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Bookreviews G. RUSSELL,B. MARSHALL& P.G. JARVIS [eds.] PLANT CANOPIES: THEIR GROWTH, FORM AND FUNCTION Society for Ex~rimental Biology, Seminar Series: 31, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge etc., 1990, 178 pp. Price GBP 30.-, ISBN 0-521-39563-1

Plant canopies, a multi-author volume with nine chapters about all major processes occurring in plant canopies, is a result of a series of sessions held during the March 1986 meeting of the Society for Experimental Biology at Nottingham. It emphaslses the importance of plant canopy structural and functional properties and messes its modelling. Eight chapters deal with different levels of plant canopy, the ninth gives a synthesis. As the book has no large range, each chapter presents a brief summary of the problem and many references to recent literature in particular. Chapter 1 (Campbell and Norman) gives a definition of plant canopy, its function, structure and considers how canopy interact with environment. It discusses modelling of the canopy as a series of horizontal layers using a onedimensional model. The techniques for determination of the model parameters are also mentioned. In chapter 2 (Rnssel, Jarvis and Monteith) the simple model of the growth of plant stands is presented in terms of the proportion of radiation absorbed by a canopy, the amount of dry matter produced per unit of radiation intercepted and the daily radiation incidence on the top of the canopy. Methods of intercepted radiation measurement are also disoase~ Chapter 3 (Ranpach) is about turbulent transfer between the plant community and the atmosphere, especially the transfer of heat, vapour, water, CO2 and other scalar entities and about the way in which turbulent tran~er influences the microclimate. The purpose of the chapter 4 (McNaughton) is to review efforts to extend canopy energy balance models to the regional scale. Chapter 5 (van Keulen, Goudriaan and Sellgman) shows an example of the modelling of nitrogen effects on canopy development and crop growth. Chapter 6 (Harper) is an interesting view of the canopy as a population of leaves, which is a heterogeneous assemblage of individuals that are not of the same age. Using examples of trees and grasses it describes the birth and death processes which affect leaf demography. Chapter 7 (Ehleringer, Irwin, Forseth) reviews what is known about different kinds of leaf solar tracklns movements, their impact on photosynthe.~is, and water balance and primary productivity. Chapter 8 (Porter) discusses the role of the architectural "type" of a plant in the fitness (Darwinian) and importance of modular or~an{~tion in plant architecture and for its models. It considers two ~ from which the differences in plant morphology arise, i.e. functional features and taxonomic origin. Chapter 9 (Norman) attempts to synthesize canopy processes with a reasonably mechanistic approach using the example of Norman's complex model "Cupid" which focu.~ on plant ~ environment relations. It gives rules for constructing a model and a definition of a model system, programming strategy and tests of the model. The book is thus a pleasant and useful guide for teachers and students in ecology as well as for specialists eager to become familiar with different views of general plant canopy processes and, last but not, least for scientists starting with study of the canopy processes.

V~ROSLAV^ HADINCOVA

Boog~mws

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& M. DEBUSSOIE [eds.]

BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS IN EUROPE AND THE MEDITERRANEAN BASIN Kluwcr Ac~lemic Publishers, Dordrec.ht-Bcc,ton, 1990, VoL 65, 463 pp. Pricc NLG 325.-, USD 175.-, GBP 115.-, ISBN 0-7923-0411-X

