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Bookreviews

w . ~ [ ~ ] DICOT WFF.13S 1 Dicotyledonous weeds of 13 families Documenta Ciba-Gclgy, Basle 1988, 325 pp. + Appcndlg Fig. ct Tab. die. After a six-years lapse, Ciba-Gei~ published the fourth part of a planned six-volume work dealing with important weeds (for a review of the preceding three volumes, see Folia Geobot. Phytotax. 19:. 335-336, 1984). While the first two volumes were dedicated to grasses and the third volume to the remaining monocotyledom, this fourth volume opens a series discussing dicotyledonous weeds. To prepare these volumes, a new team of botani~s and illustrators was appointed. There are some conceptual changes, none substantial. Species 'which are economically important, or famous because of their beauty, or became of their frequency and wide geographical distribution~ have also been included. Th,~ editor emphasizes in the preface that "it is not our intention to write a complete scientific treatise on the single families, genera and species, but to present dearly in words and pictures all the main characteristics of each species or group'. This follows fi'om the purpose of the book which is intended for agriculturalists and botanists but also for researchers in applied botany and agricultural plant protection. We are also tom in the introduction that all the traditional branches of botany, induding "description and comparison, division and historical clar-~ificafion, in our case comparative morphology, taxonomy, systemalics and phylogeny" were taken into account_ volume was prepared by two authors (TJ. I-L~iger, M. wol0, seven co-authors (C.D.K. Cook, T./. CroveIlo, P. tliepko, U. Kfihn, N.K.B. Robson, H. Scholz, E.U.Z.ajgc) and 16 illustrators. 127 spc.cics of the families Ceratophyllaceae, Brassicaceae, AristohTchiaceae, PTimulaceae, Ranunculaceae, Violaceae, Cappm'aceae,

Clusiaceae, Ozcurbitaceae,Passiflor~eae, Polygonaceae, Fumariaceae and Papaveraceae are txeatecLThe selection of species is fairly represemative even though it was obviously impossible to avoid a certain degree of subjectiveness in assessing some species. As far as quarantine and agricultural plant protection is concerned and on the beL~isof experience from Czechoslovakia and adjacent cotmtrles, I miss for instance Bun/a~ or/enta//s L., Sisymbriura vo/gense BIEB. ex E. FOURN., Conso//da or/enta/~ (J. GAY) SCHRODINGER,Rume~ confertus WILLD., R. pat/ent/a L. and R. tr/angu//va/v/s (DANSER) RECH. ill. The families are arranged according to taxonomic relatiouships, genera and species alphabetically. Each family is described in English, German, French, and Spanish~ as are the keys to genera. For practical reasons, keys to species and plates with black and white illustrations have texts only in English, including systematics and terminology, morphology, data on habitat and geographical distribution. Morphological descriptions are sapplemented by illnstratious showing some details (line drawings). About one quarter of the species are given in watercolour painting with lists of the folk names of spedes. There is also a survey of the distribution of the weeds included, an English botanical dictionary with illustrations and an index of folk and sdentific name.s. The book reviewed will prove indispensable not only in agriculture and applied botany (problems of weeds) but in botany in general (iconography, investigations of adventive plants, phytogcography) and should be available in every major scientific library. Both the content and the by-out are coped with exquisitely. VLAD~tR J E m ~

FOLIA G E O B O T A M C A ET PHYTOTAXONOMICA,28,1993

332

G. FgOI-IUCH Mitarbr

E.-M. ~ R "

