From Book News, Inc.
Reese (entomology, Virginia Tech-Blacksburg) provides information about creatures that are commonly encountered in the shallows of freshwater environments and are large enough to be seen with the naked eye. One section focuses on identification and the other on additional information about the creatures. Although much is accessible to school-age students, the book has enough depth and breadth to appeal also to an adult audience, including environmental educators, anglers, and natural history aficionados.Copyright © 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR


Book Description
Popular interest in the observation and study of freshwater invertebrates is increasing. A Guide to Common Freshwater Invertebrates of North America meets the needs of this growing audience of naturalists, environmentalists, anglers, teachers, students, and others by providing substantive information in easy-to-understand, nontechnical language for many groups of invertebrates commonly found in the streams, lakes, ponds, and other freshwater environments of North America. Section I provides background information on the biology and ecology of freshwater organisms and environments and explains why and how invertebrates can be studied, simply and without complex equipment, in the field and the laboratory. Section II describes nearly 100 of the most common groups of invertebrates, and for each group a whole-body color illustration is provided along with brief text pointing out the most important features that identify members of the group. Section III contains in-depth descriptions of the life history, behavior, and ecology of the various invertebrate groups, and explains their important ecological contributions and relationships to humans. The Guide is broad in scope, geographically and taxonomically, and it is written at a substantive yet easily accessible level that will appeal to both novices and those with more advanced knowledge of the subject. It also contains more than 100 specially commissioned color illustrations by the well-known scientific illustrator Amy Bartlett Wright that will greatly facilitate the easy and rapid identification of specimens.


About the Author
Dr. J. Reese Voshell has taught in the Department of Entomology at Virginia Tech since 1976. He has received numerous research grants to study the effects of pollution and environmental stress on freshwater invertebrates, and has been named to the university's Academy of Teaching Excellence. His 30 years of teaching, outreach, and research have convinced him that people of all ages, educational backgrounds, and personal interests can become fascinated with freshwater invertebrates.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Popular interest in the observation and study of freshwater invertebrates is increasing. A Guide to Common Freshwater Invertebrates of North America meets the needs of the growing audience of teachers, amateur naturalists, environmentalists, anglers, and others interested in aquatic biology by providing substantive information in non-technical language for nearly one hundred of the most common groups of invertebrates found in the inland waters of North America. The first section provides background on the biology and ecology of freshwater environments and explains why and how this group of organisms can be studied, simply and without complex equipment, in the field and the laboratory. Section two describes nearly one hundred of the most common groups of invertebrates, usually at the taxonomic level of order or family. For each group, a whole-body color illustration is provided along with brief text pointing out the most important features to use in identifying members of the group. Section three contains expanded descriptions of the life histories, behavior, and ecology of the various invertebrate groups, and identifies their important ecological contributions and relationships to humans. This guide has several strengths: it is broad in scope, geographically and taxonomically; it is written at a substantive yet easily accessible level that will appeal to both general readers and those with more advanced interest in the subject; and it contains numerous high-quality illustrations, including more than one hundred specially commissioned color plates by the well known scientific illustrator Amy Bartlett Wright, which will greatly facilitate the rapid identification of specimens.

FROM THE CRITICS

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