Part I - Current plant growth models, applications, and data: Mathematical descriptions of plant growth and development; Applied plant growth models for grazinglands, forests and crops; Data for plant growth modeling, and evaluation. Parte II - Forescasting and estimating plant yield: Choosing a basis for yield forecasts and estimates; Forecasting andestimating effects of weather on yield; The scale problem, modeling plant yield over time and space. Part III - The future of applied plant growth modeling: The future of applied plant growth modeling.

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.

Plant architecture is a major determinant of the resource use efficiency of crops. The architecture of a plant shows ontogenetic structural changes which are modified by multiple environmental factors: Plant canopies are exposed to natural fluctuations in light quantity and the dynamically changing canopy architecture induces local variations in light quality. Changing temperature conditions or water availability during growth additionally affect plant architecture and thus crop productivity, because plants have various options to adapt their architecture to the available resources. Meeting the challenge of ensuring food security we must understand the plant’s mechanisms for integrating and responding to an orchestra of environmental factors. ‘Virtual plants’ describe plant architecture in silico. Virtual plants have the potential to help us understanding the complex feedback processes between canopy architecture, multiple environmental factors and crop productivity. As a research tool, they have become increasingly popular within the last decade due to their great power of realistically visualizing the plant’s architecture. This Research Topic highlights current research carried out on modeling plant architecture in changing environments.