Marine Science & Oceanography

This Handbook provides a remarkably complete and truly consistent technical overview of the methods, products and applications in marine biotechnology. We know that the large portion of the earth surface, more than seventy percent, is covered by water, and more than eighty percent of all organisms living on our planet are found there, in aquatic eco-systems.

We may thus say that the aquatic ecosystems constitute a very rich natural reservoir for the various chemical/biochemical materials and processes. This handbook has been edited by a world recognized expert and was prepared owing to more than sixty invaluable contributions provided by the world leading international scientists - this made the book a major desk reference tool for all people with the interest or working activity in marine biotechnology, bioprocessing or any other relevant fields, including professionals, scientists and students of all levels.

Se-Kwon Kim, the editor of the handbook, has divided the content into ten chapters, each of them is organized very consistently and, as a result, the publication can provide a sound intro to the marine biotechnology, starting from the historical overview and basics, over the technical descriptions of the established methods and technologies, and to the applications of these methods and technologies. Note that it is also perfect when used as a reference book. The key topics of the handbook include marine flora/fauna, genomics and microbiology, tools and methods, biofuels and bioenergy, bioproducts and so many more...

We know that humans have influenced the environment in many ways in the past, but since the industrial revolution and even more during the "great acceleration in the human enterprise" following World War IT, humans have assumed the role of a dominating force in changing the biosphere, geosphere, atmosphere, hydro- and cryosphere and hence affecting crucial functioning of the whole Earth system...

This publication prepared by a team of experts in marine science was released to provide the industry and all interested people with a platform allowing for the presentation of both regional and global perspectives of the experiences on responses to global changes to address the key issues, for example the increasing need for water, supply variability, environmental flows and other related aspects.

The content of the book will help readers to build the required links between policy/science and practice in the field of management and governance of the water resources. The book also addresses the latest technological and institutional innovations and also identifies the keys in which the research activities could assist the practice and policy related to the sustainable freshwater management. The proper management of the fresh water is considered one of the most important challenges to reach the sustainability within the global environment.

Despite of the implications of relevant decisions made on PSSA by the IMO, subject concept has not yet received too much of academic interest. That is why the present book by Dr. Julian Roberts bringing the serious value to this issue very timely. The author is providing the industry with the introduction to the complete legal framework of the protection of the marine environment and regulation of the shipping activities; in addition, he looked into the development of the whole PSSA concept and provides a very detailed examination of the applicable requirements.

The author has also looked in detail at the way subject requirements are applied by the IMO Committees. In his work, he is developing a critique of the actual practical application of the requirements and is suggesting that the guidelines that have been developed, have sometimes been applied not logically with not enough procedural and scientific rigor.

Moreover, in this work  the other regimes of protection of the marine environment have also been examined. He performs the analysis of the regional congestion areas and provides readers with the ammunition for the completely new strategic approaches in the area. The recommendations provided by the author are very practical and thoughtful.

The volume prepared by a team of the world recognized specialists in the field of the oceanography was released as a brilliant result of their intention to provide the industry with the review of the researches conducted in different fields of the oceanography and concerned with the response of the sea in question to the changes in climate.

The East Japan Sea is quite unique because of the very rapid and seriously amplified response to the changes in climate, including the long-term trends of both chemical and physical parameters at a rate almost doubling the global rate. The present publication is aimed to demonstrate the results obtained from the previously released sources in a duly organized way, and also to introduce a significantly updated view of the relevant researches that have been carried out recently.

The content of the volume has been arranged in several chapters comprising the chemical, physical, geo- and biological aspects of the region in questions and the fisheries. The title has been specifically prepared for the students/researchers involved in the works related to the climate variability plus members of the oceanography community. The results presented in the book will also be of great use to the researchers working in the other fields.

This title is deservedly considered to be among the best ones in the famous Environmental Engineering series - the present volume is providing reader with all necessary information related to the hydrology itself, open-channel hydraulics, river ecology and restoration, transport of sediment, river morphology/engineering; GIS and remote sensing applications, plus making the decisions under uncertainty condition - a brand new paradigm for planning/management of water resources, upland erosion modeling, some of the very recent technical advances achieved in the field of water resources systems engineering, potential impact of climate changes on water resources, wetlands for waste water treatment and also re-use of water.

In addition, the Glossary has been provided, explaining the terminology used. The publication will definitely be considered practical and informative by the specialists with the need for ground-breaking and truly innovative technological advances in the subject fields.

The volume has been specifically worked out by a panel of recognized industry experts to serve as the supplemental textbook covering all important aspects of the water resource engineering. Lawrence and Chih Yang - the authors of the title - strongly hope its content of the volume will be useful for all people involved.

The present publication is dedicated toxins in the sea water and fresh water; it is intended to present the structure of the main toxins having the aquatic origin - the reader will find information relating to the distribution of subject toxins, producing various species and vectors, some of the important toxico-kinetic properties, regulatory management aspects etc. The main species of those associated with the injuries have also been addressed in this volume.

Among the marine toxins that have been covered within this publication there are ciguatoxina, equinatoxins, brevetoxins and some others - note that all of them could be lethal. Nowadays, both sea- and fresh water environments are considered new frontiers of humanity; however, the continuing increase in economic and tourist activities is provoking some nasty encounters between people and aquatic animals. The swimmers, surfers, divers and fishermen are becoming main victims. Unfortunately, today it is still not possible to adequately identify, know and treat the envenomations that are commonly caused by the poisonous and venomous animals.

Plus, it shall be underlined as necessary that we are still not fully aware of the huge potential of the pharmacologic effects their toxins may have. That is why it does make sense to go through the chapters of this volume to have better idea of this subject quite important any marine scientist.

It has been already recognized that a serious need exists there for the suitable and secure long-term sustainable forms of energy. One of such forms of energy that could help people to achieve the sustainable energy future, will be the energy obtained from marine environment, for example from tidal currents, wind and waves etc.

The human understanding of possible environmental impacts and of the suitable methods of mitigation that are associated with the extraction of the energy is constantly improving; therefore it is considered essential to properly distinguish between the anthropocentric and natural impacts and drivers. The fossil sources of fuel are obviously finite and the it will definitely require suitable sustainable alternative forms of energy.

In addition to that, there are concerns about the our reliance on the burning of the existing fossils plus the release of the greenhouse gases that are caused by the burning of the fossil fuels, and this all is for sure contributing to the changes in climate of the Earth that is taking place so rapidly.

The total usage of the energy has already grown significantly and the demand for the energy is expected to grow along with the needs of the  growing human population. In short, it is the high time to concentrate on the renewable sources of energy and have a look into possible impacts on the environment...

This excellent volume is providing the informative insights into several important aspects of the marine faunal communities in the Indian region. Subject communities are considered extremely diversed, taking into account both climatic and geo-morphologic variations that can be observed along the coast of India. The publication consists of thirty chapters written based on the valuable contributions provided by the world recognized experts in the relevant fields.

The editors have divided the main content of the book into two major parts, with the first half covering the tropical marine faunal communities, and the second part addressing the problems of the ecology and conservation. The first part is mainly intended to provide readers with the highlight of the distribution and biological diversity of Foraminifera, echinoderms, oysters, fishes and crabs, horseshoe and Polychaets, various sponges commonly associated with the sea grass, various fish parasites and other representatives of marine fauna.

In turn, the second half of the publication includes the current status and relevant environmental parameters of benthos, together with the coral reefs, snowflake coral invasion, conservation and management of the biological diversity in the region, protected areas, methods of recovery of the bleached corals etc. The editors hope that the volume will be of some use for marine scientists and environmental managers, as well as to the policy makers.