The oil crisis during the 1970s turned interest towards the utilization of renewable resources and towards lignocellulosics in particular. The 1970s were also the cradle period of biotechnology, and the years when biotechnical utilization of lignocellulosic waste from agriculture and forestry gained priori ty. This was a logical conclusion since one of nature's most important biologi cal reactions is the conversion of wood and other lignocellulosic materials to carbon dioxide, water and humic substances. However, while biotechnology in other areas like medicine and pharmacology concerned production of expen sive products on a small scale, biotechnical utilization and conversion of ligno cellulosics meant production of inexpensive products on a large scale. Biotechnical utilization of lignocellulosic materials is therefore a very difficult task, and the commercial utilization of this technology has not progressed as rapidly as one would have desired. One reason for this was the lack of basic knowledge of enzyme mechanisms involved in the degradation and conversion of wood, other lignocellulosics and their individual components. There are also risks associated with initiating a technical development before a stable platform of knowledge is available. Several of the projects started with en thusiasm have therefore suffered some loss of interest. Also contributing to this failing interest is the fact that the oil crisis at the time was not a real one. At present, nobody predicts a rapid exhaustion of the oil resources and fuel production from lignocellulosics is no longer a high priority."

In the decade following the publication of the first edition of Cellular Biology of the Uterus, advances in this field have been so rapid as to require not merely a revision of the earlier text but an essentially new volume. Even the title of the book has been changed, to Biology of the Uterus, to reflect the incorporation of more material based on classical anatomy and physiology. This histological and embryological information provides a necessary, though often lacking, background for the protein chemist and molecular biologist, and a bridge between biochemistry and biophysics, on the one hand, and clinical medicine, on the other. Thus, major practical problems in human reproduction, such as the mode of action of contraceptive agents and the cause of the initiation of labor, may be approached on a firm scientific footing. This text deals primarily with the biology of the uterus itself (comparative and human) rather than with placentation or pregnancy, and as such is a synthesis of data derived from many techniques, conventional and modern. Inasmuch as it is clearly beyond the competence of anyone scientist to prepare such a text on the basis of personal knowledge and experience, the aid of distinguished biologists from this country and abroad was enlisted. All of these authors, acknowledged experts in their respective fields, agreed to extensive revision of their chapters or preparation of entirely new contributions.

It has been known for a long time that the majority of plant viruses contain RNA and in the past decade and a half it has been realized that many have genomes consisting of three molecules of single-stranded RNA with positive polarity. Among these are viruses belonging to four groups recognized by the International Committee for Virus Taxonomy: the Bromovirus and Cucumovirus groups whose genomes are encapsi dated in small icosahedral particles or the Ilarvirus and alfalfa mosaic virus groups with spheroidal or bacilliform particles. In addition to their tripartite genomes, these viruses share a number of other properties and it has been proposed that they should perhaps be grouped in a single virus family for which the name Tricornaviridae has been suggested, the tri indicating the tripartite nature of the genome, the co emphasizing the cooperation of the three genome parts required to initiate infection, and the rna indicating that the genome is composed of RNA. Viruses of this "family" are less uniform in their biological proper ties. A number of them are widespread, causing very destructive plant diseases. Viruses such as those of cucumber mosaic and alfalfa mosaic have very extensive host ranges and are responsible for serious crop losses in many parts of the world. Others such as prunus necrotic ringspot or prune dwarf viruses are more restricted in their host ranges but never theless infect important perennial hosts such as stone fruits and reduce productivity considerably."

This volume presents the papers given at the meeting "Estuarine Management and Quality Assessment" held at Trinity College, Dublin in September 1983. The meeting was organised by the Environmental Sci ences Unit, TCD and the Estuarine and Brackish-Water Sciences Associ ation and was attended by delegates from the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Holland and Portugal. The theme for the meeting was deliberately chosen in an attempt to bring together the various disciplines and interests in the field of estuarine quality, and the extent to which this objective was met may be judged from the diversity of the contributions. The meeting was arranged under three sub-headings which could be roughly summar ised thu- a) Modelling - as representative of the engineering hydrodynamicist approach. b) Impact - as representative of the biologist-type approach. c) Management - attempting to reconcile the different approaches to, and demands on, the estuary. In fact, since most contributions overlapped into the other two categories, the order in this volume has been changed somewhat from the meeting, and we feel that this book may be fairly presented as one unit. Contributions for which it was not possible to give full transcripts have been included, for completeness, as abstracts. In each session, an invited speaker summarised the state of the art, and the other speakers followed up by describing some new approach to or refinement of the problem."

