Algae and Human Affairs [Paperback]

Algae and Human Affairs provides a comprehensive survey of the major roles of algae in present and future human life.Algae and Human Affairs provides a comprehensive survey of the major roles of algae in present and future human life. This detailed synthesis is divided into four sections.Algae and Human Affairs provides a comprehensive survey of the major roles of algae in present and future human life. This detailed synthesis is divided into four sections.Algae and Human Affairs provides the only current comprehensive survey of the major roles of algae in present and future human life. This detailed, up-to-date synthesis is divided into four sections. The first reviews the natural roles of algae as sources of oxygen, organic carbon compounds, and as bases of food-chains for higher trophic levels. The second group of chapters deals with the commercial and economic value of algae to industry, energy, waste treatment, and agriculture (i.e. algae as an important source of food and food additives, such as the carageenan used in dairy products). The third section discusses the detrimental, sometimes disastrous, effects of algae in the form of red-tide organisms, weeds, producers of freshwater toxins, and marine biofouling. The final section considers current applications and future potential of algae to industry, in general, and, in particular, to space exploration and genetic engineering.Editors' preface; Part I. Algae and Their Role in Natural Ecosystems: 1. The algae: an overview Marilyn M. Harlin and W. Marshall Darley; 2. Structure and role of algae in tropical reef communities Mark M. Littler and Diane S. Littler; 3. Algae and the environment: the Great Lakes case Eugene F. Stoermer; Part II. Algae for Food and Food Supplements: 4. Porphyra as food: cultivation and economics Thomas F. Mumford Jr and Akio Miura; 5. Cultivated edible kelp Louis D. Druehl; 6. Food and food products from seaweeds Isabella A. Abbott; 7. Spirulina: a model for microalgae as human fol3%