Lea P. Mertens (EDT) Biological Oceanography Research Trends

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Biological oceanography concerns the biology and ecology of oceanic, marine, coastal and estuarine organisms. These range from viruses and bacteria to microbes and phytoplankton, from zooplankton and benthic invertebrates to shellfish, fish and marine mammals. The organisms live in a dynamic fluid easily described as a chemical soup that covers ~71% of the earth's surface and is intimately coupled to the atmosphere, the seafloor and the land. Thus, to determine how organisms are influenced by their environment, biological oceanographers must function across many sub-disciplines such as biochemistry, genetics, physiology, behaviour, population dynamics and community ecology. They must be knowledgeable of ocean physics, chemistry, geology, and atmospheric and radiative processes.This new book presents the latest research in this field from around the world.