Initiated in the first half of the 19th century, investigationsof calcareous algae flourished after the Second World War,in connection with the intensification of oil exploration incarbonate reservoirs. This field of research immediatelyprovided a new micropaleontological tool for stratigraphicand paleoecological characterization of sedimentary strata.When a representative community working on fossil cal-careous algae had become established by the 1970s and1980s, such investigations reached a peak. This communitygathered at specialized international meetings, where thetop results were shared. The late Professor Erik Flu¨gel wasthe one who organized the first international symposium onfossil algae in Erlangen in 1975. Eric Flu¨gel was wellknown in the international scientific community for hisstudies on carbonate rocks, especially on fossil calcareousalgae. More than that, he was widely appreciated for hisexceptional mentoring qualities, from which numerousgenerations of students in this field benefited. At Erlangen,he founded the carbonate microfacies and calcareous algaeschool; in 1979 he initiated the journal Facies, currently oneof the most prominent publications in the field. As a sign ofour deep appreciation, we dedicate this volume to hismemory.The symposium organized in Erlangen represented thestart of a quadrennial series of international reunions thatsuccessively took place in Paris (1979), Golden, Colorado(1983), Cardiff (1987), Capri (1991), Ankara (1995),Nanjing (1999), Granada (2003), Zagreb (2007), andCluj-Napoca (2011). These scientific meetings encouragedthe development of the study of calcareous algae, as well asinternational collaborations in the field. Accordingly, theInternational Fossil Algae Association (IFAA) decided toinitiate an additional conference series, timed in-betweenthe international meetings. The latter were defined as‘‘regional meetings’’, being organized as fieldwork-basedworkshops. Nevertheless, they always had an internationalcharacter, from the participants and topic point of view.The first regional IFAA symposium took place in Granada(1989), followed by the ones in Munich-Vienna (1993),Krakow (1997), Cluj-Napoca (2001), Ferrara (2005), andMilan (2009). In the last decades, the proceedings of theseinternational and regional symposia summed up the state ofthe art in calcareous algae research. We hope that thecurrent issue of Facies will continue this trend.The current volume gathers some of the presentationsgiven at the 10th International Symposium on Fossil Algae(Cluj-Napoca, September 2011), as well as some otherrecent results in the study of calcareous algae. The con-tributions cover a wide range of topics, from the study ofsome end-products of cyanobacteria and calcimicrobes tostudies of red and dasycladalean green algae.Basso et al. (2013) describe in their contribution thepresent-day formation of microbialites containing cyano-bacteria, bacteria, and microalgae colonies in southern Sinai(Egypt). Based on macroscopic morphology, texture, anddegree of lithification, four categories of microbialites wererecognized. Their presence in the area is considered to resultfrom the combination of local sedimentary dynamics andaccommodation space in a peritidal tropical environmentwith high variations of temperature and salinity.Various fossil microbialites associated with micro-encr-ustersaredescribedbyPles¸ etal.(2013)fromUpperJurassiclimestones in the Southern Carpathians (Romania). Thedepositsmainlyconsistofmassifreeflimestonesincludingavariety of microbialites associated with micro-encrusters.The high abundance of dense micrite, the presence of