Author: Rudolph A. Rosen
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 1623492270
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 218
Book Description
This classroom resource provides clear, concise scientific information in an understandable and enjoyable way about water and aquatic life. Spanning the hydrologic cycle from rain to watersheds, aquifers to springs, rivers to estuaries, ample illustrations promote understanding of important concepts and clarify major ideas. Aquatic science is covered comprehensively, with relevant principles of chemistry, physics, geology, geography, ecology, and biology included throughout the text. Emphasizing water sustainability and conservation, the book tells us what we can do personally to conserve for the future and presents job and volunteer opportunities in the hope that some students will pursue careers in aquatic science. Texas Aquatic Science, originally developed as part of a multi-faceted education project for middle and high school students, can also be used at the college level for non-science majors, in the home-school environment, and by anyone who educates kids about nature and water. To learn more about The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, sponsors of this book's series, please click here.
Texas Aquatic Science
Author: Rudolph A. Rosen
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 1623492270
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 218
Book Description
This classroom resource provides clear, concise scientific information in an understandable and enjoyable way about water and aquatic life. Spanning the hydrologic cycle from rain to watersheds, aquifers to springs, rivers to estuaries, ample illustrations promote understanding of important concepts and clarify major ideas. Aquatic science is covered comprehensively, with relevant principles of chemistry, physics, geology, geography, ecology, and biology included throughout the text. Emphasizing water sustainability and conservation, the book tells us what we can do personally to conserve for the future and presents job and volunteer opportunities in the hope that some students will pursue careers in aquatic science. Texas Aquatic Science, originally developed as part of a multi-faceted education project for middle and high school students, can also be used at the college level for non-science majors, in the home-school environment, and by anyone who educates kids about nature and water. To learn more about The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, sponsors of this book's series, please click here.
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 1623492270
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 218
Book Description
This classroom resource provides clear, concise scientific information in an understandable and enjoyable way about water and aquatic life. Spanning the hydrologic cycle from rain to watersheds, aquifers to springs, rivers to estuaries, ample illustrations promote understanding of important concepts and clarify major ideas. Aquatic science is covered comprehensively, with relevant principles of chemistry, physics, geology, geography, ecology, and biology included throughout the text. Emphasizing water sustainability and conservation, the book tells us what we can do personally to conserve for the future and presents job and volunteer opportunities in the hope that some students will pursue careers in aquatic science. Texas Aquatic Science, originally developed as part of a multi-faceted education project for middle and high school students, can also be used at the college level for non-science majors, in the home-school environment, and by anyone who educates kids about nature and water. To learn more about The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, sponsors of this book's series, please click here.
Physics and Chemistry of Lakes
Author: Abraham Lerman
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642851320
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 345
Book Description
A lake, as a body of water, is in continuous interaction with the rocks and soils in its drainage basin, the atmosphere, and surface and groundwaters. Human industrial and agricultural activities introduce new inputs and processes into lake systems. This volume is a selection of ten contributions dealing with diverse aspects of lake systems, including such subjects as the geological controls of lake basins and their histories, mixing and circulation patterns in lakes, gaseous exchange between the water and atmosphere, and human input to lakes through atmospheric precipitation and surficial runoff. This work was written with a dual goal in mind: to serve as a textbook and to provide professionals with in-depth expositions and discussions of the more important aspects of lake systems.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642851320
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 345
Book Description
A lake, as a body of water, is in continuous interaction with the rocks and soils in its drainage basin, the atmosphere, and surface and groundwaters. Human industrial and agricultural activities introduce new inputs and processes into lake systems. This volume is a selection of ten contributions dealing with diverse aspects of lake systems, including such subjects as the geological controls of lake basins and their histories, mixing and circulation patterns in lakes, gaseous exchange between the water and atmosphere, and human input to lakes through atmospheric precipitation and surficial runoff. This work was written with a dual goal in mind: to serve as a textbook and to provide professionals with in-depth expositions and discussions of the more important aspects of lake systems.
Lakes
Author: John Richard Saylor
Publisher: Timber Press
ISBN: 1643261673
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 260
Book Description
“Lakes is my favorite kind of natural history: meticulously researched, timely, comprehensive, and written with imagination and verve.”—Jerry Dennis, author of The Living Great Lakes Lakes might be the most misunderstood bodies of water on earth. And while they may seem commonplace, without lakes our world would never be the same. In this revealing look at these lifegiving treasures, John Richard Saylor shows us just how deep our connection to still waters run. Lakes is an illuminating tour through the most fascinating lakes around the world. Whether it’s Lake Vostok, located more than two miles beneath the surface of Antarctica, whose water was last exposed to the atmosphere perhaps a million years ago; Lake Baikal in southern Siberia, the world’s deepest and oldest lake formed by a rift in the earth’s crust; or Lake Nyos, the so-called Killer Lake that exploded in 1986, resulting in hundreds of deaths, Saylor reveals to us the wonder that exists in lakes found throughout the world. Along the way we learn all the many forms that lakes take—how they come to be and how they feed and support ecosystems—and what happens when lakes vanish.
