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This book provides a resource on the biological and physiological characteristics of the cartilaginous fishes: sharks, rays, and chimaeras. In sixteen chapters, the book covers a broad spectrum of topics, including taxonomy, morphology, ecology, and physiology. For example, it explains the body design of sharks and why the ridged, toothlike denticles that cover their entire bodies are present on only part of the rays' bodies and are absent from those of chimaeras. Another chapter explores the anatomy of the jaws and the role of the muscles and teeth in jaw extension, seizure, and handling of prey.

Our goal organizing this work was to update the landmark 1991 volume, Battle Against Extinction, and provide scientists and the public with a contemporary view of the status of aquatic ecosystems in North American deserts and rationales and approaches for their conservation. While predecessor editors W. L. Minckley and J. E. Deacon painted a grim picture, they noted that knowledge for effective conservation existed, but the missing ingredient was societal willingness to act. Many chapters in this new volume report worsening situations in the intervening decades, while others report modest success and cautious optimism. Several chapters also report practical, on-the-ground examples of conservation strategies for endangered species and habitats. However, the task of Standing Between Life and Extinction remains difficult and the future is ominous. Growth of mega-cities and vast river engineering projects to provide municipal and agricultural water have desiccated streams and simplified or destroyed aquatic habitats. Where water remains, invasive fishes and other species, introduced with reckless abandon, threaten native faunas. The result was numerous extinctions and escalating extinction debts for surviving natives, the latter exacerbated by extended drought, climate change, and unabated human population growth that is unhindered by the yet-absent will to change. Sustainable coexistence of humans and functioning aquatic ecosystems in the desert requires new and innovative strategies that are collaboratively developed and adopted. A conservation ethic going forward must include behavior constraints as the centerpiece, which would dictate humanity’s need to live sustainably with water supplies, natural habitats, and native species.

Targeted towards a general audience, this book explains the science of wetland ecology through the real-world stories of those who wade into the muck. The book is organized by generalized wetland types based on dominant vegetation, focusing on most of the major wetland types in North America with emphasis on the Midwest and Northeast United States. Freshwater marshes, wet meadows, beaver-dominated wetlands, bogs and fens, vernal pools, wet forests, and salt marshes are described. Tales of mighty efforts to protect rare turtles, restore salt marshes, and preserve sedge meadows become portals through which the reader visits major wetland types and discovers their secrets, while also learning critical ecological lessons. The reader learns that the flora, fauna and functions of all wetlands are determined by climate, hydrology, and soils. The major force that structures the ecological and evolutionary processes in wetlands is hydrology, which often creates low oxygen conditions. The book uncovers the mysteries of wetlands, including valuable “ecosystem services” they provide, such as pollutant removal, flood control, climate change mitigation, etc. The final chapter of the book is about the people who have devoted their lives to understanding and protecting wetlands. Over half of the wetlands in the lower forty-eight U.S. states have been drained, filled, or irrevocably altered, and their stories bring a deeper understanding of how humans come to understand and reverse the negative impacts of human development on wetland ecosystems.