Florida Tech Professor Co-Authors Book on Nearshore Florida Reefs
“Islands in the Sand” Published by Springer Press
MELBOURNE, FLA. — Florida Tech professor Ken Lindeman has co-authored a book offering a comprehensive examination of nearshore hardbottrom reef systems along Florida’s Atlantic coast.
Lindeman, a professor in the Department of Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences, and Dan McCarthy (Jacksonville University), David Snyder (CSA International) and Karen Holloway-Adkins (East Coast Biologists) have written, Islands in the Sand: Ecology and Management of Nearshore Hardbottom Reefs of East Florida, published this fall by Spring Publishers.
The 472-page book, featuring over 1,250 technical literature citations and a glossary, examines the rocky reefs, which support reproduction, settlement and habitat use for many shallow marine organisms along Florida’s east coast. They can also be buried by large beach-fill projects. The book examines key management issues, including mitigation with artificial reefs, potential climate change impacts and future research opportunities.
Islands in the Sand fills gaps in biological and ecological understanding for scientists, managers, divers and fisherfolk while remaining accessible to interested laypersons including beachfront residents and beachcombers.
“Humans use these habitats with more than 1,100 species of invertebrates, fishes, algae, and marine turtles between Miami and Marineland,” Lindeman said. “The windward sides of many island and continental coasts of the greater Caribbean also have these shallow, rocky habitats, so the applications of this information extend beyond Florida.”
Over 90 color pictures bring the habitat and its fauna and flora to vivid life.
“To visit a Florida beach adorned by nearshore reef at low tide is to experience uniquely accessible nature – life-filled tide pools that tempt the curiosity of children and bring out blissful biophilia in us all,” Blair Witherington, director at Inwater Research Group, writes in the Forward. “…On this journey, this book will be our guide.”
Islands in the Sand is available as an e-book or hardcover edition through Springer at www.springer.com/us/book/9783030403560.
