Product Description

In its third edition, this praised book demonstrates how the living systems modeling of aquatic ecosystems for ecological, biological and physiological research, and ecosystem restoration can produce answers to very complex ecological questions. This book further offers an understanding developed in 25 years of living ecosystem modeling and discusses how this knowledge has produced methods of efficiently solving many environmental problems. Public education through this methodology is the additional key to the broader ecosystem understanding necessary to allow human society to pass through the next evolutionary bottleneck of our species. Living systems modeling as a wide spectrum educational tool can provide a primary vehicle for that essential step.

This third editon covers the many technological and biological developments in the eight plus years since the second edition, providing updated technological advice and describing many new example aquarium environments.

* Includes 16 page color insert with 57 color plates and 25% new photographs
* Offers 300 figures and 75 tables
* New chapter on Biogeography
* Over 50% new research in various chapters
* Significant updates in chapters include:
- The understanding of coral reef function especially the relationship between photosynthesis and calcification
- The use of living system models to solve problems of biogeography and the geographic dispersal and interaction of species populations
- The development of new techniques for global scale restoration of water and atmosphere
- The development of new techniques for closed system, sustainable aquaculture

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #903590 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 528 pages

About the Author
Walter Adey received his B.S. in Geophysics from MIT, performed graduate studies at MIT and Harvard in Paleontology and Biology, and obtained his Ph.D. in Marine Botany and Geology from the University of Michigan. Since 1977, he has been the Director of the Marine Systems Laboratory at the Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. Dr. Adey is an associate editor for Restoration Ecology and The Journal of Ecological Engineering. He has authored numerous publications, and has developed several exhibits and operational mesocosm systems.

Karen Loveland is a multi-international award-winning documentary film maker who has produced and directed films for the Smithsonian Institution for over 30 years. In her present position as Deputy Director for Smithsonian Productions, she assists in the management and programming for Smithsonian media activities as well as overseas production and co-production using a wide variety of electronic technologies and formats. She founded the Smithsonians Motion Picture Unit in 1969. She has been the recipient of more than 70 prestigious national and international awards and honors.

Customer Reviews

A landmark must-read for anyone interested in understanding the dynamics of aquatic or marine ecosystems!
Dr. Walter Adey is one of those rare, truly multi-disciplinary scientists. I once heard a list of all his advanced degrees, which ranged from marine biology to botany to geology, but I can't remember them. I came away with the impression that he was in a position to really understand the complexity of a living ecosystem. That breadth and depth of knowledge shines through in Dynamic Aquaria, making this a far more interesting and readable book than the title might indicate. What's more, this book is about the process of recreating living ecosystems, which is the true test of understanding. As such, this book could be considered one of the seminal works of what is now a multifaceted global discipline: restoration ecology. My exposure to Dr. Adey (and to the late reef restoration researcher Wolf Hilbertz) in the mid-90's, when he was Director of the Marine Systems Laboratory at the Smithsonian Institution. This book, and those two men, set me on the restoration path. It led to my writing The Restoration Economy (2002), which was the first book to document the multi-trillion-dollar collection of industries and scientific disciplines that are restoring our natural and built environments. My entire professional life has since been focused on community revitalization and natural resource restoration, culminating in a new book, reWealth (McGraw-Hill, 2008). What I'm saying is that the insights I gained from Dynamic Aquaria helped change my life in a very positive and major way. I don't know what higher praise I could give a book. If you love this blue planet, maybe it can do the same for you.