Bivalve mollusks are roughly hand-sized animals that can aggregate into large groups of millions of individuals as reefs--pumping and filtering enough water in short periods of time to control the processes on the reef and adjacent tidal waters--and serve as valuable indicators and monitors of ecosystem health. Ecology of Marine Bivalves: An Ecosystems Approach, Second Edition examines the ecology of bivalves from an ecosystem or holistic view, taking into consideration their history, thermodynamics, components, and interactions with other species--namely humans.

With the advent of the United Nations Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) in the year 2000, its emphasis for utilizing the ecosystem approach as a standard guideline, and the growing interest in global climate change, this edition has been expanded to include:

• A new chapter on shell rings, which emphasizes the importance of interaction between disciplines so that we might learn from the past in order to plan for the future
• Scientific work done on several continents, including case studies from the Chesapeake Bay, the Wadden Sea, and other case studies from Europe and New Zealand
• Additional material on non-equilibrium thermodynamics, complexity theory, and other cross-disciplinary interactions

This book discusses the roles of marine bivalves as a keystone species and as ecosystem engineers, and explains how bivalves are used as monitors and indicators of ecosystem stress and as a fisheries resource. Utilizing case studies and targeted published research to develop narratives suitable for a complex systems approach, the second edition of Ecology of Marine Bivalves is invaluable to scientists and marine workers interested in an up-to-date treatment of mollusks in our seas.