About this book
Today global changes and human activities affect plants within each of the world's ecosystems. Plant Ecology in a Changing World provides a foundation for understanding how the changes underway impact structure and function in the world's major biomes, while also describing how evolution has resulted in the biochemical, physiological, structural, and life history features that shaped plants and their capacities to persist across widely contrasting environments. This textbook is designed for undergraduate students and as well to serve as a resource for climate change and ecosystem scientists seeking a foundation on the principles of plant ecology and the basis of plant adaptations. While many textbooks focus primarily on natural ecosystems, Plant Ecology in a Changing World also recognizes the ecological importance of invasive, managed, and urban ecosystems and of the ways in which ecosystems are already being impacted by both human activities and a warming planet.
Key features:
- Replete with 450+ figures that help to elucidate concepts and charts to clearly present key data
- Boxes within chapters allow those who wish to delve into more advanced aspects of topics and of those key methodological approaches used to quantify processes
- Highlights of key plant ecologists and of their contributions
- Each chapter concludes with a bulleted summary, enabling students to recap the key points of the chapter
- Each chapter comes with both a list of references, as well as with suggested readings, allowing the student to expand their knowledge on a particular topic
Contents
Part I: The World as We See it Today
1. Evolution, Plant Ecology, and Climate
2. Biomes and Climate Relationships
3. Arid Land Biomes
4. Grasslands
5. Rainforests
6. Temperate Forest Biomes
7. Subalpine and Boreal Forest Biomes
8. Tundra Biomes
Part II: Ecophysiology and Principles of Plant Adaptation
9. Microclimate - The Physical Environment Experienced by Plants
10. Water Relations are Fundamental to Sustaining Plant Life
11. Plants Exchange Energy with Their Environment
12. Plants Respond to Water Deficits
13. Plants Acquire Carbon and Energy Through Photosynthesis
14. C4 and CAM are Novel Forms of Photosynthesis
15. The Environment Influences Photosynthesis
16. Plants Acquire Nutrients Via Roots and Microbes
Part III: Resource Utilization, Plant Function, and Traits
17. Plant Life History is a Matter of Timing
18. Growth, Carbon Allocation, and Resource Storage
19. Canopy Structure
20. Trait-based Ecology and Trait Economic Spectra
21. Plant Defenses Against Biotic Stress
22. Canopy to Global Scale Net Primary Productivity
Part IV: Plants in a Changing World
23. Global Change is Not Just Climate Change: Our Current Environmental Challenges
24. Invasive Species Impact Ecosystems
25. Warming Impacts Plants: Phenology, Thermotolerance, and Fires
26. Today’s World of Land-use Change, Managed Ecosystems, and Restoring Plant Communities
27. Urban Ecosystems are Where We Live
Glossary
Index
Customer Reviews
Biography
James Ehleringer is a Distinguished Professor of Biology at the University of Utah. Throughout his career, Jim’s research has focused on the ecology and ecophysiology of plants in arid, semi-arid, and forest ecosystems. His contributions have included photosynthesis, water relations, and stable isotopes. Jim’s focus on stable isotopes has revealed the utility of this measurement as a natural recorder and tracer in both plants and animals on a spatial and temporal basis for improving our understanding of processes ranging from physiological through global scales.
Russell Monson is Professor Emeritus of Distinction in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado. Russ’ research has focused on the evolutionary ecology of C4 photosynthesis, the nitrogen cycle in alpine ecosystems, carbon cycling in forest ecosystems, the reconstruction of climate patterns using tree ring stable isotopes, and the biochemistry and ecology of plant volatile compounds. Russ recently retired from a second career, serving as Louise Foucar Marshall Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Laboratory for Tree Ring Research at the University of Arizona.
