Biological Conseroation 43 (1988) 321-324

Book Reviews

Ecotoxieology. By Francoise Ramade. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester. 1987. 262 pp. ISBN 0471 104450. Price: £24.95.

In just over 200 pages, the author takes the reader on a brisk, rudimentary review of the topical themes in pollution. The main focus of the book is the third chapter, which extends over 100 pages and methodically describes a number of the well-known pollution problems with a strong emphasis on pesticides and mercury; also included are topics such as smoking. One feature of this chapter is the classification on which it is based: pollutants are divided according to the major environments which are mainly affected by pollutants; continental and marine ecosystems; continental ecosystems; hydrosphere. Perceptive thoughthis may be, there are many overlaps in a classification of this nature and some closely related pollutants become separated by virtue of the environment they appear to mainly affect.

Understandably in an introductory text, each aspect cannot be discussed at the same level. Thus, on the one hand, it is refreshing and timely to find a chapter solely devoted to 'Nuclear Pollution'. However, the treatment given to the effect of the major air pollutants on vegetation, for example, is well below par and in fact fails to make an adequate assessment of the present situation. Consequently, it was difficult to view the pollutant problems of the day in any sort of perspective. Pollutant pathways and accumulation by living organisms is a major theme of the book; however, the terms 'bioconcentration', 'bioaccumulation' and 'biomagnification' are not clearly defined and, moreover, there will be dissenters to the author's rather simplistic views on accumulation of pollutants along food chains.

Overall the book is factual with little conceptual basis: pollution and ecotoxicology are regarded as synonymous and no distinction is made

321 Biol. Conserv. 43 (1988)--O Elsevier Applied Science Publishers Ltd, England, 1988. Printed in Great Britain

322 Book reviews

between pollution and contamination. Viewed in this light the book provides a basic introductory text to pollution studies. However, there is a school of thought which contends that ecotoxicology is concerned with the effects of pollution at the ecosystem level of organisation; this aspect does not receive priority treatment by the author.

Steve Smith

River Plants of Western Europe. By S. M. Haslam, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 1987. Pp. xiv + 512. ISBN 0521 26427 8. Price: £75.00.

Both conservationists and ecologists can benefit from seeing their subject in an international focus and in this book Dr Haslam discusses many aspects of the ecology and distribution of river plants in Western Europe (actually in the countries of the 'lesser EEC', i.e. excluding Greece, Spain and Portugal, plus a small part of Norway). The thirty chapters start with an outline of the nature of rivers and approaches to their classification, including the author's own preferred classification based on the three parameters (sic) of rock-type, landscape-type and stream size. Chapters 4 and 5 discuss river hydrology (climate and river discharge characteristics) and are followed by some analysis of species distribution in relation to physical factors, nutrient status, rock-type, etc. Two chapters further consider examples of recent and not-so- recent changes in river vegetation. The middle section of the book (Chapters 12-25) gives a descriptive account of the river vegetation of individual countries and includes a novel way of mapping their landscapes together with some pleasant sketches of rivers. The last part concerns applied river ecology, ranging from the effects of watercourse management (e.g. boating, weed control, dredging) to those of various forms of pollution. There is much to interest conservationists here, especially as the book has a full (if sometimes rather uncritical) citation of other published work, perhaps with some bias to British studies but also including much material from other countries.

The backbone of this book is original data from the author's own EEC- funded research which has taken her to some 270 000 sample sites. However, a large-scale survey is one thing: knowing what to do with the accumulated data is another; and in this book, apart from some elementary X 2 tests, Dr Haslam has eschewed any rigorous analysis. In consequence we are presented with a large amount of rather 'dilute' or semi-processed information which, frankly, often demands much effort on the part of the reader to interpret--and even more to appreciate its significance. We are not helped by some of the legends, which can be uninformative or obscure (try, for example Figs 25.1-25.15). Some tables are puzzling: why, for example, in