Meiofauna Biodiversity and Ecology

Meiofauna Biodiversity and Ecology

Author: Federica Semprucci

Publisher: MDPI

Published: 2020-11-04

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13: 3039431323

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Sedimentary habitats cover the vast majority of the ocean floor and constitute the largest ecosystem on Earth. These systems supply fundamental services to human beings, such as food production and nutrient recycling. It is well known that meiofauna are an abundant and ubiquitous component of sediments, even though their biodiversity and importance in marine ecosystem functioning remain to be fully investigated. In this book, the meiofaunal biodiversity trends in marine habitats worldwide are documented, along with the collection of empirical evidence on their role in ecosystem services, such as the production, consumption, and decomposition of organic matter, and energy transfer to higher and lower trophic levels. Meiofaunal activities, like feeding and bioturbation, induce changes in several physico-chemical and biological properties of sediments, and might increase the resilience of the benthic ecosystem processes that are essential for the supply of ecosystem goods and services required by humans. As a key component of marine habitats, the taxonomical and functional aspects of the meiofaunal community are also used for the ecological assessment of the sediments’ quality status, providing important information on the anthropogenic impact of benthos.


Freshwater Meiofauna

Freshwater Meiofauna

Author: Simon D. Rundle

Publisher:

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 396

ISBN-13:

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Meiofauna are a diverse and numerous component of the fauna in freshwater ecosystems, but have been mostly ignored by freshwater scientists. Freshwater Meiofauna aims to raise the awareness of this enigmatic, microscopic component of the freshwater biota, by providing the first-ever, comprehensive review of their biology and ecology. The first section of the book gives indepth accounts of the systematics, morphological characteristics, life histories and ecological requirements of the main freshwater meiofaunal taxa (i.e. microturbellarians, rotifers, gastrotriches, nematodes, water mites, microcrustaceans and tardigrades). The second section then takes an integrated approach to review the current state-of-play in meiofaunal ecological research in freshwaters, addressing important issues, such as the importance of meiofaunal taxa in the trophic dynamics of freshwater ecosystems and the process underpinning the distribution patterns observed in meiofaunal assemblages. This book should appeal to a wide range of freshwater scientists, including novices in the study of freshwater meiobenthology and established researchers in freshwater ecology, for whom the meiofauna represent an unopened "black box". Our ultimate goal is that this book will serve to promote the idea that the zoology of freshwater habitats concerns more than just fish, macroinvertebrates and microbes.


Perspectives in Meiobenthology

Perspectives in Meiobenthology

Author: Olav Giere

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-03-27

Total Pages: 80

ISBN-13: 3030139662

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Although of high abundance, diversity and ecological importance, meiofauna is little covered by relevant scientific media. How can this negligence be overcome? The present treatise highlights promising meiofauna research fields, selected both from basic and applied science, as well as new methods that could strengthen the potential of meiobenthology. Selected recent meiofauna studies, often supported by rapidly advancing gene-based methods, underline the relevance and potential of meiobenthology revealing characteristics and harassments of ecosystems, not the least in extreme habitats. Also in the more classical domains such as taxonomy and phylogeny, progress in meiobenthos research defines a new and deeper scientific understanding.


Meiobenthology

Meiobenthology

Author: Olav Giere

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-03-14

Total Pages: 339

ISBN-13: 366202912X

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This is a comprehensive treatise on meiobenthology, the science of small animals which live, often disregarded even by zoologists, in huge numbers in all aquatic sediments. Covering all the scientific literature on the subject, particular emphasis is placed on ecological and systematic aspects. After a survey of the biotope conditions and important methods, the animals are introduced in a systematic account. This is followed by a report on the meiobenthos in relevant biotopes. The book concludes with an analysis of the productive role and the position of meiofauna in the food web and perspectives for future research.


INTRO STUDY MEIOFAUNA

INTRO STUDY MEIOFAUNA

Author: HIGGINS ROBERT P

Publisher: Smithsonian Books (DC)

Published: 1988-09-17

Total Pages: 496

ISBN-13:

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Collecting 78 of the most significant papers presented at the Third International Conference on the Biology of Sponges, the volume's scope is includes studies on sponge paleobiology, biochemistry, chemotaxonomy, immunology, evolutionary biology, population ecology, and species interaction.


Environmental DNA

Environmental DNA

Author: Pierre Taberlet

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018-02-02

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 0191079995

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Environmental DNA (eDNA) refers to DNA that can be extracted from environmental samples (such as soil, water, feces, or air) without the prior isolation of any target organism. The analysis of environmental DNA has the potential of providing high-throughput information on taxa and functional genes in a given environment, and is easily amenable to the study of both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. It can provide an understanding of past or present biological communities as well as their trophic relationships, and can thus offer useful insights into ecosystem functioning. There is now a rapidly-growing interest amongst biologists in applying analysis of environmental DNA to their own research. However, good practices and protocols dealing with environmental DNA are currently widely dispersed across numerous papers, with many of them presenting only preliminary results and using a diversity of methods. In this context, the principal objective of this practical handbook is to provide biologists (both students and researchers) with the scientific background necessary to assist with the understanding and implementation of best practices and analyses based on environmental DNA.


Review of the Literature on the Links Between Biodiversity and Climate Change

Review of the Literature on the Links Between Biodiversity and Climate Change

Author:

Publisher: UNEP/Earthprint

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 130

ISBN-13: 9789292251352

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The designations employed and the presentation of ISBN: 92-9225-136-8 material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of Copyright © 2009, Secretariat of the Convention on the Convention on Biological Diversity concerning the Biological Diversity legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerni [...] Ahmed Djoghlaf Where species and ecosystems are well protected and Executive Secretary healthy, natural adaptation may take place, as long as the Convention on Biological Diversity 5 Review of literature PREFACE These three literature reviews on the 'Links between evidence of the importance of natural ecosystems in the Biodiversity and Climate change: Impacts,Adaptation carbon cycle and in mitigat [...] Finally the third section aims to highlight the developments in our understanding of the role The IPCC 4th Assessment Report (AR4; IPCC 2007) of biodiversity in climate change mitigation, and the impacts concluded that climate change will have significant impacts of mitigation policies on biodiversity. [...] Models of future be large and more complex in the tropics, where the effects climate change suggest that these distributional changes of rising temperatures and reduced precipitation are may lead to severe range contractions and the extinction of exacerbated by the effects of land-use change. [...] Each of these sources Because of the importance of these impacts and of climate and modelling approaches has advantages and change itself, there has been a great deal of recent disadvantages (Thuiller et al 2008).


Life in Extreme Environments

Life in Extreme Environments

Author: Guido di Prisco

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2020-10-15

Total Pages: 383

ISBN-13: 1108498566

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A diverse account of how life exists in extreme environments and these systems' susceptibility and resilience to climate change.