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The Flowering of Australia's Rainforests provides a comprehensive introduction to the pollination ecology, evolution and conservation of Australian rainforest plants, with particular emphasis on subtropical rainforests and their associated pollinators. This significantly expanded second edition includes new information on the impact of climate change, fire, fragmentation and invasive species. Rainforests continue to be a focus of global conservation concern, not only from threats to biodiversity in general, but to pollinators specifically. Within Australia, this has been emphasised by recent cataclysmic fire impacts, ongoing extreme drought events, and the wider consideration of climate change. This second edition strengthens coverage of these issues beyond that of the first edition. The Flowering of Australia's Rainforests makes timely contributions to our understanding of the nature and function of the world's pollinator fauna, plant-reproduction dependencies, and the evolutionary pathway that has brought them to their current state and function. Illustrated with 150 colour plates of major species and rainforest formations, this reference work will be of value to ecologists and field naturalists, botanists, conservation biologists, ecosystem managers and community groups involved in habitat restoration.

Rare, unique and irreplaceable – precious native rainforests occupy a precariously small part of Australia while retaining a remarkable level of both biological and chemical diversity unrivalled by any other ecosystem. Australia's ancient history and traditions are intimately intertwined with the rainforest plants that humans have utilised as both food and medicine. Phytochemistry of Australia's Tropical Rainforest is a record of this history and details how our understanding of these plants has led to the discovery of anaesthetics, analgesics, steroids, antimalarials and more. It provides an insight into the habitat, ecology and family associations of hundreds of species and explores their future therapeutic potential, alongside phytochemical studies of the ancient plant lineages. Toxicological evaluations of important poisonous plants are also included. Rainforests provide shelter for unique flora and fauna that are counted among the rarest species on Earth, many of which are illustrated in this book. This comprehensive work is an essential reference for phytochemists, ethnobotanists and those with an interest in rainforests and their medicinal and botanical potential.

Tropical dry forests (TDFs) constitute one of the most dominant forests, accounting for approximately 45% of all tropical forests. These forests are distributed over an extensive geographical range, spanning large areas of Africa, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific. TDFs occur in severe and extremely variable climate characterized by low annual rainfall and 5-6 months of the dry period within the annual cycle, and nutrient-poor soil. Due to extreme drought conditions, TDFs exhibit deciduousness and various other adaptative features (viz., fire resistance, desiccation tolerance, herbivore defence, high root:shoot ratio, longer seed viability) to establish in the severe environmental conditions, which makes these forests exceptionally critical. These forests are one of the most productive with high biodiversity, but unfortunately, due to persistent anthropogenic pressures in terms of burning, mining, indiscriminate forest cutting, lopping, and increased extraction of non-wood forest products, these forest communities have become one of the most endangered ecosystems. Disturbances in TDFs have resulted in fragmentation and ecosystem conversion, and therefore, these forests exhibit changes in their biomass and productivity. Anthropogenic pressure is rapidly becoming a growing concern globally due to its negative impacts on the structure and composition of the vegetation. In addition, due to their higher net primary productivity, these forests have a considerable effect on the global carbon cycle. Uncontrolled harvesting for gaining temporal benefits is a major cause of forest destruction and deforestation which may lead to major loss. Deforestation and clearing of forests have resulted in soil erosion, soil degradation and loss of biodiversity, socio-economic damages to food components, water and health, as well as the loss of people's cultural ethnicity. In order to assess the conservation status of TDFs, information is required on its distribution pattern, climate, structural and functional traits of the vegetation, phenology, strategies against drought, nutrient deficiency, and disturbances. This book discusses various issues, obstacles and opportunities for protection, regeneration and management of TDFs worldwide, as well as information gaps in the areas referred to above, which may be of critical significance in adapting and mitigating responses to the current climate change scenario. The book is intended to help in collection of detailed knowledge and to address the concerns from environmental scientists, forestry experts, planners, policymakers and the general public. Starting with a description of plant composition of worldwide TDFs, the book evaluates plant diversity, biomass dynamics, carbon storage, late history and current status of anthropogenic disturbances, distribution pattern of lichen communities, relevance of tree crown architecture, effects of forestry management practices, degradation and traditional land-use practices, impact of changing environment on carbon dynamics, estimating ecosystem services using a geospatial approach, productivity and carbon accumulation, habitat heterogeneity and its impact on organic matter, nutrient pool and nitrogen mineralization, phosphorus and litter decomposability traits. For re-development of TDFs, the book describes improved low-input tree establishment methods, impact of drought and plant mechanisms to mitigate drought stress, importance of serotiny related to delayed seed dispersal, and foraging efficiency of fine roots in relation to carbon dynamics in a changing environment.

