Coral Reefs Books

A Field Guide to Coral Reefs: Caribbean and Florida (Peterson Field Guides (R))

Eugene H. Kaplan

Amazon Price: $14.28 List Price: $21.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Houghton Mifflin Amazon Marketplace: 50 new & used starting at $3.21

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> State & Local -> Florida
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Ecosystems -> Coral Reefs
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Reference

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

It's a hard guide to write 4 out of 5 stars.
11 of 11 people found this review helpful.

I would feel confident recommending any of Peterson's field guides including "Coral Reefs." Many field guides simply discuss a single group of animals or plants. However Kaplan has succeeded in producing a pocket book explaining the most diverse habitats on earth. He writes from a broad knowledge base covering many topics important to coral reef watchers or biologists. Frequently he injects wit and humor into what might have been a dry text. He manages to hit on most groups of animals and uses many types of illustrations to allow the reader to identify and sort out the great number and types of animals that they will see on any coral reef within the area discussed.

I am new to this book but have used quite a few field guides in my day. Now I can't wait to visit the reefs again, armed with my new education.

Editorial Review:

With more than 500 species described and more than 400 illustrations, this guide provides quick and easy visual identification of fishes, mollusks, sponges, shrimps, lobsters, crabs, and much more of the fauna found on the coral reefs of the Caribbean and Florida.

Oceanic Wilderness

Roger Steene

Amazon Price: $37.77 List Price: $59.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Firefly Books Amazon Marketplace: 35 new & used starting at $29.99

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Photography -> Nature & Wildlife
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Photography -> General
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Photography -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

An astonishing journey through Earth's last paradise.

For centuries, humans have been fascinated by the mysteries of the oceans. While early exploration was fraught with danger and superstition, current technology allows us to see what the oceans hide at their deepest depths.

Oceanic Wilderness is an extraordinary illustrated voyage under the waves, revealing remarkable new and unusual life forms. Exploring destinations of the Caribbean, Japan, Australia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific and Indian Oceans, this large-format book reveals: - The stunning beauty and color of the deep reef - Tropical islands and lagoons - Microscopic organisms inhabiting a drop of saltwater - Marine life in the tide pool - Spectacular environments in cold water and warm - The ocean during the day and through the night.

With more than 500 vivid color photographs and accurate descriptive text, Oceanic Wilderness demystifies Earth's darkest frontier, showing us its surprising secrets and exquisite beauty. This is an ideal book for naturalists, travelers, divers -- and anyone else with a passion for marine conservation and photography.

World Atlas of Coral Reefs

Mark D. Spalding, Edmund P. Green, Corinna Ravilious

Amazon Price: $42.48 List Price: $59.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: University of California Press Amazon Marketplace: 30 new & used starting at $25.00

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Ecology -> General AAS
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Ecosystems -> Coral Reefs
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Biological Sciences -> Biology -> Marine Biology

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Coral reefs are one of the most biologically diverse habitats in the world, host to an extraordinary variety of marine plants and animals. They are also one of the world's most fragile and endangered ecosystems. The growth of mass tourism, combined with the boom in popularity of scuba diving, has brought these spectacular ecosystems to public attention across the planet. Coral reefs provide essential fish habitat, support endangered and threatened species, and harbor protected marine mammals and turtles. They are a significant source of food, provide income and employment through tourism and marine recreation, and offer countless other benefits to humans, including supplying compounds for pharmaceuticals. Yet coral reefs around the world are rapidly being degraded by a number of human activities, such as overfishing, coastal development, and the introduction of sewage, fertilizer, and sediment.

World Atlas of Coral Reefs provides the first detailed and definitive account of the current state of our planet's coral reefs. With its wealth of authoritative and up-to-date information, the finest maps available, and detailed descriptive texts and images by leading experts, this full-color volume will be a critical resource for anyone interested in these vital environments.

World Atlas of Coral Reefs contains eighty four full-page newly researched and drawn color maps, together with more than two hundred color photos illustrating reefs, reef animals, and images taken from space by NASA astronauts during the 2000 and 2001 space shuttle flights. The authors provide a wealth of information on the geography, biodiversity, and human uses of coral reefs, as well as details about the threats to their existence.

Prepared at the UNEPÐWorld Conservation Monitoring Centre in Cambridge, England- -the United Nations office responsible for providing authoritative information on the condition of global biodiversity--the Atlas will be a critical tool for scientists, students, policymakers, and planners at local, national, and international levels alike.

Publication of the World Atlas of Coral Reefs is supported by international institutions including the United Nations Environment Programme; The Marine Aquarium Council, The International Coral Reef Initiative; ICLARM--The World Fish Center; the Professional Association of Diving Instructors, and the Aventis Foundation.