Publisher: Timber Press
ISBN: 1643261673
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 260
Book Description
“Lakes is my favorite kind of natural history: meticulously researched, timely, comprehensive, and written with imagination and verve.”—Jerry Dennis, author of The Living Great Lakes Lakes might be the most misunderstood bodies of water on earth. And while they may seem commonplace, without lakes our world would never be the same. In this revealing look at these lifegiving treasures, John Richard Saylor shows us just how deep our connection to still waters run. Lakes is an illuminating tour through the most fascinating lakes around the world. Whether it’s Lake Vostok, located more than two miles beneath the surface of Antarctica, whose water was last exposed to the atmosphere perhaps a million years ago; Lake Baikal in southern Siberia, the world’s deepest and oldest lake formed by a rift in the earth’s crust; or Lake Nyos, the so-called Killer Lake that exploded in 1986, resulting in hundreds of deaths, Saylor reveals to us the wonder that exists in lakes found throughout the world. Along the way we learn all the many forms that lakes take—how they come to be and how they feed and support ecosystems—and what happens when lakes vanish.
Limnology
Author: Robert G. Wetzel
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0080574394
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 1023
Book Description
Limnology is the study of the structural and functional interrelationships of organisms of inland waters as they are affected by their dynamic physical, chemical, and biotic environments. Limnology: Lake and River Ecosystems, Third Edition, is a new edition of this established classic text. The coverage remains rigorous and uncompromising and has been thoroughly reviewed and updated with evolving recent research results and theoretical understanding. In addition, the author has expanded coverage of lakes to reservoir and river ecosystems in comparative functional analyses.
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0080574394
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 1023
Book Description
Limnology is the study of the structural and functional interrelationships of organisms of inland waters as they are affected by their dynamic physical, chemical, and biotic environments. Limnology: Lake and River Ecosystems, Third Edition, is a new edition of this established classic text. The coverage remains rigorous and uncompromising and has been thoroughly reviewed and updated with evolving recent research results and theoretical understanding. In addition, the author has expanded coverage of lakes to reservoir and river ecosystems in comparative functional analyses.
Lakes on Mars
Author: Nathalie A. Cabrol
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0080931626
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 411
Book Description
On Earth, lakes provide favorable environments for the development of life and its preservation as fossils. They are extremely sensitive to climate fluctuations and to conditions within their watersheds. As such, lakes are unique markers of the impact of environmental changes. Past and current missions have now demonstrated that water once flowed at the surface of Mars early in its history. Evidence of ancient ponding has been uncovered at scales ranging from a few kilometers to possibly that of the Arctic ocean. Whether life existed on Mars is still unknown; upcoming missions may find critical evidence to address this question in ancient lakebeds as clues about Mars' climate evolution and its habitability potential are still preserved in their sedimentary record. Lakes on Mars is the first review on this subject. It is written by leading planetary scientists who have dedicated their careers to searching and exploring the questions of water, lakes, and oceans on Mars through their involvement in planetary exploration, and the analysis of orbital and ground data beginning with Viking up to the most recent missions. In thirteen chapters, Lakes on Mars critically discusses new data and explores the role that water played in the evolution of the surface of Mars, the past hydrological provinces of the planet, the possibility of heated lake habitats through enhanced geothermal flux associated with volcanic activity and impact cratering. The book also explores alternate hypotheses to explain the geological record. Topographic, morphologic, stratigraphic, and mineralogic evidence are presented that suggest successions of ancient lake environments in Valles Marineris and Hellas. The existence of large lakes and/or small oceans in Elysium and the Northern Plains is supported both by the global distribution of deltaic deposits and by equipotential surfaces that may reflect their past margins. Whether those environments were conducive to life has yet to be demonstrated but from comparison with our planet, their sedimentary deposits may provide the best opportunity to find its record, if any. The final chapters explore the impact of climate variability on declining lake habitats in one of the closest terrestrial analogs to Mars at the Noachian/Hesperian transition, identify the geologic, morphologic and mineralogic signatures of ancient lakes to be searched for on Mars, and present the case for landing the Mars Science Laboratory mission in such an environment. - First review on the subject by worldwide leading authorities in the field - New studies with most recent data, new images, figures, and maps - Most recent results from research in terrestrial analogs
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0080931626
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 411
Book Description
