Peter A. Thomas is Senior Lecturer in the School of Life Sciences at Keele University. John R. Packham is Emeritus Professor in the School of Applied Sciences at the University of Wolverhampton.

'… good index … extensive references … well illustrated … breadth of material covered in a very readable way. I can see undergraduates finding it very useful as an introduction to key concepts and as a source book for essays.' Bulletin of the British Ecological Society

• Preface; 1. Introduction: forest basics; 2. Forest soils, climate and zonation; 3. Primary production and forest development; 4. Reproductive strategies of forest plants; 5. Biotic interactions; 6. Biodiversity in woodlands; 7. Decomposition and renewal; 8. Energy and nutrients; 9. Forest change and disturbance; 10. Working forests; 11. The future - how will our forests change?; References.