Ex situ preservation of germplasm for higher plant species has been accom­ plished using either seeds or clones, but storage of these under typical condi­ tions does not provide the extreme longevities that are needed to minimize risk of loss. Costs of maintenance and regeneration of stocks are also high. Systems that provide virtually indefinite storage should supplement existing methods and it is within this context that cryopreservation is presented. The use of low temperature preservation was initially more a concern of medicine and animal breeding, and was expanded to plants in the 1970s. Sur­ vival after cryogenic exposure has now been demonstrated for diverse plant groups including algae, bryophytes, fungi and higher plants. If survival is com­ monplace, then the eventual application is a cryopreservation system, whereby cells, tissues and organs are held indefinitely for use, often in the unforeseen future. The increasing interest and capabilities for application could not haveoccurred at a more opportune time since expanding human populations have placed unprecedented pressures on plant diversity. This book emphasizes cry­ opreservation of higher plants and was initially driven by the concern for loss of diversity in crops and the recognized need that this diversity would be essential for continued improvement of the many plants used by society for food, health and shelter. The interest in cryopreservation has been expanded by conservationists and their concerns for retaining, as much as possible, the diversity of natural populations. The need for cryopreservation, thus, is well established.

COMPARATIVE EMBRYOLOGY OF ANGIOSPERMS is a review of the developmental processes leading to sexual reproduction in flowering plants. On the basis of embryological data and certain evidences from other areas of study, it lays special emphasis on the relationship among and within the families and orders of angiosperms. Occasionally, inaccuracies in observation and interpretation are pointed out, alternative interpretations offered, gaps in our knowledge highlighted, and prospects outlined. The text is documented with 36 tables, 376 figures, and about 5000 literature citations, which contribute to making this book comprehensive. Besides students and research workers interested in angiosperm embyology, taxonomists, plant breeders, agriculturists, and horticulturists will also find much useful information in this treatise.

This book is not concerned directly with wood identification, although ability to recognize the wood features discussed in the preceding chapters is essential for work in wood identification. The present chapter is concerned with how wood characters have been and can be used in taxonomic and phylogenetic studies - and also which wood characters are likely or not likely to be useful, in general. In wood identification, a match of an unknown wood with known woods is usually attempted. In systematic application of wood data, similari­ ties and differences among species, genera, and families are assessed ( usually, today, in terms of a cladistic analysis). One should be especially cautious in interpreting relation between taxa the woods of which have attained similar evolutionary levels. This possibility is a very real one, because so many wood features have evolved similarly in phylads that are not closely related to each other. For example, storied wood structure has been attained in a number of phylads independently. By itself storied wood structure cannot be used as an indicator of relationship between two families, but a cladogram ( using a range of phyletically reliable features) might demoo­ strate that two families acquired storied structure before divergence ( a synapo­ morphy) and thereby a strong case for relationship of the two families is made.

Diagnostically illustrated with light and scanning electron micrographs, Comparative Wood Anatomy lucidly introduces dicotyledon wood in terms of cell types and their variations, pertinent literature, taxonomic distribution of features, terminology, and methods for preparation. Two final chapters present syntheses: taxonomic achievements of wood studies; and the evolutionary relationship between structure, physiological function, and ecology. This detailed survey serves a wide range of interests: identification, systematics, evolution and physiology.

