Tropical Alpine Environments
Plant Form and Function
Published on 21. January 2008
Book
Paperback/Softback
392 pages
978-0-521-05411-9 (ISBN)
Description
Plants growing in tropical alpine environments (at altitudes above the closed canopy forest and below the limit of plant life) have evolved distinct forms to cope with a hostile environment characterized by cold, drought and fire. Unlike temperate alpine environments, where there are distinct seasons of favourable and unfavourable conditions for growth, tropical alpine habitats present summer conditions every day and winter conditions every night. Using examples from all over the tropics, this fascinating account reviews, for the first time, the unique form and functional relationships of tropical alpine plants examining both their physiological ecology and population biology. It will appeal to anyone interested in tropical vegetation and plant physiological adaptations to hostile environment, as well as to researchers in biogeography and ecology.
Reviews / Votes
'All in all, I liked this book very much. It covers a fascinating subject in a concise and readable style. It is a significant and useful contribution to any tropical alpine specialist's bookshelf, and deserves a general readership amongst curious plant ecologists and students.' Mountain Research and Development '... I feel sure that the teacher, researcher, specialist and general reader will find this well-presented volume a great stimulus to a new generation of young biologists who are just about to discover ecology, the tropics and high mountains.' Annal of BotanyMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
54 Tables, unspecified; 49 Halftones, unspecified; 86 Line drawings, unspecified
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
594 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-521-05411-9 (9780521054119)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Content
List of contributors; Preface; 1. Introduction to tropical alpine vegetation A. P. Smith; 2. Tropical alpine climates P. W. Rundel; 3. Paramo microclimate and leaf thermal balance of Andean giant rosette plants F. C. Meinzer, G. Goldstein and F. Rada; 4. Comparative water relations of tropical alpine plants F. C. Meinzer, G. Goldstein and P. W. Rundel; 5. Cold tolerance in tropical alpine plants E. Beck; 6. Anatomy of tropical alpine plants S. Carlquist; 7. Environmental biology of a tropical treeline species, polylepis sericea G. Goldstein, F. C. Meinzer and F. Rada; 8. Morphological and physiological radiation in paramo draba W. A. Pfitsch; 9. Sediment-based carbon nutrition in tropical alpine isoetes J. E. Keeley, D. A. DeMason, R. Gonzalez and K. R. Markham; 10. Functional significance of inflorescence pubescence in tropical alpine species of Puya G. A. Miller; 11. Turnover and conservation of nutrients in the pachycaul senecio keniodendron E. Beck; 12. Soil nutrient dynamics in East African alpine ecosystems H. Rehder; 13. An overview of the reproductive biology of espeletia (Asteraceae) in the Venezuelan Andes P. E. Berry and R. Calvo; 14. Population biology of Mount Kenya lobelias T. P. Young; 15. Population biology of Senecio kenodendron (Asteraceae), an Afroalpine giant rosette plant A. P. Smith and T. P. Young; 16. Population dynamics and flowering in a Hawaiian alpine rosette plant, Argyroxiphium sandiwicense P. W. Rundel and M. S. Witter; 17. Plant form and function in alpine New Guinea R. J. Hnatiuk; 18. Alpine herbivory on Mount Kenya T. P. Young and A. P. Smith; 19. Biotic interactions in Hawaiian high elevation ecosystems L. L. Loope and A. C. Medeiros; 20. Tropical alpine ecology: progress and priorities P. W. Rundel, F. C. Meinzer and A. P. Smith; Index.