The Biology Of Free Living Heterotrophic Flagellates

This volume provides the first cohesive and authoritative account of this important field. The book will be of interest to protozoologists, protistologists, evolutionary biologists, and ecologists dealing with aquatic or soil ecosystems.

This book emphasises the important role that protozoa play in many natural ecosystems. To shed new light on their individual adaptive skills, the respective chapters examine the ecology and functional biology of this diverse group of eukaryotic microbes. Protozoa are well-established model organisms that exemplify many general problems in population ecology and community ecology, as well as evolutionary biology. Their particular characteristics, like large population sizes, life cycles and motile sensory behaviour, have a profound impact on their survival, distribution, and interaction with other species. Thus, readers will also be introduced to protozoan habitats in a broad range of environments. Even though this group of unicellular organisms is highly diverse, the authors focus on shared ecological patterns. Students and scientists working in the areas of eukaryotic microbiology and ecology will appreciate this updated and revised 2nd Edition as a valuable reference guide to the “lifestyles” of protozoa.

The Flagellates presents a multidisciplinary view of the flagellates exploring both their unity, in terms of their structure, mechanisms and processes, and their diversity in terms of biogeography, niche colonisation, and adaptations to their environment. In addition, evolutionary relationships amongst flagellates are explored. This is the only book published on this subject and features the most up to date information available making it an essential read for any one interested in or working in this field.

General Editor: Peter Calow, Department of Zoology, University of Sheffield, England The main aim of this series will be to illustrate and to explain the way organisms 'make a living' in nature. At the heart of this - their func tional biology - is the way organisms acquire and then make use of resources in metabolism, movement, growth, reproduction, and so on. These processes will form the fundamental framework of all the books in the series. Each book will concentrate on a particular taxon (species, family, class or even phylum) and will bring together information on the form, physiology, ecology and evolutionary biology of the group. The aim will be not only to describe how organisms work, but also to consider why they have come to work in that way. By concentrating on taxa which are well known, it is hoped that the series will not only illustrate the success of selection, but also show the constraints imposed upon it by the physiological, morphological and developmental limita tions of the groups. Another important feature of the series will be its organismic orienta tion. Each book will emphasise the importance of functional integra tion in the day-to-day lives and the evolution of organisms. This is crucial since, though it may be true that organisms can be considered as collections of gene-determined traits, they nevertheless interact with their environment as integrated wholes and it is in this context that individual traits have been subjected to natural selection and have evolved.

Protozoa may be found in almost every aquatic habitat, each containing dozens of species. The diversity can provide invaluable insights into the nature of the habitat. Protozoa can thus be used to illustrate biological principles. This colour guide makes the identification of individual protozoa easily accessible to students and professionals and p

This comprehensive book provides a unique overview of advances in the biology and ecology of marine protists. Nowadays marine protistology is a hot spot in science to disclose life phenomena using the latest techniques. Although many protistological textbooks deal with the cytology, genetics, ecology, and pathology of specific organisms, none keeps up with the quick pace of new discoveries on the diversity and dynamics of marine protists in general. The bookMarine Protists: Diversity and Dynamics gives an overview of current research on the phylogeny, cytology, genomics, biology, ecology, fisheries, applied sciences, geology and pathology of marine free-living and symbiotic protists. Poorly known but ecologically important protists such as labyrinthulids and apostome ciliates are also presented in detail. Special attention is paid to complex interactions between marine protists and other organisms including human beings. An understanding of the ecological roles of marine protists is essential for conservation of nature and human welfare. This book will be of great interest not only to scientists and students but also to a larger audience, to give a better understanding of protists’ diverse roles in marine ecosystems.

A comprehensive overview of the state of knowledge on aquatic respiration, this work provides quantitative information on the magnitude and variation of respiration in the major aquatic ecosystems of the world.