Biology of Algae, Lichens and Bryophytes

As a reader of this book you will become familiar with current, up-to-date comprehensive knowledge about all classes of eukaryotic algae, the cyanobacteria, and symbiotic interactions of algae and cyanobacteria with other organisms. For example, the lichens are symbiotic consortia and a prominent example of a particularly successful ‘evolution by cooperation’. The editors collectively call this enormous phylogenetic wealth of photoautotrophic organisms the ‘new cryptogams’, abandoning the traditional definition of cryptogams. These new cryptogams are all those autotrophic organisms that are hydro-passive, meaning that in contrast to vascular plants they are unable to control water uptake or release, While being basal of and phylogenetically much more diverse than the vascular plants, the new cryptogams are ecologically highly relevant in all ecosystems of our planet. They are responsible for more than half of the Earth’s annual oxygen production.