Processes such as thc adaptability of a new species to the environment, naturaliTat.ion and, as the highest modus, adaptation - invasions of aliens after domestication and naturalization have received considerable attention from both symmthropic and theoretical botany in the last 25 years (BAKER F. and STEBBINSG.I. [eds.], 1965; EHREh'DORFER F. 1965; FAIZ~KI J.B. et al. 1968; CROSBu A.V. 1986; DRAKE J.A., MOONEY H.A, DI F. et al. [eds.] 1989;, SUKOPPH., ~ S. and KOWARIKI. [eds.] 1990 and others). In Part 1 of the volume, di Castri discusses invading species and invaded ecosystems as the interplay of historical ~h~,,ce and biological necessity. The brief text is supplemented with instructive tables of some biological att~utes of a poss~le invader and conditions facilitating the invasion of new territories. Part 2 by J.Korna/ elucidates invasions of very heterogeneous organisms from various points of vicw. Historical and ecoIogical aspects of plant invasion in Central Europe are illustrated on numerous examples supplemented by tables and maps. Unfortunately, the author failed to mention a fundamental paper on this subject (HF..n~ et al. 1973 - Quarantine weeds in Czech with 16 maps). This paper would have allowed Kornag to complete his maps of Amaranthus b//to/des and Veronica filiformis. The list of references consists largely of Polish authors. K.V. S~ora in his paper on the "History of the impact of man on the distribution of plant species" concentrates on neophytes in disturbed and undisturbed vegetation. The following papers deal with specific geographical regions, namely the Mediterranean Basin (7 papers). "Recent plant invasions in the Circum-Mediterranean region" (P. Quezel et al.) deals with synanthropic plants. Therophytes are the most important group, apophytes occur after the destabilization of natural ecosystems. The text is supplemented by a short table of the terminology and definitions used in the text. "Invading weeds within the western mediterranean basin" is the title of the only paper dealing with this region. Its authors (J.L. Guillerm et al.) tabulated 133 invading or infesting weed spedes and discussed under "Invading weed strategies" the species Sinapsis aevensis, Solanum nigrum, S. eleaegnifolium, Arena fatua, A. stetilis, Oxalis pes-caprae, Senecio inaequadens). Very important for future studies in this field may be the following axiom: Invasions in weed communities follow more or less drastic changes in agricultural practice. A specific paper listing about 450 aliens, is "dedicated" to Spanish Catalonia (Teresa Casasyas Fornell: Widespread adventive plants in Catalonia). The species are divided into 4 groups in accordance with the time of arrival: (1) - early historic times to the end of the 15th century;, (2) after the 15th century;, (3) from 1850 to early 1900; (4) from 1950 onwards. Catalonia, northeast Spain, covers over 40 000 km 2. The paper lacks a specific table listing the number of exotics occurring in each group. A. Dafni and D. Heller present a very good contribution to invasions of adventive plants in Israel. Important data about the adventive flora such as first-time record of the species in Israel, habitat and crops, distribution and expansion, status as a weed, presence in the Middle East, world distribution are tabulated. There were 10 adventive spedes present at the beginning of our century, 80 species in the seventies and more than 140 species in the nineties. Adventive plants in terms of colonizers were studied in detail (population dynamics, coloniTi,~ abilities - about 70 species). "Man and vegetation in the Mediterranean area during the last 20 000 years" by J.L. Vernet and "Plant invasions in southern Europe from the paleoecological point of view" (A. Ports, M. Couteaux, J.L. de Beaulieu and M. Reille) deal with paleoecological problems.

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"History and patterns of plant invasion in Northern Africa" (E. le Floc'h, H.N. le Houerou, J. Mathez) is weB-illustrated with numerous tables: plant crops introduced to North Africa from the Paleolithic; plant taxa naturalized in North Africa (87 species), native or introduced plant taxa with a strong expansion in N. Africa (147), main native invading cultigenic species (about 50), main native invading nitratophytes (about 25 species, main-range native invaders (about 50 species). The history of the early introduction of invaders from the Asian steppes, starting in the Neolithic, provides evidence of the impressive longevity of agricultural and old-time invaders. Part 2 concludes with an article on "Mediterranean weeds: exchange of invasive plants between the five Mediterranean regions of the world" by M.D. Fox,. who compares the Mediterranean Basin with California, Chile, Australia and S. Africa. The survey of primary, secondary and tertiary invasions is more of an attempt than an explanation. Part three deals with animal invasions (8 papers). Part four with various aspects of invasion mer.h~nltms Of interest are the papers about individual solitary invaders such as Ditttichia viscosa (JJ'. Wacquant), Fagu~ sylvatica (B. Thiebant, J. Cnguen, B. Comps, D. Merzeau) and Dac(ylis glomemta (R. lmmaret), the latter ~ L t r the process and consequence of invaslon of natural pastures for plant-cattle interactions. The subject treated by M. Debnssche and P. lsonmann in: "Introduced and cultivated fleshy-frulted plants: consequences of a m~uMir.dc Mediterranean plant-bird system" gives an interesting view of seed dispersal mainly by bird species. The paper "Species-specific pollination: a help or a limitation to range extension?" by F. Kjellberg and G. Valdeyron is restricted to the pollination of Ficus catica by Blastophaga psenes. Fire as an agent of plant invasion is in fact a very old problem both of plant invasion and the ancient culture of man. L. Traband investigated this problem in the vegetation of the French Mediterranean both in the field and the laboratory. A more general treatment of invasions and invaders is presented in two papers. J. Roy "In search of the characteristics of plant invaders" describes the physiological, demographic and genetic attributes of invaders and their different apl~oach to invasion. P.H. Gouyon "Invaders and disequilibrium" explains briefly the a~dom that invader~ are species which are not at "equilibrium" from an ecological point of view. SLAVOMILHE.r~

u. w ~ , ~ R

JeLl

SCHLITZ UND PFLEGE VON LEBENSRAUMEN - NATURSCHUTZMANAGEMENT Gnstav Fischer Vcrla8..lena et Stuttgart, 1991, 313 pp., 98 Figs., 36 Photos, 24 Tabs. Price DEM 78.-, ISBN 3-334-(X)406-6

