United States
£ GBP
This is the first comprehensive treatment of an important segment of the flora of California: native plants that have varying degrees of fidelity to serpentine rock and soil that make up over 1100 square miles in the Coast Ranges and the Sierra Nevada. Many of California's unique endemic plants are found nowhere else but on serpentine; over 200 species, subspecies, and varieties of native plants are restricted to some degree to serpentine. The author describes the geology, soils, and mineral nutrition of serpentines (low in normal essential nutrients, high in magnesium, iron, and toxic heavy metals, nickel, and chromium), the vegetation and flora that tolerate this inhospitable habitat, the fauna on serpentines, and management/conservation problems associated with serpentines. This is an essential guide to an important aspect of the flora of California.
List of Illustrations List of Tables Acknowledgments Abstract Introduction 1. History of Botanical Observations on the Serpentine Flora of California 2. Geology of Serpentine and Related Ultramafic Rocks 3. Serpentine Soils and the Mineral Nutrition of Plants 4. Physiological and Morphological Responses to Serpentine 5. Serpentine Vegetation in California 6. Serpentine Flora in California 7. Serpentine Fauna in California 8. The Evolutionary Ecology of Serpentine Biota in California 9. Exploitation of Serpentine and Other Ultramafics and Effects on Plant Life 10. Land Management and Conservation on Ultramafics Summary Appendices Literature Cited Plates
Arthur R. Krukeberg is Professor of Botany at the University of Washington.
