The rapid expansion od industry and the excessive demands made on
limited natural resources have caused genuine concern at all levels of
society. In the past this concern has concentrated on plants and animals
and their relationships with their environments, but now attention is
also turning towards microorganisms whose role is crucial to so many
natural processes - from global life and mineral cycles through to the
production of beer and milk products. After a brief introduction to
microbiology this book concentrates on the ecological aspects of
microbial life covering a wide variety of topics including structure,
behaviour, growth, dispersal, interactions and how microbes act as
symbionts and pathogens. Such a wide-ranging interdisciplinary approach
will appeal to undergraduate and graduate students of microbiology,
plant and animal ecology, agronomy, forestry and environmental sciences.
Professionals working in the same fields will also find it informative
as will those working in plant pathology and soil, aquatic, medical and
food microbiology.