Note: Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- 1 Introduction: Climate, people, fisheries and aquatic ecosystems -- Introduction to the book -- Complexities of climate change and its consequences -- Sea-level rise -- Lakes, streams and wetlands -- Coastal systems and small islands -- Oceans -- People and water -- Global trends: the case of global marine fisheries -- Global trends in aquatic biodiversity and extinction -- How many ecosystems? -- Marine systems -- Freshwater environment -- Discussion -- Goals of this book -- Part I Flowing waters -- 2 Prospects for streams and rivers: an ecological perspective -- Introduction -- Threats to streams and rivers: scales of cause and effect -- Global climate change: drought and flood disturbances -- Acid rain and river recovery: important management lessons -- Future destruction of lotic habitats: damming and fragmentation -- Chemical pollutants present global management challenges -- Invasive species: problems, risks and remedies -- Will the loss of biodiversity affect stream and river ecosystem function? -- Future management of streams and rivers: the vital role ofecology -- 3 Groundwater ecosystems: human impacts and future management -- Introduction -- Groundwater ecosystems -- Relationships between groundwater and surface ecosystems -- Human impacts -- Agricultural demand -- Urban, domestic and industrial demand -- Pollution from agriculture -- Pollution from urban and industrial waste -- Land use and forest mismanagement -- Climate change -- Policy and management suggestions -- The need for sustainable groundwater management -- Effect of different human attitudes on groundwater use -- Economic aspects -- Cultural attitudes -- Technological aspects -- Ecological engineering -- Improved water-use efficiency -- Integrated water management -- Reduction of poverty. , Protection of groundwater systems and establishment of conservation areas -- Projections to 2025 -- Lower water tables and land subsidence -- Biodiversity loss -- Restriction of functionality (water uses become reduced in diversity) -- Salinization -- Changes in surface ecosystems -- Conclusions -- 4 Flood plains: critically threatened ecosystems -- Introduction -- Flood plain distribution -- Ecological values of flood plains -- Economic value of flood plains -- Hazards and human benefits of flood plains -- The double-edged face of floods -- The cultural value of flood plains -- Major drivers in floodplain change -- Human population growth -- Climate change -- Flow modification -- Species invasion and pollution -- Forecasting environmental future of flood plains -- Floodplain management requirements -- Inventory and indicators -- Cost-benefit calculations -- Environmental flow requirements and management -- Institutional framework and floodplain restoration -- Conclusions -- Part II Still waters -- 5 The future of small lakes and ponds -- Introduction -- Original status of small lakes -- Undermining the pristine status -- Restoration of lake systems: strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats -- Strengths -- Weaknesses -- Opportunities -- Threats -- 6 Environmental trends and potential future states of large freshwater lakes -- Introduction -- Trends -- Land-use change -- Eutrophication -- Pollution -- Overfishing -- Biological invasions -- Water diversion -- Potential states in 2025 -- Conclusions -- 7 Salt lakes: values, threats and future -- Introduction -- Values of salt lakes -- Scientific value -- Ecological, conservation and cultural values -- Recreational and aesthetic values -- Economic values -- Threats and impacts -- Overview -- Global climate change -- Surface inflow diversions -- Central Asia and northern China -- Australia. , Africa -- Middle East -- South America -- North America -- Groundwater pumping -- Secondary salinization -- Mining -- Pollution -- Overfishing -- Biological disturbances -- Other catchment activities -- Summary of threats -- Freshwater crisis and conservation of salt lakes -- Likely status of salt lakes in 2025 -- Permanent salt lakes -- Seasonally filled salt lakes -- Episodically filled salt lakes -- Conclusions -- Part III Freshwater wetlands -- 8 The future of cool temperate peatlands -- Introduction -- Types of peatland -- Peatlands and the environment -- Sensitivity to the physical environment -- Biomass, primary productivity and carbon sequestering -- Decomposition and the carbon balance -- Gaseous emissions -- Human impacts -- Identification of long-term trends -- Fossil evidence of peatland development during the Late Holocene -- Recent changes in peatlands and their vegetation -- Potential states of bogs in 2025 and beyond -- Effects