This book is a textbook (it includes, for example, exercises and outline solutions). The plant scientist is shown how to express physiological ideas mathematically and how to deduce quantitative conclusions, which can then be compared with experiment. There is little new biology in the book, but it is presented in a way that will be new to many biologists. The matching of models to experiments means using mathematics for formulating biological concepts and second, using algebra, calculus, or, now more frequently, computers to solve or simulate the resulting model; and finally, comparing, qualitatively or quantitatively, prediction to measurement. Computers are the important enabling technology that makes it all possible: solving equations, assembling models of increasing sophistication and complexity, and comparing theory with experiment. The book is divided into three parts. Part I. Covers subjects of wide relevance to modelling and plant biology. Part II. The reader may choose to select topics of particular interest from part II. However, the whole-plant modeller will need to study all chapters, and the plant ecosystem modeller may need to add other material also. Part III. Plant morphology is at an introductory level. It is included because morphological characters may prove to be of equal importance to some physiological traits in determining plant function and performance. "This textbook presents, in an interesting and clearly written fashion, a mathematical approach to a wide range of topics in plant and crop physiology, including light interception, leaf and canopy photosynthesis, respiration, partitioning, transpiration and water relations, branching and phyllotaxis. The biochemistry of plant growth and maintenanace is also presented in some detail. I was very pleased with the text, especially with the philosophy presented by the authors that biological models are necessarily simplifications of complex detail. I would strongly recommend it for reading and consultation by graduates and research workers." J. Exp. Botany "The authors' approach succeeds admirably, giving a thorough account of the mathematical toolbox available to researchers and the areas in which those tools have been used." Plant, Cell and Environment "Combining considerable technical cleverness with creativity and the refreshing notion that science is a "common-sense, unpredictable, fascinating and thoroughly human activity." Times Higher Educational Supplement "Exceptionally scholarly volume. Logical and systematic. Authors have assembled a mass of mathematical material in an elegant layout." Agricultural Systems

Crop modelling has huge potential to improve decision making in farming. This collection reviews advances in next-generation models focused on user needs at the whole farm system and landscape scale.

Crop models and remote sensing techniques have been combined and applied in agriculture and crop estimation on local and regional scales, or worldwide, based on the simultaneous development of crop models and remote sensing. The literature shows that many new remote sensing sensors and valuable methods have been developed for the retrieval of canopy state variables and soil properties from remote sensing data for assimilating the retrieved variables into crop models. At the same time, remote sensing has been used in a staggering number of applications for agriculture. This book sets the context for remote sensing and modelling for agricultural systems as a mean to minimize the environmental impact, while increasing production and productivity. The eighteen papers published in this Special Issue, although not representative of all the work carried out in the field of Remote Sensing for agriculture and crop modeling, provide insight into the diversity and the complexity of developments of RS applications in agriculture. Five thematic focuses have emerged from the published papers: yield estimation, land cover mapping, soil nutrient balance, time-specific management zone delineation and the use of UAV as agricultural aerial sprayers. All contributions exploited the use of remote sensing data from different platforms (UAV, Sentinel, Landsat, QuickBird, CBERS, MODIS, WorldView), their assimilation into crop models (DSSAT, AQUACROP, EPIC, DELPHI) or on the synergy of Remote Sensing and modeling, applied to cardamom, wheat, tomato, sorghum, rice, sugarcane and olive. The intended audience is researchers and postgraduate students, as well as those outside academia in policy and practice.

The development of a procedure to calculate the effect of certain environmental factors on the rate of photo-synthesis imposed mainly geometrical problems, which were solved in such a way that the actual calculation could be carried out by means of a computer. The calculation procedures have been used to study the. relative importance of the variables under various conditions. The results for a standard set of conditions, have been summarized in order to make it possible to estimate the daily photosynthesis at any time and place for a wide range of photosynthesis functions without a computer.

Learning mathematical modeling need not be difficult. Unlike other books, this book not only lists the equations one-by-one, but explains in detail how they are each derived, used, and finally assembled into a computer program for model simulations. This book shows how mathematics is applied in agriculture, in particular to modeling the growth and yield of a generic crop. Topics covered are agriculture meteorology, solar radiation interception and absorption, evapotranspiration, energy and soil water balance, soil water flow, photosynthesis, respiration, and crop growth development. Rather than covering many modeling approaches but in superficial detail, this book selects one or two widely-used modeling approaches and discusses about them in depth. Principles learned from this book equips readers when they encounter other modeling approaches or when they develop their own crop models.

Role of mathematical models; Dynamic deterministic models; Mathematical programming; Basic biological processes; Growth functions; Simple dynamic growth models; Simple ecological models; Envinment and weather; Plant and crop processes; Crop models; Crop husbandry; Plant diseases and pests; Animal processes; Animal organs; Whole-animal models; Animal products; Animal husbandry; Animal diseases; Solutions exercises; Mathematical glossary.

Bringing together experts from across the globe, Model Plants and Crop Improvement provides a critical assessment of the potential of model plant species for crop improvement. The first comprehensive summary of the use of model plant systems, the book delineates the model species' contribution to understanding the genomes of crop species. It provides an in-depth examination of the achievements and limitations of the model paradigm and explores how continued research in models can contribute to the goal of delivering the outputs of molecular biology to crops. This timely volume is the first comprehensive summary for studying the development of plant species of particular agricultural significance.