This book is a collection of opinions on the scientific management of nature comervadom It co,,,a;nt in particular, the views and experience of experts from the Institut fiir Landschaft~orschung und Naturschutz, Jena, and Gesellschaft fiir Natur end Umwelt, of former East Germany. The book was given to the printers in 1989 (last corrected 1990), and therefore most of the demonstrated examples come from Central and East Germany. Besides the preface, introduction, references and index, it contains five principal chapters, in which 14 authors lrarticipatod. The first chapter "Naturschutz in unserer Zeit" (13 pp.) deals, among other thin~, with species conservation, the conservation of biotopes, evolutionary aspects, cultural function, the documentation of natural conditions, etc. The second chapter provides information on conservation in the cultural landscape (9 pp.). The next chapter deals with the ecological principles of management in nature conservation (14 pp.). The detailed chapter 4 (205 pp.) was composed by most of the authors. It deals with conservation, cultivation, and the use of the environment in selected examples. They are arranged into formations, or vegetation

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physiotypes. It describes forest vegetation, peatmoors, springs, stagnant and moving water, heathlands and problems of pasture, meadows and fields. This chapter doses with the theme of environment around dwellinm~. The last chapter (6 pp.) is dedicated to the possibilities and limitations of management of nature conservation in a cultural landacape. The book can be used as a textbook for management and global views on environmental science. In this respect it gives many references and much comparison information, and enumerates many examples from other papers (the list of references firs 24 pages). It can form a good theoretical starting point for most questions about contemporary nature conservation - the effective re-a]i7a_tion of manasement of plant communities and their elements. Jlkl KOLBEK

E. NYIIOLM ILLUSTRATED FLORA OF NORDIC MOSSES. FASC. 2. POTTIACEAE S CHIS TO S TE GA CEAE

- SPLACHNACEAE

-

Nord. BryoL Soc, Copenhagen et lamd, 1989, p. 75-141, 60 Figs., Paperback 26x19 cm. Price SEK 180.-, ISBN 8%701-198-2

The first volume of the well-known "Illustrated moss flora of Fenaoseandia" appeared over thirty years ago. Since then, in 1988, the first volume of a completely revised key to the mosses of the European North has been published by the nestor of Swedish bryolngists, Elsa Nyholm. This volume comprised the families Fissidentaceae, Ditrichaceae, Dicranaceae and Seh'~tiaceae; a further 37 genera from the families Pottiacea~ Disceliacear Ephemeraceae, Funariaceae, Splachnaceae and Schistidiaceae are treated in the second volume. What are the differences between these two editions? First of all, the new edition deals with a much larger geographical area: Iceland, Jan Mayen and Svalbard (including Bear Island) are included in addition to continental Fennoseandia. Moreover, the taxonomical status of numerous species is changed or modified according to recent knowledge. Th~nk~ to the author's addition of new areas, many species, not included in the first edition, e.g. Poa/a w//son/i (Faroer Islands), Barbula johanseni~ Molendoa tenuinervis and Voitia hyperbow.a (Svalbard), Bafoula mamillosa (Island and Jan Mayen), Entosthodon attenuatus (Island and Faroer Islands), etc., are treated here. But we can also find recently discovered species like e.g. Tetraplodon bbcti~ Tortella densa or Gymnostomum borea/e (coauthorship of the original description of the latter two species belongs to Prof. Nyholm). Despite some taxonomic reductions (for example Barbu/a va//da is replaced by B. acuta var. v~_'_~a) much attention is devoted to newly established tara at specific level, e.g. Tottula mralis var. mraliformis and 1". nuu//s vat. ca/c/co/a are evaluated as Tortula turaliformis and T. calcicolens, Weissia microstoma var. b ~ as We~sia brachycatl~ W. controversa var. c.rispata as W. perssonii or Tay/ot~a serrata vat. tenuis as T. tenu/s, etc. From the taxonomic point of view recent taxonomic knowledge incorporated into the keys is particularly stimulating (by the way, several outstanding bryologists are acknowledged in the introduction to the first volume, for their data and valuable discussion). Departures from traditionally used taxonomic status are explained in the form of short discussions, e.g. the taxonomic shift of Desmatodon sube~ctus to the genus Tomda (T. leucostoma). Genera Btyoet)Ozrophy//um and D/dymodon are rather untraditionally placed in the broad genus Barbula. Newly presented are sections with a short description of species-rich genera like Poa/a, Barbu/a or Weissi~ Information on variability and diacritical characters distinguishing the species from related and similar ones is very useful. This information follows the paragraphs of detailed description and data on distribution presented, in addition to the area, with an emphasis on details of distribution in North Europe.

