Ireland is famous--or notorious--for its wet and mild climate. Because on average more water precipitates than evaporates, the island is rich in wetlands: marshes, swamps, fens, bogs, lagoons, and flood-plains. Many of Ireland's place names refer to wet places. These rich ecosystems are disappearing at an alarming rate, including those in Ireland. This groundbreaking book brings together twenty-three specialists in wetland science to discuss in fifteen essays a wide range of topics, including the ecology, fauna, vegetation and distribution of various types of wetlands, wastewater management, the archaeology of wetlands, and protection and conservation.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Life in wetland environments, Marinus L. Otte. Distribution, ecology and uses of wetlands in Ireland: salt marshes, T. G. F. Curtis; uniquely Irish 1 - Spartina in Ireland, Mark McCorry, Tom G. F. Curtis and Marinus L. Otte; coastal lagoons, Brenda Healy; peatlands - fens and bogs, Gerard J. Doyle and Colman O Criodain; callows and floodplains, Stephen Heery; uniquely Irish 2 - corncrakes on the Shannon Callows, Catherine Casey; turloughs, Roger Goodwillie and Julian D. Reynolds; vegetation of turloughs, Roger Goodwillie; fauna of turloughs and other wetlands, Julian D. Reynolds; uniquely Irish 3 - the turlough form of Ranunculus repens, Deirdre Lynn and Stephen Waldren; wetland woods, John R. Cross and D. L. Kelly; canals and canal banks, Brigid Johnston; constructed wetlands for treatment of waste water, Feidhlim Harty and Marinus L. Otte; uniquely Irish 4 - an experimental wetland for treatment of sulphate-rich mine water at Tara Mines, Marinus L. Otte, Aisling D. O'Sullivan, Ciara Finnegan, Eric Brady and Declan Murray. The wetlands - aspects of general interest: birds of Irish wetlands - a review, Richard G. W. Nairn; the archaeology of Irish bogs, Barry Raftery; the value of wetlands, Marinus L. Otte; conservation and management of wetlands in Ireland, Gerard Clabby; conclusion, Marinus L. Otte. Appendix: Pointers to sources of information on wetlands - databases, internet addresses.
