The Ecology of Trees in the Tropical Rain Forest

by I. M. Turner

Overview

With detailed information available for perhaps only a few hundred of the many thousand of species that occur, our current knowledge of the ecology of tropical rainforest trees is limited. This book aims to summarize the contemporary understanding of the ecology of tropical rainforest trees. The emphasis is on comparative ecology, an approach that can help to identify possible adaptive trends and evolutionary constraints and that may also lead to a workable ecological classification for tree species, conceptually simplifying the rainforest community and making it more amenable to analysis.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521063746
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	05/29/2008
Series:	Cambridge Tropical Biology Series
Pages:	316
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; 2. The growing tree; 3. Tree performance; 4. Reproductive biology; 5. Seeds and seedlings; 6. Classificatory systems for tropical trees; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"The book is well written, organized clearly, and includes many excellent figures redrawn from the literature, as well as extensive tables compiled by the author.... This book should be an inpsiration to ecologists to pursue studies on comparative ecology of tropical trees, and the magnitude of the literature review will certainly provide tropical ecologists with considerable assistance in studying these issues. Perhaps this will help lead to a more synthetic understanding of tropical rainforest tree ecology in the future." The Quarterly Review of Biology

"[A]n informed analysis of the comparative ecology, physiology, and structure of tropical rain forest trees. Regardless of one's familiarity with the ecology of tropical rain forests, this book should prove informative and a useful addition to the library of forest ecologists working in any biome." Ronald L. Hendrick, Forest Science

"An excellent reference book for personal use by the researcher, for its use as reference material for courses on tropical ecology and tropical forestry, and as a textbook for the more basic aspects dealt with in tropical ecology and tropical forestry courses at the graduate level." Journal of Sustainable Forestry

From the Publisher

A summary of contemporary understanding of the ecology of tropical rain-forest trees, with particular reference to comparative ecology as a way to help conceptually simplify the rain forest community and make it more amenable to analysis. Organized according to the life cycle of a tree, the reference discusses the characteristics and phenomena that are typical and rare at each stage, from the form and process of a mature tree through reproduction, including pollination and seed dispersal, and seed germination, seedling establishment, and growth. Turner (Singapore Botanic Gardens) concludes with a critical analysis of ecological classification systems for tree species. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)