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163

BOOKREVIEWS Karin Marti: ZUM STANDORT VON MAGNOCARICIOI~GESELLSCHAFTEN IN DER SCHWEIZ (CARICETUM ELATAE, CARICETUMPANICULATAE, CARICETUM RIPARIAE, CARICETUM VESlCARIAE); VerOffentlichungen des Geobotanischen Institutes ETH, Stiftung Riibel, Ziirich, 120. Heft, 1994, 97pp., 18figs., 12 tabs. Price SFR 48.-, USD 34.-, ISSN 0254-9433 This synecological study deals with tall-sedge communities on lakeshores and or alluvia of northwest Switzerland. It addresses a controversial topic of Magnocariceta syntaxonomy which has often been criticized because of the differentiation of phytosociological units composed of a few abundant species. The author tackles the question whether phytosociological associations correspond to environmental variations in wetlands or to diverse competitive abilities of species. In approaching this problem, Marti compares the classification and ordination of data on biotic features (phytosociological composition) with those on abiotic factors (nutrient content in biomass, water level and chemistry, soil profiles and chemistry, temperature). The traditional grouping of phytosociological relevts according to characteristic and differential species is usually complementary to the results of multivariate analysis based on the different weighting of species abundance, which confirms the validity of the described phytosociological associations. However, the comparison of both procedures for Swiss Magnocariceta suggests that vegetation groups differentiated on the basis of multivariate analysis are better pronounced than those based on traditional classification, thus confirming the significant role of a few abundant plant taxa in the classification. Searching for additional factors to support the classification is thus reasonable. She inspected a set of environmental factors that are usually considered as being responsible for the structure of tall-sedge communities, i.e. water level (monthly measurements), chemistry of water (pH, conductivity, ortho PO43--, P tot, NO3-, NH4 +, Na +, K +, Ca ++, Mg ++) and of soil (Corg., pH, ortho PO43-, P tot, NO3, NH4 +, Na § K § Ca ++, Mg++), exponential mean temperatures and chemical content of plants (N tot, P tot, Corg., K, Na, Ca, Mg, Mn, Fe, Cu). For students studying wetland ecosystems, her conclusion, that water level does not play a differential role regarding establishment of plant communities will be surprising. The conclusion that temperature is not differential might be valid for Switzerland but not for elsewhere as data referring to this factor are not a broadly geographically based. Discussion of the differential role of these environmental factors deserves expert discussion; otherwise the reader untrained in the ecology of tall sedges will be confused by illusive contradictions. Interesting numerical comparisons of results between chemical content in plants and soil chemistry suggests calling for new tenets in ecology of tall-sedge communities. Even more than provocative is the final conclusion denying classification of the studied associations within only one Magnocaricetum. The study represents a current approach to wetland ecology developed by the Swiss school (Landolt, Klttzli) and can be considered as a modern phytosociological standard. It provides an interesting approach to the problem of species-poor communities and is instructive in its application of different classification and ordination procedures.

Lenka Soukupovd B. Leuthold: VEGETATIONS- UND STANDORTSVERANDERUNGEN AUF VON HOCHWASSER 0BERSCHLICKTEN STREUWlESEN; Veri~ffentlichungen des Geobotanischen Institutes ETH, Stiftung Riibel, Ziirich, 121. Heft, 1994, 83 pp. Price SFR 55.-, ISSN 0254-9433 This work is based on an evaluation of the vegetation changes after the disastrous flood of the river Reuss in Central Switzerland. This flood was accompanied by the deposition of a thick silt layer over the whole area. The vegetation of this area had been examined in detail just before the flood, for a landscape development plan. The new situation made it possible to study secondary succession and to compare it with the original situation. Only a small number of the plots was artificially cleared of deposits, for experimental purposes. The results confirmed the dependence of species and whole communities on the depth of the silt layer. Low-growing Parvocariceta appeared to sustain most damage, while tall herb communities were the most

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resistant. Recuperation of the original vegetation was observed only on those plots where the silt layer had been removed. The plots under a silt layer were invaded in the first place by species with subterranean runners, especially by Phragmites australis. Some original species regenerated during the next four years, but most of the original communities occurred in "damaged" form. It seems very interesting that the indication values of vegetation (Zeigerwerte), based on the particular species, showed an increasing amount of nutrients in the soil after flooding, although according to measurements of soil samples and ground water this was not actually the case. The author attributes this to the low content of humus in the silt and the absence of competition. However, a very similar situation may be observed on other river alluvia. Soil analyses and silt layer samples from alluvial meadows regularly show a very low nutrient content, but the fertilizing effect on vegetation is quite pronounced. A better explanation is the dynamical process of rapid nutrient consumption by species very well adapted to alluvial conditions. Some objections may be made to the arrangement of the relevts in the table - the position of repeated relevts in ".arious places according to the relevant syntaxon makes it difficult t'o follow the succession on one plot. Nevertheless, the study provides much interesting information and will stimulate further studies of the important, but often neglected, alluvial process.

