CRC Press Experimental Ecophysiology and Biochemistry of Trees and Shrubs

The existence and competition of trees and shrubs to sustain and put forth growth under varied environmental conditions is dependent on the interactions that occur between the plant metabolic processes and the prevailing environmental conditions. In order to understand the productivity of trees and shrubs, it is a prerequisite to know the experimental techniques of these vital processes. This volume provides a comprehensive presentation of this topic. The first part of this book deals with various aspects of experimental ecophysiology and recent research results of studies on plant pigments, epicuticular wax, leaf nutrients, carbon fixation, all supported by literature. The second part of the volume describes various laboratory techniques such as diffusion, imbibition, calorimetry, atomic absorption, mineral nutrition, nutrition analysis of forage, litterfall chemistry, nutrient cycle, etc. The third and fourth parts deal with advances in the techniques in the development of ecophysiology. The book will serve as an important handbook and resource for students, faculty and teachers, technicians, and researchers and scientists involved in forest science dealing with ecophysiology and biochemistry of woody and crop plants. About the Author Humberto González Rodríguez, PhD, is a faculty member at the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales (School of Forest Sciences), Nuevo Leon, Mexico. He is currently working on water relations and plant nutrition in native woody trees and shrubs, northeastern Mexico. In addition, his research includes nutrient deposition via litterfall in different forest ecosystems. Dr. Rodríguez teaches chemistry, plant physiology, and statistics. Ratikanta Maiti, PhD, DSc, was a world-renowned botanist and crop physiologist. His varied experience included work at the former Jute Agricultural Research Institute, India; as a plant physiologist on sorghum and pearl millet at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics; as a Research Advisor at Vibha Seeds, India; as a professor and research scientist at several universities in Mexico. A prolific author, he received several international awards and was chief editor of three international journals. Ch. Aruna Kumari, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Department of Crop Physiology at Agricultural College, Jagtial, Professor Jaya Shankar Telangana State Agricultural University, India. She also has research experience at varied Indian Council of Agricultural Research institutes as well as at Vibha Seeds. She is the author of several book chapters and was a coeditor of several books. She had also published research publications in national and international journals.