Biology of marine birds provides the only complete summary of information about marine birds ever published. It both summarizes and analyzes their breeding biology, ecology, taxonomy, evolution, fossil history, physiology, energetic, and conservation. The book covers four orders of marine birds: penguins (sphenisciformes); albatross, shearwaters, petrels (procellariiformes); pelicans, boobies, frigatebirds, tropicbirds, cormorants (pelecaniformes); and gulls, terns, guillemots, auks (charadriiformes - families laridae and alcidae). Two summary chapters address the biology of shorebirds and wading birds and their lives in the marine environment. This comprehensive book contains numerous summary tables that give you exhaustive information on various aspects of their life histories, breeding biology, physiology and energetic, and demography. It also discusses research techniques and future research needed, providing a guide to ornithologists and students for research projects. Written by acknowledged experts in this field, Biology of Marine Birds is the ideal resource. The authors not only present known information, but provide new analyses and insights into marine bird biology. You will find no other book that covers all the major seabird groups and all the major topics with this depth of detail. Whether you are studying, researching, or managing marine environments, you will find yourself reaching for this resource repeatedly. Early chapters deal with the seabird fossil record and systematic. You can find the discussion of how the fossil record has played in understanding current seabird community structure especially interesting. This combines an excellent demonstration of how we can use the evolutionary history of animals to understand present day traits, with some exciting reconstructions of long-extinct species. It would be hard to argue that most of this book contains information that turtle biologists would find relevant. Most of the discussions, particularly those covering colonial breeding, mate choice, communication and chick development, are not surprisingly set in a seabird context. However there are a number of chapters (some more than others) that may provide some interesting reading and perhaps indicate some potential avenues for research. Chapter 7, Climate and weather effects on seabirds, eventually looks at some large-scale weather/oceanographic events including El Nino and Enso and how these effect prey populations and seabird movements. Chapters 12 and 14 cover reproductive energetics and salt balance, again these are topics that could provide some relevant information, such as how egg composition and water loss varies according to feeding and incubation ecology or osmoregulatory mechanisms used by animals living in a hypertonic environment. The areas that marine turtle newsletter readers are likely to find most interesting are covered in four main chapters. Chapter 5 investigates how seabird demography relates to the marine environment. There are discussions on factors that may lead to differences in demographic traits both within and among species. It is of interest that, because of their longevity (a trait shared with many turtle species) an understanding of demography can only be achieved by long-term studies. Moreover, there is still very little information on the survival and recruitment of young, a fundamental component of any population model. This must be a concern to turtle biologists since studies of seabird biology have are generally far easier to conduct than those of marine turtles. Chapters 15 to 17 deal with, in turn, the effects of pollution, interactions with fisheries and conservation, topics that concern most marine vertebrates. There have been exhaustive studies of pollutant levels and effects on seabirds and chapter 15 is a comprehensive review of this subject. Chapter 16 covers the interactions, both positive and negative, between seabirds and fisheries, the most pertinent sections dealing with fishing gear entrapment and disturbance. The chapter on seabird conservation covers a many themes that all marine biologists will find depressingly familiar. Harvesting of eggs and adults, human disturbance (including scientists), climate change, introduced predators, the list goes on. It closes with a review of current legislation, outlining research priorities and the need for increased public awareness. In this latter section the authors point out that the legislation to reduce the bycatch of US long-lining vessels in the south Atlantic was strongly influenced by both scientific and public opinion. There is hope. In short a very useful book, a must for anyone working with or interested in seabirds. From the point of view of a turtle biologist, some chapters could provide interesting ideas and approaches, but it may be slightly expensive as a personal purchase.

A single-source reference on the biology of algae, Algae: Anatomy, Biochemistry, and Biotechnology, Second Edition examines the most important taxa and structures for freshwater, marine, and terrestrial forms of algae, its comprehensive coverage goes from algae's historical role through its taxonomy and ecology to its natural product possibilities. The authors have gathered a significant amount of new material since the publication of the first edition. This completely revised second edition contains many changes and additions including the following: • All revised and rewritten tables, plus new figures, many in color •A fascinating new chapter: Oddities and Curiosities in the Algal World •Expanded information on algal anatomy • Absorption spectra from all algal divisions, chlorophylls, and accessory pigments • Additional information on collection, storage, and preservation of algae • Updated section on algal toxins and algal bioactive molecules The book's unifying theme is on the important role of algae in the earth's self-regulating life support system and its function within restorative models of planetary health. It also discusses algae's biotechnological applications, including potential nutritional and pharmaceutical products. Written for students as well as researchers, teachers, and professionals in the field of phycology and applied phycology, this new full-color edition is both illuminating and inspiring.

