Book review
New Horizons in Meiobenthos Research
Profiles, Patterns and Potentials
Olav Giere · Michaela Schratzberger (Editors)
Springer Nature, Switzerland
X + 407 pp.
ISBN 978-3-031-21621-3 ISBN 978-3-031-21622-0 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21622-0
Meiofauna refers to animals among benthos living at the bottom of marine or freshwater environments that pass through a 1mm sieve and are retained on a 63μm sieve (though definitions of these sizes vary among researchers) when washing biological samples from sediments. As is clear from their size, they cannot be classified and identified with the naked eye, and everything from sample sorting to detailed observation must be done under a microscope. Due to such technical difficulties and the brief history of research, the study of meiofauna lags significantly behind that of the larger macrofauna. On the other hand, meiofauna have extremely high population densities, exceeding one million individuals per square meter. Moreover, they are adapted to almost all environments, including completely anoxic ones, making them a fascinating subject of study that may provide answers to fundamental questions in various biological fields.
This book takes up various topics surrounding such meiofauna, compiling reviews of the current state of cutting-edge research on each in an omnibus format. A total of 11 reviews are included, which are broadly categorized into two groups. One systematically compiles the latest findings on focused research themes, such as the role of meiofauna in geochemistry and the symbiosis between meiofauna and bacteria. The other compiles recent research advances from various perspectives, focusing on ecosystems such as the deep sea and caves.
For example, Chapter 1 discusses how small animals consisting of diverse taxa have adapted to every environment and are living resiliently, and how this current state came to be through evolutionary pathways. It brilliantly clarifies that a completely different perspective from traditional animals whose morphology can be observed with the naked eye is necessary for the analysis, capturing the reader's interest. Furthermore, in the habitat-based reviews, readers will likely be moved by the diversity of small animals living in various extreme environments that have almost no point of contact with human society.
One of the editors of this book, Olav Giere, has previously published multiple textbooks on meiofauna. However, keeping in mind the rapid increase in the breadth and depth of research, this book shifts its focus from the conventional editorial policy of “summarizing the current state of research” to “proposing future research directions,” with each chapter presenting ambitious biological hypotheses that may be answered through meiofauna research. We hope that readers will discover within this book the unimaginable and diverse ways of life of these tiny animals, which are rarely given a second thought in daily life.
Reviewer: Yoshihisa Shirayama (Professor Emeritus, Kyoto University)
