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"Asian tropical forests are among the most diverse on the planet, a richness that belies the fact that they are dominated by a single tropical tree family, the Dipterocarpaceae. Many other families contribute to Asias natural diversity, but few compare to the dipterocarps in the number and variety of species that occupy the forest canopy. Understanding the ecology and dynamics of Asian forests is, to a very great extent, a study of the Dipterocarpaceae. This book synthesizes current knowledge on the dipterocarps. The family is explored through ecological, evolutionary, and biogeographic perspectives. The variety of dipterocarp forest formations in both the ever-wet and seasonal tropics is described, with due consideration given to the poorly known African and South American dipterocarp species. The considerable progress on the phylogeny and biogeography of the family is synthesized. A chapter on dipterocarp reproductive ecology, and particularly masting behaviour, reflects the considerable research interest attributed to this subject and its importance in shaping the ecology of Asian lowland rain forests in particular. Ecophysiological responses to light, water, and nutrients, which underlie mechanisms that maintain dipterocarp species richness, are addressed in separate chapters. At broader scales, dipterocarp responses to variation in soil, topography, climate, and natural disturbance regimes are explored from population and community perspectives in two additional chapters. The book concludes with a consideration of the economic values of dipterocarps and the recent and ongoing threats to dipterocarp forests. Looking to the future, a scientific foundation is required to capitalize on opportunities for conservation and restoration, and it is this to which this book aims to contribute."

"The book describes the general stress responses in microorganisms, plants, and animals to abiotic and biotic, to natural and anthropogenic stressors. These stress responses include the activation of oxygen, the biotransformation system, the stress proteins, and the metal-binding proteins. The potential of stress response lies in the transcription of genes, whereas the actual response is manifested by proteins and metabolites. Yet, not all stress responses are in the genes : micro-RNAs and epigenetics play central roles. Multiple stressors, such as environmental realism, do not always act additively, they may even diminish one another. Furthermore, one stressor often prepares the subject for the next one to come and may produce extended lifespans and increased offspring numbers, thus causing shifts in population structures. This book provides the first comprehensive analysis of the ecological and evolutionary effects of stress."

"This book offers a concise but comprehensive introduction to desert ecology and adopts a strong evolutionary and applied focus. Deserts are defined by their arid conditions. Deserts are widespread and represent surprisingly diverse environments, although it is their relative simplicity that makes them more tractable for study than more mesic environments. In these resource-poor environments, natural selection is working at its most extreme and provides some of the best-known examples of natural selection. This book covers a wide range of ecological and evolutionary issues including morphological and physiological adaptations of desert plants and animals, species interactions, the importance of competition, facilitation, predation and parasitism, food webs, biodiversity, and conservation. This book features a balance of plant and animal examples, and also addresses topical applied issues such as desertification and invasive species. In this edition, considerable attention is also focused on the effects of climate change and some of its likely effects on deserts. Too much emphasis has been placed on global warming and not global changes per se. While ultimately the world will continue to heat up as fossil fuels are burned, many people struggle to understand that it is human-induced changes in the world rather than a simple case of warming that is likely to occur. Thus, greater variations in temperature and rainfall are also consequences of the ways that we are altering our world. Among these varied effects, desertification is often among the most egregious, leading ultimately to the increasing size of arid and semi-arid regions."