Diatoms are an important element of many polar marine microbial communities and particularly abundant in Antarctic lakes. However, few comprehensive studies, such as the study presented in this volume are available on Antarctic communities.

The diatom floras encountered in surface sediment samples from 33 lakes of the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica are presented. 67 distinct diatom species were identified in these sediments. They include cosmopolitan, Southern Ocean, endemic Antarctic and new diatoms. Each species encountered is described and illustrated; autecological information on the species is included where possible. Epilimnion water chemistry of the lakes sampled was determined to investigate their influence on diatom distribution. The studied lakes span a very large range of salinities from 0.5 to 165 permil.
The authors show that salinity seems to have a strong influence on the observed diatom taxa.

Nowadays, when the interest of biologists turn more and more towards the living creatures of the extreme environments, publications like this one, are of great importance. This - as accustomed from the series Bibliotheca Diatomologica - high-level edition, deals with the diatoms of the Antarctic saline lakes. The authors surveyed the sediment surface of | 33 lakes. The accurate location of these lakes is indicated on an excellent map. Parallel with the sampling, the chemical parameters of the lakes were measured, too and this way the influence of these environmental variables on the diatom flora can be followed. The water chemistry data and the diatom distribution are related by the help of canonical correspondence analysis. The volume contains 3 figures, 2 tables, 1 appendix and 9 plates. In the main chapter a morphological characterisation of 67 species is shown, including description of two new species for the science. The distribution of these taxa is shown by an exquisite table, while the identification of them is made easier by the 9 plates, which contain EM-micrographs, too. About the ecology and distribution of diatoms a detailed description is available in every case. This book is recommendable for everybody, who is concerning with the ecological demands of diatoms or with the diatoms of extreme environments, but it is a useful and enjoyable lecture for the specialists of other spheres among the algological sciences.

K. SZABO

Acta Botanica Hungarica 43 (1-2) 2001, p. 225