Plants at the Margin: Ecological Limits and Climate ChangeCambridge University Press, 2008 M03 20 - 478 pages Margins are by their very nature environmentally unstable - does it therefore follow that plant populations adapted for life in such areas will prove to be pre-adapted to withstand the changes that may be brought about by a warmer world? Biogeography, demography, reproductive biology, physiology and genetics all provide cogent explanations as to why limits occur where they do, and the purpose of this book is to bring together these different avenues of enquiry. Crawford's numerous beautiful illustrations of plants in their natural habitats remind us that the environment remains essential to our understanding of plants and their function. This book is suited to students, researchers and anyone with an interest in the impact of climate change on our world. |
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Plants at the Margin: Ecological Limits and Climate Change R. M. M. Crawford No preview available - 2008 |
Common terms and phrases
adapted alpine altitude anoxia biodiversity birch boreal forest Calluna carbohydrate carbon dioxide climatic change climatic warming coastal competition Crawford distribution diversity drought dune ecological ecotypes environment environmental erosion field fire first flooding flora flow flowering flowering plants fluctuations Fynbos genetic germination grass grazing growing season growth habitats High Arctic high latitudes high-altitude Holocene hybrid increased influence Island krummholz Last Glacial Maximum levels limits Little Ice Age marginal areas metabolic migration mountain nitrogen North northern nutrient oceanic oxygen particularly periods photosynthetic Phragmites australis physiological pine Pinus plant communities Pleistocene polyploidy populations rates reduced regions reindeer relation Reproduced with permission reproduction rhizomes roots salt marshes Saxifraga oppositifolia Scotland shoots shores shrubs Siberia significant snow soil southern species specific Spitsbergen strategies sufficient summer survival temperature tissues tolerance treeline trees tundra variation vegetation warmer wetland willow winter woody zone