Biogeography of Microscopic Organisms

Bringing together the viewpoints of leading experts in taxonomy, ecology and biogeography of different taxa, this book synthesises discussion surrounding the so-called everything is everywhere hypothesis. It addresses the processes that generate spatial patterns of diversity and biogeography in organisms that can potentially be cosmopolitan. The contributors discuss questions such as: are microorganisms (e.g. prokaryotes, protists, algae, yeast and microscopic fungi, plants and animals) really cosmopolitan in their distribution? What are the biological properties that allow such potential distribution? Are there processes that would limit their distribution? Are microorganisms intrinsically different from macroscopic ones? What can microorganisms tell us about the generalities of biogeography? Can they be used for experimental biogeography? Written for graduate students and academic researchers, the book promotes a more complete understanding of the spatial patterns and the general processes in biogeography.

Spis treści:
Preface
Part I. Theoretical Framework
1. Why biogeography of microorganisms? Diego Fontaneto and Juliet Brodie
2. Historical biogeography, microbial endemism and the role of classification, everything is endemic David M. Williams
Part II. Prokaryotes
3. Biogeography of prokaryotes Donnabella C. Lacap, Maggie C. Y. Lau and Stephen B. Pointing
4. Thermophilic bacteria in cool soils, metabolic activity and mechanisms of dispersal Roger Marchant, Ibrahim M. Banat and Andrea Franzetti
Part III. Unicellular Eukaryotes
5. Dispersal of protists, the role of cysts and human introductions Wilhelm Foissner
6. Everything is everywhere, a twenty-first century de-/reconstruction with respect to protists David Bass and Jens Boenigk
7. Arcellinida testate amoebae (Arcellinida, Amoebozoa), model of organisms for assessing microbial biogeography Thierry J. Heger, Enrique Lara and Edward A. D. Mitchell
8. Everything is not everywhere, the distribution of cactophilic yeast Philip F. Ganter
Part IV. Pluricellular Eukaryotes
9. Coalescent analyses reveal contrasting patterns of intercontinental gene flow in arctic-alpine and boreal-temperate fungi József Geml
10. Biogeography and phylogeography of lichen fungi and their photobiont Silke Werth
11. Biogeography of mosses and allies, does size matter? Nagore G. Medina, Isabel Draper and Francisco Lara
12. Dispersal limitation or habitat quality – what shapes the distribution ranges of ferns? Hanno Schaefer
13. Ubiquity of microscopic animals? Evidence from the morphological approach in species identification Tom Artois, Diego Fontaneto, William D. Hummon, Sandra J. McInnes, M. Antonio Todaro, Martin V. Sørensen and Aldo Zullini
14. Molecular approach to micrometazoans, are they here, there and everywhere? Noemi Guil Lopez
Part V. Processes
15. Microbes as a test of biogeographical principles David G. Jenkins, Kim A. Medley and Rima B. Franklin
16. A metacommunity perspective on the phylo- and biogeography of small organisms Luc De Meester
17. Geographical variation in the diversity of microbial communities, research directions and prospects for experimental biogeography Joaquin Hortal
Index.