Flora of North America: Volume 5: Magnoliophyta: Caryophyllidae, Part 2


Book Description

FNA presents for the first time, in one published reference source, information on the names, taxonomic relationships, continent-wide distributions, and morphological characteristics of all plants native and naturalized found in North America north of Mexico.




Phytoplankton and Equilibrium Concept: The Ecology of Steady-State Assemblages


Book Description

This volume summarises the outcome of the 13th Workshop of the International Association of Phytoplankton Taxonomy and Ecology (IAP) on if, and if so under what conditions phytoplankton assemblages reach equilibrium in natural environments. Quite a number of ecological concepts use terms such as: ecological equilibrium, stability, steady-state, climax, stable state, etc. However, these ecological concepts often have been "translations" of scientific theories developed in physics or chemistry but they almost always lack scientific corroboration, the problem being that often these concepts remain vague and they are not formally defined. Here an attempt to formally recognize what "equilibrium" is in phytoplankton ecology is traced. The book also contains papers by leading scientists on the taxonomy of two selected key groups: cryptomonads and filamentous cyanoprokaryotes. This volume is addressed to all those involved in phytoplankton taxonomy and ecology and in ecology itself.




Visible Empire


Book Description

Between 1777 and 1816, botanical expeditions crisscrossed the vast Spanish empire in an ambitious project to survey the flora of much of the Americas, the Caribbean, and the Philippines. While these voyages produced written texts and compiled collections of specimens, they dedicated an overwhelming proportion of their resources and energy to the creation of visual materials. European and American naturalists and artists collaborated to manufacture a staggering total of more than 12,000 botanical illustrations. Yet these images have remained largely overlooked—until now. In this lavishly illustrated volume, Daniela Bleichmar gives this archive its due, finding in these botanical images a window into the worlds of Enlightenment science, visual culture, and empire. Through innovative interdisciplinary scholarship that bridges the histories of science, visual culture, and the Hispanic world, Bleichmar uses these images to trace two related histories: the little-known history of scientific expeditions in the Hispanic Enlightenment and the history of visual evidence in both science and administration in the early modern Spanish empire. As Bleichmar shows, in the Spanish empire visual epistemology operated not only in scientific contexts but also as part of an imperial apparatus that had a long-established tradition of deploying visual evidence for administrative purposes.




Myxomycetes


Book Description

Myxomycetes: Biology, Systematics, Biogeography and Ecology, Second Edition provides a complete collection of general and technical information on myxomycetes microorganisms. Its broad scope takes an integrated approach, considering a number of important aspects surrounding their genetics and molecular phylogeny. The book treats myxomycetes as a distinct group from fungi and includes molecular information that discusses systematics and evolutionary pathways. Written and developed by an international team of specialists, this second edition contains updated information on all aspects of myxomycetes. It incorporates relevant and new material on current barcoding developments, plasmodial network experimentation, and non-STEM disciplinary assimilation of myxomycete information. This book is a unique and authoritative resource for researchers in organismal biology and ecology disciplines, as well as students and academics in biology, ecology, microbiology, and similar subject areas. Cover image used with permission from Steve Young Photography - Written in a simple, concise and relatively non-technical style, allowing for a broad readership within biological, environmental and life science programs at academic and research institutions - Contains the comprehensive body of information available on myxomycetes under one cover, with contributions from the leading authorities in their respective areas of expertise - Provides straightforward, compiled information about myxomycetes and the potential of this group for basic and applied research - Offers completely updated material in every chapter, including new material on barcoding and Physarum polycephalum biological factors




The Vegetation of the Iberian Peninsula


Book Description

This book provides a compact, up-to-date and detailed overview of the vegetation of the Iberian Peninsula, a highly diverse part of Europe in the Mediterranean area. Written by a group of experienced researchers, the volume includes a first section with general chapters discussing the climate, the biogeography and the flora, and a second section with detailed descriptions of the 14 regional sectors into which the peninsula and Balearic Islands have been divided. A third section explores special features, such as aquatic vegetation, gypsum and dolomite vegetation, coastal vegetation, mountain flora and vegetation, conservation issues and alien flora.




CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants


Book Description

Written as a reference to be used within University, Departmental, Public, Institutional, Herbaria, and Arboreta libraries, this book provides the first starting point for better access to data on medicinal and poisonous plants. Following on the success of the author's CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names and the CRC World Dictionary of Grasses, the author provides the names of thousands of genera and species of economically important plants. It serves as an indispensable time-saving guide for all those involved with plants in medicine, food, and cultural practices as it draws on a tremendous range of primary and secondary sources. This authoritative lexicon is much more than a dictionary. It includes historical and linguistic information on botany and medicine throughout each volume.




CRC World Dictionary of Grasses


Book Description

2008 NOMINEE The Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries Annual Award for a Significant Work in Botanical or Horticultural Literature now we have easier and better access to grass data than ever before in human history. That is a marked step forward. Congratulazioni Professor Quattrocchi!-Daniel F. Austin, writing in Economic Botany &n




Secretive Slime Moulds


Book Description

Neither plants, nor animals, nor fungi, the myxomycetes are a surprisingly diverse and fascinating group of organisms. They spend the majority of their life out of sight as single-celled amoeboid individuals in leaf litter, soil or decaying wood, foraging for bacteria and other simple life forms. However, when conditions are right, two individual cells come together to give rise to a much larger, creeping structure called a plasmodium, which produces the even more complex and often beautiful fruiting bodies. Indeed, the fruiting bodies of myxomycetes are often miniature works of art! Their small size (usually only a few millimetres tall) and fleeting fruiting phase mean that these organisms, although ubiquitous and sometimes abundant, are overlooked by most people. However, recent research by a few dedicated individuals has shown that Australia has a very diverse myxomycete biota with more than 330 species, the largest number known for any region of the Southern Hemisphere. This comprehensive monograph provides keys, descriptions and information on the known distribution for all of these species in addition to containing introductory material relating to their biology and ecology. Many species are illustrated, showing the diversity of their fruiting bodies, and greatly facilitating their identification. This book will give naturalists a new insight into an often overlooked group of organisms in addition to providing an incentive to search for the many species which have undoubtedly thus far escaped notice.