Leaf longevity is a fundamental process underlying patterns of variation in foliar phenology and determining the distinction between deciduous and evergreen plant species. Variation in leaf longevity is associated with a wide array of differences in the physiology, anatomy, morphology and ecology of plants. This book brings together for the first time information scattered widely in the botanical literature to provide a clear and comprehensive introduction to the nature and significance of variation in leaf longevity. It traces the development of ideas about leaf longevity from the earliest descriptive studies to contemporary theory of leaf longevity as a key element in the function of leaves as photosynthetic organs. An understanding of variation in leaf longevity reveals much about the nature of adaptation at the whole plant level and provides fundamental insights into the basis of variation in plant productivity at the ecosystem level. The analysis of leaf longevity also provides a process-based perspective on phenological shifts associated with the changing climate. Readers will find this an informative synthesis summarizing and illustrating different views in a readily accessible narrative that draws attention to a central but too often unappreciated aspect of plant biology. The nature and causes of seasonal patterns in the birth and death of individual plant leaves are essential to the understanding of the health of plant communities, biomes, and consequently our planet.

Studies in floral biology are largely concerned with how flowers function to promote pollination and mating. The role of pollination in governing mating patterns in plant populations inextricably links the evolution of pollination and mating systems. Despite the close functional link between pollination and mating, research conducted for most of this century on these two fundamental aspects of plant reproduction has taken quite separate courses. This has resulted in suprisingly little cross-fertilization between the fields of pollination biology on the one hand and plant mating-system studies on the other. The separation of the two areas has largely resulted from the different backgrounds and approaches adopted by workers in these fields. Most pollination studies have been ecological in nature with a strong emphasis on field research and until recently few workers considered how the mechanics of pollen dispersal might influence mating patterns and individual plant fitness. In contrast, work on plant mating patterns has often been conducted in an ecological vacuum largely devoid of information on the environmental and demographic context in which mating occurs. Mating-system research has been dominated by population genetic and theoretical perspectives with surprisingly little consideration given to the proximate ecological factors responsible for causing a particular pattern of mating to occur.

I've written a number of books on longevity and immortality. But I've only had some partial chapters on long lived plants and animals. This is an important subject because all of this life is based on the same DNA code we have in our own bodies. If this life can live for hundreds or thousands of years then this says that it is possible for humanity to live that long also. Here I've researched and included lots of specimens of animal and plant life which represent the extremes of longevity for widely varying life. This book covers the plant, animal kingdoms and includes lifeforms which are essentially immortal. Also, it is just fascinating to see who the longest lived mammals are, the oldest fish, and what about trees and bushes which have been around for thousands of years.

Viruses require a special approach to establish their presence in a diseased plant since they are not visible, even under a light microscope. This manual describes in detail a variety of protocols for determining the properties and identity of a virus and its behavior in infected plants. A Springer Lab Manual.

A collection of over 350 color photos and detailed drawings describing the techniques to pruning various plants, shrubs, and trees, with advice on restoring plant health, choosing the right tool for the job, and more.

The understanding of the responses of plant populations to plant community diversity is still incomplete. While the link between plant community diversity and biomass production is already well studied, the one between community diversity and plant longevity and life cycle is not. Especially longevity was deemed to be an unfeasible measurement for herbaceous plants species, because the usual methods were disproportionately time-consuming. Furthermore, researchers did not expect longevity to be of interest for herbaceous plants. This thesis shows that growth ring analysis is a suitable and fast method to analyse longevity of herbaceous plants and gives results that are scientifically relevant. Therefore, this method facilitates the understanding of plant population responses. The life cycle of populations and longevity both belong to the topic of life history schedules. Just as age and the life cycle of herbaceous species it is hardly studied. This is the knowledge gap this thesis tries to fill. Disentangling the effects of environmental influences and biodiversity on age and life cycle in natural settings is difficult and sometimes impossible, as both are highly correlated. Therefore, this was conducted in the Jena Experiment. It offers a unique framework to study the influence of plant community diversity in a controlled setting, therefore this thesis was done within this experiment. When the samples were taken, the Jena Experiment had been running for twelve years, sufficient time for the plant population dynamics to develop in herbaceous species. The longevity was determined in 1664 individuals from all available herbaceous plant species in the Jena Experiment. They were harvested including the oldest tissue, which is located depending on the growth form in the root crown or the decaying parts of the rhizome. In the lab thin sections were made, they were used to count the growth rings and so determined the age.