Cover

Living waters

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Part 1 The diversity of wetland animals

1 Invertebrates: the crustaceans

Copepods

Other smaller crustaceans

Crayfishes, shrimps and crabs

2 Invertebrates: the insects

The insect body plan

Wetland insects: the major groups

3 Other invertebrate players

Miniscule worlds

Molluscs

Worms, leeches, sponges and jellyfish

Spiders and mites

4 Fishes

Moving between the sea and fresh waters

The diversity of native freshwater fishes

5 Frogs, reptiles and mammals

The life cycles of frogs

Wetland frogs

Freshwater turtles

Lizards, snakes and crocodiles

Mammals

6 Waterbirds

The migratory urge

Eggs, nests and later problems

The diversity of wetland birds

Inland shorebirds and seabirds

Part 2 Living with change

7 Making the most of change

Small worlds

Crabs and crayfishes

Frogs

Fishes

Birds

8 Moving on

Fishes and the upstream urge

Overland or by air

Insects

Waterbirds – moulting and migration

9 Rebirth of a lake

Drought and the new millennium

Returning waters

The feathered hordes

10 Predator and prey

What it takes to be a predator

Hidden predators – arthropods

Fishes as predators and prey

Waterbirds as predators

Crocodiles

Part 3 Ecology: fitting into your environment

11 High and low places

Water flowing underground

Where the salt goes

12 Streams, brooks and fast rivers

On higher ground

Spiny crayfishes

Fishes and fast streams

Frogs and reptiles

13 Slow rivers in an ancient land

Fishes of the inland rivers

Turtles and invertebrates … but few frogs

Waterbirds: drifters and stayers

14 Floodplains, billabongs and backwaters

Insects and crustaceans

Fishes, frogs and reptiles

Waterbirds

15 Marshes and swamps

Swamp plants: diversity and interactions

Invertebrate lifestyles

Frogs, tadpoles and waterbirds

16 Freshwater lakes, lagoons and other dark waters

Fishes and frogs

Waterbirds and platypus: guides to hidden worlds

17 Estuaries, mangroves and saltmarshes

Shifting lives in estuaries

Fishes of estuaries and streams

Reptiles and fishes in the north

Other coastal wetlands

18 New opportunities: dams and other created wetlands

Attracting waterbirds

Fishes and frogs: finding a balance

Hidden worlds

Glossary

Further reading

Invertebrates

Fishes

Useful websites

Reptiles and amphibians

Mammals

Birds

Plants

Guide to common and scientific names used in this book

Index