With its 250-year history, Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) is now viewed as a model for managing forests worldwide. Yet despite the frequent use of the term there remain many questions concerning its meanings, criteria as well as its practical application.

This book explores the current potential of SFM within the context of the rapid changes occurring in our natural and social environment, and examines the broad range issues climate change, finance, governance, policy, certification, reduced-impact logging, non-timber products and services and stakeholder participation in land-use decisions within the context of forest use, functions and conservation.

With contributions from high-level representatives from the World Bank, FAO, IUCN and UNEP, as well as from leading academics and including case studies from Europe and the tropics this timely synthesis will provide a valuable reference for advanced students and researchers interested in forest and natural resource management, participatory and extension research, forest ecology and ecosystem services, functions and values, as well as for those involved in forest policy at local, regional and international levels.

'Every so often, a discipline should take stock where we are and where we are going. This book is doing that in a very timely manner. As we gain an appreciation of the magnitude and implications of future changes, the authors present views and ideas on a wide range of topics related to sustainable forest management. They provide a much needed overview of challenges in the face of climate and other aspects of global change. The book incorporates recent advances in a variety of fields and provides suggestions for solutions to important management problems that range from theoretical approaches to practical applications.' Klaus J. Puettmann, Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, USA."

Agricultural, natural resource, and environmental problems are becom ing increasingly interdependent. For example, soil erosion is largely determined by agricultural land use. Both water use and water con tamination depend on land use and technology choice in agriculture. In many areas, the fertilizers and pesticides used in agriculture are ma jor pollutants of ground and surface water, having adverse effects on drinking water and fisheries. Agricultural pollutants such as pesticides also produce adverse health effects for agricultural workers and the consuming public. On the other hand, the availability of water resources and the value of competing land uses influence agricultural production. Additionally, regional air quality problems may affect crops and global environmental trends may have long-term implica tions for farming. Agriculture, natural resources and environmental quality are all heavily regulated in the U. S., but they are done so by a vast array of competing or unrelated agencies within the U. S. Departments of Agriculture, Interior, and Commerce, the Environmental Protection Agency; and numerous state agencies. Considering the large number of bureaucratically remote public agencies involved and the pervasive in terdependencies between agriculture, natural resources and the environ ment, policies develop which are at best uncoordinated and at worst conflicting and counterproductive. These policies have become sources of controversy as different interest groups struggle to affect their im plementation, as different agencies have fought for administrative con trol and as legislative bodies have attempted to enact piecemeal changes."

Root hairs are tip-growing cells that originate from epidennal cells called trichoblasts. Their role may be simply thought of as extending the surface area of the root to facilitate absorption of nutrients and water. However, as you will see in this book, the root hair is far more than that. To an increasingly larger number of plant biologists, the root hair is a model cell. It grows in much the same way as a pollen tube, by sending vast numbers of vesicles containing cell wall precursors to a rounded apical dome, the tip. Once the trichoblast becomes committed to root hair fonnation, it no longer divides. The root hair cell has a migrating nucleus and a complex cytoskeleton. It has a varied cell wall. It is easy to observe through differential interference contrast microscopy because there are no other cells around it to disturb the image. Cytoplasmic streaming is exceptionally clear, and amyloplasts and even mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum can be seen without reporter labelling in some species. Root hair mutants are easy to distinguish and catalogue. Plant honnones are involved in their growth and development. It is thus an almost ideal plant cell for experimental manipulation and observation. The root hair is also involved in interactions with soil microbes, as you will learn from later chapters of the book.

