Rapid depletion and degradation of species in diverse ecosystems and the implications of this for human welfare have the cause for increasing concern. Biodiversity or variability among living organisms and the ecological complexes of which they are a part, is essential for ensuring the basic ecological services and resources necessary for sustaining human welfare. The loss of biodiversity is therefore, considered one of the most serious problem threatening the world today. An understanding of the ecological implications of the increasing loss of bodiversity, not to mention of the economic implications, has therefore, became vital. A biodiversity loss is irreversible. A calls for increased caution in our efforts to convert and exploit natural resources. Some minimal level of biodiversity is necessary to main ecological functioning, which in turn is necessary for generating the biological resources on which human welfare depends. Needless to emphasive that substantial biodiversity loss occurs due to forest clearing and degradation, leading to the need for assessing biodiversity in different ecosystems. Keeping these aspects in mind, the present volume highlights biodiversity in different cropping systems besides that the impact of cold and hot deserts. Selection of the topics in the various chapters is essentially because of the experience of the authors in the field of biodiversity.

In this book, 'state of art' situation in patterns of behaviour is presented by the authors, each with expertise in respective fields on diverse aspects such as pollination, predation and parasitism, forest and agricultural pests, besides the dynamics of aquatic insects in general and dragonflies in particular, in addition to insect vectors of diseases. The need for an appreciation of the differentiation processes controlling growth and development of plant galls has been adequately emphasised, these galls representing highly regulated growth manifestations of plants, ensuring nutrition and shelter for the insects concerned. Behavioural shifts of insects due to current climatic changes and their implications in insect conservation and control are also highlighted. This book will be relevant to the undergraduate and particularly graduate students taking courses in insect ecology and evolution, conservation biology and environmental management as well as to committed researchers in these fields in addition to conservation practitioners eager to have a comprehensive background of the multifaceted aspects of insect behavioural dynamics.

This book aims at an understanding of diverse mutualistic interactions, with all individuals tending to display their own adaptational ranges. In view of different species using different kinds of microhabitats, the diversity of assemblages goes a long way towards a better appreciation of the adaptive trends of the species involved therein. Insect assemblages and communities are shaped by the compositional, structural and trophic interactions which hold together ecological communities.

In Volume I of Insect Phenotypic Plasticity, the plasticity inherent in insects is documented. Phenotypically plastic traits include morphological, behavioral, and physiological characteristics. These environmentally induced differences can serve as the raw products upon which natural selection acts. Phenotypic plasticity in short deserves increase