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Seedlings are highly sensitive to their environment. After seeds, they typically suffer the highest mortality of any life history stage. This book provides a comprehensive exploration of the seedling stage of the plant life cycle. It considers the importance of seedlings in plant communities; environmental factors with special impact on seedlings; the morphological and physiological diversity of seedlings including mycorrhizae; the relationship of the seedling with other life stages; seedling evolution; and seedlings in human altered ecosystems, including deserts, tropical rainforests, and habitat restoration projects. The diversity of seedlings is portrayed by including specialised groups like orchids, bromeliads, and parasitic and carnivorous plants. Discussions of physiology, morphology, evolution and ecology are brought together to focus on how and why seedlings are successful.
This important text sets the stage for future research and is valuable to graduate students and researchers in plant ecology, botany, agriculture and conservation.
Foreword Peter Grubb; Preface Mary Allessio Leck, Robert L. Simpson and V. Thomas Parker; Part I. Introduction: 1. Why seedlings? Mary Allessio Leck, Robert L. Simpson and V. Thomas Parker; Part II. Seedling Diversity: 2. Seedling natural history Mary Allessio Leck and Heather A. Outred; 3. Specialized seedling strategies I - seedlings in stressful environments Jose M. Facelli; 4. Specialized seedling strategies II - orchids, bromeliads, carnivorous plants, and parasites Dennis F. Whigham, Melissa K. McCormick and John P. O'Neill; Part III. Seedling Morphology, Evolution, and Physiology: 5. Embryo morphology and seedling evolution Karl J. Niklas; 6. Regeneration ecology of early angiosperm seeds and seedlings - integrating inferences from extant basal lineages and fossils Taylor S. Feild; 7. Physiological and morphological changes during early seedling growth - roles of phytohormones Elizabeth J. Farnsworth; 8. Seedling ecophysiology - strategies toward achievement of positive net carbon balance Kaoru Kitajima, Jonathan A. Myers; 9. The role of symbioses in seedling establishment and survival Thomas R. Horton and Marcel G. A. van der Heijden; Part IV. Life History Implications: 10. The seedling as part of a plant's life history strategy Angela T. Moles and Michelle R. Leishman; 11. Seedling recruitment and population ecology Ove Eriksson and Johan Ehrlen; 12. Seedling communities Jon E. Keeley and Phillip J. van Mantgem; 13. Spatial variation in seedling emergence and establishment - functional groups among and within habitats? Johannes Kollmann; Part V. Applications: 14. Does seedling ecology matter for biological invasions? Laura A. Hyatt; 15. The role of seedlings in the dynamics of dryland ecosystems - their response to and involvement in dryland heterogeneity, degradation, and restoration Bertrand Boeken; 16. Anthropogenic disturbance in tropical forests - towards a functional understanding of seedling responses James W. Dalling and David F. R. P. Burslem; 17. Seedling establishment in restored ecosystems Susan Galatowitsch; Part VI. Synthesis: 18. The seedling in an ecological and evolutionary context V. Thomas Parker, Robert L. Simpson and Mary Allessio Leck; References; Index.
Mary Allessio Leck is Emeritus Professor of Biology at Rider University, New Jersey, where she has taught for 31 years. Her research is in wetland seed germination ecology. V. Thomas Parker is Professor of Biology at San Francisco State University. His research interest is in community ecology and ecological evolution. Robert L. Simpson is Professor of Biology and Environmental Science at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. His research focuses on freshwater wetlands.
Pre-publication praise: 'I commend it strongly to all those who seek thoughtful up-to-date reviews of the wide range of inter-connected topics that constitute seedling ecology and ecophysiology.' Peter Grubb, University of Cambridge 'The editors have succeeded well in creating an account with a relatively seamless progression of concepts and a minimum of overlap and omission, which is not easy in a collection of chapters by different authors. They are also to be congratulated on bringing together such a wide variety of approaches, from evolution and physiology to ecology and conservation, and moulding them into such a coherent whole.' Bulletin of the British Ecological Society 'Each chapter is authoritative, accurate and excellently well-illustrated with line diagrams and photographs some of which are in colour. The value of each chapter is increased by the inclusion of a final set of conclusions or its own synthesis ... both a valuable work of reference and an entry level volume for undergraduate students and generalist readers ... a magnificent achievement worthy of a place on the book shelves of both natural and applied biologists.' Biologist 'Seedling Ecology and Evolution illustrates questions that remain unresolved and brings us up-to-date on current thinking. ... The book does an amazing job ... of amassing and synthesizing, for the first time, our knowledge of the lives of seedlings, and it provides a great jumping-off point for future seedling research.' BioScience 'This book provides a comprehensive review of the interconnected topics that constitute seedling ecology and ecophysiology, focusing on how and why seedlings are successful.' www.cabi.org
