Wow! eBook
Tropical Alpine Environments: Plant Form and Function
Author(s): Philip W. Rundel (Author)
- Publisher: Cambridge University Press
- Publication Date: 21 Aug. 2008
- Edition: 1st
- Language: English
- Print length: 392 pages
- ISBN-10: 0521054117
- ISBN-13: 9780521054119
Book 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.
Editorial Reviews
Review
‘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 Botany
Book Description
This book examines the unique form, function and physiology of tropical alpine plants.
