Diatoms Biology and Morphology of the Genera [Paperback]

This book presents a wide-ranging introduction to the diatoms together with an illustrated description of over 250 genera.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.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.Illustrated descriptions of over 250 genera of diatoms are presented for the first time in this wide-ranging volume. The introduction describes the diatom cell in detail, the structure of the wall (often extremely beautiful designs), the cell contents and aspects of life cycle and cell division. The generic atlas section is the first account of diatom systematics since 1928, and each generic description is accompanied by scanning electron micrographs to show the characteristic structure.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. Fossilsl³5