Anguillid eels have fascinated biologists for centuries due to their spectacular long-distance migrations between freshwater habitats and their spawning areas far out in the ocean. This book provides a long overdue update on the biology and ecology of anguillid eels and features comprehensive coverage of the key features of the genus Anguilla. It covers a broad spectrum of topics on the biology (taxonomy, phylogeny, evolution, reproduction, feeding, salinity adaptation) and ecology (life history, recruitment, migration).

We developed the content and published Biology of Sharks and Their Relatives (Volume I) because of a need for an updated, timely reference volume on the biology of sharks, skates, rays, and chimaeras. In the Preface to that first volume, we noted that little in the way of comprehensive summaries of chondrichthyan biology had been done since the volumes of research papers produced by Perry Gilbert in 1963 and 1967. Sharks and Survival and Sharks, Skates, and Rays, at that time, pro-vided a comprehensive examination of shark research and served as points of departure for future studies. It was over 20 years after the publication of Dr. Gilbert's edited volumes that Elasmobranchs as Living Resources, edited by Wes Pratt, Sonny Gruber, and Toru Taniuchi, was published in 1990, followed nearly a decade later by Will Hamlett's extensive review (1999) of the anatomy and fine structure of elasmobranch fishes. Much has changed in the world of elasmobranch biology since then. When we first considered developing a modem synthesis of the biology of sharks and their relatives, we were forced to look at what major changes have occurred in our world, how those changes have influenced the worldwide status of sharks and their relatives, and how advances in technology and analyti-cal techniques have changed, not only how we approach problem solving and scientific investigations, but how we formulate questions.

The océans cover approximately 71% of Earth's surface, 90% of the biosphère and contains 97% of Earth's water. Since the first launch of SEASAT satellite in 1978, an increasing number of SAR satellites have or will become available, such as the European Space Agency's ERS-1/-2, ENVISAT, and Sentinel-1 séries; the Canadian RADARSAT-1/-2 and the upcoming RADARSAT Constellation Mission séries satellites: the Italian COSMO-SkyMed satellites, the German TERRASAR-X and TANDEM-X, and the Chinese GAOFEN-3 SAR. among others. Recently. European Space Agency has launched a new génération of SAR satellites. Sentinel-1 A in 2014 and Sentinel-1 B in 2016. Thèse SAR satellites provide researchers with free and open SAR images necessary to carry out their research on the global océans. The scope of Advances in SAR Remote Sensing of Océans is to demonstrate the types of information that can be obtained from SAR images of the océans, and the cutting-edge methods needed for analysing SAR images. Written by leading experts in the field, and divided into four sections, the book présents the basic principles of radar backscattering from the océan surface; introduces the récent progresses in SAR remote sensing of dynamic coastal environment and management; discusses the state-of-the-art methods to monitor parameters or phenomena related to the dynamic océan environment; and deals specifically with new techniques and findings of marine atmospheric boundary layer observations. Advances in SAR Remote Sensing of Océans is a very comprehensive and up-to-date référence intended for use by graduate students, researchers, practitioners, and R&D engineers working in the vibrant field of océans, interested to understand how SAR remote sensing can support oceanography research and applications.

Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing threatens the viability of high seas living resources. This book details the efforts of the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources Commission and the Australian government to adopt complementary measures to deter IUU fishing in the Southern Ocean.

