This new edition of an established textbook provides a comprehensive and stimulating introduction to rivers, lakes and wetlands, and was written as the basis for a complete course on freshwater ecology. Designed for undergraduate and early postgraduate students who wish to gain an overall view of this vast subject area, this accessible guide to freshwater ecosystems and man's activities will also be invaluable to anyone interested in the integrated management of freshwaters. The author maintains the tradition of clarity and conciseness set by previous editions, and the text is extensively illustrated with photographs and diagrams. Examples are drawn from the author's experience in many parts of the world, and the author continues to stress the human influence. The scientific content of the text has been fully revised and updated, making use of the wealth of data available since publication of the last edition.  Professor Brian Moss is a lecturer in Applied Ecology at the University of Liverpool, and has written three previous editions of this well-established textbook. Freshwaters are utterly fascinating. They are the threads that stitch together the landscapes of the Earth with a myriad of two-way exchanges involving chemical substances, and organisms from algae and insects to hippopotami and bears. At the same time they suffer the pollutant consequences of human abuses of the land, and are perhaps the most damaged of the Earth's ecosystems. This book, a completely re-written edition of a text book widely used for the past thirty years, continues a tradition of clear, jargon-free writing, a richness of examples and a passionate celebration of rivers, lakes and wetlands. It pulls no punches in describing the threats to freshwaters, whilst revelling in the richness of their fundamental ecology. It gives equal treatment to polar, cold and warm temperate and tropical systems, so avoiding any bias towards any particular region. It is truly a text book for the world's trainee freshwater ecologists.