Denisa Blaikov4

Leslie A. Real [ed.]: ECOLOGICALGENETICS; Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1994, 238 pp. Price USD 24.95, ISBN 0-691-00066-2 This book has a peculiar structure: there are basically contributions from five authors (though some of the chapters are coauthored by other people); each of these authors wrote two contributions: one rather general, and one reporting a "case study" within the conceptual framework outlined in the general contribution. The chapter-pairs deal with gene flow in space (Montgomery Slatkin), evolution of phenotypic plasticity (Sara Via), neutral models (Michael Lynch), relations between population ecology and genetics in host/pathogen systems (Janis Antonovics) and ecological genetics of life history traits (Joseph Travis). Though the selection of the subjects is somewhat arbitrary, the book shows that, basically, there are two prime issues of ecological genetics: (a) interplay of population ecology (with fluctuation of the population sizes, spatial and metapopulation stmctures, etc.) with genetics and (b) environmental heterogeneity (with the evolution of generalists/specialists, phenotypic plasticity, etc.). There are two slightly controversial concepts which unite several chapters in the book: equilibrium vs. non-equilibrium, and phenotypic plasticity. Antonovics argues in both papers that host parasite systems may often be in non-equilibrium (and provides many aesthetically rewarding pictures of their potentially complex dynamics!); some other contributions are close to assuming equilibrium in their objects. This is done primarily for practical reasons (e.g. the gene flow can be then determined from the indirect data on genetic structure only), but this assumption is often difficult to test. Phenotypic plasticity is tackled in the chapters of Via and Travis. The reader may find the opinions of the former on plasticity evolution slightly partisan, but it is fully internally consistent and explicit to provoke further experimental tests. This is the field I believe plant ecologists will find most inspirational. The notorious plasticity which plants show at many levels calls for rigorous conceptual and methodological treatment. The literature accumulated in the past decade (and referred to in the book) seems to provide elements of this. The book does not attempt to provide a comprehensive account of the whole discipline (this is clear already from its structure) and it will not serve therefore as a textbook for those who need to get an encyclopaedic overview. Rather, it serves a much finer goal in providing an overview of concepts, and, even better showing nicely how these concepts shape research in ecological genetics. It may be much more important for students at the graduate level than the more comprehensive works.

Tom4t Herben

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165

A.R. Hoelzel [ed.]: MOLECULAR GENETIC ANALYSIS OF POPULATIONS. A Practical Approach; The Practical Approach Series, IRL Press at Oxford University Press, Oxford, New York, Tokyo, 1992, 315 pp. Price GBP 36.-, ISBN 0-19-963278-2 The book reviewed is a very useful laboratory manual. It presents a broad range of protocols mostly concerning methods based on the analysis of DNA. Only the first chapter - starch electrophoresis of allozymes deals with proteins. Unfortunately, only starch electrophoresis, not polyacrylamide electrophoresis, is described in the protocols presented in this chapter. Two chapters contain protocols for DNA isolation - Plant DNA isolation and Mitochondrial DNA isolation. The former describes many techniques of total DNA and chloroplast DNA isolation ranging from PCR minipreps to caesium chloride ultracentrifugation techniques. Mitochodrial DNA isolation and Detection of mitochondrial DNA fragments are two chapters that will be more ir~teresti~,g for zoologists and criminologists, than for botanists because the protocols concern treatment of blood samples. The chapter on RFLP analysis using heterologous probes is very instructive and provides the researcher with various methods of DNA transfer to membranes and labelling of probes. The isotope labelling of DNA probes is stressed. Only one technique of non-radioactive labelling (biotin) is mentioned. Single-locus and multilocus DNA fingerprinting contains protocols describing construction and screening of the genomic library using charon vectors. The preparation of species-specific probes for individual use is highly recommended. Another chapter - Genomic libraries and the development of species-specific probes is dedicated to various cloning procedures using cosmids and charons. The main drawback of the book reviewed is the absence of information about RAPD (random amplification of polymorphic DNA), now dominating method in molecular genetic analysis of populations. In 1992, when this book was published, RAPD was just emerging. Nevertheless, as a whole, the book is a very useful laboratory manual containing many techniques important in DNA analysis. -

