This new book on Rhodolith/Maërl Beds* has been much anticipated by the rhodolith research community. With over four years in the making, it is a volume tributed to Prof. Rafael Riosmena-Rodríguez, who dedicated 25 years particularly to the study of the taxonony of coralline algae and sadly passed away earlier this year. Prof. Riosmena-Rodríguez will be very much missed by the rhodolith research community and this book is an important tribute.
The book begins with the role of rhodolith/maërl beds in modern oceans, with chapters on natural history and biodiversity around maërl beds, rhodoliths as climatic archives, modern day threats of ocean acidification on maërl and economic importance. The role of rhodolith in historical oceans and the geological significance is explored by the following section, with a particular focus on the Mediterranean area as well as the North Atlantic sedimentary dynamics. The final part of the book covers the conservation status of rhodoliths globally and serves to be an important summary of current state of regional knowledge of rhodoliths in the major geographic areas.
“These marine beds occur worldwide, from the tropics to the poles, ranging in depth from intertidal to deep subtidal habitats and they are also represented in extensive fossil deposits.”
Overall, this is a much needed edition for marine biology libraries around the world and highly recommended for students of one of the four macrophyte dominated benthic communities. I made a blog post about attending the International Rhodolith Workshop in Granada and one of the key conclusions of the 2015 workshop in Costa Rica was that international recognition is needed for rhodolith habitats to ensure their protection. This book is an important step required to make this possible. It serves to be a useful and comprehensive introduction summarizing the multidisciplinary study of global rhodoliths/maërl beds.
*The term maerl originally refers to the branched growth form of Lemoine (1910) and the term rhodolith is sedimentalogical or genetic term for both the nodular and branched growth forms (Basso et. al, 2015).
Reference
Basso (2015) Monitoring deep Mediterranean rhodolith beds. Aquatic Conservation Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. 26:3. doi:10.1002/aqc.2586.
Lemoine (1910) Répartition et mode de vie du maërl (Lithothamnium calcareum) aux environs de Concarneau (Finistère). Annales de l’Institut Océanographique. 1: 1–29.
Riosmena-Rodríguez, R., Nelson, W., and Aguirre, J. (Editors) (2016) Rhodolith/Maërl Beds: A Global Perspective, Coastal Research Library 15, VIII, 368pp.DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-29315-8
