TY - CHAP AU - Xiangming Tang AU - Jianying Chao AU - Dan Chen AU - Keqiang Shao AU - Guang Gao ED - Marco Marcelli Y1 - 2012-03-23 PY - 2012 T1 - Organic-Aggregate-Attached Bacteria in Aquatic Ecosystems: Abundance, Diversity, Community Dynamics and Function N2 - How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean (Arthur C. Clarke). Life has been originated in the oceans, human health and activities depend from the oceans and the world life is modulated by marine and oceanic processes. From the micro-scale, like coastal processes, to macro-scale, the oceans, the seas and the marine life, play the main role to maintain the earth equilibrium, both from a physical and a chemical point of view. Since ancient times, the world's oceans discovery has brought to humanity development and wealth of knowledge, the metaphors of Ulysses and Jason, represent the cultural growth gained through the explorations and discoveries. The modern oceanographic research represents one of the last frontier of the knowledge of our planet, it depends on the oceans exploration and so it is strictly connected to the development of new technologies. Furthermore, other scientific and social disciplines can provide many fundamental inputs to complete the description of the entire ocean ecosystem. Such multidisciplinary approach will lead us to understand the better way to preserve our "Blue Planet": the Earth. BT - Oceanography SP - Ch. 10 UR - https://doi.org/10.5772/27288 DO - 10.5772/27288 SN - PB - IntechOpen CY - Rijeka Y2 - 2024-03-28 ER -