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In spite of international agreements at the political level not much has changed since the late 1980s in terms of reducing the speed of destruction of original tropical environments.
However, since the publication of the first edition ten years ago, international research efforts in physiological ecology of plants in the tropics has increased enormously in quantity and quality. In some fields advances were more substantial than in others. New approaches came up in remote sensing and at the other end of the scope in some areas molecular biology was particularly developed regarding ecological performance of tropical plants, e.g. in understanding the adaptation of resurrection plants to the extreme habitat of inselbergs.
The wealth of new information made it necessary to break large chapters down into smaller ones. Tropical forests which occupy about half of the entire volume of the book were now arranged in 5 chapters covering structure and function under the influence of environmental cues and including epiphytes and mangroves as part of the tropical forest complex. Savannas were now treated in two chapters. Coastal salinas have been combined with a new section on the Brazilian restingas in a chapter on coastal sand plains.
List of contents
Large-Scale Sensing and Diagnosis in Relation to the Tropical Environment.- Tropical Forests. I. Physiognomy and Functional Structure.- Tropical Forests. II. Ecophysiological Responses to Light.- Tropical Forests. III. Ecophysiological Responses to Drought.- Tropical Forests. IV. Lianas, Hemi-Epiphytes, Epiphytes and Mistletoes.- Tropical Forests. V. Mangroves.- Ecosystems of Coastal Sand Plains.- Savannas. I. Physiognomy, Terminology and Ecotones: Why Do Savannas Exist?.- Savannas. II. The Environmental FactorsWater,Mineral Nutrients and Fire.- Inselbergs.- Páramos.
About the author
Ulrich Lüttge lehrte bis zum Jahr 2004 als Ordinarius am Institut für Botanik der Technischen Universität Darmstadt. Ulrich Lüttges Arbeitsgruppe beschäftigt sich u.a mit Membranphysiologie und -biochemie, circadianer Rhythmik von Photosyntheseprozessen sowie dem antioxidativen Verteidigungssystem der Pflanze.
Summary
Since the publication of the first edition of this book ten years ago, international research efforts in physiological ecology of plants in the tropics has increased enormously in quantity and quality. New approaches came up in remote sensing and at the other end of the scope in some areas molecular biology was particularly developed regarding ecological performance of tropical plants, e.g. in understanding the adaptation of resurrection plants to the extreme habitat of inselbergs. In this fully revised and updated second edition the wealth of new information made it necessary to break large chapters down into smaller ones. Tropical forests which occupy about half of the entire volume of the book are now arranged in five chapters covering structure and function under the influence of environmental cues and including epiphytes and mangroves as part of the tropical forest complex. Savannas are now treated in two chapters. Coastal salinas have been combined with a new section on the Brazilian restingas in a chapter on coastal sand plains.
