Seedling Ecology and Evolution

Cambridge University Press, 9/18/2008
EAN 9780521694667, ISBN10: 0521694663

Paperback, 536 pages, 24.6 x 18.9 x 2.6 cm
Language: English

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.

Foreword Peter Grubb
Preface Mary Allessio Leck, Robert L. Simpson and V. Thomas Parker
Part I. Introduction
1. Why seedlings? Mary Allessio Leck, Robert L. Simpson and V. Thomas Parker
Part II. Seedling Diversity
2. Seedling natural history Mary Allessio Leck and Heather A. Outred
3. Specialized seedling strategies I – seedlings in stressful environments José M. Facelli
4. Specialized seedling strategies II – orchids, bromeliads, carnivorous plants, and parasites Dennis F. Whigham, Melissa K. McCormick and John P. O'Neill
Part III. Seedling Morphology, Evolution, and Physiology
5. Embryo morphology and seedling evolution Karl J. Niklas
6. Regeneration ecology of early angiosperm seeds and seedlings – integrating inferences from extant basal lineages and fossils Taylor S. Feild
7. Physiological and morphological changes during early seedling growth – roles of phytohormones Elizabeth J. Farnsworth
8. Seedling ecophysiology – strategies toward achievement of positive net carbon balance Kaoru Kitajima, Jonathan A. Myers
9. The role of symbioses in seedling establishment and survival Thomas R. Horton and Marcel G. A. van der Heijden
Part IV. Life History Implications
10. The seedling as part of a plant's life history strategy Angela T. Moles and Michelle R. Leishman
11. Seedling recruitment and population ecology Ove Eriksson and Johan Ehrlén
12. Seedling communities Jon E. Keeley and Phillip J. van Mantgem
13. Spatial variation in seedling emergence and establishment – functional groups among and within habitats? Johannes Kollmann
Part V. Applications
14. Does seedling ecology matter for biological invasions? Laura A. Hyatt
15. The role of seedlings in the dynamics of dryland ecosystems – their response to and involvement in dryland heterogeneity, degradation, and restoration Bertrand Boeken
16. Anthropogenic disturbance in tropical forests – towards a functional understanding of seedling responses James W. Dalling and David F. R. P. Burslem
17. Seedling establishment in restored ecosystems Susan Galatowitsch
Part VI. Synthesis
18. The seedling in an ecological and evolutionary context V. Thomas Parker, Robert L. Simpson and Mary Allessio Leck
References
Index.

Pre-publication praise: '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