EDITORIAL INFORMATION

This monograph, prepared by leading scientists under the aegis of the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) and UNESCO, brings together in one volume a wealth of information - all the oceanographer needs to measure and identify pigments as well as to select the most appropiate methods and ensure the best analytical quality control. The book reviews chlorophylls and cartenoids, and gives background to pigments and pigments processes.

(Extracted from the back cover).

GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

-Preface.

-Contents.

-Contributors.

-Acknowledgements.

-Part I. Literature Reviews: Background to Modern Pigment Oceanography.

-Part II. Experimental Results of SCOR Working Group 78 Workshops.

-Part III. Guidelines for HPLC Systems, Sampling and Selecting Methods for Pigments.

-Part IV. Data for the Identification of 47 Key Phytoplankton Pigments.

-Part V. Appendices.

-Index.

OUR REVIEW

This monograph is divided into five parts, including the appendices. The articles deal with different aspects related to the pigments due to the phytoplankton, an important sector of oceanographic studies.

The importance of an adequate understanding of the processes that affect the marine phytoplankton has doubled the efforts with respect to their study and analysis lately. This book will help oceanographers to measure and identify the pigments, providing a new, modern methodology to ensure the accuracy and precision of these studies. The possibility of a climatic change that could affect the phytoplankton, and with it the global and marine ecology, provides the necessary incentives to continue with the research at a great scale that this work illustrates and promotes.