W. Rundel / P. Smith / F. C. Meinzer (eds.)

Tropical Alpine Environments

Plant Form and Function
Herausgeber: Meinzer, F. C.; Smith, Alan P.; Rundel, Philip W.

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Plants growing in tropical alpine environments (at altitudes above the closed canopy forest and below the limit of plant life) have evolved distinct forms to cope with a hostile environment characterized by cold, drought and fire. Unlike temperate alpine environments, where there are distinct seasons of favourable and unfavourable conditions for growth, tropical alpine habitats present summer conditions every day and winter conditions every night. Using examples from all over the tropics, this fascinating account reviews, for the first time, the unique form and functional relationships of tropical alpine plants examining both their physiological ecology and population biology. It will appeal to anyone interested in tropical vegetation and plant physiological adaptations to hostile environment, as well as to researchers in biogeography and ecology.

Table of contents:
1. Introduction; 2. Tropical alpine climates; 3. Paramo microclimate and leaf thermal balance of giant rosette plants; 4. Comparative water relations of tropical alpine plants; 5. Cold tolerance of tropical alpine plants; 6. Anatomy of tropical alpine plants; 7. Environmental biology of a tropical treeline species, polylepis sericea; 8. Morphological and physiological radiation in páramo draba; 9. Sediment-based carbon nutrition in tropical alpine isocetes; 10. The functional significance of inflorescence pubescence in tropical alpine species of Puya; 11. Turnover and conservation of nutrients in the pachycaul senecio keniodendron; 12. Soil nutrient dynamics in East African alpine ecosystems; 13. An overview of the reproductive biology of espeletia (Asteraceae) in the Venezuelan Andes; 14. Population biology of Mount Kenya lobelias; 15. Population biology of Senecio kenodendrum; 16. Population dynamics and flowering in the monocarpic Hawaiian alpine rosette plant, Argyroxiphium sandiwicense; 17. Plant form and function in alpine plants in New Guinea; 18. Alpine herbivory on Mount Kenya; 19. Biotic interactions in Hawaiian high-elevation ecosystems.

Plants growing above the tree-line in the tropics have evolved in distinct ways to cope with the hazards of cold, drought and fire. This book examines the unique form, physiology and function of these fascinating plants, and will appeal to all those with an interest in tropical vegetation and plant physiology.

This book examines the unique form, function and physiology of tropical alpine plants.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Cambridge University Press
• Seitenzahl: 392
• Erscheinungstermin: 2. Mai 2002
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 240mm x 161mm x 26mm
• Gewicht: 754g
• ISBN-13: 9780521420891
• ISBN-10: 052142089X
• Artikelnr.: 21375343

Inhaltsangabe

List of contributors; Preface; 1. Introduction to tropical alpine
vegetation A. P. Smith; 2. Tropical alpine climates P. W. Rundel; 3. Páramo
microclimate and leaf thermal balance of Andean giant rosette plants F. C.
Meinzer, G. Goldstein and F. Rada; 4. Comparative water relations of
tropical alpine plants F. C. Meinzer, G. Goldstein and P. W. Rundel; 5.
Cold tolerance in tropical alpine plants E. Beck; 6. Anatomy of tropical
alpine plants S. Carlquist; 7. Environmental biology of a tropical treeline
species, polylepis sericea G. Goldstein, F. C. Meinzer and F. Rada; 8.
Morphological and physiological radiation in páramo draba W. A. Pfitsch; 9.
Sediment-based carbon nutrition in tropical alpine isoetes J. E. Keeley, D.
A. DeMason, R. Gonzalez and K. R. Markham; 10. Functional significance of
inflorescence pubescence in tropical alpine species of Puya G. A. Miller;
11. Turnover and conservation of nutrients in the pachycaul senecio
keniodendron E. Beck; 12. Soil nutrient dynamics in East African alpine
ecosystems H. Rehder; 13. An overview of the reproductive biology of
espeletia (Asteraceae) in the Venezuelan Andes P. E. Berry and R. Calvo;
14. Population biology of Mount Kenya lobelias T. P. Young; 15. Population
biology of Senecio kenodendron (Asteraceae), an Afroalpine giant rosette
plant A. P. Smith and T. P. Young; 16. Population dynamics and flowering in
a Hawaiian alpine rosette plant, Argyroxiphium sandiwicense P. W. Rundel
and M. S. Witter; 17. Plant form and function in alpine New Guinea R. J.
Hnatiuk; 18. Alpine herbivory on Mount Kenya T. P. Young and A. P. Smith;
19. Biotic interactions in Hawaiian high elevation ecosystems L. L. Loope
and A. C. Medeiros; 20. Tropical alpine ecology: progress and priorities P.
W. Rundel, F. C. Meinzer and A. P. Smith; Index.