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The effects of stressful conditions on plants such as drought, salinity, waterlogging, and high and low temperatures can have a major impact on plant growth and survival, with important economic consequences in crop plants.This book explores some of the more important stresses, demonstrates how they affect the plant and reviews how new varieties or new species less vulnerable to stress can be selected. ... Read more

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This book is the first comprehensive volume on the computer simulation of plant development. It contains a full account of the algorithms used to model plant shapes and developmental processes, Lindenmayer systems in particular. With nearly 50 color plates, the spectacular results of the modelling are vividly illustrated. "This marvelous book will occupy an important place in the scientific literature." #Professor Heinz-Otto Peitgen# "The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants will perform a valuable service by popularizing this enlightening and bewitching form of mathematics." #Steven Levy# " ... the garden here is full of delights and an excellent introduction to L-systems, ..." #Alvy Ray Smith, IEEE Computer Graphics and its Applications# ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Beautiful, technical, and broad
A beautiful book with excellent color plates; it gives a precisely mathematical, yet not arcane, presentation of the ways botanical forms can be generated algorithmically. This gives insight into real plants and a fun set of computational tools to play with.

I discovered this book years ago, as a teenager, and just bought a copy to relive its pleasures.

All the detail you need to produce your own graphical plants
The beauty of plants has attracted the interest of mathematicians for centuries. Plants have many conspicuous geometric features such as symmetry in their leaves, rotational symmetry in their flowers, and then there are the interesting helical arrangements of pine cone scales. This book examines two factors that organize plant structures and therefore contribute to their beauty. The first is the simple elegance of the rules which describe plant development in relation to time. The second is self-similarity as characterized by Mandelbrot.

This book applies the basic idea inherent in recursive graphics programming to modeling natural organic phenomena to the greatest degree of accuracy possible. This book uses L-systems, which is a method of specifying rules that enables very complex ideas to be expressed in a very exact way. The book contains no information on specific programming language implementation. However, the L-system specification is given in enough detail that an implementation of a basic L-system compiler should be attainable by most programmers with a talent for efficientalgorithms implementation and sufficient motivation. All of the graphics are done using either two or three dimensional turtle commands, which are also easily adapted to fit into whatever compiler you choose. Efficient display routines will require some work, and as most of the algorithms described produce very large amounts of data, speed is very important for all shapes apart from the most basic structures.

The results of using an L-system is quite impressive. The book contains many photographs of computer generated trees using L-systems that are almost identical to their natural counterparts.The book is very well written, with lots of examples and many illustrations. It starts off as quite easy reading, but by the time it reaches sections on the simulation of internal balancing of cellular structures, the math gets very complex. Although you need an interest in artificial life, graphics, and fractals to find this book interesting or even just comprehensible, you probably also need some skill in the analysis and design of algorithms to make any of the ideas contained in the book a reality. The table of contents is:

1. Graphical Modeling Using L-systems 1
2. Modeling of Trees 51
3. Developmental models of Herbaceous Plants 63
4. Phyllotaxis 99
5. Models of Plant Organs 119
6. Animation of Plant Development 133
7. Modeling of Cellular Layers 145
8. Fractal Properties of Plants 175

A. Software Environment for Plant Modeling 193
B. About the Figures 201
C. Turtle Interpretation of Figures 211

Excellent and beautiful book.
The color plates are quite extraordinary. Knowledge of math helps, but the book pretty much starts at Ground Zero. It is quite useable for those wishing to implement the plant modeling systems described (which is why Ipurchased it). ... Read more

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Offers a complete description of all growth processes of plants ... Read more

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Comprehensive laboratory guide for plant physiology. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

The Secrets of Plant Colors
The colors of nature are complex.In fact from nature (rocks, animals and plants) is where we derive all of our colors for art, house painting, tattooing, fabrics, printing, etc. Most of us humans (except for the color-blind) are almost totally tied to color in our daily lives and easily notice the lack of it.Many of our colors are derived from plants and their fossils (coal tar dyes come to mind), but only a relatively few of us are aware of the complexity of plant colors.