A blend of history, science, philosophy, and environmentalism, The Tree is an engaging and elegant look at the life of the tree and what modern research tells us about their future.There are redwoods in California that were ancient by the time Columbus first landed, and pines still alive that germinated around the time humans invented writing. There are Douglas firs as tall as skyscrapers, and a banyan tree in Calcutta as big as a football field. From the tallest to the smallest, trees inspire wonder in all of us, and in The Tree, Colin Tudge travels around the world—throughout the United States, the Costa Rican rain forest, Panama and Brazil, India, New Zealand, China, and most of Europe—bringing to life stories and facts about the trees around us: how they grow old, how they eat and reproduce, how they talk to one another (and they do), and why they came to exist in the first place. He considers the pitfalls of being tall; the things that trees produce, from nuts and rubber to wood; and even the complicated debt that we as humans owe them. Tudge takes us to the Amazon in flood, when the water is deep enough to submerge the forest entirely and fish feed on fruit while river dolphins race through the canopy. He explains the “memory” of a tree: how those that have been shaken by wind grow thicker and sturdier, while those attacked by pests grow smaller leaves the following year; and reveals how it is that the same trees found in the United States are also native to China (but not Europe). From tiny saplings to centuries-old redwoods and desert palms, from the backyards of the American heartland to the rain forests of the Amazon and the bamboo forests, Colin Tudge takes the reader on a journey through history and illuminates our ever-present but often ignored companions.

The Western Australian jarrah forest is unique, contammg some of the most beautiful flora in the world, more than 100 species of birds and some 50 mammals indigenous to this State. This book'The Jarrah Forest - A Complex Mediterranean Ecosystem'is a collection of scholarly essays on every known aspect of the northern part of the jarrah forest extending from south of Collie to the Avon River. All of the work has been researched by members of tertiary institutions, the private sector and government instrumentalities and was prepared expressly for this book. In the list of contributors are the names of many Western Australians who are in the forefront of their particular field. The book will be a very important reference work for senior secondary schools and tertiary institutions in Western Australia for many years to come. Additionally, it will have wide appeal to all interested in forestry management, both in Australia and overseas. I should like to express my appreciation for the efforts of all those involved in the conception and planning of this most valuable book. Perth, August 1988 Peter Dowding LL.B. M.L.A.

Wood as found in trees and bushes was of primary importance to ancient humans in their struggle to control their environment. Subsequent evolution through the Bronze and Iron Ages up to our present technologically advanced society has hardly diminished the importance of wood. Today, its role as a source of paper products, furniture, building materials, and fuel is still of major significance. Wood consists of a mixture of polymers, often referred to as lignocellulose. The cellulose micro fibrils consist of an immensely strong, linear polymer of glucose. They are associated with smaller, more complex polymers composed of various sugars called hemicelluloses. These polysaccharides are embedded in an amorphous phenylpropane polymer, lignin, creating a remarkably strong com­ posite structure, the lignocellulosic cell wall. Wood also contains materials that are largely extraneous to this lignocellulosic cell wall. These extracellular substances can range from less than 1070 to about 35% of the dry weight of the wood, but the usual range is 2% -10%. Among these components are the mineral constituents, salts of calcium, potassium, sodium, and other metals, particularly those present in the soil where the tree is growing. Some of the extraneous components of wood are too insoluble to be ex­ tracted by inert solvents and remain to give extractive-free wood its color; very often these are high-molecular-weight polyphenolics.

The conference'Combating Desertification with Plants'was held in Beer Sheva, Israel, from November 2-5, 1999, and was attended by 70 participants from 30 countries and/or international organisations. Desertification - the degradation of soils in drylands - is a phenomenon occurring in scores of countries around the globe. The number of people (in semiarid regions) affected by the steady decline in the productivity of their lands is in the hundred millions. The measures required to halt and reverse the process of desertification fall into many categories - policy, institutional, sociological-anthropological, and technical. Although technical'solutions'are not currently in vogue, the conference organizers felt that perhaps the pendulum had swung too far in the direction of'participatory approaches.'Hence IPALAC - The International Program for Arid Land Crops - whose function is to serve as a catalyst for optimizing the contribution of plant germplasm to sustainable development in desertification-prone regions - felt the time was opportune for providing a platform for projects where the'plant-driven'approach to development finds expression. Some 45 papers were delivered at the conference, falling into the categories of this volume: Overview, Potential Germplasm for Arid Lands, Introduction, Domestication and Dissemination of Arid Land Plants, Land Rehabilitation, and Mechanisms of Plant Transfer. The conference was funded by UNESCO (Division of Ecological Sciences), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, and MASHAV, Israel's Center for International Development Cooperation.

