Biogeography of Microscopic Organisms

Diego Fontaneto is a NERC Advanced Research Fellow at the Imperial College London Division of Biology, Ascot, UK. His research focuses on spatial patterns and processes in microscopic animals, with particular interest in rotifers.

'This book is a reservoir of ideas on the biogeography of microorganisms and their potentials and limits compared to macroorganisms. It aids in understanding the spatial patterns and the general processes in biogeography. The writers' passions are obvious and the book is of great interest for anyone interested [in] the topic.' Télesphore Sime-Ngando, L&O Bulletin

• Preface; Part I. Theoretical Framework: 1. Why biogeography of microorganisms? Diego Fontaneto and Juliet Brodie; 2. Historical biogeography, microbial endemism and the role of classification: everything is endemic David M. Williams; Part II. Prokaryotes: 3. Biogeography of prokaryotes Donnabella C. Lacap, Maggie C. Y. Lau and Stephen B. Pointing; 4. Thermophilic bacteria in cool soils: metabolic activity and mechanisms of dispersal Roger Marchant, Ibrahim M. Banat and Andrea Franzetti; Part III. Unicellular Eukaryotes: 5. Dispersal of protists: the role of cysts and human introductions Wilhelm Foissner; 6. Everything is everywhere: a twenty-first century de-/reconstruction with respect to protists David Bass and Jens Boenigk; 7. Arcellinida testate amoebae (Arcellinida: Amoebozoa): model of organisms for assessing microbial biogeography Thierry J. Heger, Enrique Lara and Edward A. D. Mitchell; 8. Everything is not everywhere: the distribution of cactophilic yeast Philip F. Ganter; Part IV. Pluricellular Eukaryotes: 9. Coalescent analyses reveal contrasting patterns of intercontinental gene flow in arctic-alpine and boreal-temperate fungi József Geml; 10. Biogeography and phylogeography of lichen fungi and their photobiont Silke Werth; 11. Biogeography of mosses and allies: does size matter? Nagore G. Medina, Isabel Draper and Francisco Lara; 12. Dispersal limitation or habitat quality – what shapes the distribution ranges of ferns? Hanno Schaefer; 13. Ubiquity of microscopic animals? Evidence from the morphological approach in species identification Tom Artois, Diego Fontaneto, William D. Hummon, Sandra J. McInnes, M. Antonio Todaro, Martin V. Sørensen and Aldo Zullini; 14. Molecular approach to micrometazoans: are they here, there and everywhere? Noemi Guil Lopez; Part V. Processes: 15. Microbes as a test of biogeographical principles David G. Jenkins, Kim A. Medley and Rima B. Franklin; 16. A metacommunity perspective on the phylo- and biogeography of small organisms Luc De Meester; 17. Geographical variation in the diversity of microbial communities: research directions and prospects for experimental biogeography Joaquin Hortal; Index.