Exploitation of Environmental Heterogeneity by Plants

Ecophysiological Processes Above- and Belowground

Jacques Roy

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780121550707
• eBook ISBN: 9780323139274
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Botany
• Index: Biological Sciences

There is a new emerging interest in the effects of gaps and patches on succession and biodiversity. This innovative volume is a synthesis of studies of plant responses to temporal and spatial heterogeneity, the exploitation of resources from pulses and patches by plants, and their competition with neighbors in the face of this variability.Aboveground, the book focuses upon the nature of canopy patchiness, consequences of this heterogeneity for the light environment, and the mechanisms by which plants respond to and exploit this patchiness. Belowground, the text explores the heterogeneity of soil environments and how root systems obtain nutrients and water in the context of this temporal and spatial variability. As a new reference in an evolving and growing field, this text is sure to be a valuable tool for researchers and advanced students in plant physiology, ecology, agronomy, and forestry alike.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Exploitation of Environmental Heterogeneity by Plants: Ecophysiological Processes Above- and Belowground
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Contributors
• Preface
• Chapter 1. The Role of Plasticity in Exploiting Environmental Heterogeneity
• Chapter 2. The Physical Nature of Solar Radiation in Heterogeneous Canopies: Spatial and Temporal Attributes
• Chapter 3. Light Gaps: Sensing the Light Opportunities in Highly Dynamic Canopy Environments
• Chapter 4. Canopy Gaps: Competitive Light Interception and Economic Space Filling—A Matter of Whole-Plant Allocation
• Chapter 5. Photosynthetic Acclimation to Changing Light Environments: Scaling from the Leaf to the Whole Plant
• Chapter 6. Photosynthetic Utilization of Sunflecks: A Temporally Patchy Resource on a Time Scale of Seconds to Minutes
• Chapter 7. Signals for Seeds to Sense and Respond to Gaps
• Chapter 8. Assessing the Heterogeneity of Belowground Resources: Quantifying Pattern and Scale
• Chapter 9. Causes of Soil Nutrient Heterogeneity at Different Scales
• Chapter 10. Root–Soil Responses to Water Pulses in Dry Environments
• Chapter 11. Architecture and Biomass Allocation as Components of the Plastic Response of Root Systems to Soil Heterogeneity
• Chapter 12. Exploiting Nutrients in Fertile Soil Microsites
• Chapter 13. Coping with Environmental Heterogeneity: The Physiological Ecology of Tree Seedling Regeneration across the Gap–Understory Continuum
• Chapter 14. Spatial Heterogeneity at Small Scales and How Plants Respond to It
• Index