While scientific and socio-political communities around the world are aware of the natural and economic importance of biodiversity, we are faced with an ever-increasing number of plant species under threat of extinction. Conservation is thus a vital part of the plant scientist's work, in the field, in botanic gardens and in universities.
This colour atlas has been conceived to integrate the dual botanical themes of plant propagation and conservation. Various texts deal with propagation, in vivo and in vitro, and with aspects of conservation, but none marries the two themes, let alone a book which uses the concise, focused colour atlas approach.
Each of the chapters has been written by an acknowledged international authority on the subject, under the editorship of Dr Bryan Bowes whose Colour Guide to Plant Structure (2nd edition 2008) is already highly successful. Topics range from the history and likely future of conservation and the effects of human activity on plant diversity, to the practical techniques of collection, preservation, germination, propagation and management of plant populations in the laboratory and in the field.
The text is referenced and is illustrated throughout by colour photos and photomicrographs of the highest quality. It appeals worldwide to students of conservation, plant science and biology, and to professionals and academics, plant propagators, ecologists, and conservationists working in botanic gardens, universities and colleges, in field research and in nurseries specialising in indigenous plants.
General Introduction
The Rationale of Conservation
Plant Diversity - Distribution and Measurement
Collection of Plant Specimens in the Field
Propagation from Seeds to Seed Preservation
The Role of Fire in Enhancing Regeneration: The Situation in the Cape Floral Region
Vegetative Propagation from Stem Cuttings, Leaves and Roots
In Vitro Propagation from Non-sterile Explants
In Vitro Culture and Plant Conservation
In Vitro Collection in the Field
In Vitro Propagation
In Vitro Preservation
Applications of In Vitro Culture for Conservation of Forest Trees
Anatomical and Histo-Cytological Changes in Regenerating Plants
The Role of Mycorrhizae in Regeneration of Native Vegetation
Conservation of Natural Populations
Conservation and the Future
Biography
Bryan Bowes
This handsomely produced volume reviews a range of techniques applicable to Species Recovery Programmes and other conservation strategies...a convenient academic textbook both for conservation biologists and for graduate or advanced undergraduate students.
—Plant Talk