Includes bibliographical references (p. {238}-266) and indexes.

{1} Anaerobic environments : Causes and consequences of anaerobiosi s -- Anaerobic habitats through geological time -- Contemporary anae robic habitats. {2} Anaerobic prokaryotes: competition and syntroph y -- Anaerobic metabolism: fermentation -- Anaerobic metabolism: pho totrophy, respiration and methanogenesis -- Syntrophy -- The evoluti on of prokaryote energy metabolism. {3} Anaerobic eukaryotes: phago trophy and food chains -- The origin of eukaryotes -- Phylogeny of a naerobic eukaryotes -- Energy metabolism and oxygen toxicity -- Symb iosis with prokaryotes: intracellular syntrophy -- Anaerobic metazoa . {4} The structure of anaerobic communities : Spatial and temporal distributions of organisms and processes -- Anaerobic protozoan bio ta -- The role of phagotrophs in anaerobic communities. {5} Interac tions with the oxic world : Life at the oxic-anoxic boundary -- The biogeochemical significance of anaerobic life -- The ecological and evolutionary consequences of oxygen in the biosphere.