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FOLIA GEOBOTANICAErr PHYI'OTAXONOMIC.A,27, 1992

R seems very ditticolt to find any mistakes or impedections in this book. Our criticism would concern exclusions only;, for instance, the illustrations, although otherwise very demonstrative for general habitus and morphological details, lose very much by their non-professional technical quality and the gray background of most of them. The figures are mostly taken from previous editions, only some of them are original drawings by the author and Mrs. L W'tkander. The formal mistakes in Latin grammar (names of the genus Acaulon) and fused letters in the key of the family Sp/achnaceae should be correOed. Generally, the book is excellent and will serve European bryologists as well as sludents and thc~se interested in bryolngy, as a reliable identification tool and a good source of information. We admire the aulhor's enthn~i~r,m and hope she will successfully finish the whole monograph on northern mosses. ZDeNI~ SOt.DAN

H. MEUSEL & A. KASTNER LEBENSGESCHICHTE DER GOLD- UND SILBERDISTELN Monngraphie der mediterran - mitteleuropiischen Compositen-Gattung Cadina. Band I. Merkmalsspektren ond Lebensriume der Gatttmg. Springer Verlag. Wien-New York, 1990, 294 pp., 140 F'tgs., 35 Tabs., 32 Plates. Price DEM 198.-, ISBN 3-211-82214-3 (Wien-New York), ISBN 0-387-82214-3 (New-York Wien)

This is the first part of a representative monograph of the genus Cat//na, discussing character spectra and distribution areas. It consists of five chapters: 1. Systematic position and division of the genus, 2. Structures (characters), 3. Ecological structure, 4. lntraspecific variation, hybrids, teratology, 5. Nomenclature. Most extensive are t - h ~ e r s 2 (25 subchapters) and 3 (24 subchapters). The subchapters are very detailed, some with substantial contributions by a number of collaborators or using their separate publications. The names of 26 collaborators who participated in the solution of particular problems are listed on the title page. Chapter 1 contains the systematic subdivision of the genus Car//na into three subgenera: subg. Cadow/2~ (3 species), sebf,. Lyro/ep/z (2 sections, 2 species) and subg. Car6na (4 sections, 23 species). Three sections, two subsections, one species and twelve subspecies are described as new. Fourteen new combinations (including one subgenus, one section, two subsections, two species, eight subspecies) are proposed. The chapter ends with a key to subgenera and sections. Chapter 2 summarizes the results of study of the outer and inner structure of vegetative organs of plants occurring in different habitats. Special attention is paid to the anatomical structure of leaf spines and types and numbers of stomata. Morphological analysis of inflorescences and synflorescences (in certain species reduced to one terminal head) is provided. It is interesting that very little variation is seen in the structure of flower and achene and pollen diagnosis is the same for all species of the genus. The embryology of Cat6na having been poorly known, the results of a detailed study of mngasporngenesis and me~as are most important. Analysis of a mature embryo sac revealed some interesting differences within the genus, e.g. in the number of nucleofi of proembryos and the ontngeny of synergids. Karyological investigation yielded chromosome numbers (2n = 20 and 2n = 18) for 25 of the 28 species known at present. Surpri~inoty, polyploidy is entirely absent. Separate subchapters deal with chemical substances and their relevance to taxonomy and pharmacy. In chapter 3, much attention is paid to flower biology, especially the course of flowering, dichogamy (proterandry), pollination ecology;, a llst of pollinating insects is provided. Of bumble-bees, only males were found to visit flowers (perhaps because the pollen is unsuitable for collection, the sticky surface of pollen grains

