Todd E. Dawson – författare

While the majority of flowering plant species are hermaphroditic, gender di­ morphism, or the occurrence of two sexual morphs, has, nevertheless, evolved on repeated occasions. Gender dimorphism is found in nearly half of all angio­ sperm families and in approximately 10% of flowering plant species. Where plants are dimorphic in gender, they can also be dimorphic in secondary sex characters. We refer to dimorphism of the latter kind as sexual dimorphism, in keeping with the term's usage by most zoologists. This book is about the evolution of both forms of dimorphism -hence the book's lengthy title. Gender dimorphism in plants has been an active topic of research from theoretical and empirical perspectives, and has been the focus of several re­ cent reviews and book chapters. By contrast, sexual dimorphism in plants is of the much less widely appreciated. Indeed, the last comprehensive review subject dates back to Lloyd and Webb's 1977 paper on "Secondary Sex Char­ we first spoke of editing a book on sexual acters in Plants. " In addition, when dimorphism in plants, some people doubted that there was enough material to justify the effort. We hope that this book not only provides an update to Lloyd and Webb's seminal work but also dispels doubts about the widespread nature of sexual dimorphism in plants. We decided to combine reviews of both gender and sexual dimorphism in a single book, because each form of dimorphism can provide the evolutionary impetus for the other.

While the majority of flowering plant species are hermaphroditic, gender di­ morphism, or the occurrence of two sexual morphs, has, nevertheless, evolved on repeated occasions. Gender dimorphism is found in nearly half of all angio­ sperm families and in approximately 10% of flowering plant species. Where plants are dimorphic in gender, they can also be dimorphic in secondary sex characters. We refer to dimorphism of the latter kind as sexual dimorphism, in keeping with the term's usage by most zoologists. This book is about the evolution of both forms of dimorphism -hence the book's lengthy title. Gender dimorphism in plants has been an active topic of research from theoretical and empirical perspectives, and has been the focus of several re­ cent reviews and book chapters. By contrast, sexual dimorphism in plants is of the much less widely appreciated. Indeed, the last comprehensive review subject dates back to Lloyd and Webb's 1977 paper on "Secondary Sex Char­ we first spoke of editing a book on sexual acters in Plants. " In addition, when dimorphism in plants, some people doubted that there was enough material to justify the effort. We hope that this book not only provides an update to Lloyd and Webb's seminal work but also dispels doubts about the widespread nature of sexual dimorphism in plants. We decided to combine reviews of both gender and sexual dimorphism in a single book, because each form of dimorphism can provide the evolutionary impetus for the other.

This comprehensive resource in the field of isoscapes discusses advances, challenges, technical demands, and significant promise in isoscapes as applied to a wide array of research problems in the earth sciences and beyond.

Millions of trees live and grow all around us, and we all recognize the vital role they play in the world’s ecosystems. Publicity campaigns exhort us to plant yet more. Yet until recently comparatively little was known about the root causes of the physical changes that attend their growth. Since trees typically increase in size by three to four orders of magnitude in their journey to maturity, this gap in our knowledge has been a crucial issue to address. Here at last is a synthesis of the current state of our knowledge about both the causes and consequences of ontogenetic changes in key features of tree structure and function.During their ontogeny, trees undergo numerous changes in their physiological function, the structure and mechanical properties of their wood, and overall architecture and allometry. This book examines the central interplay between these changes and tree size and age. It also explores the impact these changes can have, at the level of the individual tree, on the emerging characteristics of forest ecosystems at various stages of their development. The analysis offers an explanation for the importance of discriminating between the varied physical properties arising from the nexus of size and age, as well as highlighting the implications these ontogenetic changes have for commercial forestry and climate change. This important and timely summation of our knowledge base in this area, written by highly respected researchers, will be of huge interest, not only to researchers, but also to forest managers and silviculturists.

During their ontogeny, trees undergo numerous changes in their physiological function, architecture and allometry. This volume examines the central interplay between these changes, and the impact they can have on forest ecosystems.