• Thoroughly revised and updated new edition of a highly regarded and successful work
• Concise and affordable overview providing complete coverage of the field
• Applies evolutionary theory to an understanding of freshwater ecosystems, thereby filing a niche between traditional limnology and evolutionary ecology
• Contains numerous illustrations of processes, guiding the the reader through complex interactions
• Packed with descriptions and illustrations of organisms, assisting the reader to become familiar with the actors in freshwater communities
• Includes all organism groups from viruses to birds and macrophytes, giving a view of the multitude of adaptions and variations in freshwater communities
• Covers chemistry, physics, and bilogy in relation to freshwater habitats, enabling readers to understand how organisms and environment interact
• Glossary and Further Reading sections support self-study and Problem Based Learning students

New to this edition

• This new edition includes sections on different aspects of the abiotic frame, including lake morphology, lake formation processes, the role of humic substances, redox potential ecological stoichiometry, as well as general nutrient cycles. With respect to biological processes, new sections on mixotrophy, bioturbation, multiple predator effects and alternative stable states have been added. Major additions have been made to the chapter on environmental issues in lakes and ponds, for example the effects of environmental disturbances on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. In addition, we have upgraded references throughout. The new material has been added to mirror the recent developments in the field, and also in response to comments from teachers using the first version in limnology and aquatic ecology classes.

Readership: Students taking undergraduate/graduate courses in aquatic ecology and limnology; professionals working on water-related environmental problems; naturalists.

Christer Brönmark, Department of Ecology, Lund University, and Lars-Anders Hansson, Department of Ecology, Lund University

"...this edition keeps the book as the foremost introductory text to the subject. Bulletin of the British Ecological Society, 37:1"

Foreword by Nelson Hairston Jr.
Preface
1: Introduction
2: The abiotic frame and adaptations to cope with abiotic constraints
3: The organisms: the actors within the abiotic frame
4: Biotics: competition, herbivory, predation, parasitism, and symbiosis
5: Food web interactions in freshwater ecosystems
6: Environment and conservation
References
Further reading
Glossary
Index