Marine ecology : concepts and applications / Martin Speight and Peter Henderson.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. The physical template --
2. Marine biodiversity --
3. Primary production and chemosynthesis --
4. Primary consumption: marine herbivores and detritivores --
5. Predators, parasites, and pathogens --
6. Competition and succession --
7. Dispersal and settlement --
8. The exploitation and maintenance of marine and estuarine fisheries --
9. Threats to marine ecosystems: the effects of man --
10. Marine conservation.

This book began life as a series of lectures given to second and third year undergraduates at Oxford University. These lectures were designed to give students insights as to how marine ecosystems functioned, how they were being affected by natural and human interventions, and how we might be able to conserve them and manage them sustainably for the good of people, both recreationally and economically. This book presents 10 chapters, beginning with principles of oceanography important to ecology, through discussions of the magnitude of marine biodiversity and the factors influencing it, the functioning of marine ecosystems at within trophic levels such as primary production, competition and dispersal, to different trophic level interactions such as herbivory, predation and parasitism. The final three chapters look at the more applied aspects of marine ecology, discussion fisheries, human impacts, and management and conservation. The book is aimed at undergraduate and graduate students at colleges and universities, and it is hoped that the many examples from all over the world will provide global relevance and interest.