Helena ~;torchovti M. lqbal led.]: GROWTH PATTERNS IN VASCULAR PLANTS; Dioscorides Press, Oregon, 1994, 480 pp. Price USD 59.95, ISBN 0-931146-26-7 This book deals with plant growth processes, combining views of different disciplines with the main emphasis being on the interdependence of structure and function. The book is dedicated to Prof. Abdul K.M. Ghouse, an eminent Indian plant anatomist. His student Prof. Muhammad Iqbal took charge of editing the book and called upon scientists who remarkably contributed to the study of plant growth, differentiation and phylogeny, to participate. The content of the book does not cover exhaustively all fields of plant growth processes, but is a nice example of how to approach plant physiological processes. It provides a valuable contribution to the current trend of multidisciplinary studies in science and is a sound attempt to view plant growth patterns in their structural as well as functional context. The presented volume is divided into four sections including altogether sixteen chapters. Section I. Primary vegetative growth: 1. From cell to system: Repetitive units of growth in the development of roots and shoots (P.W. Barlow), 2. Root tip organization and the spatial relationships of differentiation events (T.L. Rost), 3. The dynamics of root growth and gravitropism (R. Moore), 4. Shoot apical configuration in gymnosperms (A. Pillai), 5. The influence of light on leaf development (N.G. Dengler), 6. The iaticiferous system in vascular ~lants (S.K. Datta & M. Iqbal), 7. Unique tracheary elements in the hanstorium of parasitic angiosperms (B.A.Fineran), Section II. Secondary vegetative growth: 8. Secondary growth in pteridophytes (S. Bhambie), 9. Structural and operational specializations of the vascular cambium of seed plants (M. Iqbal), 10. Adaptive trends in the wood anatomy of lianas (R.K. Bamber & B.J.H. ter Welle), 11. Stem thickening in monocotyledons (D.D. Demason), ~Section III. Reproductive growth: 12. Correlative mechanisms and controls of flower development (P.S. Srivastava & M. Iqbal), 13. Gametophyte ontogeny: an overview based on Oenothera (I.N. de Halac & I.A. Cismondi), 14. The angiosperms embryo: correlative controls in development, differentiation, and maturation (K.V. Krishnamurthy), 15. Morphogenesis of the angiosperm proembryo and a classification

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based on phylogenetic trend (K. Periasamy), Section IV. Phylogenetic development: 16. Reconstruction of the phylogeny of seed plants (A.D.J. Meeuse). Not only does the book endeavour to include scientists from different fields to ensure an interdisciplinary approach but the selection of authors covering almost all continents creates a world-wide international interdisciplinary forum. Such an approach has become essential in recent decades yielding new concepts and furthering on understanding of processes. The book is a valuable reference giving a review of a wide-range of aspects of growth processes. It is also very valuable for emphasizing the necessity of incorporating the structural background into the interpretation of physiological and biochemical results in experimental botany. In conclusion the book shows that results of work describing functions are incomplete if structural analysis is ignored.

