Copyright # 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
AQUATIC CONSERVATION: MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS
Aquatic Conserv: Mar. Freshw. Ecosyst. 16: 547–548 (2006)
BOOK REVIEW
THE LAKES HANDBOOK, VOLUME II: LAKERESTORATION AND REHABILITATION, editedby Patrick E. O’Sullivan and Colin S. Reynolds.Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, 2004. 560 pp. £125.00.ISBN 063204795X.
The publication of Volume II of The Lakes Handbookcompletes this ‘turn of the century’ synthesis and reviewof both theoretical and applied limnology. WhereasVolume I is largely theoretical and focuses on thebiological, chemical and physical properties of standingwater ecosystems, Volume II addresses management andrestoration and is supported by in-depth case studies.The Lakes Handbook is a natural successor to The RiversHandbook, published by Blackwell in 1992, and followsa similar two-volume format with chapters contributedby key researchers in each field.The book is divided into five parts which together
address the various facets of modern lake managementsuch as philosophy, practical approaches (supportedextensively by case studies), and legal frameworksdriving lake protection and rehabilitation. Part oneincludes a thought-provoking contribution fromPatrick O’Sullivan on the value of lakes in which‘naturalness’, as informed by palaeolimnology, ispresented as a motivation for, and measure of, lakemanagement and protection. This reference-basedapproach to lake management is now enshrinedwithin the EC Water Framework Directive and somelink to these legislative processes would have beeninteresting.Much of the volume comprises detailed exami-
nations of lake management issues and approaches,either by region or by lake type. The regional chaptersdeal with lakes in North America, Europe, Asia and aridregions, whilst the type-specific section covers shallowtemperate lakes, shallow tropical lakes and reservoirs.These chapters focus on the limnology, history andmanagement of a range of well-known lakes. LakesWashington and Baikal and the Aral Sea are addressedin depth and there are two chapters dealing withEuropean alpine lakes and northern European lakes.The well-documented history of degradation of theAral Sea is covered twice, by W.D. Williams’ chapteron arid lakes and also as a great lake of Asia byL.G. Butorina.Part three includes a short but comprehensive
overview by Geoff Phillips of eutrophication ofshallow eutrophic lakes in temperate regions and a
companion chapter on eutrophication in shallowtropical lakes by Patrick Osborne. Some overlapin material is inevitable in such closely related chaptersand in edited volumes and there are other instances inthe book where similar topics are repeated. However,the nature of The Lakes Handbook is such that manyreaders will consult individual chapters in isolationand all of the chapters are comprehensive enough tostand alone.Two chapters worthy of note were completed by the
editors and second authors following the deaths of W.T.Edmondson and M. Straskraba who provided chapterson Lake Washington and the limnology of reservoirs,respectively. The latter will be a useful summary forthose trying to understand how to apply traditionallimnological understanding to artificial and highlymanaged systems.Part four is likely to be of most interest to those
engaged in lake management or applied research. Thisincludes a critical review of the export-coefficient modelfor predicting nutrient loadings, a model widely appliedin the UK in recent years. Walter Rast and JeffreyThornton contribute an excellent overview of the hugelyinfluential OECD Eutrophication Programme led byVollenweider in the early 1980s. The OECD modelhas been used in many situations and continues to bean invaluable lake management tool when used withcaution.Sven-Erik J�rgensen’s chapter ambitiously deals
with the full breadth of mechanisms and processes inlakes that have been subject to modelling, coveringeutrophication, oxygen, ecotoxicology, acidification,stratification, fish predation and biomanipulation. Alsoincluded in this part are chapters on practicalrestoration of enriched lakes and acidified lakesand a detailed examination of biomanipulation as amanagement tool.The chapters in the final part of the book deal
with a variety of legal frameworks in differentcountries. This part of the book is likely to becomeoutdated rapidly and can only give an introductionto the complex interplay of legal and economicframeworks that control the status and future of theworld’s lakes.The two volumes of The Lakes Handbook successfully
provide an up-to-date and comprehensive overview ofall aspects of pure and applied limnology and will be avaluable source of information, both for undergraduateand postgraduate students and those involved in lakemanagement. Volume II provides an entry point into
key areas of limnology for those who have limitedtime to search the extensive literature. Althoughrelatively expensive, the two volumes provide anexcellent synthesis and will be well placed in thelibrary of any institution involved in pure limnology orlake management.
Stewart Clarke
English Nature, Peterborough, UK
Published online in Wiley InterScience(www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/aqc.757
Copyright # 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Aquatic Conserv: Mar. Freshw. Ecosyst. 16: 547–548 (2006)
BOOK REVIEW548