David Lee has now tackled this subject in "Nature's Palette: The Science of Plant Color" and has produced a handy guide to color and plants that should be understandable to all with at least some high school chemistry and physics.Others may find parts a bit difficult, but the text is well worth the effort even if you have had no physics or chemistry at all.Lee explains the principles of color theory early in this book and once that is covered the rest is just pure fun.You learn that there are both physical (structural) and chemical (pigmentation) colors and that these can occur in flowers, leaves, stems, and roots and that the pigments found in plants have been used by humans for numerous purposes, from henna as a temporary tattoo pigment to madder for orange and red dyes. This knowledge is in general not too painful to attain because Lee sprinkles his writing with examples and interesting side trips.

In short this book will introduce the reader to the world of plant colors and in the process expand their world and enhance their pleasure in gardening, traveling or just pure knowledge of the world around them.I highly recommend it.

... Read more

Product Description
This book is a textbook (it includes, for example, exercises and outline solutions). The plant scientist is shown how to express his physiological ideas mathematically and how to deduce quantitative conclusions, which can then be compared with experiment. There is little new biology in the book, but it is presented in a way which will be new to many biologists. The matching of models to experiments means using mathematics for formulating biological concepts and second, using algebra, calculus, or, now more frequently, computers to solve or simulate the resulting model; and finally, comparing, qualitatively or quantitatively, prediction to measurement. Computers are the important enabling technology which makes it all possible: solving equations, assembling models of increasing sophistication and complexity, and comparing theory with experiment.

The book is divided into three parts.

Part I. Covers subjects of wide relevance to modelling and plant biology.

Part II. The reader may choose to select topics of particular interest from part II. However, the whole-plant modeller will need to study all chapters, and the plant ecosystem modeller may need to add other material also.

Part III. Plant morphology is at an introductory level. It is included because morphological characters may prove to be of equal importance to some physiological traits in determining plant function and performance. ... Read more

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Product Description
Information on chemical background, the cell, plant growth regulators and biochemistry have been integrated into the text where relevant, instead of chapters formally addressing this material. Emphasis is placed on underlying principles, rather than encyclopedic details. Epistemology, the how-we-know-what-we-know of plant physiology is also emphasized. Provides a good balance between traditional plant physiology and modern topics such as photo synthesis, plant biotechnology, and environmental physiology. ... Read more

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This fully revised translation of the world-renowned German edition covers the complete and modern knowledge of plant biochemistry. The book presents the topic in a concise and simplified manner so that students can digest the message and gain a basic knowledge of the entire field of plant biochemistry, from photosynthesis (the synthesis of natural plant products) to all kinds of genetic engineering with its many commercial applications. Topics include cell structure and function, lipid and polysaccharide metabolism, nitrogen fixation, phloem transport, synthesis and function of isoprenoids, phenylpropanoids and other secondary metabolites, plant growth regulation and development.Heldt provides a comprehensive description of photosynthesis, primary and secondary metabolism, the function of phytohormones and molecular engineering.The text covers research findings until the end of 2003 and identifies areas of future research. There are extensive references to the most recent scientific literature.

* Illustrated with two-color diagrams and well designed metabolic schemes
* Plant metabolism presented in the context of the structure and function of the plant
* Many examples of commercial applications for the protection and quality improvement of harvest crops, plant breeding, and the production of raw materials for industrial use
* Coverage of the latest research findings ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Plant Biochemistry-Heldt
The service appreciably quick, the cover is slightly damaged in one corner. Otherwise the book is in great shape.

Excellent book!
This book is advanced, BUT is well written, easy to understand, and has good diagrams.
This is an EXCELLENT book. HIGHLY recommended! ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (6)

Beautifully Written
This book stands out from the rest for two reasons: 1) it is nicely written for the college learner yet 2) it offers an accurate, easy-to-follow chronology of plant evolution starting with the single cell through movement of plants to land, the Paleozoic forests to the present-day seed plant. This book is an enduring classic for researchers, instructors and students.

Extremely detailed treatment
There are many natural questions that arise when considering the evolution of plants: Why did seeds evolve? How did the three separate genomes evolve in plants? How and why did plants evolve from aquatic habitats to terrestrial ones? Why do leafy plants have the leaf arrangements that they do? What is the average time scale needed for the evolution of a new plant species? What are the largest plant species that have yet evolved? How common is horizontal gene transfer in plants? What evolutionary advantages are there in pollination? From the standpoint of molecular biology, why do plants have the particular morphology that they do, as contrasted with other forms that seem plausible with respect to physical laws but do not occur? How extensive is the plant fossil record? Can the evolution of plants, indeed of living organisms in general, be simulated on a computing machine?