Big data has always been a major challenge in geoinformatics as geospatial data come in various types and formats, new geospatial data are acquired very fast, and geospatial databases are inherently very large. And while there have been advances in hardware and software for handling big data, they often fall short of handling geospatial big data efficiently and effectively. Big Data: Techniques and Technologies in Geoinformatics tackles these challenges head on, integrating coverage of techniques and technologies for storing, managing, and computing geospatial big data. Providing a perspective based on analysis of time, applications, and resources, this book familiarizes readers with geospatial applications that fall under the category of big data. It explores new trends in geospatial data collection, such as geo-crowdsourcing and advanced data collection technologies such as LiDAR point clouds. The book features a range of topics on big data techniques and technologies in geoinformatics including distributed computing, geospatial data analytics, social media, and volunteered geographic information. Features • Explains the challenges and issues of big data in geoinformatics applications • Discusses and analyzes the techniques, technologies, and tools for storing, managing, and computing geospatial big data • Familiarizes the readers with the advanced techniques and technologies used for geospatial big data research • Provides insight into new opportunities offered by geospatial big data With chapters contributed by experts in geoinformatics and in domains such as computing and engineering, the book provides an understanding of the challenges and issues of big data in geoinformatics applications. The book is a single collection of current and emerging techniques, technologies, and tools that are needed to collect, analyze, manage, process, and visualize geospatial big data.

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Polymers refer to macromolecules made up of repeating units of smaller molecules covalently bound together to form a bigger molecule. For example, proteins are polymers made up of amino acids, cellulose is made up of repeating units of glucose and polyethylene is made up of repeating units of ethylene. The units which join together to form polymers are referred to as monomers, and the process through which this is achieved is termed polymerization. Biopolymers refer to polymers which are produced by living organisms. The term aquatic biopolymers refers to biopolymers which are produced by living organisms that inhabit the aquatic ecosystem. Since the beginning of the ages, polymers have played a significant role in human life in providing the most basic need, food, in the form of carbohydrates and pro- teins. As life advances, polymers have come to be of great importance to modern civilization, from the food we eat, the portable plastic bottles that give us convenient access to clean drinking water, the medicines we take, basic hygiene, tools and the fuels that run our engines. Polymers are fundamental to our existence as modern humans. Considering that the polynucleotides which form our DNA that carry the instructions for every life function are also polymers, it can therefore be said that polymers indeed make life. The aquatic environment is a rich source of a wide range of natural resources, and among those resources are polymers. They are found in the cell walls, tissues, exoskeletons, secretions and anatomical regions of aquatic organisms across the five kingdoms. A large variation of factors exists in the aquatic environment. These variable factors include salinity, depth, light intensity, temperature, pressure, density, pH, prey/predator presence, nutrients, dissolved gases, water flow rate, flora and fauna. These factors determine the types of biochemicals produced by the different organ- isms to survive their environment, even more so where they are in such direct contact with the continuous medium (Christophe et al. 2015). Such variation in the envi- ronmental factors also translates to a diverse range of polymers. Over the course of evolution of life, living organisms both plants and animals have devised means to produce, absorb, store and process different forms of biopolymers. This ranges from polysaccharides used for energy and structure, proteins for metabolism and cell renewal and polyesters for water repelling among others. These are stored in different anatomical regions of the plant. Carbohydrates, for example, are stored in chloroplasts, cytoplasm, periplastic compartment, peri-plastid membranes, in the cytoplasm, and vacuole localized in the cytoplasm (Prabhu et al. 2019).

This collection of essays discusses fascinating aspects of the concept that microbes are at the root of all ecosystems. The content is divided into seven parts, the first of those emphasizes that microbes not only were the starting point, but sustain the rest of the biosphere and shows how life evolves through a perpetual struggle for habitats and niches. Part II explains the ways in which microbial life persists in some of the most extreme environments, while Part III presents our understanding of the core aspects of microbial metabolism. Part IV examines the duality of the microbial world, acknowledging that life exists as a balance between certain processes that we perceive as being environmentally supportive and others that seem environmentally destructive. In turn, Part V discusses basic aspects of microbial symbioses, including interactions with other microorganisms, plants and animals. The concept of microbial symbiosis as a driving force in evolution is covered in Part VI. In closing, Part VII explores the adventure of microbiological research, including some reminiscences from and perspectives on the lives and careers of microbe hunters. Given its mixture of science and philosophy, the book will appeal to scientists and advanced students of microbiology, evolution and ecology alike.