Editors: Sean Connell and Bronwyn Gillanders

Oxford University Press

ISBN: 9780195553024

This excellent book should be on the shelf of every marine scientist. In creating this book, the editors have bought together a veritable ‘Who?s Who’ of marine ecology in Australia. The content of the book tends to emphasise temperate systems. This is fine, there are plenty of books on coral reefs; so there is no need to compete with another one. The chapter approach is slightly novel, rather than starting with habitats/systems, the editors have sensibly started with patterns and processes rather than slightly artificial divisions by substrata. For example, in teaching about the strength of predation effects we would want to know about common effects across systems rather than habitat specific interactions. The final chapter on climate change in marine ecosystems, however, does feel as if it is a bolt-on. It sits uneasily with the rest and appears to be slightly ‘lighter’ than other chapters. It should be noted though, that much of what we now understand about the important processes discussed in this Chapter comes from very recent work, post-dating the writing of this Chapter.

When I first picked up this book I was confused by the Australian/New Zealand bias. The title did not specify this. The preface is clear and correct on its justification of why an Australian/New Zealand bias is needed. So although the book should have a sub-title e.g. ‘an Austral perspective’ or some such thing, I quite understand why the editors/publishers chose not to. The confusion is a small price to pay.

The nearest competitor is another Oxford imprint also called Marine Ecology (Kaiser et al., 2005) (also $30 cheaper). It is worth noting that the alternative book is pitched at a more junior stage and with less of a research emphasis. For this latter reason, I would argue that the two books do not compete but are complementary, especially for teaching.

The book in marketed as a textbook for marine ecology courses, indeed it has been successfully used as such for third year Marine Biology at the University of Sydney in addition to being a ‘strongly recommended resource’ for our second year introduction to Marine Biology and our third year Marine Ecology Field-Course. Students have found it very useful as a review on appropriate topics and also as a springboard to other publications/sources. In that sense, the concept boxes are extremely useful tools. I have used them as way of getting students to engage with the text.

The chapter structure was clearly the remit of the authors. Whilst this is refreshingly different from many of the ecology text books we get from the major educational publishers, it also lacks some pedagogical finesse. Some of the chapters read more as research monographs, where as others, for example Chapter 9 on coastal oceanography and ecology, read as if they were written specifically for teaching. This is exemplified by the questions and problems section at the Chapter 9; such activities form useful starting points for tutorial discussions.

The text is, in places, very dense, with few diagrams or conceptual models to aid understanding. It should be noted however, that this again varies chapter by chapter. Where the book does fall down is in its lack of colour. This was probably a cost-based decision, which is all well and good, but there are examples of photographs of habitats and situations where colour would have helped greatly. If a second edition is planned, then making the images colour would be a substantial improvement.

To my mind, the pitch of the book is a little awkward, spanning 2nd year undergraduate to honours. In saying that, where it really excels is for new researchers, (i.e. year 1 PhD/Masters) or academic staff relocating to Australia from overseas. In the case of where I work, most of our graduate students are from outside Australia and so I regard this book as essential.

There are separate reviews for systems (rocky reef, mudflats, coral reefs etc) and then chapters on processes (interactions, recruitment, life history strategies etc.). All of these really encapsulate current relevant research done by academics with an international reputation in their fields/disciplines. I have used it frequently when drafting manuscripts and grant proposals, the latter often requiring more local examples of relevant literature. This has helped me break out of my NE Atlantic biases, and for that, I am very grateful.

An excellent book. The idiosyncratic nature of the chapters reflects the varied way Australian marine ecologists approach their discipline. The book is a little let down by a lack of colour and in some places, a lack of figures; but in reality these are minor quibbles. Final recommendation: every graduate student in Australian marine science should have, or have access to, a copy of this book.

Reviewer: Ross Coleman, Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities, The University of Sydney