Processes in Microbial Ecology (2nd Edition) – eBook

Microbial ecology is the study of relations among microbes in natural environments and their roles in food web dynamics, biogeochemical cycles, and the evolution of life. Microbes are the most plentiful organisms in the biosphere and facilitate many critical reactions in elemental cycles and biogeochemical reactions. Because they are vital players in the carbon cycle and related processes, microbial ecology is an essential science for understanding the role of the
biosphere in global warming and the reaction of natural ecosystems to climate change.

Processes in Microbial Ecology, 2nd Edition, (PDF) has been fully reviewed, restructured, and updated while remaining brief and accessible. It discusses the key processes carried out by viruses, fungi, bacteria, protozoa and other protists – the microbes – in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems. The emphasis is on biogeochemical processes, beginning with primary production and the initial fixation of carbon into cellular biomass, before studying how that carbon is degraded in both oxygen-rich (oxic) and oxygen-deficient (anoxic) environments. These processes are then affected by ecological interactions, including competition for limiting nutrients, viral lysis, and predation by various protists in aquatic habitats and soils. The ebook neatly links processes occurring at the micron scale to events happening at the global scale, including the carbon cycle and its association to climate change issues. A final chapter is dedicated to symbiosis and other relationships between microbes and larger organisms. Microbes have huge influences not only on biogeochemical cycles, but also on the evolution and ecology of more complex forms of life, including humans.

NOTE: The product only includes the ebook, Processes in Microbial Ecology, 2nd Edition in PDF. No access codes are included.