Physiological Plant Ecology

Since the first edition of this book appeared the field of plant physiology and ecology has advanced so far as to call for a complete revision of the material. To the extent that they could be accommodated in an introductory text, the requests and critical comments of users and reviewers of the original edition have been taken into account. The chapters have been rear ranged; a survey of the effects of the physical environmental fac tors radiation and heat, and the plants' responses to them, is giv en in Chapter 2, whereas the chemical factors are treated in the chapters on metabolism and the turnover of matter. The ecophysiology of tropical plants and of plants growing in arid re gions has been more strongly emphasized. The environmental influences affecting growth and development are mentioned occasionally, but are not discussed in such detail as those affect ing metabolism, for as a rule the former are treated extensively in textbooks of plant physiology. References to ecosystems have been omitted to permit a sharper focus upon physiological relationships. I hope that the book will continue to be useful in this new form. It is not intended as - nor could it be - a comprehensive textbook of plant ecology; it is one of many possible ways of presenting what is known in the field. Many readers of the first edition have asked for expansion of the reference list.