vegetation, dominant animals, habitat dynamics and various aspects of management. For the reader, the most valuable part is the emphasis on wetlands with fluctuating water levels, these fascinating habitats not occurring in Britain. The concepts developed in the chapters on management provide useful guidelines, This is a book for the general reader in North America, but for non-Americans, it is for specialists wishing to extend their knowledge of marsh types. S. M. HASLAM
Biology of Freshwater Pollution. by C. F. Mason. Longman, London. 1982. 250 pp. £5.50. This book describes the biological effects on freshwater environments caused by biodegradable organic pollutants and toxicants, as well as nutrients that may stimulate plant development and cause eutrophication. The excellent balance that is maintained throughout the book between the physical, chemical and biological aspects of water pollution and the combination of essential theory with the practical application of up-to-date knowledge greatly help in the understanding, if not the solution of existing problems of water pollution. The reader is introduced to a subject in which increasing use is being made of information obtained by research on the effects of pollutants on single species of test organisms or on whole communities of organisms. The engineer or scientist or biologist will find lucid descriptions of the changes in river fauna and flora that occur following the discharge of pollutants and their breakdown by biological agencies. Besides chapters on organic pollution, eutrophication and toxic pollution the subjects of thermal discharges, mine water drainage and biological data processing are also dealt with. Water quality assessment by biological methods, techniques for applying them and their use in water management form the subject of additional chapters. Some excellent case studies have been selected to illustrate particular points, such as the effect of a strike by sewage works personnel (not provoked by enquiring biologists) which provided a text book illustration of the effect of four days of discharging crude sewage into a tributary of the River Thames; the tributary became deoxygenated, the previously existing fauna and flora were wiped out and heavy fish mortality occurred in the Thames. Yet after
1497
about a year the tributary and the main river recovered and the normal biological conditions were restored. The subject of toxic micropollutants in water has received much attention in recent years and become emotive because of the potential hazards created by certain chemicals in drinking water over long periods. The chapter in this book dealing with the effects of toxicants on river water flora and fauna emphasises the reaction of fish and invertebrates to such chemicals and their bioaccumulation in food chains, without neglecting to indicate how they affect micro-organisms or how these may side step such effects by processes of detoxification or by acquiring resistance factors. All these effects provide a fitting introduction to the subject of the management of surface freshwater and to the biological tests available to assess the suitability of water for sustaining fish or other test organisms, as well as to ao .ac~c_0u.nt of those water quality indicators that go under the name of biotic indices. Most of the information in the book comes from sources concerned with conditions in England and Wales, where rivers do not dry up and extremes of temperature are uncommon. However. the consistently pragmatic approach to the subject, combining the results of observed field and laboratory biological data with their application to the prevention of surface water pollution should make the book of general interest to most practitioners in water pollution control. In the development of the subject and in its presentation the book is faultless. Its 250 pages cover a wide range of topics in some detail because of the author's lucid and concise style of writing. Reviewers. all too often, have good reason to draw attention to excellent books that price themselves out of reach of the ordinary buyer. At £5.50 this book can take its place among the diminishing number of books that most students and all water pollution control officials and teachers can afford. S. H. JENKI~S
Freshwater Marshes. by M. W. Weller. Ecology and Wildlife Management, University of Minnesota Press. Minneapolis, 1981. 146 pp. Cloth $22.50. paper S8.95. +
This introductory text is mainly concerned with marshes in temperate North America, though other information is also included. The straightforward style, clear lay-out and many photographs and figures are well-suited to the author's intention of interesting amateur naturalists and professionals in other fields. The scope of the book is wide, including marsh basins, hydrology, substrate, vegetation, dominant animals, habitat dynamics and various aspects of management. For the reader, the most valuable part is the emphasis on wetlands with fluctuating water levels, these fascinating habitats not occurring in Britain. The concepts developed in the chapters on management provide useful guidelines, This is a book for the general reader in North America, but for non-Americans, it is for specialists wishing to extend their knowledge of marsh types. S. M. HASLAM