Major and exciting changes have taken place recently in various aspects of bio technology and its applications to forestry. Even more exciting is the prospect of major innovations that the entire field of biotechnology holds for plant growth in general. The importance of these developments for the forestry sector is considerable, particu larly since forestry science has not received the kinds of technical and R&D inputs that, say, agriculture has received in the past few decades. Y ct the problems of defor estation as well as stagnation in yields and productivity of existing forests throughout the world are becoming increasingly apparent, with consequences and ecological ef fects that cause growing worldwide concern. Policies for application of existing knowl edge in biotechnology to the field of forestry and priorities for future research and development are, therefore, of considerable value, because it is only through the adop tion of the right priorities and enlightened policies that scientific developments will move along the right direction, leading to improvements in forestry practices through out the world. It was against this backdrop that the Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI) or ganised a major international workshop on the "Applications of Biotechnology in For estry and Horticulture" at New Delhi in January 1988. The present volume covers the proceedings of this international workshop."

An introductory discussion of basic chromosome structure and function preceeds the main text on the application of cytogenetic approaches to the analysis of the manipulation of both the genetic make-up and the genetic transmission system of plant breeding material. Analysis using light and electron microscopy, segregations and molecular techniques, yields information for assessing the material before and after manipulation. Much attention is given to quantitative methods. Manipulation not only involves the construction of specific genotypes, but also chromosomal transmission systems. Although analysis and manipulation in the somatic cycle are considered, the focus is on the generative cycle, with emphasis on analysis and subsequent segregation of specifically constructed material. The book is intended for plant breeders and other scientists interested in the analysis and manipulation of breeding material at the chromosomal level. Comparisons with molecular and cell biological approaches are made, and the potential of the various methods is evaluated.

This volume is the last contribution of a series of With the present book, a further gap concern studies concerned with the plant material of one ing leaf morphology and leaf venation, as well and the same area of Venezuelan Guiana. The as some structural peculiarities of physiological importance, is closed so that an exhaustive survey studies originated through a collaboration with the forest engineer Dr. B. Rollet, the FAO expert in of bark and leaf morphology and anatomy as well forest inventory who collected the material of tree as of fruit and seed structure of the plants of a barks, leaves, fruits and seeds in Venezuelan certain well-known area is herewith given. Not Guiana around the "Rio Grande," "EI Paraiso," only were hundreds of species studied, but and "EI Dorado" camps. In the first place, tree structural characteristics were related to "forest barks of about 280 species of dicotyledons stratification," i. e. to the different micro climatic belonging to 48 families were studied (family by conditions in the forest, as the height of the trees family) by Roth in separate publications which and shrubs studied was known. It is of common mainly appeared in Acta Botanica Venezuelica knowledge that in the lower forest layers, light is a and in Acta Biol6gica Venezuelica (see the bibli limiting factor, while humidity is sufficiently avail ography in Roth 1981)."

In this volume experts present the latest status of mathematical and statistical methods in use for the analysis and modeling of plant disease epidemics. Topics treated are - methods in multivariate analyses, ordination and classification, - modeling of temporal and spatial aspects of air- and soilborne diseases, - methods to analyse and describe competition among subpopulations, e.g. pathogen races and - their interaction with resistance genes of host plants - assemblage and use of models - mathematical simulation of epidemics. New chapters on the modeling of the spreading of diseases in air and in soil are included in this second edition.

Provided here are both underlying theory and recent results concerning the propagation and use of clones in research and in production forestry. State-of-the-art science and case histories treating production, testing, multiplication and deployment of clones are presented. Agroforestry, urban forestry and christmas-tree farming are covered, along with more traditional multiple-use forestry and high-intensity forestry for biomass, wood and fiber production. Clonal forestry is contrasted to the more recent developments of "family forestry," and the classical tree-improvement approach relying on seed-orchards. The history of clonal forestry is covered with reviews of several centuries experience with Sugi in Japan and poplars in Europe. The impacts and use of clones in the contexts of genetic conservation and biodiversity are discussed, as are the laws and regulations affecting clonal production and deployment.

