FACT! Australia has the worst mammal extinction rate in the world. Many of our native bird, reptile, fish and amphibian species are endangered. AUSTRALIA'S ENDANGERED ANIMALS… AND THEIR HABITATS is an exciting new series that takes a look at some of Australia's most threatened animal species and their unique habitats. Learn about: • Dozens of Australia's most vulnerable creatures • The habitats where Australia's animals live, feed and breed • Identifying characteristics that make a species vulnerable • Australian and international classification systems • Threats animals face and what is being done to save them • What YOU can do to make difference Inside each book you'll find current information, maps, statistics, fun facts, and photographs. Every book is a valuable resource designed to support Australian students and teachers, and meet Australian National Curriculum requirements.

This book will provide a complete overview of an alpine ecosystem, based on the long-term research conducted at the Niwot Ridge LTER. There is, at present, no general book on alpine ecology. The alpine ecosystem features conditions near the limits of biological existence, and is a useful laboratory for asking more general ecological questions, because it offers large environmental change over relatively short distances. Factors such as macroclimate, microclimate, soil conditions, biota, and various biological factors change on differing scales, allowing insight into the relative contributions of the different factors on ecological outcomes.

Although, as W.D. Billings notes in his chapter in this book. the development of physiological ecology can be traced back to the very beginnings of the study of ecology it is clear that the modern development of this field in North America is due in the large part to the efforts of Billings alone. The foundation that Billings laid in the late 1950s came from his own studies on deserts and subsequently arctic and alpine plants, and also from his enormous success in instilling enthusiasm for the field in the numerous students attracted to the plant ecology program at Duke University. Billings' own studies provided the model for subsequent work in this field. Physiological techniques. normally confined to the laboratory. were brought into the field to examine processes under natural environmental conditions. These field studies were accompanied by experiments under controlled conditions where the relative impact of various factors could be assessed and further where genetic as opposed to environmental influences could be separated. This blending of field and laboratory approaches promoted the design of experiments which were of direct relevance to understanding the distribution and abundance of plants in nature. Physiological mechanisms were studied and assessed in the context of the functioning of plants under natural conditions rather than as an end in itself.

FACT! Australia has the worst mammal extinction rate in the world. Many of our native bird, reptile, fish and amphibian species are endangered. AUSTRALIA'S ENDANGERED ANIMALS… AND THEIR HABITATS is an exciting new series that takes a look at some of Australia's most threatened animal species and their unique habitats. Learn about: • Dozens of Australia's most vulnerable creatures • The habitats where Australia's animals live, feed and breed • Identifying characteristics that make a species vulnerable • Australian and international classification systems • Threats animals face and what is being done to save them • What YOU can do to make difference Inside each book you'll find current information, maps, statistics, fun facts, and photographs. Every book is a valuable resource designed to support Australian students and teachers, and meet Australian National Curriculum requirements.

No other book discusses so many principles relevant not only to plant ecologists in continental Europe, but in the British Isles and North America.