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Rating: 
Summary: Practical book will be useful to restoration practitioners
Review: Review of Handbook for Restoring Tidal Wetlands, J. B. Zedler, editor, CRC Press, 2000, 439 pp. Reviewed by Kirk R. Barrett, Ph.D., P. E., P.W.S., Research Director Meadowlands Environmental Research Institute (MERI) Rutgers University CIMIC, Newark, New Jersey http://cimic.rutgers.edu/meri This book helps fill a large gap in the wetland restoration literature. Although there are many articles on the subject there are few handbook-like treatments of wetland restoration and apparently no others specific to tidal wetlands. Given this fact alone, this book is certainly valuable to its intended audience of planners, practitioners, resource managers and students. The book contains chapters by 6 different authors on hydrology and substrate, establishing vegetation, restoring invertebrates and fish communities, assessment and monitoring, and identifying and solving management problems; each chapter ends with its own thorough, up-to-date reference lists. In these chapters, the book lives up to its title of a handbook, providing specific, real-world, how-to (or how-not-to) advice. For example, very practical and helpful is the ordered list of issues to consider when designing hydrology and geomorphology. Also useful is a discussion of what methods of establishing vegetation (e. g., seeding) did and did not work in particular cases, and why. Despite the numerous authors, the book holds together as a coherent, comprehensive treatment, rather than a collection of loosely related chapters. However, there are 25 "boxes" which are stand-alone vignettes on different topics, akin to what one would find at a "poster session" at a conference I was disappointed when I learned that the book was heavily focused on southern California (all of the authors are or were associated with Pacific Estuarine Research Lab based at San Diego State University). All of the case studies are focused on this region, as are the 6 appendices comprising about 60 pages containing species lists and the like and, as such, are likely to be little use for those of us interested other areas. Over 60 plates contain wonderful pencil drawings of salt marsh biota. Unfortunately, the plates are not indexed nor integrated with the text, limiting their usefulness. A major limitation of the book is its lack of information on costs. Also lacking is a discussion of special construction techniques appropriate for marsh restoration. Finally, I wish the book contained a systematic assessment including a statistical summary of the success of a significant number of salt-marsh restorations, but perhaps that is beyond the scope of a handbook. Perhaps these can be included in the next edition, along with a list of addresses for useful Worldwide Web sites. Despite a few shortcomings, the book should be quite valuable to its intended audience by allowing them to learn from the experience of others. Indeed, before you invest ten or hundreds of thousands of dollars to design, build, monitor or manage a tidal wetland, invest $90 and a few hours to buy and read this book. Note: The author of this review retains the right to distribute, to publish, assign rights to publish this review elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Practical book will be useful to restoration practitioners
Review: Review of Handbook for Restoring Tidal Wetlands, J. B. Zedler, editor, CRC Press, 2000, 439 pp. Reviewed by Kirk R. Barrett, Ph.D., P. E., P.W.S., Research Director Meadowlands Environmental Research Institute (MERI) Rutgers University CIMIC, Newark, New Jersey http://cimic.rutgers.edu/meri This book helps fill a large gap in the wetland restoration literature. Although there are many articles on the subject there are few handbook-like treatments of wetland restoration and apparently no others specific to tidal wetlands. Given this fact alone, this book is certainly valuable to its intended audience of planners, practitioners, resource managers and students. The book contains chapters by 6 different authors on hydrology and substrate, establishing vegetation, restoring invertebrates and fish communities, assessment and monitoring, and identifying and solving management problems; each chapter ends with its own thorough, up-to-date reference lists. In these chapters, the book lives up to its title of a handbook, providing specific, real-world, how-to (or how-not-to) advice. For example, very practical and helpful is the ordered list of issues to consider when designing hydrology and geomorphology. Also useful is a discussion of what methods of establishing vegetation (e. g., seeding) did and did not work in particular cases, and why. Despite the numerous authors, the book holds together as a coherent, comprehensive treatment, rather than a collection of loosely related chapters. However, there are 25 "boxes" which are stand-alone vignettes on different topics, akin to what one would find at a "poster session" at a conference I was disappointed when I learned that the book was heavily focused on southern California (all of the authors are or were associated with Pacific Estuarine Research Lab based at San Diego State University). All of the case studies are focused on this region, as are the 6 appendices comprising about 60 pages containing species lists and the like and, as such, are likely to be little use for those of us interested other areas. Over 60 plates contain wonderful pencil drawings of salt marsh biota. Unfortunately, the plates are not indexed nor integrated with the text, limiting their usefulness. A major limitation of the book is its lack of information on costs. Also lacking is a discussion of special construction techniques appropriate for marsh restoration. Finally, I wish the book contained a systematic assessment including a statistical summary of the success of a significant number of salt-marsh restorations, but perhaps that is beyond the scope of a handbook. Perhaps these can be included in the next edition, along with a list of addresses for useful Worldwide Web sites. Despite a few shortcomings, the book should be quite valuable to its intended audience by allowing them to learn from the experience of others. Indeed, before you invest ten or hundreds of thousands of dollars to design, build, monitor or manage a tidal wetland, invest $90 and a few hours to buy and read this book. Note: The author of this review retains the right to distribute, to publish, assign rights to publish this review elsewhere.
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