MARINE BOTANY AND ECOLOGY AT STAZIONE ZOOLOGICA

¹ Marine Botany Laboratory, Stazione Zoologica, 80121 Naples, Italy

For 108 years marine botany research has been an important component of the research conducted at the Stazione Zoologica of Naples. The first researchers at the Naples Institute were German guests who proceeded with descriptive ecological and taxonomic studies and provided a foundation for the later physiological, cytological, life cycle, and biochemical studies conducted at the Stazione. During a major period (47 yrs.) Prof. G. Funk contributed ecological work giving the botanical research at Naples a continuity which extended into the late 50's. From 1960 onwards, the marine botany laboratory assumed a different direction and recently has returned to a physiological-ecological orientation. The lasting impact of marine botany has been the contribution of an ecological dimension from which other studies grew and found support.