Section 1: Introduction to the Marine Environment 1. Introduction to the Marine Environment from a Geological Perspective Paula D. Pratolongo, Jerónimo Pan and Diana G. Cuadrado 2. Introduction to the Marine Environment from Physical and Chemical Perspectives Paula D. Pratolongo and Jerónimo Pan Section 2: Functional Biodiversity of Marine Organisms 3. Marine Phytoplankton Diversity and Ecology Jerónimo Pan 4. Planktonic Metabolism and Primary Production in the Oceans Aurore Regaudie-de-Gioux and Aurea M. Ciotti 5. Microzooplankton: Functionally Diverse Protists in the Pelagic Realm María Celeste López-Abbate 6. Zooplankton: The Ocean Drifters Danilo Luis Calliari Cuadro, Anabela Anahí Berasategui and María Clara Menéndez 7. Gelatinous Zooplankton Miodeli Nogueira Júnior, Everton Giachini Tosetto, Letícia Cazarin Baldoni, Sofia Dutto, Mitsuko Hidaka, Dhugal J. Lindsay and Renato Mitsuo Nagata 8. Soft-bottom Marine Benthos Jerónimo Pan and Paula D. Pratolongo 9. Salt Marshes and Mangroves: Tidal Saline Wetlands Dominated by Vascular Plants Paula D. Pratolongo 10. Marine Hard Substrate Communities Jorge L. Gutiérrez, Sally D. Hacker, Martin A. Coombes, Christian Wild, Guilherme H. Pereira-Filho and M. Gabriela Palomo 11. Fish Ecology Hannes Baumann 12. Marine Megafauna: Sea Turtles, Seabirds and Marine Mammals Rocío Mariano Jelicich, Paula Berón, Sofía Copello, Natalia A. Dellabianca, Germán García, Vanessa Labrada-Martagón, M. Natalia Paso Viola, Jesica A. Paz, Luciana Riccialdelli, Analía San Martin, Juan Pablo Seco Pon, Mónica A. Torres and Marco Favero Section 3: Topics of Current Interest 13. Thermal Plasticity in Marine Organisms Santiago Salinas and Nishad Jayasundara 14. Climate Variability and Change, their Impacts on Marine Life and Ecosystems Jerónimo Pan and Reinaldo A. Maenza