Dinoflagellate life cycles, strategy and diversity: Key for future research

Within dinoflagellate research the fields of geology and biology come together in studies of the resting cysts. Studies of this stage and life-cycle transitions can tie together the geological fossil record of dinoflagellates and the ecology of living dinoflagellates. This review focuses on possible new research areas within ploidy shifts in dinoflagellate life ycles, the role of the cyst in benthic-pelagic coupling, the cyst as the link between the past and present, the role of cysts in long-term survival and preservation of cysts and cyst-wall chemistry.Postprin