Tardigrada (Water Bears)

Encyclopedia of Inland Waters is a new 3-volume reference work, pulling together all the key information in one source from the leading publisher in the field. Inland aquatic habitats occur worldwide at all scales from marshes, swamps and temporary puddles, to ponds, lakes and inland seas and from streams and creeks to rolling rivers. Vital for biological diversity and ecosystem function and as resources for human life, commerce and leisure, inland waters are a vital component of life on Earth. The Encyclopedia of Inland Waters describes and explains all the basic features of the subject, from water chemistry and physics, to the biology of aquatic creatures and the complex function and balance of aquatic ecosystems of varying size and complexity. In the chapter here reported, tardigrades are considered in their various aspects: morphology and anatomy, classification, phylogeny and evolution, reproduction and development, ecology, zoogeography, methods. The chapter is illustrated with many original figures.