This book presents a wide-ranging introduction to the diatoms together with an illustrated description of over 250 genera. Diatoms are important as perhaps the commonest group of autotrophic plants on earth and are abundant in all waters and on soils and moist surfaces. The introduction describes the diatom cell in detail, the structure of the wall (often extremely beautiful in design), the cell contents and aspects of life cycle and cell division. The generic atlas section is the first account of diatom systematics since 1928 (Karsten in Engler and Prantl: Die Nauturlichen Pflanzenfamilien) and each generic description is accompanied by scanning electron micrographs to show the characteristic structure. Most of the latter have been prepared specially for this work from the authors' own collections. The Diatoms will be the standard reference work on the group for years to come and is an essential reference volume.
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.