These questions, among many others, are addressed in this superbly written book, which despite being targeted towards readers with an advanced knowledge of botany can still be read by anyone curious about the subject matter. Unless the reader is an expert in evolutionary biology (which this reviewer is not), it would be difficult to assess the accuracy of the subject matter as compared to other works. The author does include however many references that can be consulted if readers find it necessary to gain more details on a particular topic. In addition to the quality of the writing, there are numerous diagrams and figures that illustrate the important principles. The inclusion of diagrams in any book on botany is of course a must, given the diversity of plant morphology. For readers with a background in modeling and simulation, the author includes a highly interesting discussion on how to simulate plant evolution by using computer-generated "adaptive walks" on "fitness landscapes". Simulations of course are not a replacement for sound and painstaking experimentation and scientific hypothesis building, but they can serve as a guide to understanding, at least in a general sense, of what is possible in biological evolution. In order to really appreciate the discussion on adaptive walks, the reader will need a fairly strong background in modeling and simulation, even though the discussion is purely descriptive, with no explicit mathematical formalism put down on paper.

The book is dense, being packed full of interesting information, demands the reader frequently back up and take pause so that the information can be assimilated more effectively. But the author's writing style is concise enough to keep the book at a manageable size. The different views on evolution, most of these coming down to the time scales over which changes are occurring, find their place in the book. The Darwinian view, which of course is the predominant one in the scientific community, is referred to as 'phyletic gradualism' in this book, and encapsulates the view that evolution is essentially an adaptive walk over a fitness landscape, driven by natural selection. One other view, called 'punctuated equilibrium', is at first glance a somewhat radical hypothesis, for it allows one to drop the requirement for intermediate phenotypes and view evolutionary change as "hopscotching" (in the author's words) from one fitness peak to another. The view of punctuated equilibrium is no doubt attractive to those who are wondering why the intermediate phenotypes are frequently missing observationally. Whichever of these viewpoints is closer to the truth, the wide variability in plants is quite amazing, over and above the case for other biological lifeforms in the opinion of the author. He refers to this as 'phenotypic plasticity' in the book, and alludes to the high rate of phenotypic innovation in some time periods. The concept of phenotypic plasticity is interesting for it allows a more quantitative measure of the degree to which changes are possible, i.e. a measurement of the impediments to evolutionary changes.

When contemplating the mechanisms of evolution it is easy to fall into the trap of believing that the morphology and functioning of an organism is the result of some sort of optimization process. The marvelous ingenuity of plants in dealing with their environments and their ingenious methods of reproduction sometimes begs for an explanation that is purposeful or goal-directed. There is no reason to believe however that the current morphology and functioning of a plant is the result of adaptation through natural selection. The author's view of adaptations is that they are specific to particular environmental contexts, namely that they are features that allow biological organisms to survive under very specific environmental conditions. In addition, any benefit that an organism obtains from an adaptation must assessed in relative terms. It would not be appropriate therefore to view a particular adaptation for a particular organism in a particular environment as being appropriate to another organism in another environment, even though the environments to both are similar enough that they tempt one to believe that the adaptations can be compared meaningfully. Of course, adaptations can only work by genetic transmission from one generation to the next, and there is no guarantee that they will remain efficacious for all future generations of the organism. An adaptation the author argues, is only a set of features that increases the probability that the organism will survive or reproduce successfully for a specific environment. It is natural to ask at this point whether if given a particular plant one can ascertain whether a certain feature is adaptive or not. The author is aware of this difficulty, since it requires the identification of the selection pressures that underly the functioning of the proposed adaptation. The resolution of this problem requires years of careful experimentation and observation, a course of activity that has characterized and will continue to characterize sound science.

What a fantastic book - everything you always wanted to know
A friend of mine told me about this book and said I had to read it.I am not a science student, but I found the book in my school library and read it anyway.It's a great book and I'm sure glad my friend told me about it.Plants are truly interesting, perhaps more so than animals because plantsare so different from everything we are taught about in high schoolbiology.Niklas's book is also well written.He speaks directly to thereader, using simple words to describe really complicated biologicalissues.Everything I always wondered about is found in this book.I'verecommended it to my friends.I think everybody ought to know about the'green world' that surrounds us!

