"While pines, spruces, firs, and other conifers prominent in northern hemisphere landscapes, particularly in mountain and high-altitude environments, have been the subject of much scientific study, southern conifers have been largely overlooked, even though almost one-third of all conifers - some 200 speciesare found in the southern hemisphere and many more occur in the tropical lowland forests that straddle the equator. Some researchers have even characterized the southern conifers as relicts or living fossils, destined to be swept away by a rising tide of flowering plants." "Ecology of the Southern Conifers brings together, for the first time, information on this diverse and unique group of plants. Twenty-eight scholars from around the world examine the history and ecology of the southern conifers, and emphasize their importance in understanding the evolution and ecological dynamics of southern vegetation. Drawing together the results of research from ecosystems as varied as the South African fynbos and New Caledonian rainforests, the Argentine steppe and inland Australia, this book searches for unifying themes and seeks to relate these to modern evolutionary and ecological theory." "Ecology of the Southern Conifers demonstrates the plants' significance for understanding evolutionary and ecological processes in the southern hemisphere."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This useful manual provides a means for easy identification of the native and cultivated conifers of northeastern North America. The territory covered is roughly eastern Canada and the northeastern fourth of the United States, from Maine south to the southern border of Pennsylvania, west to Kansas, and north to North Dakota. Because it includes so many cultivated species, the book treats the great majority of conifers found in the western United States and Europe as well. Twenty-seven genera and 130 species are included.

With contributions by internationally reputed researchers in the field, this book presents the implications of the genomic revolution for conifers—promoting a better understanding of the evolution of these organisms as well as new knowledge about the molecular basis of quantitative trait variation. Both of these discoveries play important roles in their domestication. Topics include cytogenetics, patterns of nucleotide diversity, genetic mapping, integration of molecular markers in breeding, transcriptomics, advances in proteomics and metabolomics in gymnosperms, and economic importance.

Conifers are one of the world's most important resources of timber. If managed wisely and used sustainably, these resources will provide wood for a multitude of purposes, virtually indefinitely. Additional products include resins and their derivatives, and even medicinal extracts--for example taxol now used in the treatment of cancer. Conifers occur on all continents except Antarctica. Of the 630 species, 355 are listed as of conservation concern, with 200, or 25 of species, threatened with extinction. Although exploitation of these resources is as old as civilization, this century has seen a dramatic increase in the exploitation of timber resources. This action plan assess conifer diversity and its threats. It is unique among IUCN's Plant Action Plans so far published, in that it gives the complete global red list of conifers using the 1994 IUCN Red List Categories and criteria. Data is analyzed to identify "conifer hot spots", where conservation should be a priority, and a short-list of threatened species is prioritized.

A 2017 Choice Magazine "Outstanding Academic Title" Conifers are known to everyone as a conspicuous kind of evergreen trees or shrubs that feature prominently in gardens and parks as well as in many managed forests in the cool to cold temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Numerous books have been written about them and continue to appear, mostly with a bias towards these uses in Europe and North America. This second edition, revised and updated, of A Handbook of the World's Conifers is departing from this traditional approach in that it includes all the world's 615 species of conifers, of which some 200 occur in the tropics. It gives as much information about these and the Southern Hemisphere conifers as about the better known species, drawing on research into the taxonomy, biology, ecology, distribution and uses by the author over nearly 35 years. The result is a truly encyclopedic work, a true handbook of all the world's conifers, richly illustrated by the author with his line drawings and photographs taken from the natural habitats of the species.

"This volume brings together a collection of papers from a diverse field of international scholars exploring the multiple ways that East Timorese communities are making and remaking their connections to land and places of ancestral significance. The work is explicitly comparative and highlights the different ways Timorese language communities negotiate access and transactions in land, disputes and inheritance especially in areas subject to historical displacement and resettlement. Consideration is extended to the role of ritual performance and social alliance for inscribing connection and entitlement. Emerging through analysis is an appreciation of how relations to land, articulated in origin discourses, are implicated in the construction of national culture and differential contributions to the struggle for independence."--Publisher's description.

"What are the lives of trees, of conifers, like'. . . How do seedlings establish and develop into saplings? How do some seedlings stay alive for decades, marking time in the deep shade of the forest? How do the distinctive forms of saplings of the different species arise'. . . When, how, and where do cones come from? What is the sex life of a conifer? Where does pollen come from? What does pollen do?" - From the Introduction A comparative account of the coniferous trees indigenous to Northeastern North America Extensively illustrated with full-colour photographs, diagrams, and drawings by the author, Graham R. Powell's Lives of Conifers examines the complex and fascinating life cycles of the 12 coniferous trees that grow naturally in northeastern North America on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border. Tracing their development from seeds and seedlings, to saplings, through the pole stage to maturity, old age, and death, the book is designed to pro-vide a comparison of each species at each stage of life, thus aiding in the recognition and identification of species at all stages of their existence. It includes descriptions of developmental processes and how they differ among the species. The species covered in the book are: the balsam fir, eastern hemlock, tamarack larch, eastern white pine, jack pine, pitch pine, red pine, black spruce, red spruce, white spruce, eastern juniper, and eastern thuja. The book is based almost entirely on what is visible to the careful observer in the forest, and includes only the parts of trees that can be seen above ground. Lives of Conifers will appeal to forest scientists, forestry students, foresters, forest technologists, botanists, horticulturists, arborists, naturalists, and general readers interested in knowing more about their natural surroundings.