Jana Albrechtov~

R.G. Harrison [ed.]: HYBRID ZONES AND THE EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSS; Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford, 1993, 364 pp. Price GBP 45.-, ISBN 0-19-506917-X Hybridization is the theme of this book, which resulted from a symposium entitled "Hybrid Zones and the Evolutionary Process" at the Fourth Intemationai Congress of Systematic and Evolutionary Biology (ICSEB) in College Park, Maryland, held in July 1990. It consists of 12 contributions and includes both botanical and zoological studies. The book is divided into two major parts. Part I "Hybrid zone Pattern and Process", which comprises four articles, concerns general problems and the evolutionary significance of hybridization. Part II "Case studies of hybrid zones" gives a survey of different approaches to the study of various aspect of hybridization using examples of particular groups of both plants and animals. Part I starts with the article "'Hybrids and hybrid zones" by R.G. Harrison. Great attention is paid to a description of the fundamental terms, such as hybrid and hybrid zone, and the major issues in hybrid zone research are also discussed. While Chapter I considers the wider questions of hybridization, Chapter 2 "Genetic analysis of hybrid zones" by Barton and Gale focusses on the practical issues involved in genetic analysis of hybrid zones. Using various methods to describe the frequency of genotypes in hybrid zones, the authors illustrate how the research of hybridization between pairs of populations can contribute to our knowledge about the processes that keep them distinct and that presumably form the basis for separating full species. Howard in his article "Reinforcement: origin, dynamics, and fate of an evolutionary hypothesis" summarizes and analyses existing knowledge about the process of reinforcement - the evolution of prezygotic barriers to gene exchange in response to selection against hybrids. Chapter 4 focusses especially on the problems of hybridization and introgression in plants. Rieseberg and Wendel in their article outline the historical development of ideas regarding introgression in plants, examine the evidence for its extent and discuss its potential consequences for plant diversification and speciation. Special attention is paid to the use of new methods of molecular techniques, such as chloroplast and nuclear DNA restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), in hybridization research. This article is completed by 308 references. The most useful part of this book is the series of eight case studies devoted to particular questions of hybrid zone research. Despite the fact that hybridization is a widespread phenomenon in plants, the only paper dealing with issues of natural hybridization in plant populations occurs involved in this section" the genetic interaction between species of Louisiana Iris is used as a classic example of plant hybridization and introgression in the paper by Arnold and Bennett. Based on the genetic and ecological data derived from numerous biosystematic methods, including allozyme and nuclear and cpDNA analyses, topics of great importance for every plant biologist, such as sympatric and allopatric introgression, hybrid speciation and, last but not least, the genetic structure of hybrid populations in the hybrid zone and its relationships to microhabitat fluctuations, are discussed. The following seven chapters address current research on hybridization and hybrid zones in animals. The theory about secondary, postglacial formation of hybrid zones between two subspecies of Chorthippusparallelus in the Pyrenees is very well documented in the paper by Hewitt. Two evolutionary important process- adaptation and speciation - are addressed in a report by Shaw r al. The authors have concentrated on detailed karyotypic

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167

analysis and chromosomal changes to explain reproductive isolation that exists in the hybrid zone between Torresian and Moreton samples of Caledia captiva. In the case study of hybrid zones between red- and yeUow-schafted flickers (Colaptes auratus), one of the most abundant birds in North America, Moore and Price illustrate how selection and the genetic system interact to maintain the integrity of the taxonomic units in the hybrid zones. Using evidence from the hybrid zone, the evolution and mode of initial divergence - parapatric or allopatric - in neotropical Heliconius color pattern races are discussed in Chapter 9 (Mallet). To clarify the structure of hybrid zones where Bombina bombina and B. variegata meet, several transects in central Europe were investigated in detail by Szymura, using molecular methods such as allozyme and mitochondrial DNA analysis. Patton in his review has concentrated on the issues of hybridization and hybrid zones in pocket gophers (Rodentia, Geomyidae) to elucidate the species boundaries between geographically differentiated units (be these recognized at various taxonomic levels). The report by Searle "Chromosomal hybrid zones in Eutherian Mammals" starts with excellent description of numerous types of chromosomal variants. Showing the various types of karyotypic variation in hybrid zones of examined small mammals, Searle discusses several important topics such as staggered hybrid zones and radiation, and chromosomal hybrid zones as genetic barriers or speciation and chromosomal evolution. This book gives a comprehensive overview of the interesting field of hybridization and its taxonomic, ecological and evolutionary implications. It presents good examples from hybrid zone research both in plants and animals. It can be highly recommended to all with an interest in the various fields of hybridization and introgression and should be in all zoological and botanical libraries.