This is a fascinating and well written book �� a must read.
I am a student of animal biology and this book was assigned by one of my professors as a textbook.I knew nothing about plants until I read this book, and I really dreaded the idea of having to learn about plants. Niklas's book opened my eyes to the wonder and fascination of plant biologyas well as the wonders of plant evolution, which are very different fromwhat most of us have been taught about animals.I've read this book fromcover to cover, at least twice.And each time I've picked up something newand exciting to think about.All of my friends in the class agree with me- - this is a great book and people should pay attention to it.

This is a very well written and informative book
The author has written an up to date and thoughtful book about evolution using plants as examples of all major ideas.This book should be read by any one interested in evolution or plant biology.The text is easy to read, with a minimum of jargon, and the book is well illustrated.I wasespecially interested in how the author combined information for the studyof living plants with the information from the fossil record.This is oneof the best books I've read in a long time.I recommend it highly. ... Read more

Product Description

While ornamental plants are produced mainly for their aesthetic value, the propagation and improvement of quality attributes such as leaf types, flower colour and fragrance, longevity and form, plant shape and architecture, and the creation of novel variation are important economic goals for the expanding ornamental industry. In Protocols for In Vitro Propagation of Ornamental Plants, leading researchers in the field compile step-wise protocols for rapid plant multiplication and in vitro storage of major commercially viable ornamental plants. Divided into two sections, Section A contains chapters mainly on micropropagation of cut and pot flowers with detailed protocols involving in vitro culture-explants, medium preparation, detailed medium table, shoot initiation and proliferation, root induction, in vitro plant hardening, and field transfer, and Section B delves into reviews on topics such as in vitro production of sweet peas, the status of transgenics in ornamental plants, in vitro conservation, the status of floriculture in Europe, azalea phylogeny, and thin cell layers. As part of the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology™ series, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials, step-by-step laboratory protocols, and notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls.

Comprehensive and clear, Protocols for In Vitro Propagation of Ornamental Plants presents key techniques that will be of great use to floriculturists, researchers, commercial companies, biotechnologists, and students dealing with ornamental plants.

Product Description
Molecular plant pathology has directly benefited from advances in modern molecular techniques. These techniques have been applied both to pathogen and plant, enhancing our understanding of the organisms themselves and of the complex interactions which determine compatability between them and their host plants. This new book and its companion volume represent the first comprehensive guide to the latest molecular techniques as well as the established approaches to the subject. Detailed protocols are included which address a wide range of investigations from plant pathogen isolation and culture, through physiology and biochemistry, to techniques for localizing genes and their products within the cells of the infected plants. Topics in Volume I include pathogens and pathogen manipulation, nucleic acid isolation and hybridization techniques, analysis of gene expression, and in situ hybridization. Researchers in plant science, molecular biology, and related areas will find the two volumes of Molecular Plant Pathology to be an invaluable experimental resource for this exciting and fast moving field, providing a wealth of easy-to-follow protocols supported by expert advice and guidance. ... Read more

Product Description
The Photobiology of Higher Plants offers a comprehensive, balanced coverage of both photosynthesis (including physiology and global aspects) and photomorphogenesis in plants. An accessible, student-friendly approach to the subject is taken, providing the reader with a useful historical perspective and showing how this fascinating subject has evolved. All aspects of plant biochemistry and plant physiology are included with the fundamentals of the subject rigorously covered. Each chapter includes numerous references to provide a useful starting point for those wishing to learn more about the subject.
* Provides combined coverage of both photosynthesis and photomorphogenesis in plants.

* Includes an extensice glossary designed to provide easy access to key

* Aimed at students in Botany, Plant Science, Agriculture and Forestry

* A useful reference for postgraduates and researchers working in the field ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An effective overview
Photosynthesis is of course the most important physical process on Earth, and a thorough understanding of it has been the goal for over a century. This book is one of a few that give a good general overview of photosynthesis for the reader who has a good background in biochemistry and some molecular biology. Readers who do not have this background may find the reading difficult at places, but the author does include a glossary and useful summaries at the end of each chapter. This makes the reading more palatable for the general reader who is curious about photosynthesis and wants a more detailed overview than what might be obtained in the semi-popular scientific literature.

