Phytoplankton Ecology: Structure, Function and Fluctuation

ISBN: 0412306905

Author: Harris, Graham P.

Condition: New

This is a book about a specific group of organisms, but one which makes a number of general points about the theory and practice of ecology in the broadest sense. Stress is placed on the importance of understanding the relationships between the organism and the natural, fluctuating environment. These relationships are reviewed at successively larger scales, from physiological mechanisms to interannual variability. The book achieves a synthesis of equilibrium and non-equilibrium approaches and shows the real world to be a compromise between the two. By describing processes in lakes and the oceans in such terms a new understanding of the operation of planktonic ecosystems in achieved.