New Horizons in Meiobenthos Research: Profiles, Patterns and Potentials

Since research on meiobenthos was last compiled in a textbook (2008/2009), the number of theoretical and applied studies has been growing rapidly. Supported by new methods and digital evaluation, meiobenthology has developed into a wide field, with more and more researchers studying cross-disciplinary aspects. New perspectives were summarized in a booklet (2019) to draw attention to promising research directions. The present book, written by leading experts, is a compilation of new thinking, data, methods and approaches in many relevant fields of recent meiobenthos research. The topics addressed range from bacteria and biofilms to globally changing processes, from polar regions to the deep-sea and from freshwater ecosystems to the ocean. So, this book is not simply another meiobenthos textbook - it is an attempt to identify new horizons in meiobenthos research, driven by the vision of advancing knowledge and understanding of benthic ecosystems. Chapter “Polar Meiofauna—Antipoles or Parallels?” is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Table of Contents:
Preface.- Chapter 1: Evolution of Bilateria from a Meiofauna Perspective – Miniaturization in the Focus.- Chapter 2: Meiofauna Shaping Biogeochemical Processes.- Chapter 3: Meiofauna and Biofilms – the Slimy Universe.- Chapter 4: Meiofauna Meets Microbes: Chemosynthetic Symbioses.- Chapter 5: Marine Meiofauna Diversity and Biogeography – Paradigms and challenges.- Chapter 6: Freshwater Meiofauna – a Biota with Different Rules?.- Chapter 7: Hidden Players – Meiofauna Mediates Ecosystem Effects of Anthropogenic Disturbances in the Ocean.- Chapter 8: Deep-Sea Meiofauna – a World of its Own or Deeply Connected?.- Chapter 9: Polar Meiofauna – Antipoles or Parallels?.- Chapter 10: Cave Meiofauna - Models for Ecology and Evolution.- Chapter 11: Meiofauna – Adapted to Life at the Limits.- Concluding Remarks.- Index.

About the Author :
Olav Giere is Professor Emeritus from Hamburg University (Germany), was Acting Professor since 1981 at the Zoological Institute and Museum, and there, he was Director Elected from 1999 to 2003. As Invited Professor and Scientist, he acted in and cooperated with numerous European institutes in North America, Bermuda, Belize, Japan and Australia. His main topics of interests are: - ecology and biology of marine Oligochaeta, - response of meiofauna to oil pollution, - reactions and adaptations of meiofauna to anoxia and hydrogen sulphide, - bacteria-symbioses in animals from sulphidic habitats. During his scientific activities, he worked in shallow shores and deep-sea sites all over the world. He organized and participated in several research projects, funded by the German Research Council (DFG) and the European Union. He was President of the International Association of Meiobenthologists from 1984 to 1986. His publications comprise about 120 peer-reviewed papers and reviews, and he is Author of the monographic textbook "Meiobenthology - The Science of Microscopic Motile Fauna in Aquatic Sediments" published in 2009 and in a 2nd revised and expanded edition in 2009 (Springer, 527 pp). He is Author of "Perspectives in Meiobenthology - Reviews, Reflections and Conclusions" (SpringerBriefs in Biology, 81 pp., 2019). Dr. Michaela Schratzberger is Science Director at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) in the UK, with responsibility for approximately 140 scientific and technical staff working in the broad area of environmental science. She has over 20 years' post-doctoral experience in marine ecology, specializing in the effects of environmental change on the ocean and biodiversity. Her research involves multidisciplinary studies assessing the response of marine ecosystems to natural and anthropogenic disturbance. She has been leading scientific input into large EU-, Defra- and UKRI-funded multidisciplinary research programmes and advises UK government on biodiversity-related issues in relation to the delivery of a UK network of Marine Protected Areas. She is involved in international and national fora. She chaired the ICES Study Group on Biodiversity Science which became a Working Group under their leadership. She has been Associate Editor of the international peer-reviewed journal Marine Biodiversity since 2008 and Technic^ 50% as lead author, > 3000 citations, H-index 30). As Ph.D. Supervisor, Honorary Lecturer at the University of East Anglia and Mentor, she is supporting the next generation of scientists. She supervises Ph.D. students, acts as external examiner for Ph.D. theses andhas served on selection and evaluation panels of European Universities and on scientific steering committees of various international scientific conferences.

Review :
"This a rigorous book, based on well-founded knowledge, which seeks to motivate and encourage the search for new horizons and inspire the following generations. ... This book makes the reader realise that meiofaunal research is a contemporary subject, using advanced methodologies and addressing modern scientific questions that contribute to current challenges." (Helena Adão, Psammonalia, Issue 176, August, 2023) "Reading this book felt like assimilating the meiobenthology equivalent of the whole Library of Congress. Yet almost its entire, impressive content was brought into existence because the authors, as Newton and his predecessors so appropriately formulated, were 'standing on the shoulders of giants' and chief among them Olav Giere himself. With the collaboration of Michaela Schratzberger, this illustrious patriarch has gifted the field of meiobenthology with its most important work to date." (Peter G. Beninger, Invertebrate Biology, June 13, 2023) "The thorough review of each topic by authors experienced in the subject coupled with a comprehensive reference list should encourage a student or a researcher beginning a study of meiobenthos to go beyond the identification of individual taxa and study the community as a whole. It is also a recognition of the importance of the meiobenthos in regulating ecological processes and should be ample justification for their inclusion in research of ecosystems." (JyotsnaSharma, Bulletin - Ecological Society of America, May 29, 2023)