Rotifers (Rotifera) are animals which occur in every type of aquatic environment, both marine and freshwater. They owe their wide distribution to rapid reproduction. Due to their abundance, they play an important role in freshwater ecosystems. There are around 2000 rotifer species, 1350 of them from Europe. This book provides a guide to rotifers, including topics such as the origin of rotifers, taxonomy and systematics, morphology, anatomy, biology, ecology, zoogeography, and methods of sample collection, preservation, storage, and processing. It also provides information on orders, families and genera, as well as a survey of species, based on illustrations including many original color micrographs. In total, over 460 rotifer species found in Poland are presented and characterized, as well as over 140 species found in neighboring countries.

This volume reflects the latest developments in the research of a global community of rotifer researchers, who came together at Illmitz, Austria in 2003. Contributions are manifold and span fields from phylogeny and evolution of the phylum Rotifera to practical aspects of aquaculture and ecotoxicology. Major issues include phylogeny and evolution, genetics and molecular ecology, new aspects of rotifer anatomy through the application of confocal laser-scanning microscopy, anhydrobiosis, long-term studies in lakes and rivers, population dynamics and community ecology, trophic relationships between copepods and rotifers, alongside biodiversity studies based on classical taxonomic concepts and molecular approaches. Although primarily focussed on one taxonomic group, the scientific outcome of this meeting is of relevance to the study of other aquatic microinvertebrates as well.

"The third edition of Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates continues the tradition of in-depth coverage of the biology, ecology, phylogeny, and identification of freshwater invertebrates from the USA and Canada. This text serves as an authoritative single source for a broad coverage of the anatomy, physiology, ecology, and phylogeny of all major groups of invertebrates in inland waters of North America, north of Mexico." --Book Jacket.

Gnotobiotics summarizes and analyzes the research conducted on the use of gnotobiotes, providing detailed information regarding actual facility operation and derivation of gnotobiotic animals. In response to the development of new tools for microbiota and microbiome analysis, the increasing recognition of the various roles of microbiota in health and disease, and the consequent expanding demand for gnotobiotic animals for microbiota/microbiome related research, this volume collates the research of this expanding field into one definitive resource. - Reviews and defines gnotobiotic animal species - Analyzes microbiota in numerous contexts - Presents detailed coverage of the protocols and operation of a gnotobiotic facility

Readers familiar with the first three editions of Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates (edited by J.H. Thorp and A.P. Covich) will welcome the comprehensive revision and expansion of that trusted professional reference manual and educational textbook from a single North American tome into a developing multi-volume series covering inland water invertebrates of the world. The series entitled Thorp and Covich's Freshwater Invertebrates (edited by J.H. Thorp) begins with the current Volume I: Ecology and General Biology (edited by J.H. Thorp and D.C. Rogers), which is designed as a companion volume for the remaining books in the series. Those following volumes provide taxonomic coverage for specific zoogeographic regions of the world, starting with Keys to Nearctic Fauna (Vol. II) and Keys to Palaearctic Fauna (Vol. III). Volume I maintains the ecological and general biological focus of the previous editions but now expands coverage globally in all chapters, includes more taxonomic groups (e.g., chapters on individual insect orders), and covers additional functional topics such as invasive species, economic impacts, and functional ecology. As in previous editions, the 4th edition of Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates is designed for use by professionals in universities, government agencies, and private companies as well as by undergraduate and graduate students. - Global coverage of aquatic invertebrate ecology - Discussions on invertebrate ecology, phylogeny, and general biology written by international experts for each group - Separate chapters on invasive species and economic impacts and uses of invertebrates - Eight additional chapters on insect orders and a chapter on freshwater millipedes - Four new chapters on collecting and culturing techniques, ecology of invasive species, economic impacts, and ecological function of invertebrates - Overall expansion of ecology and general biology and a shift of the even more detailed taxonomic keys to other volumes in the projected 9-volume series - Identification keys to lower taxonomic levels

