Seedling Ecology and Evolution

£62.95

Seedling Ecology and Evolution Author: Format: Paperback First Published: Published By: Cambridge University Press
string(3) "536"
Pages: 536 Illustrations and other contents: 15 Tables, unspecified; 13 Halftones, unspecified; 60 Line drawings, unspecified ISBN: 9780521694667 Category:

Seedlings are highly sensitive to their environment. After seeds, they typically suffer the highest mortality of any life history stage. This book provides a comprehensive exploration of the seedling stage of the plant life cycle. It considers the importance of seedlings in plant communities; environmental factors with special impact on seedlings; the morphological and physiological diversity of seedlings including mycorrhizae; the relationship of the seedling with other life stages; seedling evolution; and seedlings in human altered ecosystems, including deserts, tropical rainforests, and habitat restoration projects. The diversity of seedlings is portrayed by including specialised groups like orchids, bromeliads, and parasitic and carnivorous plants. Discussions of physiology, morphology, evolution and ecology are brought together to focus on how and why seedlings are successful. This important text sets the stage for future research and is valuable to graduate students and researchers in plant ecology, botany, agriculture and conservation.

Weight1.2 kg
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'I commend it strongly to all those who seek thoughtful up-to-date reviews of the wide range of inter-connected topics that constitute seedling ecology and ecophysiology.' Peter Grubb, University of Cambridge 'The editors have succeeded well in creating an account with a relatively seamless progression of concepts and a minimum of overlap and omission, which is not easy in a collection of chapters by different authors. They are also to be congratulated on bringing together such a wide variety of approaches, from evolution and physiology to ecology and conservation, and moulding them into such a coherent whole.' Bulletin of the British Ecological Society 'Each chapter is authoritative, accurate and excellently well-illustrated with line diagrams and photographs some of which are in colour. The value of each chapter is increased by the inclusion of a final set of conclusions or its own synthesis … both a valuable work of reference and an entry level volume for undergraduate students and generalist readers … a magnificent achievement worthy of a place on the book shelves of both natural and applied biologists.' Biologist 'Seedling Ecology and Evolution illustrates questions that remain unresolved and brings us up-to-date on current thinking. … The book does an amazing job … of amassing and synthesizing, for the first time, our knowledge of the lives of seedlings, and it provides a great jumping-off point for future seedling research.' BioScience 'This book provides a comprehensive review of the interconnected topics that constitute seedling ecology and ecophysiology, focusing on how and why seedlings are successful.' www.cabi.org

Author Biography

Mary Allessio Leck is Emeritus Professor of Biology at Rider University, New Jersey, where she has taught for 31 years. Her research is in wetland seed germination ecology. V. Thomas Parker is Professor of Biology at San Francisco State University. His research interest is in community ecology and ecological evolution. Robert L. Simpson is Professor of Biology and Environmental Science at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. His research focuses on freshwater wetlands.