Haploid plants have the gametophytic number of chromosomes. They are of great importance, especially in studies on the induction of muta tions and also for the production of homozygous plants, they are needed in large numbers. The conventional methods employed by plant breeders for their production are cumbersome, time-consuming, laborious and rather inefficient. Sometimes it may take years to produce a pure line. However, with the introduction of in vitro techniques, especially anther culture for the induction of androgenesis, it has become increasingly evi dent that these methods considerably accelerate the production of haploids for plant breeding programs. During the last decade, in vitro-produced haploids have been incor porated into breeding programs of many agricultural crops, and positive results have been obtained especially with rice, wheat, potato, barley, maize, asparagus, sunflower, brassica, tobacco, etc. Among these, rice and wheat are the best examples in which a number of improved varieties have been released. In wheat, the breeding cycle can be shortened by three or four generations when the pollen haploid breeding method is used instead of conventional cross-breeding. The release of the wheat varieties Jinghua 1 and Florin is a typical example of what can be achieved with other crops. Taking these developments into considera tion, the present volume, Haploids in Crop Improvement I, was compil ed.

The series "Chemistry of Plant Protection" continues the handbook "Chemie der Pflanzenschutz- und Schadlingsbekampfungsmittel", edited by R. Wegler. This volume covers contributions in the fields of pesticide degradation, desiccation and defoliation, and the acetyl choline receptor in insects.

In evolutionary time scales natural disturbances have affected the vegetation on Earth. During the Quaternary the forest biomes of the tropics were subjected to manifold disturbances. Climate changes and climate oscillations were associated with changing precipitation and drought regimes, flooding, siltation, landslides, etc. The prehistorical forest was also influenced by the effects of large wildlife populations. Large-scale catastrophies in the forest biomes were mainly caused by abiotic environmental alterations, the small-scale disturbances were and still are related to both biotic and abiotic processes. Both the large-and the small-scale disturbances have played a significant role in shaping distribution, dynamics, structure and composition of the paleoforest. After the expansion of hominids and early humans, and later, by modern humans, the anthropogenic influences on the tropical forest began to overlap natural disturbances. Today's anthropogenic impacts on the tropical forests differ qualitatively and quanitatively from the natural disturbances. The speed of tropical deforestation and savannization is dramatically increasing. The physical and chemical impacts of forest conversion and biomass burning add to other anthropogenic influences on the atmosphere and climate. The expected anthropogenic climate change will also have considerable impacts on the tropical flora and fauna. The book on "Tropical Forests in Transition" synthesizes information on changing environmental conditions and human impacts on the tropical forest by looking back to the paleoecology, analyzing the impact of modern human populations and modeling the future of the tropical forest in a changing environment. The aim of the book is to strengthen multidisciplinary thinking in disturbance ecology.

It would have been very easy to expand on all the sections of the first edition but I decided to try to retain the relatively short, introductory nature of the book. Some new material has been added, particularly where it has been possible to update data, and there has been some change of emphasis in places, in order to reflect changing world conditions. The book retains its original purpose, however, of introducing systems thinking as applied to agriculture. I am grateful to Angela Hoxey for help in preparing this edition, especially in relation to the preparation of tables and figures. C. R. W. SPEDDING v Preface to the First Edition The agricultural systems of the world represent a very large subject. Their study involves a great deal of fairly detailed knowledge, as well as a grasp of the structures and functions of the systems themselves. This book has been written as an introduction to such a study and it concentrates on an overall view, rather than on the detail, partly because of the need to relate the latter to some larger picture in order to appreciate the relevance and significance of the detail. This problem-of seeing the relevance of component studies and the significance of physical, biological and economic detail, and indeed principles-is encountered by many agricultural students right at the beginning of their university careers.

