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Ecology of Protozoa

The Biology of Free-living Phagotrophic Protists

  • Textbook
  • © 1987

Overview

Authors:
  1. Tom Fenchel

    1. Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark

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Part of the book series: Brock Springer Series in Contemporary Bioscience (BROCK/SPRINGER)

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Table of contents (12 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-x
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  2. What is a Protozoan?

    • Tom Fenchel
    Pages 1-14

  3. Ecological Physiology: Motility

    • Tom Fenchel
    Pages 15-31

  4. Ecological Physiology: Feeding

    • Tom Fenchel
    Pages 32-52

  5. Ecological Physiology: Bioenergetics

    • Tom Fenchel
    Pages 53-62

  6. Ecological Physiology: Other Aspects

    • Tom Fenchel
    Pages 63-75

  7. Symbiosis

    • Tom Fenchel
    Pages 76-85

  8. The Niches of Protozoa

    • Tom Fenchel
    Pages 86-101

  9. Protozoan Communities: Marine Habitats

    • Tom Fenchel
    Pages 102-133

  10. Protozoan Communities: Freshwater Habitats

    • Tom Fenchel
    Pages 134-151

  11. Protozoan Communities: Terrestrial Habitats

    • Tom Fenchel
    Pages 152-160

  12. Symbiotic Protozoa

    • Tom Fenchel
    Pages 161-166

  13. Concluding Remarks

    • Tom Fenchel
    Pages 167-169

  14. Back Matter

    Pages 171-197
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Keywords

About this book

This book is written for ecologists and protozoologists. Ecologists who study environments and biotic communities in which protozoa are im­ portant should find this book especially useful. During the last decade it has become clear that protozoa play important roles in natural eco­ systems, but few ecologists have a feeling for the functional properties and the diversity of these organisms. Protozoa pose or exemplify many general problems of population and community ecology, and of evo­ lutionary biology. In most respects the general ecological properties of protozoa are not fundamentally different from those of larger organisms; yet, due to their small size, short generation times, and ubiquitous oc­ currence they often present ecological phenomena in a new and dif­ ferent light. To this should be added that protozoa are well-suited for experimental work. Despite these advantages, the study of protozoa has played a relatively modest role in the development of ecology and ev­ olutionary biology, primarily, I believe, because most ecologists are unfamiliar with these organisms. I hope this book will attract more attention to these favorable characteristics of protozoa. I also hope that this book may make protozoologists aware of new aspects of their pet organisms. For a long time (that is, until the fun­ damental distinction between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells was rec­ ognized) protozoa were believed to represent the simplest form of life. They were therefore extensively used for the experimental study of basic questions of cell biology.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark

    Tom Fenchel

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