This book provides basic information on the botanical diversity in the Czech Republic and relates the patterns in flora and vegetation to environmental factors, biogeographical history and human impact. Focusing on vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens, it summarizes the data on taxonomic diversity and provides details of relict, endemic, rare, alien and other biogeographically important species. Main vegetation types are characterized in terms of their structure, distribution, ecology and dynamics, emphasizing the long-term vegetation changes since the late Pleistocene, historical impact of humans on vegetation and current changes in vegetation including the impact of alien species. Special attention is paid to the conservation of threatened plant species and their habitats and ecological restoration. An account of the history of botanical research in this country is also provided. The book is illustrated with numerous maps, graphs and photographs of plant species and communities. The book is an essential reference for any biogeographer, botanist and plant ecologist who is working in Central Europe or is searching for both general and more specific information on this part of the world.

Most entries of this revised edition are new as so much has been recently published on Czech affairs. All aspects of the country are covered in selective, critical annotations of pre-eminently English-language publications, making this an invaluale reference work for scholars, students and the general reader alike.

This book presents light microscopic anatomical images of aquatic and wetland plant stem. It features double-stained cross- and longitudinal sections of almost 400 species of vascular plants from the lowland to the alpine zone in Central Europe, including plants from lakes, ponds, rivers, bogs, fens, wet meadows, saline meadows, tall herb associations and alpine snow beds. The microscopic photographs at various magnifications are supplemented with detailed anatomical descriptions. For each species it provides a photo of the whole plant, a short morphological and ecological description as well as indications about its world- and Central European distribution. The book includes a hydrobotanical and an anatomical section. The hydrobotanical section describes the ecological classification of aquatic and wetland plants and explains major ecophysiological processes e.g., photosynthesis, mineral nutrition, gas exchange, adaptations to soil anoxia, turion formation and ecology. The anatomical section highlights the variety of structures and anatomical features of vascular plants in all wet environments.

The Atlas of Seeds and Fruits of Central and East-European Flora presents nearly 4,800 seed illustrations, supplemented with detailed seed descriptions, brief plant descriptions, and information on the locality and the native source of plants. The Carpathian flora covered here occurs not only in the Carpathian Mountains, but also in large lowlands extending towards the south, north and east and involves introduced and invading flora of more than 7,500 species. This publication is unique on two counts. Its scope extends to an unprecedented number of different plant seeds from a wide-ranging region. Moreover, it presents descriptions in unusual detail.

The conifer tree can lead to a wide variety of products and services. Overall, the evaluation, management and planning of the multiplicity of these forest systems requires effective and specific methods and tools in a sustainable frame of the systems and of their products and services. This book reflects the current research on conifer stands and forests. The authors, specialists in different areas, addressed several issues in forest science, focusing on the species' characteristics, silviculture and climate change; growth analysis; reconstruction of stand dynamics of mixed stands; establishment, regeneration and succession; litter-fall, nutrient cycle and silviculture; distribution and zonation; and ecosystem services provided by monocultures and mixed stands.