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After an introduction outlining the chemical and physical characteristics of the environment, the book goes on to look at the actual habitats in which algae occur. The communities of the individual habitats such as open water, sediments, rocky shores, coral reefs, hot springs, sea ice, soil, etc., are then discussed with special phenomena highlighted, for example rhythmic activity, nitrogen fixation and buoyancy. There are also chapters on seasonal cycles of algal growth, energy flow, geographical dispersion, palaeo-ecology and contribution to sediments. The importance of algae in symbiotic relationships and their considerable significance to animal grazers in aquatic food chains are also discussed. The final chapter deals with the relationships of algae to eutrophication and pollution of water. This is an important aspect, which can only be understood through an appreciation of algal ecology.

Tabla de contenidos provista por Syndetics

• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1 The physical and chemical characteristics of the environment
• 2 Habitats and communities of algae
• 3 Phytobenthos: epilithon, epipsammon tendolithon, endopsammon, artificial surfaces
• 4 Coral reefs - the free-living algal flora
• 5 Phytobenthos: epiphyton, metaphyton, endophyton, epizoon, endozoon
• 6 Phytoplankton
• 7 Dispersal, continuity and phytogeography
• 8 Symbiosis, parastism and grazing
• 9 Annual succession and growth
• 10 Energy flow and nutrient cycling
• 11 ALgal contribution to the sediments
• 12 Palaeoecology
• 13 Eutrophication and pollution
• Conclusion
• Appendix: a synopsis of the classification of the algae mentioned in the book
• References
• Index