Ecophysiology Of Tropical Tree Crops

Plant physiological research has a fundamental role in advancing our understanding of plants and their interactions with surrounding environments. As occurs with most tropical plant species, the gaps in our knowledge of the ecophysiology of tropical tree crops are incommensurable, though significant advances have occurred in recent years. This book highlights these recent advances, which could provide valuable information to manage crop plants for maximum productivity. Major tropical tree crops, considered here in a broader sense as including species such as banana, cassava, citrus, cocoa, coconut, coffee, mango, oil palm, papaya, rubber, and tea, are examined. For most of these crops, photosynthesis is treated as a central process affecting crop growth and performance. Crop physiological responses to environmental factors such as light and water availability and temperature are highlighted. The flowering control and fruit growth of crops such as citrus, coffee and mango are explored. In addition, several gaps in our database concerning the ecophysiology of tropical tree crops and areas for further research are indicated.

Ecophysiology of Tropical Crops covers the knowledge and opinion on ecophysiology of the major tropical crop plants. The book discusses the fundamental ideas about the numerical description of plant development and considers effects of climatic factors (e.g., temperature, light, and water) on physiological processes in plants. The text also presents an overview of the physical and chemical characteristics of tropical soils. The ecophysiology of the major crop plants, particularly those suitable for the wet tropics, including rice, sugarcane, pineapple, grasslands, root crops, sweet potato, coffee, cacao, rubber, banana, tea, oil palm, coconut palm, citrus, cashew, and mango, is also considered. Plant ecologists, plant physiologists, biochemists, horticulturists, agronomists, meteorologists, soil scientists, food technologists, plant breeders, and people interested in the production of tropical crops will find the book invaluable.

This book presents the latest information on tropical tree physiology, making it a valuable research tool for a wide variety of researchers. It is also of general interest to ecologists (e.g. Ecological Society of America; > 3000 or 4000 members at annual meeting), physiologists (e.g. American Society of Plant Biologists; > 2,000 members at annual meeting), and tropical biologists (e.g. Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, ATBC; > 500 members at annual meeting). (American Geophysical Union(AGU), > 20000 members at annual meeting). Since plant physiology is taught at every university that offers a life sciences, forestry or agricultural program, and physiology is a focus at research institutes and agencies worldwide, the book is a must-have for university and research institution libraries.

Taking readers out of the laboratory and into the humid tropical forests, this comprehensive volume explores the most recent advances occurring in tropical plant ecophysiology. Drawing on the knowledge of leading practitioners in the field, this book synthesizes a broad range of information on the ways in which tropical plants adapt to their environment and demonstrate unique physiological processes. This book is arranged into four sections which cover resource acquisition, species interactions, ecophysiological patterns within and among tropical forest communities, and the ecophysiology of forest regeneration. These sections describe plant function in relation to ecology across a wide spectrum of tropical forest species and growth forms. How do different species harvest and utilize resources from heterogeneous tropical environments? How do patterns of functional diversity reflect the overwhelming taxonomic and morphological diversity of tropical forest plants? Such fundamental questions are examined in rich detail. To illuminate the discussions further, every chapter in this book features an agenda for future research, extensive cross referencing, timely references, and the integration of ecophysiology and the demography of tropical species where the data exist. Tropical Forest Plant Ecophysiology provides plant scientists, botanists, researchers, and graduate students with important insights into the behavior of tropical plants. Biologists and foresters interested in tropical ecology and plant physiological ecologists will also benefit from this authoritative and timely resource.

This book is the result of a recommendation from the plenary session of ``TREE-PHYSINDIA-82'', an international symposium held at the Rubber Research Institute of India, Kottayam, that a publication be brought out presenting information on the methodology adopted for various physiological studies in tree crops. Containing reviews on general physiology as well as detailed information on certain selected tree crops, the choice of topics emphasizes many aspects of tree physiology. The contributed articles in Part A provide an insight into different approaches to studying the physiology of tree crops, with an emphasis on methodology. Part B provides case-histories of physiological investigations on selected economically important tropical tree crops. The volume will provide a valuable source of information and stimulus to scientists involved in the work of tree physiology.

Plants in tropical regions are coping with enormous challenges of physiological stresses owing to changing environmental and climatic conditions. Rapid growth of human population and rampant exploitation of fossil fuels and other developmental activities are actively contributing to such perturbations. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has projected a sustained increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and thereby a rise in global temperature in the coming decades. The resultant changes in precipitation patterns are now evident across the globe due to intensication of hydrological cycle. Moreover, gaseous and particulate pollutants are also an immense challenge for tropical plants. Such vagaries in environmental conditions have signicant impacts on the ecophysiological traits of plants, resulting from altered interactions of tropical plants with each other, as well as other biotic and abiotic components within the ecosystem. Books available in the market that particularly focus on ecophysiological responses of tropical plants to abiotic and biotic environmental factors under climate change are limited. This book intends to fill this knowledge gap and provides a detailed analysis on ecophysiological responses of tropical plants to these environmental challenges, as well as suggesting some approachable measures for plant adaptations to these challenges. The book is equally applicable to undergraduate and postgraduate students, researchers, teachers and forest managers, and policy makers. Salient features of the book are: 1. A comprehensive discussion on adaptive mechanisms of plants through their ecophysiological responses to various biotic and abiotic stresses. 2. Elaboration on the recent techniques involved in ecophysiological research. 3. A detailed account of evolutionary responses of plants to changing climate. 4. Discussion of recent research results and some pointers to future advancements in ecophysiological research. 5. Presentation of information in a way that is accessible for students, researchers, and teachers practicing in plant physiology and ecology.

This book has been compiled as a result of collaboration within the International Energy Agency Bioenergy Agreement. The aim of the book is to review the state of the art with respect to research and practical implications in order to aid the development of the technology for short rotation forestry production.