Model Ecosystems in Extreme Environments, Second Edition examines ecosystems at the most extreme habitats and their interaction with the environment, providing a key element in our understanding of the role and function of microorganisms in nature. The book highlights current topics in the field, such as biodiversity and the structure of microbial communities in extreme environments, the effects of extreme environmental conditions on microbial ecosystems, and ecological and evolutionary interactions in extreme environments, among other topics. It will be a valuable text for faculty and students working with extremophiles and/or microbial ecology and researchers, including astrobiologists, biologists, evolutionary scientists, astronomers, geochemists and oceanographers.
1. Cover image - p. iv 2. Title page - p. iv 3. Table of Contents - p. iv 4. Copyright - p. iv 5. Contributors - p. xi 6. Who is who in “model ecosystems in extreme environments” - p. xiii 7. Chapter 1: Terrestrial systems of the Arctic as a model for growth and survival at low temperatures - p. xiv 8. Chapter 2: Geothermal steam vents of Hawai’i - p. 21 9. Chapter 3: Solar salterns as model systems for the study of halophilic microorganisms in their natural environments - p. 40 10. Chapter 4: The extremophiles of Great Salt Lake: Complex microbiology in a dynamic hypersaline ecosystem - p. 56 11. Chapter 5: Plants and salt: Plant response and adaptations to salinity - p. 99 12. Chapter 6: Microbial ecology of the Namib Desert - p. 112 13. Chapter 7: Endolithic microbial communities as model systems for ecology and astrobiology - p. 143 14. Chapter 8: Survival of subsurface microbial communities over geological times and the implications for astrobiology - p. 168 15. Chapter 9: Under what kind of life system could space life emerge? - p. 187 16. Index - p. 209
Model Ecosystems in Extreme Environments, Second Edition examines ecosystems at the most extreme habitats and their interaction with the environment, providing a key element in our understanding of the role and function of microorganisms in nature. The book highlights current topics in the field, such as biodiversity and the structure of microbial communities in extreme environments, the effects of extreme environmental conditions on microbial ecosystems, and ecological and evolutionary interactions in extreme environments, among other topics. It will be a valuable text for faculty and students working with extremophiles and/or microbial ecology and researchers, including astrobiologists, biologists, evolutionary scientists, astronomers, geochemists and oceanographers.
1. Cover image - p. iv 2. Title page - p. iv 3. Table of Contents - p. iv 4. Copyright - p. iv 5. Contributors - p. xi 6. Who is who in “model ecosystems in extreme environments” - p. xiii 7. Chapter 1: Terrestrial systems of the Arctic as a model for growth and survival at low temperatures - p. xiv 8. Chapter 2: Geothermal steam vents of Hawai’i - p. 21 9. Chapter 3: Solar salterns as model systems for the study of halophilic microorganisms in their natural environments - p. 40 10. Chapter 4: The extremophiles of Great Salt Lake: Complex microbiology in a dynamic hypersaline ecosystem - p. 56 11. Chapter 5: Plants and salt: Plant response and adaptations to salinity - p. 99 12. Chapter 6: Microbial ecology of the Namib Desert - p. 112 13. Chapter 7: Endolithic microbial communities as model systems for ecology and astrobiology - p. 143 14. Chapter 8: Survival of subsurface microbial communities over geological times and the implications for astrobiology - p. 168 15. Chapter 9: Under what kind of life system could space life emerge? - p. 187 16. Index - p. 209