While deforestation continues at an alarming rate around the world, discussions on the range of underlying causes continue. The premise is that studying successful transitions from deforestation to sustainable forestry ex post in Finland can provide novel insights into how deforestation in the tropics might be reduced in the future. Our fundamental question here is why Finland succeeded to stop deforestation for a century ago and why not the same is feasible in the contemporary tropical countries? This book presents a novel integrated theory within which this case study on Finland and contemporary modeling of underlying causes of tropical deforestation are developed. Finland remains the world's second largest net exporter of forest products, while maintaining the highest forest cover in Europe. A transition from deforestation to sustainable industrial forestry took place in Finland during the first part of the 20th century. The underlying causes of this transition are compared via our theory with deforestation in 74 contemporary tropical countries. Both appear similar and support our theory. The interaction of public policies and market institutions has appeared to be critical during this transition. The study's findings suggest that private forest ownership with a continuous increase in the real value of forests and alleviation of poverty under non-corruptive conditions has been a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition for this transition. In a parallel way public policies have also proved to be a necessary, but not sufficient, condition in this transition. The conclusion is that socialistic forestry along with corruption is artificially maintaining too low values in the tropical forests. The opportunity cost of sustainable forestry remains too high and deforestation by extensification of agriculture therefore continues. The prevailing socialistic forestry with dominating public forest ownership is by purpose maintaining administratively set low stumpage prices leading to low value of forests, wide corruption and continuous forest degradation and deforestation. An effective remedy - to raise the value of forests - is found to be within forestry.

Respiration is a large and important component of the carbon economy of crops. There are already several good books dealing with the biochemistry and physiol ogy of plant respiration, but there are none I know of that are devoted to the rela tionship between respiration and crop productivity, although this relationship is more and more frequently being studied with both experiment and simulation. Crop physiology books do cover respiration, of course, but the treatment is limited. The purpose of the present book is to fill this void in the literature. The approach taken here is to use the popular two-component functional model whereby respiration is divided between growth and maintenance components. Mter thoroughly reviewing the literature, I came to the conclusion that at present this is the most useful means of considering respiration as a quantitative compo nent of a crop's carbon economy. This functional distinction is used as the frame work for describing respiration and assessing its role in crop productivity. Discussions and critiques of the biochemistry and physiology of respiration serve primarily as a means of more fully understanding and describing the functional approach to studying crop respiration. It is assumed that the reader of this book is familiar with the fundamentals of plant physiology and biochemistry. The research worker in crop physiology should find this an up-to-date summary of crop respiration and the functional model of respiration. This book is not, however, a simple review of existing data."

It is appropriate at this time to reflect on two decades of research in biological control of weeds with fungal plant pathogens. Some remarkable events have occurred in the last 20 years that represent a flurry of activity far beyond what could reasonably have been predicted. In 1969 a special topics review article by C. L. Wilson was published in Annual Reviews of Phytopathology that examined the literature and the potential for biological control of weeds with plant pathogens. In that same year, experiments were conducted in Arkansas that determined whether a fungal plant pathogen could reduce the infestation of a single weed species in rice fields. In Florida a project was under way to determine the potential use of a soil-borne plant pathogen as a means for controlling a single weed species in citrus groves. Work in Australia was published that described experiments that sought to determine whether a pathogen could safely and deliberately be imported and released into a country to control a weed of agricultural importance. All three projects were successful in the sense that Puccinia chondrillina was released into Australia to control rush skeleton weed and was released later into the United States as well, and that Colletotrichum gloeosporioides f.sp. aeschynomene and Phytophthora palmivora were later both marketed for the specific purpose of controlling specific weed species.

After the 1988 and 1989 volumes, this is the third volume on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants. Each of the 29 chapters contributed by international scientists deals with one individual plant genus, namely "Atropa," "Ageratina," "Ailanthus," "Aconitum," "Apium," "Aloe," "Akebia," "Bidens," "Carthamus," "Chamomilla," "Carum," "Citrus," "Cymbopogon," "Dysosma," "Euphorbia," "Fritillaria," "Glycyrrhiza," "Lavandula," "Nigella," "Pelargonium," "Perilla," "Podophyllum," "Rosa," "Scutellaria," "Securinega," "Solanum," "Swertia," "Symphytum," "Syringa." Their distribution, economic importance, conventional propagation, in-vitro propagation and production of metabolites through tissue culture are treated in detail. Special emphasis is laid on the potential of industrial in-vitro production of plant compounds of medical and pharmaceutical relevance using tissue culture.