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becomina dry very quickly, thus makln~ transfer of pollen by wind possible). In C -,c~e~_e and C vu/gat/s, normal development of the embryo following fertiliTation was found. The possibility of ngamospermy is dL~o_,~.d in some species. From the view.point of carpology , the ripening of the fruits, the development of the umbrella-like pappug separation of pappus from the achenes and both ways of dispersal, pogonochory and cyclochory, were studied. Special attention was paid to hygroscopic movements of leaf organs in ripening infrutescences that play an important role in the release and dispersal of achenes. In view of the fact that very tittle is known of the phytophagous animals feeding on Cad/ha species, the list of animals causing damage to vegetative O~a~Lg and inflorescences is of equal importance with the survey of parasitic fungi and key to their determination. Considerable attention is also paid to chorologleal characteristics. Because the genus C.ar//na is a distinctive Macaronesian-Mediterranean-Central European element (only C biebersteinii extends beyond the Urals), the area type subdivision of this territory is discussed in detail, based on an analysis of a large number of various species of vascular plants. Climatic factors seem to be decisive for the formation of distribution areas in this part of Eurasia and northernmost Africa. Considering the specific development of the Mediterranean flora in a territory with a variegated geomorphology and paleohistory, numerous oreophytic area types are important. The abundance of stenochorous elements is also shown in the genus Cad/ha where the authors, considering relationships to area types, distinguish segments, endemics and local endemics. In table 15, species and or sections of ~ are classed among the various area types. This is one of the first genus rich in species evaluated from this point of view. Examples of phytocenological relev6s inducting species of Cad/ha from a transect of the Iberian Peninsula and vertical profiles in the Pyrenees, northern Apennines and Sicily, are also analyzed and appraised from the view-point of area type spectrum. Chapter 4 deals with the indumentum of leaves and their shapes and spines; these characters are considered to be especially important taxonomically. In some species, e.g. C. vu/gatis, branehins of flowering shoots varies considerably. ~ a p h i c a l forms differ mainly in leaf segments. Of teratological formations faseiation of flowering shoots and proliferation of inflorescence are especially mentioned. The references contain 225 citations of papers dealing with various aspects of the genus under study or related taxa of the Asteraceae. The book, summarizino and critically evaluating a wealth of knowledge of the genus, is a model monograph in terms of both contents and form. ZDF.,qKA SLAVIKOVAand BOHUMIL SLAV[K

Z. KOZAKIE~CZ ASPERGILLUS SPECIES ON STORED PRODUCTS

Mycological Papers, No. 161, CAB International Mycological Institute, Kew, Surrey TW9 3AF, U.K., 1989, 188 pp., 82 F'~s., 17 Tabs. Price GBP 33.-, ISBN 0-85198-6323 The correct determination of Aspe~//us species is very often necessary with respect to its species causing deterioration and mustiness of a wide range of stored material, agricultural products, particularly foodstuffs. Many species produce toxins harmful to the consumer, some are plant, animal and human pathogens, some provoke respiratory allergies. Other species are employed in the production of vitamins, antibiotics, enzymes, industrial adds and even in preparations of different oriental foods. The author amplified the use of traditional criteria for cJ~ification of Asperg/#us species such as colony appearance, micromorphololD" and ecological data by new diagnostic criteria from his scannlno electron microscope studies of spore ornamentation. He studied 137 taxa from 13 species groups and prepared scanning microphotographs of the conidial wall ornamentation of each species. Occurrence of A s p e ~ / u s conidia was

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observed directly on stored foodstuffs, such as cereals and different seeds. To investigate the oc,curronce of aspergills as air contamination a special SEM preparation stub has been used. The couidia ocon'rin8 in the interstitial air held between individual kernels were exhausted by vacuum pump on a piece of nylon. The obtained sample was then coated with gold and examined in the SEM. The technique used by the author could be employed for the periodic monitoring of Aspeqc///us couidia present in the atmosphere of grain silos, in stored cereah and food manufacturing plants. It could provide a speedy method for the qualitative assessment of conidial contamination, however, in a properly equipped laboratory for investigation (by SEM microscope and appropriate equipments!). During his revision of sele~ed Asperg/flus species associated with stored products the author observed characteristic conidial ornamentation ranges from the extremely e~finulate pattern to the smooth one. Within this range he differentiated nine categories of ornamentation: e.chinulate, aculeate, tuberculate, vcrrucose, lobatereticulate, micro-tuberculate, micro-verrucose, striate and smooth. A certain type of conidia wall ornamentation seems to be frequently, but not exclusively unique to one group species. The author's revisionary work is based on an appraisal of the variation in the couidial ornamentation of different tax& Also some biochemical attributes (such as acid phosphatase and protein zymograms) werestudied. The author re.allocated species on the basis of conidial morphology;, his opinion the couidial ornamentation is a good character for species groups boundaries. Therefore he removed some species from the group in which they were ela
H.D. BEHNKE,K. ESSER, IL KuBrlggl, M. RUNGE & H. 7JEOLER [eds.] PROGRESS IN BOTANY 52 Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg etc., 1991, 420 pp. Price DEM 298.-, ISBN 3-540-53471-7