On Earth, lakes provide favorable environments for the development of life and its preservation as fossils. They are extremely sensitive to climate fluctuations and to conditions within their watersheds. As such, lakes are unique markers of the impact of environmental changes. Past and current missions have now demonstrated that water once flowed at the surface of Mars early in its history. Evidence of ancient ponding has been uncovered at scales ranging from a few kilometers to possibly that of the Arctic ocean. Whether life existed on Mars is still unknown; upcoming missions may find critical evidence to address this question in ancient lakebeds as clues about Mars' climate evolution and its habitability potential are still preserved in their sedimentary record. Lakes on Mars is the first review on this subject. It is written by leading planetary scientists who have dedicated their careers to searching and exploring the questions of water, lakes, and oceans on Mars through their involvement in planetary exploration, and the analysis of orbital and ground data beginning with Viking up to the most recent missions. In thirteen chapters, Lakes on Mars critically discusses new data and explores the role that water played in the evolution of the surface of Mars, the past hydrological provinces of the planet, the possibility of heated lake habitats through enhanced geothermal flux associated with volcanic activity and impact cratering. The book also explores alternate hypotheses to explain the geological record. Topographic, morphologic, stratigraphic, and mineralogic evidence are presented that suggest successions of ancient lake environments in Valles Marineris and Hellas. The existence of large lakes and/or small oceans in Elysium and the Northern Plains is supported both by the global distribution of deltaic deposits and by equipotential surfaces that may reflect their past margins. Whether those environments were conducive to life has yet to be demonstrated but from comparison with our planet, their sedimentary deposits may provide the best opportunity to find its record, if any. The final chapters explore the impact of climate variability on declining lake habitats in one of the closest terrestrial analogs to Mars at the Noachian/Hesperian transition, identify the geologic, morphologic and mineralogic signatures of ancient lakes to be searched for on Mars, and present the case for landing the Mars Science Laboratory mission in such an environment. - First review on the subject by worldwide leading authorities in the field - New studies with most recent data, new images, figures, and maps - Most recent results from research in terrestrial analogs
Physics of Lakes
Author: Kolumban Hutter
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642151787
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 475
Book Description
This first volume in the treatise on the Physics of Lakes deals with the formulation of the mathematical and physical background. A large number of lakes on Earth are described, presenting their morphology as well as the causes of their response to the driving environment. Because the physics of lakes cannot be described without the language used in mathematics, these subjects are introduced first by using the simplest approach and with utmost care, assuming only a limited college knowledge of classical Newtonian physics, and continues with increasing complexity and elegance, starting with the fundamental equations of Lake Hydrodynamics in the form of ‘primitive equations’ and leading to a detailed treatment of angular momentum and vorticity. Following the presentation of these fundamentals turbulence modeling is introduced with Reynolds, Favre and other non-ergodic filters. The derivation of averaged field equations is presented with different closure schemes, including the k-ε model for a Boussinesq fluid and early anisotropic closure schemes. This is followed by expositions of surface gravity waves without rotation and an analysis of the role played by the distribution of mass within water bodies on the Earth, leading to a study of internal waves. The vertical structure of wind-induced currents in homogeneous and stratified waters and the Ekman theory and some of its extensions close this first volume of Physics of Lakes. The last chapter collects formulas for the phenomenological coefficients of water.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642151787
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 475
Book Description
This first volume in the treatise on the Physics of Lakes deals with the formulation of the mathematical and physical background. A large number of lakes on Earth are described, presenting their morphology as well as the causes of their response to the driving environment. Because the physics of lakes cannot be described without the language used in mathematics, these subjects are introduced first by using the simplest approach and with utmost care, assuming only a limited college knowledge of classical Newtonian physics, and continues with increasing complexity and elegance, starting with the fundamental equations of Lake Hydrodynamics in the form of ‘primitive equations’ and leading to a detailed treatment of angular momentum and vorticity. Following the presentation of these fundamentals turbulence modeling is introduced with Reynolds, Favre and other non-ergodic filters. The derivation of averaged field equations is presented with different closure schemes, including the k-ε model for a Boussinesq fluid and early anisotropic closure schemes. This is followed by expositions of surface gravity waves without rotation and an analysis of the role played by the distribution of mass within water bodies on the Earth, leading to a study of internal waves. The vertical structure of wind-induced currents in homogeneous and stratified waters and the Ekman theory and some of its extensions close this first volume of Physics of Lakes. The last chapter collects formulas for the phenomenological coefficients of water.