This book is a collection of papers presented at a NATO Advanced Research Workshop on "Biology and Molecular Biology of Plant-Pathogen Interactions" which was held at Dillington College, Ilminster, UK, 1-6 September 1985. It had been preceded by Advanced Study Institutes at Porte Conte, Sardinia in 1975 and at Cape Sounion, Greece in 1981. In recent years, methods for the manipulation and transfer of genes have revolutionized our understanding of gene structure and function. It was thus opportune to bring together scientists from distinct disciplines, e. g. plant pathology, cytology, biochemistry and molecular biology to discuss our present understanding of cellular interactions between plants. We also explored how the potential offered by the newer molecular technologies could best be realized. It soon became evident at the Workshop, and is a repeated theme of this publication, that future research will need concentrated multi disciplinary programmes. Many of the new approaches will be valuable. For example, immunocytochemistry does, for the first time, allow molecules to be located precisely within infected tissues. Equally, the methods of DNA isolation and gene transformation will facilitate the isolation and characterization of genes associated with pathogenesis and specificity. The description at the Workshop of immunocytochemical protocols and of transformation systems for pathogenic fungi have already stimulated an upsurge in research on plant-pathogen relationships. The papers discuss many interactions between plants and fungal and bacterial pathogens, but also provide a comparison with mycorrhizal and symbiotic relationships, and those involving mycoparasites."

Among basic human needs, food is foremost. Finding sufficient, affordable food is still the major concern of one in every five persons on earth. Rice is the basic staple for more than half of the world - and will continue to be well into the future. For this reason, the Interna tional Rice Research Institute (IRRI) has set the goal of improving the well-being of present and future generations of rice farmers and consumers, particularly those with low incomes. As we look toward the 21st century, several important issues cloud food security. World population is growing by almost 100 million people per year, and it is not likely to plateau before the end of the next century. This means that food demand will at least double, and may quadruple. The technologies of the Green Revolution have provided an unprecedented leap in annual rice production, enough to feed 600 million more people, but have had unforeseen social and environmental costs. Loss of genetic diversity and misuse of pesti cides endanger the sustainability of the Green Revolution. Soil ero sion, rural to urban popUlation migration, and increased competition for land and water between urban and agricultural sectors further threaten the sustainability of rice production. Finally, human activi ties may be changing the global climate. Any change in global climate is a potential challenge to the food security offuture generations. The world cannot afford to be unprepared."

Methane plays many important roles in the earth's environment. It is a potent "greenhouse gas" that warms the earth; controls the oxidizing capacity of the atmosphere (OH) indirectly affecting the cycles and abundances of many atmospheric trace gases; provides water vapor to the stratosphere; scavenges chlorine atoms from the stratosphere, terminating the catalytic ozone destruction by chlorine atoms, including the chlorine released from the man-made chlorofluorocarbons; produces ozone, CO, and CO2 in the troposphere; and it is an index of life on earth and so is present in greater quantities during warm interglacial epochs and dwindles to low levels during the cold of ice ages. By all measures, methane is the second only to CO2 in causing future global warming. The book presents a comprehensive account of the current understanding of atmospheric methane, and it is an end point for summarizing more than a decade of intensive research on the global sources, sinks, concentrations, and environmental role of methane.

Most forest tree species were considered recalcitrant a decade ago, but now with the improved in vitro techniques some progress has been made towards culture-of tree species. Micro propagation has been achieved from the juvenile tissues of a number of forest tree species. On the other hand, tissues from most mature trees are still very difficult to grow and differen tiate in vitro. Nevertheless, there has been slow but steady progress in the application of tissue culture technology for culture of tissues, organs, cells and protoplasts of tree species. As compared to most agricultural crops, and herbaceous plant species, trees are a different lot. They have long gene ration cycles. They are highly heterozygous and have a large reservoir of genetic variability. Because of this genetic variability, their response in vitro is also variable. On a single medium, the response of tissues from different trees (genotypes) of a single species may be quite different: some responding by induction of growth and differentiation, while others showing minimal or no growth at all. That makes the somatic cell genetics of woody plants somewhat difficult, but at the same time interesting."