River Networks as Ecological Corridors

Andrea Rinaldo is Professor and Director of the Laboratory of Ecohydrology at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and Professor in the Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering department at the University of Padua. His research focuses on water controls on biota, for which he has received international recognition including membership of the US National Academies of Sciences and Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He is the co-author of Fractal River Basins: Chance and Self-Organization (with Ignacio Rodríguez-Iturbe, Cambridge, 1997). Marino Gatto is Professor of Ecology at Politecnico di Milano. His research focuses on ecological modelling, fish population dynamics and management, and parasite ecology. He was President of the Italian Society of Ecology from 2003 to 2006, and is a member of Istituto Lombardo Accademia di Scienze e Lettere and Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti. Ignacio Rodríguez-Iturbe is Distinguished University Professor at Texas A&M University and J. S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor (Emeritus) at Princeton University, New Jersey. He is a member of the US National Academies of Sciences and Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Vatican Academy of Sciences. He has been awarded the Stockholm Water Prize and the Bowie, Horton and Macelwane Medals from the American Geophysical Union. He is the co-author of Fractal River Basins: Chance and Self-Organization (with Andrea Rinaldo, Cambridge, 1997) and Ecohydrology of Water-Controlled Ecosystems: Soil Moisture and Plant Dynamics (with Amilcare Porporato, Cambridge, 2005).

• Preface; Acknowledgments; 1. Introduction; 2. Species; 3. Populations; 4. Waterborne disease; 5. Afterthoughts and outlook; Appendix A. Stability of dynamical systems and bifurcation analysis; Appendix B. Optimal channel networks and geomorphological statistical mechanics; Appendix C. Computational tools for waterborne disease spread; References; Index.

'A banquet of theoretical rigor, disciplinary integration, and insightful applications. Starting from a clear demonstration of the link between biodiversity patterns and processes to the physical template of our planet, and specifically river networks, the authors unleash a tour de force ranging from neutral theory to the spread of humans and pandemics to species invasions and biodiversity loss. Remarkable!' Pablo Marquet, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile