Plant Environment Interaction

Our image of plants is changing dramatically away from passive entities merely subject to environmental forces and organisms that are designed solely for the accumulation of photosynthate. Plants are revealing themselves to be dynamic and highly sensitive organisms that actively and competitively forage for limited resources, both above and below ground, organisms that accurately gauge their circumstances, use sophisticated cost-benefit analysis, and take clear actions to mitigate and control diverse environmental threats. Moreover, plants are also capable of complex recognition of self and non-self and are territorial in behavior. They are as sophisticated in behavior as animals but their potential has been masked because it operates on time scales many orders of magnitude less than those of animals. Plants are sessile organisms. As such, the only alternative to a rapidly changing environment is rapid adaptation. This book will focus on all these new and exciting aspects of plant biology.

The increase in global population, urbanization and industrialization is resulting in the conversion of cultivated land into wasteland. Providing food from these limited resources to an ever-increasing population is one of the biggest challenges that present agriculturalists and plant scientists are facing. Environmental stresses make this situation even graver. Plants on which mankind is directly or indirectly dependent exhibit various mechanisms for their survival. Adaptability of the plants to changing environment is a matter of concern for plant biologists trying to reach the goal of food security. Despite the induction of several tolerance mechanisms, sensitive plants often fail to withstand these environmental extremes. Using new technological approaches has become essential and imperative. Plant-Environment Interaction: Responses and Approaches to Mitigate Stress throws light on the changing environment and the sustainability of plants under these conditions. It contains the most up-to-date research and comprehensive detailed discussions in plant physiology, climate change, agronomy and forestry, sometimes from a molecular point of view, to convey in-depth understanding of the effects of environmental stress in plants, their responses to the environment, how to mitigate the negative effects and improve yield under stress. This edited volume is written by expert plant biologists from around the world, providing invaluable knowledge to graduate and undergraduate students in plant biochemistry, food chemistry, plant physiology, molecular biology, plant biotechnology, and environmental sciences. This book updates scientists and researchers with the very latest information and sustainable methods used for stress tolerance, which will also be of considerable interest to plant based companies and institutions concerned with the campaign of food security.

This book presents comprehensive coverage of differentiated plant responses to changing environments. It focuses on how multiple and combined stress factors influence plant survival. It examines the latest data on the capacity of roots to alter growth patterns due to disturbances in physical and/or chemical soil constraints, water supply, and other traumas. It contains over 85% new and updated material with more than 1500 new citations, tables, drawings, and photographs.

With contributions from experts in various specialties, Plant-Environment Interactions discusses recent advances in cellular and molecular regulation of stress tolerance. This third edition reviews new research in stress signal perception, cellular mechanisms, and genetic manipulation of stress tolerance for each individual stress. It addresses how to evaluate the level of plant tolerance to stress as well as how to link mechanisms identified through analysis of plant-environment interaction to producing stress-tolerant germplasm through biotechnology and traditional breeding. It also examines environmental stresses limiting plant productivity in agriculture, horticulture, and forestry.

This book provides information about plant–environment studies and challenges for plant improvement to achieve food security. Plants face a wide range of environmental challenges, which are expected to become more intense as a result of global climate change. Plant–environment interactions play an important role in the functioning of ecosystems. There are habitats throughout the world that present challenges to crop plants, such as through a lack of water and excessive, or toxic, salts in the soil. Soil properties represent a strong selection pressure for plant diversity and influence the structure of plant communities and participate to the generation and maintenance of biodiversity. Plant communities selected by environment grow by modifying soil physical, chemical, and biological properties, with consequent effects on survival and growth of plants. The complexity of plant–environment interactions has recently been studied by developing a trait-based approach in which responses and effects of plants on environment were quantified and modeled. This fundamental research on plant–environment interaction in ecosystems is essential to transpose knowledges of functional ecology to environmental management. Plants have adapted to an incredible range of environment, and extensive researches on ecological and environmental plant physiology have provided mechanistic understanding of the survival, distribution, productivity, and abundance of plant species across the diverse climates of our planet. Ecophysiological techniques have greatly advanced our understanding of photosynthesis, respiration, plant water relations, and plant responses to abiotic and biotic stresses, from instantaneous to evolutionary timescales. Ecophysiological studies also provide the basis for scaling plant physiological processes from the tissue to the canopy, ecosystem, region, and to a large extent, the entire globe. Given the above, the author proposes to bring forth a comprehensive book, “New Frontiers in Plant-Environment Interactions”, highlighting the various emerging techniques and applications that are currently being used in plant–environment interaction research and its future prospects. The author is sure that this book caters the need of all those who are working or have interest in the above topic.

An accessible account of the ways in which the world's plant life affects the climate. It covers everything from tiny local microclimates created by plants to their effect on a global scale. If you’ve ever wondered how vegetation can create clouds, haze and rain, or how plants have an impact on the composition of greenhouse gases, then this book is required reading.

This book presents comprehensive coverage of differentiated plant responses to changing environments. It focuses on how multiple and combined stress factors influence plant survival. It examines the latest data on the capacity of roots to alter growth patterns due to disturbances in physical and/or chemical soil constraints, water supply, and other traumas. It contains over 85% new and updated material with more than 1500 new citations, tables, drawings, and photographs.