Plant Functional Types: Their Relevance to Ecosystem Properties and Global Change (International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme Book Series, Series Number 1) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521482313 ISBN 13: 9780521482318

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1997

Synopsis

Attempts to model the effects of global change are inhibited by a lack of information about how individual plant and animal species will respond. One way of reducing the problem is to develop models treating a smaller number of groups or 'functional types' with similar characteristics. This 1977 book describes approaches and methods for defining these functional types in ways which maximize our potential to predict accurately the responses of real vegetation with real species diversity.

About this title

Review

"...an excellent introduction to the concept and use of PFT's and a valuable overview of the state of plant ecology in the 1990's." David A. Wedin, Ecoscience

"The strengths of the book are the consistently good quality of the chapters, its continuity of themes and its variety of perspectives...it is excellent for anyone interested in tundra or particularly arid and semiarid ecosystems... I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in functional plant ecology and vegetation response to global change." David Hooper, The Quarterly Review of Biology

"Rooted in game theory and treating plants as strategists and gamblers, Plant Functional Types, an undergraduate textbook, considers shape and form as functions of differential energy allocation during the lifetime of plants. The Achilles heel of each strategy is made poignant by looking at the effects of global climate change on species' survival and community composition. A fine example of how to integrate theoretical and applied biology." New Scientist

"...the depth and breadth of coverage are impressive....This book is an important addition to a growing library of knowledge related to global change." Thomas R. Crowe, Ecoscience

Book Description

This 1997 book describes approaches and methods for grouping species with similar characteristics into functional types in ways which maximise our potential to predict accurately the responses of real vegetation with real species diversity.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521482313
• ISBN 13: 9780521482318
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 383
• Editor: Smith T. M., Shugart H. H., Woodward F. I.