Coastal phytoplankton boasts an incredible diversity of life forms. It is not rare to find 40
or 50 different species in just a few drops of water. In this Photo Guide for Northern European
Seas we describe the major phytoplankton groups diatoms and dinoflagellates with additional
information on ciliates and smaller flagellates. In total we provide taxonomic ecological and
biogeographic information on more than 130 taxa. As the majority of students and professional
plankton analysts will mainly work with the light microscope the species in the book are
documented with light micrographs giving the reader a realistic view of species as seen in a
water sample. The book is therefore not only suited for students and environmental managers
but also for amateur microscopists and laypersons. Dr. Alexandra Kraberg has worked with
phytoplankton for over 12 years including time as a phytoplankton analyst for long-term
monitoring programmes in Ireland and the UK. After receiving her PhD from the University of
Liverpool in 2002 she moved to the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Science
where she has worked on a range of phytoplankton projects e. g. dealing with intraspecific
diversity in diatoms. Since 2004 she is the co-ordinator of the international PLANKTON NET
database system . She is also a member of the ICES working group on phytoplankton and microbial
ecology. Dr. Claus-Dieter Dürselen received his PhD from the University of Oldenburg in 1995.
While at Olden burg as a post doc Dr. Dürselen worked as a phytoplankton expert in different
national and international research projects. Together with a former research colleague he
founded the environmental company AquaEcology in 2002. Dr. Dürselen is a plankton consultant to
the regional and local water authorities of Northern Germany. Prof. Dr. Marcus Baumann has
studied phytoplankton of the North Sea and the polar regions both the Arctic and the Antarctic
for more than 30 years. After two years as a researcher at the Alfred Wegener Institute he
became head of the environmental services department at the FH Aachen University of Applied
Sciences before receiving a professorship in biotechnology. Currently he is the rector at the
FH Aachen.
