The reported annual yield from inland capture fisheries in 2008 was over 10 million tonnes, although real catches are probably considerably higher than this. Inland fisheries are extremely complex, and in many cases poorly understood. The numerous water bodies and small rivers are inhabited by a wide range of species and several types of fisher community with diversified livelihood strategies f...

276 (eds M.C.S. Wopereis et al.) regimes ranging from 1100 mm to 1400 mm per year, while convex inland valleys (Fig. 22.3c) are formed under the high-rainfall regimes of 1400 mm and above, typical of the equatorial forest zone. With an estimated land area of 190 Mha,1 inland valleys are common landscapes serving a multitude of ecosystem functions in many parts of Africa. In general, wetland env...

The many sheltered embayments, riverine estuaries and drowned river valleys of temperate eastern Australia support a large area and a wide diversity of coastal wetlands. This region also supports over one-half of the country’s population and includes its major tourist and industrial centres. The story of Cinderella provides an excellent simile for the status of coastal wetlands in this region o...

Undisturbed natural wetlands are important carbon sinks due to their low soil respiration. When compared with inland alpine wetlands, estuarine wetlands in densely populated areas are subjected to great pressure associated with environmental pollution. However, the effects of water pollution and eutrophication on soil respiration of estuarine and their mechanism have still not been thoroughly i...

An analysis of wetland inventory undertaken in Africa was conducted during 1998/99. This was part of a global project to examine the extent of wetland inventory and provide best estimates of the extent of wetlands. The best estimate for Africa was a total area of wetlands estimated as ca. 123 000 000 ha, covering about 4% of the land surface. More than 85% of the area (ca. 107 500 000 ha) of th...

The dynamic nature and inaccessibility of wetland ecosystems restricts in situ data collection and promote the use of various remote sensing platforms. This is because of their ability to record large areas in comparatively short time periods and map physically unreachable areas. Sensors in the optical and microwave range of the electromagnetic spectrum play a critical role in wetlands detectio...

The red list has become a ubiquitous tool in the conservation of species. We analyzed contemporary trends in the threat levels of European orchids, in total 166 species characterized in 27 national red lists, in relation to their reproductive biology and growth form, distribution area, and land cover where they occur. We found that species in central Europe are more threatened than those in the...

Invasive species are a major threat to global biodiversity and an important cause of biotic homogenization of ecosystems. Exotic plants have been identified as a particular concern because of the widely held belief that they competitively exclude native plant species. We examined the correlation between native and invasive species richness in 58 Ontario inland wetlands. The relationship between...