The Ecology of Trees in the Tropical Rain Forest (Cambridge Tropical Biology Series)
Cambridge University Press
Edition: Illustrated, 7/5/2001
EAN 9780521801836, ISBN10: 0521801834
Hardcover, 316 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.3 cm
Language: English
Our knowledge of the ecology of tropical rain-forest trees is limited, with detailed information available for perhaps only a few hundred of the many thousand of species that occur. Yet a good understanding of the trees is essential to unravelling the workings of the forest itself. This book aims to summarise contemporary understanding of the ecology of tropical rain-forest trees. The emphasis is on comparative ecology, an approach that can help to identify possible adaptive trends and evolutionary constraints and which may also lead to a workable ecological classification for tree species, conceptually simplifying the rain-forest community and making it more amenable to analysis.
Preface
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. The growing tree
3. Tree performance
4. Reproductive biology
5. Seeds and seedlings
6. Classificatory systems for tropical trees
Bibliography
Index.
Review of the hardback: 'This is an excellent book that does not restrict itself to a dry description of how tropical trees work. It bravely tackles the bigger issue of why different species of tropical tree adopt different solutions to complex environmental problems and looks for patterns that may have adaptive or evolutionary significance.' Times Higher Education Supplement