Plant molecular biology has produced an ever-increasing flood of data about genes and genomes. Evolutionary biology and systematics provides the context for synthesizing this information. This book brings together contributions from evolutionary biologists, systematists, developmental geneticists, biochemists, and others working on diverse aspects of plant biology whose work touches to varying degrees on plant molecular evolution. The book is organized in three parts, the first of which introduces broad topics in evolutionary biology and summarizes advances in plant molecular phylogenetics, with emphasis on model plant systems. The second segment presents a series of case studies of gene family evolution, while the third gives overviews of the evolution of important plant processes such as disease resistance, nodulation, hybridization, transposable elements and genome evolution, and polyploidy.

Fossils document the existence of trees and wood-associated organisms from almost 400 million years ago, and today there are between 400,000 and 1 million wood-inhabiting species in the world. This is the first book to synthesise the natural history and conservation needs of wood-inhabiting organisms. Presenting a thorough introduction to biodiversity in decaying wood, the book studies the rich diversity of fungi, insects and vertebrates that depend upon dead wood. It describes the functional diversity of these organisms and their specific habitat requirements in terms of host trees, decay phases, tree dimensions, microhabitats and the surrounding environment. Recognising the threats posed by timber extraction and forest management, the authors also present management options for protecting and maintaining the diversity of these species in forests as well as in agricultural landscapes and urban parks.

he „Atlas of Woody Plant Stems“ is a com- Naturally, it was impossible to cover completely the Tprehensively illustrated book with short, in- enormous variability of plant life forms. We have formative texts. We chose this layout because plant tried, however, to illustrate the main principles and anatomy and morphology can only be conveyed by features. Many decades of collection and prepa- detailed pictures. In addition, a vivid presentation tion provided the basis for this book. should attract a broader public, not only the s- cialist. We hope that the combination of anatomy Fritz Schweingruber would like to thank the Swiss and morphology will create interest and curiosity. Federal Research Institute WSL, that offered him Amateurs will enjoy the wide range of pictures; hospitality after his retirement. The authors thank all interested readers will be caught by particular chap- the students and colleagues that have, for decades, ters; specialists will delve into aspects and photo- collected and prepared samples, and who helped graphs that may have never been presented before; with the English translations. Thanks to John Kirby teachers may use the pictures for illustrations in who made the fnal English editing. classes with students.

The strength of this book is that it is written by someone who has spent a lifetime devoted to the science of economic botany. The author has brought together his vast experience in the field in Africa with his studies of arid land plants at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The result is an informative and reliable text that covers a vast range of topics. It is also firmly based upon the author's research and interest in plant taxonomy and therefore fully acknowledges the importance of correct naming and classification in the field of science of economic botany. The coverage is of economic botany in its broadest sense. I was delighted to find such topics as ecophysiology, plant breeding, the environment and conservation are included in the text. This gives the book a much more comprehensive coverage than most other texts on the subject. I was also glad to see that the book covers the use of various organisms that are no longer considered part of the plant kingdom such as various species of fungi and algae. It is indeed a broad ranging book that will be of use to many people interested in the uses of plants and fungi. Economic botany is once again being given more prominence as a discipline because of its enormous relevance to both conservation and sustainable development. Those people involved in those topics shOUld find this a most useful resource.

The Ecology of Nusa Tenggara and Maluku is a comprehensive ecological survey of a series ecologically diverse islands in the Pacific.It contains extensive baseline data on the region's people, ecosystems, biodiversity and land use, and discusses these in a historical as well as a developmental context. It also provides guidelines for scientific researchers on worthwhile ecological and socio-economic research projects.This region is the most diverse in Indonesia. Its myriad islands range from small atolls to active volcanic islands rising 3,500 meters above sea level. Each province has extensive coastlines—only 10 percent of the province of Maluku is land. The seas include shallow continental shelves and some of the deepest sea basins in the world. The complexity and vulnerability of these islands mean that development and environment are inextricably linked. If this is not understood and acted upon, there is no possibility for the ecologically sustainable development of Nusa Tenggara and Maluku.