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Often growing far above the ground, "air plants" (or epiphytes) defy many of our common perceptions about plants. The majority use their roots only for attachment in the crowns of larger, usually woody plants-or to objects such as rocks and buildings-and derive moisture and nutrients from the atmosphere and by collecting falling debris. Only the mistletoes are true parasites. Epiphytes are not anomalies and there are approximately 28,000 species-about 10 percent of the higher or vascular plants-that grow this way. Many popular houseplants, including numerous aroids, bromeliads, ferns, and orchids, rank among the most familiar examples. In Air Plants, David H. Benzing takes a reader on a tour...
Often growing far above the ground, "air plants" (or epiphytes) defy many of our common perceptions about plants. The majority use their roots only for attachment in the crowns of larger, usually woody plants—or to objects such as rocks and buildings—and derive moisture and nutrients from the atmosphere and by collecting falling debris. Only the mistletoes are true parasites. Epiphytes are not anomalies and there are approximately 28,000 species—about 10 percent of the higher or vascular plants—that grow this way. Many popular houseplants, including numerous aroids, bromeliads, ferns, and orchids, rank among the most familiar examples. In Air Plants, David H. Benzing takes a reader o...
This synthesis of the growing body of information from research on epiphytes and their relations with other tropical biota provides a comprehensive overview of basic functions, life history, evolution, and the place of epiphytes in complex tropical communities. Epiphytes comprise more than one-third of the tropical vascular flora in some tropical forests. Growing within tropical forest canopies, epiphytes are subject to severe environmental constraints, and their diverse adaptations make them a rich resource for studies of water balance, nutrition, reproduction and evolution.
This book covers bromeliad biology, rather than cultivation.
Experts Luther and Benzing show how to identify the species of native bromeliads and reveal how they and the other epiphytic bromeliads pursue their aerial, unconventional, bizarre, or strange lifestyle.
Climate change represents one of the most alarming long-term threats to ecosystems the world over. This new collection of papers provides, for the first time, an overview of the potentially serious impact that climate change may have on tropical forests. The authors, a multi-disciplinary group of leading experts in climatology, forestry, ecology and conservation biology, present a state-of-knowledge snapshot of how tropical forests are likely to react to the changes being wrought on our planet's atmosphere and climate. Tropical forests represent extraordinary harbours for biological diversity, and yet as deforestation and degradation continue apace, they are under greater pressure from human impacts than ever before. Climate change adds yet another threat to these valuable ecosystems, and this volume demonstrates just how significant a problem this may really be. The authors identify certain types of forest, including tropical montane cloud forest that may be particularly vulnerable. They also show the strong likelihood of global warming aggravating problems in already fragmented forest areas.
Epiphytes (plants which grow on other plants, not parasitically but for support), comprise more than one-third of the total vascular flora in some tropical forests. Growing within tropical forest canopies, epiphytes are subject to severe environmental constraints, and their diverse adaptations make them a rich resource for studies of water balance, nutrition, reproduction and evolution. This book synthesizes the body of information from research on epiphytes and their relations with other tropical biota, and provides a comprehensive overview of basic functions, life history, evolution, and the place of epiphytes in complex tropical communities. Tropical ecologists and zoologists as well as plant scientists will find this volume a useful guide to research on the twenty-five thousand species of epiphytes which root in the crowns of tropical trees.
This comprehensive handbook provides a unique resource covering all aspects of forest ecology from a global perspective. It covers both natural and managed forests, from boreal, temperate, sub-tropical and tropical regions of the world. The book is divided into seven parts, addressing the following themes: forest types forest dynamics forest flora and fauna energy and nutrients forest conservation and management forests and climate change human impacts on forest ecology. While each chapter can stand alone as a suitable resource for a lecture or seminar, the complete book provides an essential reference text for a wide range of students of ecology, environmental science, forestry, geography and natural resource management. Contributors include leading authorities from all parts of the world.
After publication of the first volume of the Tropical Rain Forest, the International Journal of Mycology and Lichenology commented ``This is a welcome addition to the literature on the ecology of tropical rain forests. The book provides a wealth of data and stimulating discussions and is of great interest to ecologists interested in tropical areas.'' Whereas the first volume dealt with system-ecological aspects such as community organization and processes, the present volume concentrates on biogeographical aspects such as species composition, diversity, and geographical variation.Recent ecological research in the tropical rain forest has greatly extended our understanding of biogeographical ...