Introduction to World Vegetation [Paperback]

1 Environmental and ecological principles.- 1 Land plants, evolution and geography.- 1.1 The classification of plants.- 1.2 Floras.- 1.3 The study of geographical pattern in the worlds flora.- 1.4 The development of the plant kingdom on land.- 1.5 The evolution of geographical pattern in the worlds flora.- 1.6 Types of distribution pattern.- 1.7 Plant genetics and plant distributions.- 1.8 Plant life-forms.- 1.9 Life-cycle and life-form 29 References and further reading.- 2 The geological record and past distributions.- 2.1 The fossil record of past distributions.- 2.2 Biotic factors.- 2.3 Major Palaeoecological events: introduction.- 2.4 Continental drift and plant distributions.- 2.5 Quaternary climatic change.- 2.6 Human influence on postglacial vegetational change.- References and further reading.- 3 Ecology, biogeography and energy variations.- 3.1 The principles of ecology.- 3.2 Ecosystems and energy.- 3.3 Variations of production.- 3.4 Plant response to the geographical variation of light.- 3.5 Energy microclimates.- 3.6 Energy, land plants and geomorphology.- 3.7 Production in artificial ecosystems.- References and further reading.- 4 Nutrients and nutrient cycles.- 4.1 Biogeochemical cycles.- 4.2 Nutrient groups.- 4.3 The geographical variability of nutrients.- 4.4 Water supply, plant metabolism and geographical pattern.- 4.5 The liability of plants to moisture stress.- 4.6 Plant categories in relation to water.- 4.7 Terrestrial moisture gradients.- 4.8 Mineral nutrients.- References and further reading.- 5 Ecosystem conditions and plant distributions.- 5.1 Heat, temperature and plant life.- 5.2 Temperature and tolerance range of plants.- 5.3 Temperature zonation and geographical range.- 5.4 The flexibility of plant response to thermal variations.- 5.5 Thermal microclimates and soil conditions.- 5.6 Other atmospheric conditions.- References and further reading.- 6 Soil conditions and their influence on plant distributions.- 6.1 The atmosphere-plant-soil sl3S