Limnology, Third Edition: Lake and River Ecosystems [Hardcover]

Robert G. Wetzel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 20, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0127447601 | ISBN-13: 978-0127447605 | Edition: 3

Limnology is the study of the structural and functional interrelationships of organisms of inland waters as they are affected by their dynamic physical, chemical, and biotic environments. Limnology: Lake and River Ecosystems, 3rd Edition, is a new edition of this established classic text. The coverage remains rigorous and uncompromising and has been thoroughly reviewed and updated with evolving recent research results and theoretical understanding. In addition, the author has expanded coverage of lakes to reservoir and river ecosystems in comparative functional analyses.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This newest edition is marked not only by substantial reworking, updating, and addition but also by the maturation of the author's understanding of freshwater ecosystems, and understanding that has been amassed from years of study and analysis of his own and others' research. ...the author's ability to put the tremendous array of subjects into context is nothing short of remarkable. ...this book is a timely and masterful revision, and it should be on the shelf and in the classroom of every practicing freshwater algal ecologist and limnologist."
--Carole E. Lembi, Dept of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, in JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGICAL ECOLOGY (2001)

About the Author

Robert G. Wetzel, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S.A.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1006 pages
• Publisher: Academic Press; 3 edition (April 20, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0127447601
• ISBN-13: 978-0127447605
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.7 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #219,472 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Lakes & Ponds
  • #37 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Natural Resources > Fisheries & Aquaculture
  • #64 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Biology > Marine Biology

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good as a Limnology Primer, January 29, 2000

By 

Mark Hayes (Monticello, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Limnology (Hardcover)

This is an excellent general reference text. Can not say enough about the excellent content of this text. But it is need of an edition update with information for lake mapping and restoration. Dr. C.L. Nelson of St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, MN has an excellent small text on physical limnology for the mapping aspect. This book does do an excellent job on the biological aspects of limnological work.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How do you rate it? It all depends how you want to use it., April 28, 2009

By 

Alan Holyoak (The Shadow of the Tetons) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Limnology, Third Edition: Lake and River Ecosystems (Hardcover)

Wetzel's "Limnology" is almost certainly a fixture on the bookshelf of every limnologist in the country (perhaps even the world).

1) Review of this product as a reference book:

Wetzel has been a leader in the field of Limnology for decades. This book contains a combination of his vast personal experience with the enormous amount of information that has been generated through the end of the 1990s. The book, perhaps more approprately referred to as a tome, addresses virtually every sub-discipline included in the field of limnology. And, the book is well cited, with well over 100 pp of citations.

The book contains abundant examples, explanations, and descriptions of all things limnological. He has also beefed his treatment of rivers and streams, which was more or less missing in the 1st edition. Still, the strength of this book is clearly the information on ponds and lakes.

This is an outstanding reference book - I'd probably award it 4 or 4.5 stars if a reference is all it were used for (it is a bit out of date now).

2) Review of this product at a textbook:

My first limnology course used Wetzel's first edition...a much smaller book, and much more easily digested than either the second or third editions. That was in my first year of graduate school. Since then Wetzel's book increased in size by format and number of pages in the 2nd editon, and even moreso in the 3rd edition.

The third edition can be downright intimidating when you see it.

The third edition's usefulness as a reference book has increased greatly, but at the cost of reducing its usefullness as a text. I am still weighing my options about a text for my limnology class in the fall (I wasn't pleased with Kalff's offering - the book I used last time), but I wonder whether Wetzel's 3rd edition is just too big, too long, and too focused on being a reference book rather than a textbook.

I noticed that little has been updated in terms of figures...I still recognize many of the figures from the 1st edition that are still in the 3rd. The impression I get from this book is that this is more or less Wetzel's crowning achievement in terms of a complete treatment of the discipline, but that has been achieved mainly by adding to what he already had rather than by editing and updating. And, with a 2001 publication date, this edition is now in serious need of further updating and revision.

I wish someone would take this project on, update it, revise it, and whittle it down to a lean and mean useful text of perhaps 600 pages.

I'm still in a quandry about using it as a textbook.

I'm afraid that I have to give it 3 or 3.5 stars as a textbook because of its massive bulk, the intimidation factor, and it's being somewhat out of date.

All in all, I still like this book better than that of Kalff.

4 stars...

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Difficult to Read, November 4, 2003

By 

Jason Brown (Waterloo, ON CAN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Limnology, Third Edition: Lake and River Ecosystems (Hardcover)

Well there is no doubt that this book contains a large amount of information, it CANNOT be used as an introductory text. It is much to difficult to comprehend, and Wetzel makes absolutely no effort to teach the concepts. Here merely presents a synthesis of limnological research.