Reef Life

Andrea Ferrari, Antonella Ferrari

Amazon Price: $19.46 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Firefly Books Amazon Marketplace: 35 new & used starting at $5.45

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Ecosystems -> Coral Reefs
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Reference
Subjects -> Science -> Biological Sciences -> Biology -> Marine Biology -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Nowhere on earth is there a more beautiful and more abundant life than that which exists on the coral reefs just below the surface of the ocean. Reef Life is filled with information and images that brings order to the multitude of living things that exist here and allows the reader to appreciate the diversity and the richness of the world under the sea.

This handy guidebook will prove invaluable to the diver, tourist, student and naturalist. Each species of plant and animal is covered in detail: name, species, habitat, food, range, and a thorough description is provided for each entry. More than 400 species are covered and illustrated with 500 color photographs to provide a comprehensive look at this most magnificent world.

This is an ideal book for anyone interested in marine life. It provides up-to-date information, clear color photographs in a handy format for use in the field or at a desk. Readers who need essential facts quickly will be pleased with the orderly presentation of information, the completeness of the entries and the accuracy of the information. The color photographs help in identifying species as well as providing a visual reference for the information presented.

Reef Life is an ideal guide and reference for all levels of interest from school project to professional divers.

The Fragile Edge: Diving and Other Adventures in the South Pacific

Julia Whitty

Amazon Price: $25.00 List Price: $25.00 Usually ships in 6 to 10 days By: Houghton Mifflin Amazon Marketplace: 28 new & used starting at $0.89

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Ecosystems -> Coral Reefs
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Environment -> Ecology
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Reference

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

A master diver and filmmaker on the mystery, fragility—and heart-stopping adventure—of underwater life in the South Pacific

Julia Whitty paints a mesmerizing, scientifically rich portrait of teeming coral reefs in the Tuamotu Archipelago, the Society Islands, and off the tiny nation of Tuvalu. The Fragile Edge takes us literally beneath the surface of the usual travel narrative -- to the underwater equivalent of an African big-game safari, where hammerhead sharks rule a cascading chain of extraordinary underwater from eagle rays to reef sharks, while the sounds of courting humpback whales reverberate throughout the deep.

Equally inspiring for armchair or expert divers, The Fragile Edge illuminates Eastern-influenced diving techniques that transform our understanding of diving from sport to breath-inspired art. Whitty reports on the latest ways in which science extends our understanding of unfathomable waters, opening our eyes to the threats facing coral reefs and to why these fragile oases are vital to human survival.

On the island of Mo'orea in the South Pacific, she witnesses a group of spinner dolphins caught inside the sieve between barrier reef and coral atoll. In this and scores of other intensely memorable scenes, Whitty emerges as one of our finest writers on the mystery, beauty, and fragility of the underwater ocean world.

Book of Coral Propagation, Volume 1, Version 1.0: Reef Gardening for Aquarists

Anthony Calfo

List Price: $38.95 By: Readingtrees.com,US Amazon Marketplace: 3 new & used starting at $35.00

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Animal Care & Pets -> Fish & Aquariums
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Animal Care & Pets -> General
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Animal Care & Pets -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Protect yourself from people trying to sell. 5 out of 5 stars.
17 of 19 people found this review helpful.

I know I am not the only person who sees a nice corals and wants it. Either the person selling it tried to assure me 'oh it'll do fine in your tank' OR they try and sell 100s in equiptment I don't need. Before making a coral purchase I consult this book, will it -really- do well in my tank? Sometimes the answer is no, sometimes yes, BUT since consulting this book I've never had a coral witheraway and die. From reading the articles on the various types of corals, I have better possitioned my tank, and ended up with happy corals growing and spreading in my tank. The money for this book has saved me time and and again from throwing away money on the wrong coral or the wrong equiptment It has also saved me time in doing things right the first time.

This book is very readable and not dry at all. Its actually a good read which is rare in a truly useful book. The style and organization of this book make it a book that is never on my book shelf, it's most often on my nightstand becasue it always seems to have another gem of wisdom to impart.

Editorial Review:

A concise guide to the care and culture of reef invertebrates. This book is for curious minds interested in discovering some of the exciting techniques of coral propagation. It is tailored for hobbyists looking to safely control the growth of coral in aquaria, professional aquarists producing invertebrates for sale and trade, and thoughtful resellers interested in inspiring customers and staff to explore the many rewards of keeping coral reef invertebrates. A comprehensive guide of 450 pages, Volume 1 topics include commercial mariculture in greenhouses (including fabrication, design and operation), concept aquarium dynamics, a large coral family overview with consideration of captive viability and, of course, coral propagation, securing, and growout techniques for private aquarists and commercial interests.

Coral Reef Conservation (Conservation Biology)

Amazon Price: $74.13 List Price: $80.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Cambridge University Press Amazon Marketplace: 13 new & used starting at $48.99

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Ecosystems -> Coral Reefs
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Biological Sciences -> Biology -> General
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Biological Sciences -> Biology -> Marine Biology

Editorial Review:

Coral reefs are the 'rain forests' of the ocean, containing the highest diversity of marine organisms and facing the greatest threats from humans. As shallow-water coastal habitats, they support a wide range of economically and culturally important activities, from fishing to tourism. Their accessibility makes reefs vulnerable to local threats that include over-fishing, pollution and physical damage. Reefs also face global problems, such as climate change, which may be responsible for recent widespread coral mortality and increased frequency of hurricane damage. This book summarises the current state of knowledge about the status of reefs, the problems they face, and potential solutions. The topics considered range from concerns about extinction of coral reef species to economic and social issues affecting the well-being of people who depend on reefs. The result is a multi-disciplinary perspective on problems and solutions to the coral reef crisis.