The majority of undergraduate texts in invertebrate zoology (of which there are many) fall into one of two categories. They either offer a systematic treatment of groups of animals phylum by phylum, or adopt a functional approach to the various anatomical and physiological systems of the better known species. The Invertebrates is the first and only textbook to integrate both approaches and thus meet the modern teaching needs of the subject. This is the only invertebrate textbook to integrate systematics and functional approaches. The molecular systematics sections have been completely updated for the new edition. Strong evolutionary theme which reflects the importance of molecular techniques throughout. Distills the essential characteristics of each invertebrate group and lists diagnostic features to allow comparisons between phyla. New phyla have been added for the new edition. Stresses comparisons in physiology, reproduction and development. Improved layout and illustration quality. Second edition has sold 14000 copies. Nature of the first edition: 'Students will like this book. It deserves to succeed.'

Since the two previous rotifer symposia in Lunz and Gent were highly successful, it was considered important to continue the tradition every third year. Thus a third rotifer symposium was held in Uppsala, Sweden, Aug. 30-Sept. 4, 1982. In the beginning of 1981 the first circular was mailed to the participants of the previous symposia, who in turn were requested to suggest names of other scientists to be invited. As a result many people expressed interest, about 70 of whom finally participated in the symposium (not including temporary visitors from nearby). The participants represented 22 countries, in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. As with the earlier symposia, some subjects were selected in advance, mainly during discussions between Henri Dumont, Birger Pejler and Peter Starkweather when they met at the SIL congress in Kyoto 1980. Some broad topics such as 'Marine rotifers' were covered for the first time, while other topics were continuations, though more specialized, of previous themes. Thus it is interesting to follow, through the three symposium volumes, recent development within the areas of feeding, popUlation dynamics and ultrastructure. Each prospective participant (with the exception of the reviewers) was invited to present one short paper (alone or with collaborators), which resulted in more than 40 such contributions. Thus, the week's schedule became very crowded, unfortunately leaving no time for more comprehensive workshops etc. However, during the evenings general discussions were held on the topics presented during the day.

This textbook is the most concise and readable invertebrates book in terms of detail and pedagogy (other texts do not offer boxed readings, a second color, end of chapter questions, or pronunciation guides). All phyla of invertebrates are covered (comprehensive) with an emphasis on unifying characteristics of each group.

Evolutionary ecology includes aspects of community structure, trophic interactions, life-history tactics, and reproductive modes, analyzed from an evolutionary perspective. Freshwater environments often impose spatial structure on populations, e.g. within large lakes or among habitat patches, facilitating genetic and phenotypic divergence. Traditionally, freshwater systems have featured prominently in ecological research and population biology. This book brings together information on diverse freshwater taxa, with a mix of critical review, synthesis, and case studies. Using examples from bryozoans, rotifers, cladocerans, molluscs, teleosts and others, the authors cover current conceptual issues of evolutionary ecology in considerable depth. The book can serve as a source of critically evaluated ideas, detailed case studies, and open problems in the field of evolutionary ecology. It is recommended for students and researchers in ecology, limnology, population biology, and evolutionary biology.

Conservation and biodiversity of protists The conservation of biodiversity is not just an issue of plants and vertebrates. It is the scarcely visible invertebrates and myriads of other microscopic organisms that are crucial to the maintenance of ecological processes on which all larger organisms and the composition of the atmosphere ultimately depend. Biodiversity and Conservation endeavours to take an holistic view of biodiversity, and when the opportunity arises to issue collections of papers dealing with too-often neglected groups of organisms. The protists, essentially eukaryotes that cannot be classi?ed in the kingdoms of animals, fungi, or plants, include some of the lea- known groups of organisms on earth. They are generally treated as a separate kingdom, commonly named Protista (or Protoctista) in textbooks, but in reality they are a mixture of organisms with disparate a?nities. Some authors have hypothesized that the numbers of protists are not especially large, and that many have extraordinarily wide distributions. However, the p- ture that unfolds from the latest studies discussed in this issue is di?erent. There are many species with wide ranges, and proportionately more cosmopolitan species than in macroorganism groups, as a result of their long evolutionary histories, but there are also de?nite patterns and geographical restrictions to be found. Further, some protists are linked to host organisms as mutualists or parasites and necessarily con?ned to the distributions of their hosts.