The book covers more than photosynthesis however, as the author discusses photomorphogenesis and signal transduction in plants, among other topics that he encapsulates as `photobiology.' Everything about this subject is interesting, particularly in the current efforts to genetically engineer the chloroplast and the use of transgenic strategies to optimize plant metabolism and growth. An even more exotic possibility, which is just in its beginning in research and is still somewhat farfetched, is the idea of constructing computational machines using vegetative matter with light as the power source. A through understanding of photobiology will be necessary for this and other efforts to be completed. This book offers a good start in this understanding.

Some of the topics that this reviewer found of particular interest include:

1. The destruction of chlorophyll by the absorption of excess light, called `photo-oxidation.'
2. The role of the xanothophyll zeaxanthin as a `switch' in dissipating excess excitation energy. Zeaxanthin is generated whenever the energy needs to be dissipated but is suppressed under the conditions of low irradiance.
3. The role of the Rieske protein as a `ratchet' mechanism in the proton pumping efficiency of the cytochrome bc1 complex.
4. The model of the `binding change mechanism' in ATP synthesis.
5. The enzyme concentration in the stroma is controlled by both nuclear and chloroplast gene expression.
6. The metabolic pathways in the chloroplast are dependent on proteins that are encoded in the nucleus.
7. The existence of a `light compensation point'. This is the point at which the CO2 that is fixed in photosynthesis is balanced by the CO2 coming from respiration.
8. The ability of some plants to engage in `solar tracking' wherein the leaf blades become aligned perpendicularly to the sunlight.
9. The role of `sunflecks' in shade plants.
10. The role of amyloplasts in initiating a gravitropic response.
11. The fact that plant cells have three distinct genomes: the nuclear, plastidic, and mitochondrial.
12. The origin of chloroplasts and mitochondria in endosymbiotic bacteria.
13. The fact that the transcription of some plastid genes and operons is initiated by multiple promoters or at multiple sites.
14. The existence of RNA editing in some chloroplast genes.
15. Photomorphogenesis: the influence of light on the structural development of plants.
16. The existence of circadian rhythms in the expression of some plant genes.
17. The role of photoreactiviation when the plant is absorbing ultraviolet radiation.


The author points out some areas that require further investigation. Some of these include:

1. The mechanism by which autocatalysis is controlled in the photosynthetic carbon reduction (PCR) cycle.
2. The regulation of the C4 pathway.
3. The presence, if any, of a respiratory chain in chloroplasts.
4. Why plants require multiple pathways for the translocation and integration of thylakoid proteins. ... Read more

Product Description
The book summarizes present scientific knowledge in plant physiology with regards to plant production.The authors, mainly professors of plant physiology at agricultural universities in Czechoslovakia, present the individual fields of plant physiology with regard to the demands of agricultural practice and education of students and doctorani at these universities.
The first chapters discuss metabolism ie. photosynthesis, respiration, mineral and heterotrophic nutrition, and water regime of plants.What follows is a discussion of the physiology of plant growth, development and movements, and finally resistance of plants against unfavourable abiotic and biotic effects.
The book shows how to increase the yield of crops by manipulating photosynthesis and also studies the possible flow of photosynthetic products to the commercially valuable parts of the biomass.Rational plant production, however, cannot do without knowledge of plant nutrition and water regime as a theoretical basis for fertilization and irrigation.The reader will find this knowledge detailed as well as information about the ecological and physiological principles of the resistance of plants against drought, frost, heat, diseases and other unfavourable effects. ... Read more

Product Description
Part one of this survey of plant physiology begins with photosynthesis and its products. It details how plants obtain and process light and CO2, and acquire and absorb water and minerals. Part two examines plant growth hormones, cell growth and differentiation, vegetative development, photomorphogenesis, reproductive development, growth movements and reactions to environmental stresses. Third Edition Pb (1992): 0-521-42786-X ... Read more

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"Plant Development" offers to students of plant physiology a concise and highly readable introduction to plant development. Focusing on events at the molecular and cellular levels, the book highlights some of the key processes operating in the formation of plants, and examines areas of research yielding a fuller understanding of the underlying regulatory mechanisms. While assuming a basic knowledge of plant morphology, the book describes a host developmental strategies across a spectrum of plant groups ranging from algae to higher plants. The opening chapters deal with the evolution of fundamental structure and highlights some of the related problems before leading into a careful consideration of meristem structure and function. Central chapters examine the control of plant shape and direction of growth, and provides a platform for the subsequent discussion of cell differentiation. Chapter 9 looks at genetic regulation of development, and the final section focuses on competence, determination and co-ordination of growth. ... Read more