A comprehensive introduction to the natural history and intertidal ecology of East Coast shorelines
Atlantic Shorelines is an introduction to the natural history and ecology of shoreline communities on the East Coast of North America. Writing for a broad audience, Mark Bertness examines how distinctive communities of plants and animals are generated on rocky shores and in salt marshes, mangroves, and soft sediment beaches on Atlantic shorelines.
The book provides a comprehensive background for understanding the basic principles of intertidal ecology and the unique conditions faced by intertidal organisms. It describes the history of the Atlantic Coast, tides, and near-shore oceanographic processes that influence shoreline organisms; explains primary production in shoreline systems, intertidal food webs, and the way intertidal organisms survive; sets out the unusual reproductive challenges of living in an intertidal habitat, and the role of recruitment in shaping intertidal communities; and outlines how biological processes like competition, predation, facilitation, and ecosystem engineering generate the spatial structure of intertidal communities.
The last part of the book focuses on the ecology of the three main shoreline habitats-rocky shores, soft sediment beaches, and shorelines vegetated with salt marsh plants and mangroves-and discusses in detail conservation issues associated with each of them. Mark D. Bertness is the Robert P. Brown Professor of Biology and Chair of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Brown University. "Praise for Mark Bertness's Ecology of Atlantic Shorelines: "[T]he major strength of this book is Bertness' ability to present important concepts and ideas in a conversational text, one which should be engaging to students. I think he does an excellent job in pulling together many fields of study (geology, hydrology, and ecology) in a way that shows the interconnectedness of these fields on the Atlantic shorelines.""---Mary Crowe, Ecology "Atlantic Shorelines is fairly technical and aimed at a college audience but is of interest to anyone who wants a greater understanding of our nearby Atlantic shoreline." "A definite seashore man at heart, Bertness has produced a wonderful general introduction and field guide to the ecology of shoreline communities of the North American coast. . . . Hopefully, another thoughtful book such as this one will be on the horizon." "The volume is clearly written and very well referenced.... The book will be an excellent reference for students and anyone interested in shoreline environments and who wants to understand the organization and processes that govern intertidal systems."---Larry G. Harris, Quarterly Review of Biology "Atlantic Shorelines is an easily readable introduction to coastal ecology, aimed at undergraduate students as well as a broader interest public. It avoids, as much as possible, jargon and mathematical formulas, and modeling is absent as well."---Gerhard C. Cadée, Aquatic Ecology "This book is not another field guide to the seashore. Instead, it is a general introduction to the ecology of the Atlantic coast of North America with its predominance of rocky shores in the north and extensive salt marshes in the south. Although written primarily for students, I wish to recommend this excellent book also to investigators of other environments which have strong gradients such as from dry to wet land or the slope of high mountains."---Karsten Reise, Basic and Applied Ecology "The reader will discover many new examples not contained in less recent volumes, even if they are not working on North American Atlantic shorelines. As someone who has a life-long interest in this general area I am pleased to have it on my library shelf."---Dave Raffaelli, Fish and Fisheries