The Death and Life of the Great Lakes
Author: Dan Egan
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393246442
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 306
Book Description
New York Times Bestseller Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner of the J. Anthony Lukas Award "Nimbly splices together history, science, reporting and personal experiences into a taut and cautiously hopeful narrative.… Egan’s book is bursting with life (and yes, death)." —Robert Moor, New York Times Book Review The Great Lakes—Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, and Superior—hold 20 percent of the world’s supply of surface fresh water and provide sustenance, work, and recreation for tens of millions of Americans. But they are under threat as never before, and their problems are spreading across the continent. The Death and Life of the Great Lakes is prize-winning reporter Dan Egan’s compulsively readable portrait of an ecological catastrophe happening right before our eyes, blending the epic story of the lakes with an examination of the perils they face and the ways we can restore and preserve them for generations to come.
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393246442
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 306
Book Description
New York Times Bestseller Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner of the J. Anthony Lukas Award "Nimbly splices together history, science, reporting and personal experiences into a taut and cautiously hopeful narrative.… Egan’s book is bursting with life (and yes, death)." —Robert Moor, New York Times Book Review The Great Lakes—Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, and Superior—hold 20 percent of the world’s supply of surface fresh water and provide sustenance, work, and recreation for tens of millions of Americans. But they are under threat as never before, and their problems are spreading across the continent. The Death and Life of the Great Lakes is prize-winning reporter Dan Egan’s compulsively readable portrait of an ecological catastrophe happening right before our eyes, blending the epic story of the lakes with an examination of the perils they face and the ways we can restore and preserve them for generations to come.
Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 9780309045346
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 580
Book Description
Aldo Leopold, father of the "land ethic," once said, "The time has come for science to busy itself with the earth itself. The first step is to reconstruct a sample of what we had to begin with." The concept he expressedâ€"restorationâ€"is defined in this comprehensive new volume that examines the prospects for repairing the damage society has done to the nation's aquatic resources: lakes, rivers and streams, and wetlands. Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems outlines a national strategy for aquatic restoration, with practical recommendations, and features case studies of aquatic restoration activities around the country. The committee examines: Key concepts and techniques used in restoration. Common factors in successful restoration efforts. Threats to the health of the nation's aquatic ecosystems. Approaches to evaluation before, during, and after a restoration project. The emerging specialties of restoration and landscape ecology.
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 9780309045346
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 580
Book Description
Aldo Leopold, father of the "land ethic," once said, "The time has come for science to busy itself with the earth itself. The first step is to reconstruct a sample of what we had to begin with." The concept he expressedâ€"restorationâ€"is defined in this comprehensive new volume that examines the prospects for repairing the damage society has done to the nation's aquatic resources: lakes, rivers and streams, and wetlands. Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems outlines a national strategy for aquatic restoration, with practical recommendations, and features case studies of aquatic restoration activities around the country. The committee examines: Key concepts and techniques used in restoration. Common factors in successful restoration efforts. Threats to the health of the nation's aquatic ecosystems. Approaches to evaluation before, during, and after a restoration project. The emerging specialties of restoration and landscape ecology.
The Lakes Handbook
Author: Patrick O'Sullivan
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470999268
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 712
Book Description
Continuing concern about water supply and quality, ecosystem sustainability and restoration demands that the modern approach to the management of lakes and reservoirs should be based on a sound understanding of the application of the scientific and ecological principles that underlie freshwater processes. The Lakes Handbook provides an up-to-date overview of the application of ecologically sound approaches, methods and tools using experience gained around the world for an understanding of lakes and their management. Volume one of the Handbook addresses the physical and biological aspects of lakes pertinent to lake management, emphasising those aspects particularly relevant to large, still bodies of water. Volume two then considers lake management, with particular emphasis on sustainability, restoration and rehabilitation. This handbook will be invaluable to ecologists, environmental scientists, physical geographers and hydrologists involved in limnological research, as well as advanced undergraduate and graduate students looking for authoritative reviews of the key areas of limnological study. Brings together basic science and management issues. International coverage and international authors. Reviews management issues at a level suitable for the non-expert.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470999268
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 712
Book Description
Continuing concern about water supply and quality, ecosystem sustainability and restoration demands that the modern approach to the management of lakes and reservoirs should be based on a sound understanding of the application of the scientific and ecological principles that underlie freshwater processes. The Lakes Handbook provides an up-to-date overview of the application of ecologically sound approaches, methods and tools using experience gained around the world for an understanding of lakes and their management. Volume one of the Handbook addresses the physical and biological aspects of lakes pertinent to lake management, emphasising those aspects particularly relevant to large, still bodies of water. Volume two then considers lake management, with particular emphasis on sustainability, restoration and rehabilitation. This handbook will be invaluable to ecologists, environmental scientists, physical geographers and hydrologists involved in limnological research, as well as advanced undergraduate and graduate students looking for authoritative reviews of the key areas of limnological study. Brings together basic science and management issues. International coverage and international authors. Reviews management issues at a level suitable for the non-expert.
Ecology of Shallow Lakes
Author: Marten Scheffer
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402031548
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 378
Book Description
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
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402031548
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 378
Book Description
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