The question "Why are there so many species?" has puzzled ecologist for a long time. Initially, an academic question, it has gained practical interest by the recent awareness of global biodiversity loss. Species diversity in local ecosystems has always been discussed in relation to the problem of competi tive exclusion and the apparent contradiction between the competitive exclu sion principle and the overwhelming richness of species found in nature. Competition as a mechanism structuring ecological communities has never been uncontroversial. Not only its importance but even its existence have been debated. On the one extreme, some ecologists have taken competi tion for granted and have used it as an explanation by default if the distribu tion of a species was more restricted than could be explained by physiology and dispersal history. For decades, competition has been a core mechanism behind popular concepts like ecological niche, succession, limiting similarity, and character displacement, among others. For some, competition has almost become synonymous with the Darwinian "struggle for existence", although simple plausibility should tell us that organisms have to struggle against much more than competitors, e.g. predators, parasites, pathogens, and envi ronmental harshness.

All relevant ecological aspects of plankton, especially seasonal changes in the species composition, the role of competition for limiting resources in species replacements, the role of parasitism, predation and competition in seasonal succession are treated in detail considering phytoplankton, zooplankton and bacteroplankton. In addition to its use as a valid reference book for plankton ecology, this monograph may well be used as a model for other kinds of ecological communities.

Das Meer ist der groesste Lebensraum der Erde - hier hat die Evolution der Organismen begonnen, und hier findet sich auch die groesste Vielfalt organismischer Bauplane. Lernfreundlich aufbereitet und leicht verstandlich geschrieben, gibt das Lehrbuch einen grundlegenden und umfassenden UEberblick uber die verschiedenen Lebensraume und Lebensgemeinschaften des Meeres. OEkologische Prozesse wie Konkurrenz, Fressbeziehungen, Symbiosen und Nahrungsnetze sind zentrale Themen. Zahlreiche Abbildungen regen zum Lesen und Lernen an.

Freunden der Natur, der Seen und der Meere erAffnet dieses Buch einen Einblick in die oft mikroskopisch kleine Welt des Planktons.
Zahlreiche Zeichnungen und Farbtafeln geben einen Eindruck von der SchAnheit und Formenvielfalt vieler Plankter. Beispiele aus vielen GewAssern der Erde zeigen, welch wichtige Rolle das Plankton in der Nahrungskette spielt und wie es die StoffkreislAufe im Wasser und sogar die AtmosphAre beeinfluAt.
SchlieAlich wird die Reaktion des Planktons auf die GewAsserversauerung und die AoeberdA1/4ngung gezeigt und erklArt, welches GefAhrdungspotential von Giftalgen ausgehen kann.

Das Plankton ist die am weitesten verbreitete Lebensgemeinschaft der Erde. Seine Bedeutung fur die Wasserqualitat und als Nahrungsbasis fur die Fischerei ist unbestritten.
Das vorliegende Lehrbuch stellt erstmals alle Aspekte der Planktologie zusammenfassend dar, von einer taxonomischen Ubersicht uber die physikalische und chemische Beschreibung des Lebensraums, die Funktionsmorphologie, Ernahrungsphysiologie und Populationsokologie bis hin zur Bedeutung des Planktons im aquatischen Okosystem und in biogeochemischen Kreislaufen. Besonderheiten des Buches sind die gemeinsame Behandlung des Susswasser- und des Meeresplanktons, die Gliederung nach Problemebenen sowie die Betonung vereinheitlichender Konzepte. Exemplarisch werden fast alle grossen Fragen der allgemeinen Okologie abgehandelt."

This concise, readable introduction to limnology (the science of investigating the structure and function of inland waters), places the subject in the context of modern ecology. Unlike most ecological textbooks, which use examples taken almost exclusively from terrestrial systems, this book integrates the fields of limnology and ecology by presenting empirical data drawn entirely from freshwater ecosystems in order to advance ecological theories (limnoecology).
This second edition builds upon the strengths of the first with the structure of the book following the same hierarchical concept of ecology, from habitat properties, individuals, populations, coupled populations and communities to ecosystems. However, it has been thoroughly revised throughout to incorporate findings from new technologies and methods (notably the rapid development of molecular genetic methods and stable isotope techniques) that have allowed a rapid and ongoing development of the field. There is a new emphasis on food webs, species diversity and ecosystem functioning, climate change, and conservation management. Key ecological questions are examined in the light of the latest experimental evidence. Throughout the text evolutionary theory is applied to an understanding of freshwater ecosystems, thereby filling a niche between traditional limnology and evolutionary ecology.
This accessible text is suitable for both undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in limnology, freshwater ecology, and aquatic biology as well as the many professional limnologists, ecologists and conservation biologists requiring a concise but authoritative overview of the topic.