Jitka ~t~x~nkovit V. Ahmadjian: THE LICHEN SYMBIOSIS; John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1993, 250 pp. Price GBP 58.-. ISBN 0-471-57885-1 Lichen symbiosis, revealed in 1869 by Schwendener, still remains an enigmatic aspect of life. Vernon Ahmadjian devoted many years of research to the interactions of alga and fungus in a lichen thallus. A great achievement was the artificial resynthesis of Cladonia cristatella (an excellent colour photograph is in the frontispiece). In 1967 Ahmadjian summarized existing knowledge and especially his own experience in an earlier version of The Lichen Symbiosis, which stimulated research into cultivation of lichen bionts. Recently a resynthesis of cyanoliehens has been achieved with soil cultures and thallus fragments. Likewise, environmental experiments have yielded interesting and valuable data. Progress in physiology, ontogenesis and molecular biology concerning lichen symbiosis is well documented and summarized in a new book with the same title. The introductory chapter gives the basic facts on the nature of lichens and discusses the def'mition of a lichen. The next two chapters are devoted to the ultrastructure and physiology of both individual symbionts, mycobiont and photobiont. Special attention is focussed on the isolation and growth of the mycobiont in culture and on problems of taxonomy and other controversial aspects of Trebouxia, the most common lichen photobiont. The following three chapters are the core of the book, dealing with the interactions of the symbionts. Artificial synthesis is the key to a better understanding of lichen symbiosis. The substantial phases of artificial resynthesis studies are summarized: recognition between bionts, their specificity and selectivity, early thallus development and fruiting of the mycobiont. Special attention is paid to the chemistry and ultrastmcture of synthetic lichens. Physiological interrelationships and carbohydrate movement are fundamental aspects of lichen symbiosis, but are not yet completely understood. However, it appears obvious that the bionts have co-evolved a sophisticated system of nutrient exchange and movement that involves feedback controls and adaptive responses to specific habitats. Physiological buffering is a concept which explains the survival of lichens under environmental stress and the carbohydrate pool plays an important role in the effects of drying-and-wetting cycles. The factors influencing growth and nitrogen fixation are also discussed. Another special feature of lichens is their sensitivity to air pollution which started a boom of bioindication studies two decades ago and consequently. Lichen sensitivity studies and the effects of various pollutants are reviewed. The last chapter is devoted to molecular

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biology and genetics, which now offer new insights into lichen symbiosis research. A review of isolation and culture methods is appended. Ahmadjian's new book is a comprehensive review of all aspects of lichen symbiosis. It is not only a collection of facts but the author also raises many questions which have not yet been answered. The exhaustive literature list is most valuable (almost one quarter of the book !) including over 1000 references mostly published after the first edition; they provide a guide-line for future study. Jifi Litka

A.S. Szab6: RADIOECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION; Akad~miai Kind6, Budapest, t993, 258 pp., 36 Figs. Price USD 32.-, ISBN 963-05-6311-8 Radioecology, like ecotoxicology, is a part of a branch of science dealing with the transport of substances within ecosystems. To manage biogeochemical cycles requires a high standard of relevant knowledge. This has evoked an explosive increase in "deposition studies" during the last thirty or forty years and a frequent subject of recent investigations into pollution is the process of "self-cleaning" in nature. In his most important Chapter 2, the author gives a list of the main components of ecosystems and evaluates the effect of different factors influencing either natural or artificial radioactivity. The subjects listed, however, include non-comparable entities: the basic components of the ecosystem, e.g. atmosphere, water, soil, plants and/or animals on the one hand, and the complex process of radionuclide transportation, such as in the food-chain between soil and plant, on the other. It would have been better if he had considered (1) the older (more "classical") approach used in pollution science which is related to the above mentioned ecosystem structures and/or to their response to the impact of pollution, and (2) the more recent approach which concerns rather the functioning of a given natural subsystem as an active entity in the transport of substances. This division is justifiable also on the basis of different methodological backgrounds. What a pity that this chapter - the bulk of the book - does not provide a special section conceming: conclusions for biomonitoring, which is such a frequent topic for regeneration and restoration practices. Nevertheless, I highly appreciate those chapters describing the relationship between the halfJife of radionuclides and biological half-lives, between food-production processes and the contamination level, and somatic and genetic radiation damage. An important part of the book, from the viewpoint of (Central) European collaboration in the field, is the informative chapter on radioecological research and organisations in Hungary. Regional focusses are oriented not only to the Chernobyl accident and the Danube river basin pollution, but also to the overall territorial background of environmental contamination. The final chapter raises questions rather than provides answers: Are nuclear power plants dangerous to the environment? Can we calculate the biopositive effect of low-level radiation? What do nuclear techniques mean for the future - risk or improvement? The Nuclear Act as a legislative tool states that the application of nuclear energy can be utilized efficiently and economically under specified circumstances. Control of user behaviour is the necessary assumption for any further development of nuclear technology. The book is equipped with a useful Glossary and References containing a substantial number of citations dealing with radioactivity. It is highly recommended for both technologists and biologists concerned with the environment.

Pavel Kova~