This comprehensive volume brings together wide ranging expertise to describe and explain the factors which are important in understanding this intriguing range of habitats. The historical context, the functioning of the drainage system and the nature conservation resource lay the foundation for the book. A set of contributions considers the ecology and methodology for describing and assessing this poorly studied habitat, setting the scene for a number of chapters dealing with the different elements of flora and fauna, aquatic macrophytes, invertebrates and birds of the channel and associated grassland habitat.