Plants at the Margin

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.

Spis treści:
1. Recognizing margins
2. Biodiversity in marginal areas
3. Resource acquisition in marginal habitats
4. Reproduction at the periphery
5. Arctic and sub-Arctic treelines and the tundra taiga interface
6. Plant survival in a warmer Arctic
7. Land-plants at coastal margins
8. Survival at the waters edge
9. Woody plants at the margin
10. Plants at high altitudes
11. Man at the margins
12. Summary and conclusions.