from destructive exploitation -- Effects from airborne pollutants -- Interactions with the atmosphere in a changed climate -- Conclusions -- 9 Temperate freshwater wetlands: response to gradients in moisture regime, human alterations and economic status -- Introduction -- Patterns across moisture gradients -- Types -- Functions -- Human-induced alterations -- Restoration -- Patterns related to economics and culture -- Capacity for protection and restoration -- Institutional and cultural barriers to management and protection -- Needs and prospects for science and management -- Inventory and mapping -- Assessment of condition -- Restoration in a landscape setting -- Training and education -- Prospects -- 10 Present state and future of tropical wetlands -- Introduction -- Biophysical gradients and wetlands -- Sociocultural gradients -- Human population -- Social structures -- Economic and political gradients. , Present state of wetlands -- Factors affecting wetland degradation -- Future states -- Water-resources management -- Land use and water quality -- Invasion by exotic species -- Global climate change -- Sustainable use and management -- Pressures and feedbacks -- Global and national scale -- Local and household scale -- Using ecological economics -- Part IV Coastal wetlands -- 11 Saltmarsh -- Introduction -- Functions and values -- Saltmarshes and change -- Future prospects -- Sea-level rise -- Increased carbon dioxide and temperature (global warming) -- Changes to other climatic factors -- Invasive species -- Eutrophication -- Consumer pressure -- Fish use of saltmarshes -- Site-specific actions -- Actions required -- Conclusions -- 12 Future of mangrove ecosystems to 2025 -- Introduction -- Mangrove area and distribution -- Current mangrove area and worldwide distribution -- Mangrove area trends -- A palaeohistorical perspective -- Mangrove formations -- Tide-dominated mangroves -- River-dominated mangroves -- Basin mangroves -- Threats to mangroves to the year 2025 -- Human population demography -- Urban development, landfill and coastal fringe squeeze -- Shrimp farming -- Timber extraction for rayon -- Hydrological change -- Pollution -- Oil pollution -- Nutrients and heavy metals -- Climate change -- Economic market failure -- The value of mangroves -- Equity -- Mitigation -- Rehabilitation -- Conservation areas -- Education and participation of local communities -- International guidance -- 13 Environmental future of estuaries -- Introduction -- Estuaries as ecosystems -- Environmental forcing factors -- Habitat impacts -- Habitat loss and alteration -- Watershed changes -- Shoreline development -- Estuarine embayment modification -- Pollution impacts -- Nutrient enrichment and organic-carbon loading -- Chemical contaminants. , Fisheries overexploitation -- Freshwater diversions -- Introduced/invasive species -- Sea-level rise -- Subsidence -- Sediment input/turbidity -- Future anthropogenic threats -- Habitat loss and alteration -- Eutrophication -- Fisheries overexploitation -- Sea-level rise and climate change -- Chemical contaminants -- Freshwater diversions and inputs -- Introduced/invasive species -- Coastal subsidence -- Sediment input/turbidity -- Multiple stressors and the estuarine system -- Conclusions -- Part V Rocky shores -- 14 Rocky intertidal shores: prognosis for the future -- Introduction -- Characteristics of rocky shores and their consequences -- Ecosystem services -- Factors that naturally influence rocky-shore communities -- Human impacts: the present and forecast to 2025 -- Pollution -- Endocrine disrupters -- Oil spills -- Eutrophication and toxic algal blooms -- Mining -- Human harvesting -- Alien species -- Alteration of coastal geomorphological processes -- Sea defences -- Sedimentation -- Generation of power -- Recreation, research and education -- Global change and large-scale phenomena -- Warming -- Ultraviolet radiation -- Sea-level rise, storms and extreme weather events -- El Niño-Southern Oscillations -- Projecting into the future -- What can be done? -- 15 Current status and future trends in kelp forest ecosystems -- Introduction -- Large-scale patterns: global interplay of diversity, productivity and disturbance -- The ecology of kelp forests -- Kelp forest distribution and development -- Kelp deforestation -- Biodiversity, trophic cascades and rates and consequences of kelp deforestation -- Potential states in 2025 -- Extrapolation of known trends -- Ocean-climate change: global warming, regime shifts and ENSO -- Changing coastal biodiversity: new apex predators and competitors -- Declining water quality -- Conclusions. , 16 Projecting the current trajectory for coral reefs.