Editor: Neil Saintilan

CSIRO Publishing

ISBN: 0643093710

AU$99.95

Volumes covering particular ecosystems at a national scale are becoming more common in Australia. Saltmarshes, in the tension zone between the marine and terrestrial environments, are a worthy subject for such a volume, given their precarious position between coastal development and rising seas. Like many such volumes, this one consists of contributions from a wide variety of experts. These contributions vary in their quality but have the major virtues of acting as a compendium of the previous literature and revealing yawning gaps in our knowledge.

The subjects covered are the global context, the distribution of plants, geomorphology and habitat dynamics, molluscs, burrowing crabs, fish, birds, mammals, mosquitoes, protection, management, mapping, assessment and monitoring. The outstanding contribution to the volume is that of Paul Adam on the global context, which contains an excellent review of invasive species and their impacts.

It is a pity that invertebrates other than molluscs, burrowing crabs and mosquitoes were not reviewed. They certainly exist and many are rare. It is also a pity that there was no attempt to identify the rare or threatened species of saltmarshes and analyse their distributions. Nevertheless, any reader, whether a professional saltmarsh ecologist or not, will learn a lot from reading this volume, even which State to live in to minimise the chances of contracting Ross River fever. The apparently inexorable march of mangroves into saltmarsh with sea level rise is much commented upon in the papers, which annoy at times with repetition that could have easily been edited out. In fact, editing was generally poor, with one plant species being spelled in three different ways, only one of which was ever correct, in one chapter. Authorities or hard copy sources are not given for scientific names, which will make it difficult for future readers, given the volatility of taxonomic nomenclature and the high frequency of spelling mistakes.

If you have any interest in saltmarshes this volume is worth having, although 236 pages at almost $100.00 is a daunting prospect. The high prices that are typical of these volumes, and their poor general availability because of the cost, must make potential authors think twice about writing contributions. The ANU Press makes its books downloadable at no cost through the web, as well as printing hard copies at great expense when required by customers. This is a model that facilitates rather than impedes the scientific quest for communication. Profit-seeking by making books and journals expensive to access needs no longer be tolerated by scientists.

Reviewed by Prof. Jamie Kirkpatrick, University of Tasmania