The book discusses the Nile basin from a holistic point of view, giving due attention to its geological history, hydrology, climate, and the full diversity of subsystems like lakes and swamps. It discusses at length the biota of the basin, and derives general conclusions on the biodiversity of the plants and animals that inhabit it. It also examines the effects of human interventions, mainly dam building, but also pollution and eutrophication. It ends with several contributions on the natural resource value of water, and the constraints this imposes on the policies of the riparian states.

Zusammenfassung
What have we learnt about the Nile since the mid-1970s, the moment when Julian Rzóska decided that the time had come to publish a comprehensive volume about the biology, and the geological and cultural history of that great river? And what changes have meanwhile occurred in the basin? The human popu- tion has more than doubled, especially in Egypt, but also in East Africa. Locally, industrial development has taken place, and the Aswan High Dam was clearly not the last major infrastructure work that was carried out. More dams have been built, and some water diversions, like the Toshka lakes, have created new expanses of water in the middle of the Sahara desert. What are the effects of all this on the ec- ogy and economy of the Basin? That is what the present book sets out to explore, 33 years after the publi- tion of The Nile: Biology of an Ancient River. Thirty-seven authors have taken up the challenge, and have written the new book. They come from 13 different countries, and 15 among them represent the largest Nilotic states (Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Kenya). Julian Rzóska died in 1984, and most of the - authors of his book have now either disappeared or retired from research. Only Jack Talling and Samir Ghabbour were still available to participate again.

Inhalt
A Description of the Nile Basin, and a Synopsis of Its History, Ecology, Biogeography, Hydrology, and Natural Resources.- The Nile: History of Scientific Research.- Origin.- Cenozoic Evolution of the Nile Basin.- Late Quaternary Environments in the Nile Basin.- Major Nilotic Environments.- The Nile Delta.- The Fayum Depression and Its Lakes.- Lake NasserNubia.- The Toshka Lakes.- Lake Tana: Source of the Blue Nile.- Swamps of the Upper White Nile.- The Kyoga Catchment.- Lake Victoria.- Rwenzori Mountains (Mountains of the Moon): Headwaters of the White Nile.- Nilotic Lakes of the Western Rift.- Lake Turkana and Its Link to the Nile.- Climates and Hydrology.- Nile Basin Climates.- The Hydrology of the Nile Basin.- Limnology and Biological Diversity.- Physical and Chemical Water Characteristics.- River Nile Pollutants and Their Effect on Life Forms and Water Quality.- Bacteria and Viruses in the Nile.- Phytoplankton: Composition, Development and Productivity.- Hydrophytes of the Nile inEgypt.- Aquatic Plants of the Sudan.- The Cnidaria of the Nile Basin.- The Oligochaeta of the Nile Basin Revisited.- The Crustacean Zooplankton (Copepoda, Branchiopoda), Atyid Decapoda, and Syncarida of the Nile Basin.- Freshwater Crabs and Shrimps (Crustacea: Decapoda) of the Nile Basin.- The Nile Benthos.- Freshwater Molluscs of the Nile Basin, Past and Present.- Aquatic Insects of the Nile Basin, with Emphasis on the Odonata.- Fish Fauna of the Nile.- Fossil Fish from the Nile River and Its Southern Basins.- Birds of the Nile.- Human Use.- Fisheries in the Nile System.- Nile Basin Asymmetries: A Closed Fresh Water Resource, Soil Water Potential, the Political Economy and Nile Transboundary Hydropolitics.- Human Impact on the Nile Basin: Past, Present, Future.- Erratum.