Summary

Foraminifera and thecamoebians are highly sensitive to environmental stress (natural or anthropogenic). This feature means that they can be used to biologically characterize a variety of freshwater and coastal marine environments. Due to their small size and hard shells, large quantities are also found fossilised in core samples, making them ideal for reconstructing past environmental conditions. This volume covers the specific environmental applications of these organisms and contains an introduction to the subject, detailed descriptions of methods and techniques and case studies. Written for non-specialists, this book will appeal to resource managers and consultants in the public and private sector who routinely work on coastal environmental problems. The book will also serve as a supplementary text for graduate students in many courses on environmental monitoring, ecological baseline studies and environmental science.