Community Ecology of Stream Fishes: Concepts, Approaches, and Techniques

Editors’ Preface

doi: https://doi.org/10.47886/9781934874141.fmatter

Periodically, a publication comes along that makes an exceptional impact in a field of research. In 1985, a symposium was held in Knoxville, Tennessee that resulted in the 1987 book Community and Evolutionary Ecology of North American Stream Fishes edited by W. Matthews and D. Heins—a publication that made such an impact. This symposium and book covered a range of topics from theoretical to methodological to field studies addressing many of the more controversial subjects in ecology and evolution. Papers from that symposium and book have been instrumental in advancing areas of stream fish ecology and the broader field of ecology, and many chapters have been well cited in the primary literature. We, like many students that had access to this publication, found this book provided a stimulating introduction to many issues in ecology and evolutionary biology and integrated them under the theme of stream fishes—undoubtedly, it played an important role in our development and that of many others. These papers influenced our way of thinking and our approach to addressing our research during our graduate studies and subsequent work.