A Guide to the Coral Reefs of the Caribbean

Mark D. Spalding, Corinna Ravilious

Amazon Price: $18.94 List Price: $25.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: University of California Press Amazon Marketplace: 39 new & used starting at $1.98

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Ecology -> General AAS
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Ecosystems -> Coral Reefs
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Environment -> Ecology

Editorial Review:

This book will open up the underwater world of the Caribbean to everyone interested in exploring this vibrant environment--from those who know its waters well to those who have never visited. Conversational, beautifully illustrated, and loaded with information, A Guide to the Coral Reefs of the Caribbean is both a guide to the natural history of the coral reefs of the region and a diver's travel guide. In addition to providing comprehensive and easy-to-use information about some of the most popular and beautiful tourist, diving, and snorkeling destinations in the world, this book offers advice and practical suggestions to readers who want to protect these stunning, vital resources. Spalding is a highly acclaimed coral reef scientist who has visited and worked on coral reefs in over thirty countries. This guide is endorsed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
The first section provides facts about reef wildlife, the interactions between humans and reefs, and the Caribbean area in general. Spalding discusses the problems facing the reefs, with a focus on what each person can do to protect them. The second section comprises thirty-five country-based chapters that provide key information about the coral reefs, marine parks, points of general interest, remote places, and unusual species. Throughout the text a set of stunning maps show the islands, coral reefs, marine features, dive centers, and many other key sites. Section three provides a photographic field guide and inventory of the marine flora and fauna of the region. The book concludes with useful listings of the best-known conservation groups, providing an opportunity for locals and visitors to get involved at a practical level.

The Enchanted Braid: Coming to Terms with Nature on the Coral Reef

Osha Gray Davidson

Amazon Price: $23.73 List Price: $35.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Wiley Amazon Marketplace: 34 new & used starting at $3.20

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Ecosystems -> Coastal
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Ecosystems -> Coral Reefs
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Ecosystems -> Tidelands

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great book! Educational and engaging. 5 out of 5 stars.
11 of 11 people found this review helpful.

I have read hundreds of articles and books about coral reefs, "The Enchanted Braid" offers one of the best introductions you could ask for into the world of coral reefs. The book features both biological and historical descriptions of coral reefs as well as reporting on what is happening today to coral reefs around the world. It is clear, well written and easy for us "non-scientists" to understand. SCUBA divers, snorkelers and anyone else who loves the ocean should read this book.

Editorial Review:

In this work of scientific journalism, Osha Gray Davidson surveys the condition of the world's great coral-reef systems, which offer habitat to countless diverse species of marine life. Many of those systems are now threatened by development--some, ironically, by the construction of resorts for the ecotourism market. Others have been destroyed by the fishing industry's use of dynamite and cyanide to bring in catches. Some 10 percent of the world's reefs, we learn in Davidson's pages, are already damaged beyond recovery, and another 30 percent are in grave danger of joining them. Combining firsthand travel narrative with abundant documentary research, Davidson makes a good case for the importance of conserving the reefs that remain. --Gregory McNamee

Protein Skimming & Activated Carbon Secrets

Bob Goemans

List Price: $8.99 By: Marc Weiss Companies Amazon Marketplace: 5 new & used starting at $5.95

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Ecosystems -> Coral Reefs
Subjects -> Science -> Nature & Ecology -> Oceans & Seas -> Coral Reefs

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Excellent info/advice for novice and seasoned SW hobbyists 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 10 people found this review helpful.

Bob Goemens is a well-known and respected expert in the saltwater aquarium industry for his knowledge and research. This booklet gives some fantastic advice on how to set up and maintain protein skimmers and activated carbon filtration. Goemens presents the information in a very straightforward, easy-to-understand way, providing descriptions and detail without overburdoning the reader with unnecessary terminology. He starts with a brief history of protein skimming, then discusses the verious types of skimmers and how to select the correct one for your system, then continues with detailed information about how to set a skimmer up and maintain it. I found his discussion on foam production and how to maximize it invaluable in making my filtration system at home much more efficient -- and my water is more crystal-clear than ever before as a result! His section on activated carbon is more concise (as there is less to carbon filtration than there is to skimming) but is equally informative. It includes how carbon works, how to select activated carbon and how to maintain it. This is a great reference booklet!

Editorial Review:

Use of protein skimmers & activated carbon in aquariums. This book discusses the untilization of protein skimming & activated carbon as a means in removing or minimizing accumulating aquarium nutrients.