Diatoms
Biology and Morphology of the Genera

This book presents a wide-ranging introduction to the diatoms together with an illustrated description of over 250 genera.

F. E. Round (Author), R. M. Crawford (Author), D. G. Mann (Author)

9780521714693, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 4 December 2007

760 pages
24.6 x 18.9 x 3.8 cm, 1.33 kg

'This is a beautifully produced, concisely edited and excellently illustrated manual.' Marine Micropaleontology

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.

Preface
Part I. Biology of Diatoms: 1. Preamble
2. The diatom cell
3. Collecting and studying diatoms
4. Culturing
5. Silicon: occurrence, uptake and deposition
6. Cell symmetry
7. Life form
8. Valve structure
9. Complementarity and heterovalvy
10. Portules
11. Ocelli, pseudocelli and pseudonoduli
12. Raphe
13. Girdle bands (copulae)
14. Internal valves
15. Resting stages and resting spores
16. The organic casing
17. The protoplast: plastids, mitchondria, dictyosomes, nucleus, vacuole
18. The cell cycle
19. Vegetative multiplication and cell size reduction
20. Sexual reproduction
21. Oogamy
22. Physiological anisogamy and isogamy
23. Automixis and parthenogenesis
24. Auxospore development
25. Motility
26. Ecology
27. Palaeoecology
28. Concepts in diatom systematics
29. Evolution and phylogeny
30. Fossils
31. Accounts of genera - preliminary notes
32. Summary of classification
Part II. Generic Atlas: 33. Centric genera
34. Araphid genera
35. Raphid genera
Appendix I: new taxa
Appendix II: list of recently described genera
Appendix III: index nominum genericorum
References
Taxonomic index
Subject index.

Subject Areas: Botany & plant sciences [PST]