Dr Paul del Giorgio is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Quebec, Montreal, Canada.Professor Peter J. LeB. Williams BSc PhD DSc (Birm) is Professor of Marine Biogeochemistry at the University of Wales, Bangor, UK. His research spans the fields of marine chemistry, biogeochemistry and microbiology. His particular interests are the quantification of respiration in the marine plankton, its distribution within the various planktonic groups, the links with photosynthesis and the control of respiration rates.

• 1. Respiration in aquatic ecosystems: history and background ; 2. Ecophysiology of microbial respiration ; 3. Respiration in aquatic photolithotrophs ; 4. Respiration in aquatic protists ; 5. Zooplankton respiration ; 6. Respiration in wetland ecosystems ; 7. Respiration in lakes ; 8. Estuarine respiration: an overview of benthic, pelagic and whole system respiration ; 9. Respiration and its measurement in surface marine waters ; 10. Respiration in the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones of the ocean ; 11. Respiration in coastal benthic communities ; 12. Suboxic respiration in the oceanic water column ; 13. Incorporating plankton respiration in models of aquatic ecosystem function ; 14. The global significance of respiration in aquatic ecosystems: from single cells to the biosphere

Overall, Respiration in Aquatic Ecosystems is an inspiration for those in the field to expand their own studies, to students to find out more about the specific role of respiration in global carbon fluxes and for scientists, such as myself, who have not previously considered the community and global implications of respiratory measurements.