Mosses are a major component of the vegetation in ice-free coastal regions of Antarctica. They play an important role in the colonisation of ice-free terrain, accumulation of organic matter, release of organic exudates, and also provide a food and habitat resource for invertebrates. They serve as model organisms for physiological experiments designed to elucidate problems of plant cold tolerance and survival mechanisms and for monitoring biological responses to climate change. This Flora provides the first comprehensive description, with keys, of all known species and varieties of moss in the Antarctic biome. It has involved microscopic examination of around 10,000 specimens from Antarctica and, for comparison, from other continents. All species are illustrated by detailed line drawings, alongside information about their reproductive status, ecology, and distribution. This is an invaluable resource for bryologists worldwide, as well as to Antarctic botanists and other terrestrial biologists.

This volume summarises our present knowledge of inductive interaction during early development of various groups of chordates. Embryonic development is mainly epigenetic, that is, each embryo arises through gradual organisation and emergence of its constituent parts and not by the unfolding of preformed structures. Development as far as the full development of the 'body plan' in the embryo is described. At the beginning of development, there is only very restricted spatial diversity, but as development proceeds the interaction of the different parts leads to ever-increasing spatial complexity of the developing embryo. Interaction starts between the different cell organelles of the oocyte and the, spermatozoon; it continues without interruption between the different parts of the very early embryo and also between the different tissues and organ anlagen of the developing embryo. The new hypothesis as to the nature of the inductive interaction, which is postulated here, is in good agreement with the experimental evidence presented and opens new possibilities for fruitful research into this basic concept of embryonic development.

Scyphozoa have attracted the attention of many types of people. Naturalists watch their graceful locomotion. Fishermen may dread the swarms which can prevent fishing or eat larval fish. Bathers retreat from the water if they are stung. People from some Asiatic countries eat the medusae. Comparative physiologists examine them as possibly simple models for the functioning of various systems. This book integrates data from those and other investigations into a functional biology of scyphozoa. It will emphasize the wide range of adaptive responses possible in these morphologically relatively simple animals. The book will concentrate on the research of the last 35 years, partly because there has been a rapid expansion of knowledge during that period, and partly because much of the previous work was summarized by books published between 1961 and 1970. Bibliographies of papers on scyphozoa were included in Mayer (1910) and Kramp (1961). Taxonomic diagnoses are also included in those monographs, as well as in a monograph on the scyphomedusae of the USSR published by Naumov (Naumov, 1961). Most impor tantly, a genenttion of scyphozoan workers has used as its 'bible' the monograph by F.S.Russell (1970) The Medusae of the British Isles. In spite of its restrictive title, his book reviews most of the information on the biology of scyphozoa up to that date.

Annotated selected list of floras and floristic works relating to vascular plants, including bibliographies and publications dealing with useful plants and vernacular names.