This book, the collective work of many outstanding scientists, presents new research results in s ~ a l botany, physiology, genetics, taxonomy and geobotany. The first chapter is on structural botany;, it includes studies in the cytology and morphogenesis of the procaryotic cell, endomembrane systems and the cytology and morphogenesis of pollen and spore&

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447

This is followed by a voluminous chapter (more than 150 pages) on physiology, covering plant-water relations (of ca 2000 articles published between 1987 and 1989, the important results of 440 of them are mentioned in this book), mineral nutrition (indu,';ble and repressible nutrient transport systems), as well as photosynthesis and developmeutal questions in Cryptc~arn~. The first and last sub-chapters are particularly detailed. The chapter on genetics (80 pages), includes studies in replication, recombination of transforming DNA in f ~ (very rich in citations), mutation (construction and analysis of Cyanobacterinl mutants in photosynthesis research), the function of the genetic material (promotor elements, RNA polymerase and activator proteins in lower Eakaryotes), extranudear inheritance, the molecular genetics of phytopathogeulc Fungi. The next chapter is devoted to taxonomy. One section covers systematics and evolution of the Algae (with about 700 citations). The most significant new trend is the use of molecular biology in a ~ systematics and phylogeny. The number of pubficafious on applied phycology is increa~in~ too. The ne~ part discusses studies of the taxonomy and phylogeny of Fungi. The references for the systematics of Bryophytes are numerous, with about 5000 pages published in 1988-1989. Computer software is provided by the Software Library of the International Association of Bryolngists. This chapter also includes some interesting dtafious dealing with Bryophyte ecology in different vegetation formations (polar deserts, tropical rain forests, deserts). The shift in methodology from classical systematics to biosystematics is well illustrated in the section on the systematics of Pteridophytes. The importance of cladistics as a method of pliylogenetic classification is highlighted. Studies of the systematics of other vascular plants are not included. The chapter on geobotany includes contributions devoted to the Ouarternary history of flora and vegetation. The last twenty years of pubfications on the Pleistocene vegetation history of Central and Northern Asia are evaluated in detail. Attention is given to the history of lake formation in the northern part of the former Soviet Union and to the Holocene climate changes in various areas of Northern Eurasia. Among American studies in vegetation science (sociological geobotany), papers on community ecology are striking. The studies of European scientists illustrate a tendency to combine classical and numerical approaches to phytocoenological research. Some important geobotanical monographs were published in recent years (serpentine vegetation, survey of Spanish vegetation, introduction to the vegetation of Central Japan, etc.). In the methodolog~ se~ion, papers on vegetation dynamics predominate. A detailed study of plant recolonization of the Krakatau Islands, Indonesia is also included. Among the papers on applied geolx~any, there is coverage of changes of plant communities as a result of human activity (tourism, emmissions). Among the pubficatious on vegetation, there is a phytosociological survey of the boreal forest communities of Ou6bec., Canadian birch-poplar woods, decline in reed stands in Central European lakes and dry heathlands in NW Central Europe, ehan~e..S in field weed vegetation under the influence of industrialized agriculture, and papers on the determination of boundaries between the vegetation zones.The contributions from the former Soviet Union indicate the increasing popularity of the Braun-Blanquet approach. The publications on tropical and subtropical vegetation include contributions on forests and their comparison with environmental parameters, a voluminous study of river floodplains in SW 7-arabia, a survey of the main vegetation types of Cuba and the subalpine and lower alpine grassland vegetation of the Irano-Anatofian mountains. The sub-chapter on ecological geobotany covers only autecological and ecotoxicological contributions from 1987, including those dealing with edaphic factors (e.g. Al effects) and organic compounds in soils. Many papers are devoted to the problem of AI3 + concentrations in soil solution due to acid precipitation (one of the causes of dying forests in Central Europe), as well as to research on ecotoxicology of heavy metals and salt effects. This valuable book which includes information from different branches of botany is recommended as an important source of information not only for botani',ts, but also for anyone interested in recent progress in our discipline. ZDENKA NEUH~USLOV,~