W. Kf.rlINE~IC RICHTER, S. RICHTER

PHYTOPATHOLOGIE UND PFLANZENSCHUTZ Gustav Fischer VerLag, Jena 199L 2., fiberarbeitete Auflage, Uni-Taschenbficher Nr. 867, 382 pp., 104 F'WsPrice DEM 44.80, ISBN %334-00393-0 This sm~staraially revised 2rid ~ctition of the encyclopedia ~Phytopathotogie and l~nT,-~ehutz" (= Phytopathology and Plant Protection) appears in the series of biological egeyclnpedl~. In comparison with th~ first edition (1979), the too general entries of peripheral disciplines have be,ca eliminated; they are to be found in other encyclopedias of the series Uni-TaschenbiXcher. Individual entries of chemical prcparatious haw been incorporat~ in the entries of main groups of active substances. In this way the space for about one third mere entries or for their amplification was ob~aine_&Very useful is the addition of main laws and regulations regarding phytopathology in the FRG, of a survey of main institutions d~.alin~ with phytopathology both in the PRG and worldwide, of the main universities in the FRG which educate phytopatholngists, and finally of the main phytopathologk-.al IperkxlScals of the world. Thu.~ in eompark~n with the first edition, the gengral extent of the encydope.dia has increased by less than one third, which is acceptable from the viewpoint of the editor. The informational comprehensiveness has incre.ased at least by one half, which is welcome,d by the public of users biology. It is a great pity that the encyclopeMia does not cover the full scope of silviclfltural phytopathology, and even in the entries included (e.g. Tracheomykos~n) the text does not deal with the tracheomycoses of woody plants. The title of the encyclopedia therefore should be "Landwirtschaftliche Phytopathologie" (= Agriclfltund Phytopathology) or, again, these entries should be included in the next edition. General phytopathology must take into o0usldcration not only the diseases of utility plants, but also of wild-growing ones. M a t entries, especially those of general phytopathology, have been treated at a high level, lucidly and at the same time comprehensively. Nevertheless, I wish to put forward some comments which may be useful in the preparation of a new eAitlon. Suggestions for new entries: Anamorphc-Holomorphc-Tclcomorphe (n~.Ssasy for understanding the whole ontogeny of the fungus with consequences for its name and dassification; then in the texts of many emries the shorter te.rm Anamorphr could be used instead of Ncbenfruchtform), Diplophase (prevailing e.g. in the Feronosporales), Mykorrhiza (especially VAM in agricultural plants), Phyiloplan, Rhizoplan. Suggestions for entries to be elimh~ated: Athalium, CapiUitium, Gleba, Petiolus, Prosenchym, silvlcole Arten. Suggestions for formulations to be emended: e.g. Dikaryophase, Fraktikation(szeit), Sporudation(szcit), Generatiormwech~l, Habitat, Oldie, Okosystem, Penetration x Invasion, Phycophyta - - > Alge~ P~dkma-Spermogoniusa, Kosmopolit = eurySk, Paraphysc, Peridle, Pseudoseptum, Rasse, Stroma, Tracheom~kosc, VarictAt. Some phytopathologieally significant entrie, (e.g. Biotrophic) would deserve a more detailed sytlaba~ of terms, which should he mentioned because of the dynamic aspe.~ (e.g. protobiotroph, hem/biotroph - d. Cooks and Whipps, BioL Rev. 55: 341-362, 19"d0). The systematic ~ntries follow ration.% sometimes older artificial systems. Tbey do not reflect the dynamic conception of the study "of the whole fungus'. For example, the genus causing significant Uachcomycotic (Ulmensterben, Eicheusterben), Ceratocysfis, is c l ' ~ c d among the Microascales on page 202, but on p. 300 among the Sphaeriales; today, however, it appears best to dassify it among the Ophiostomatales (ascogeneoux cells - not hyphae, prototunicate or quite naked asci not forming a layer in the ascoma, absence of paraphyses, so that classifmafion among the Pyrenomycefidae is hardly wall-founded). Some entries are treated exclusively or predominantly from the viewpoint of zoology (entomology), but they occur frequemly in a different sense in other biological sciences, too, which mould be completed, e.g. diurnal, Flukmation, Integument, intraspezifisch, nokturnal, k-Typ, r-Typ (= k-, r-, stress-tolerant-Stratege), Poly-, Pleo-,

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(Saison-) Dimorphismus. In some entries it would be. advisable to complete the formulatiott% the referenccs to table~ etc., or make them more accurate. Every lexicographical work is based on various, often contradictory sources, which mint be respected in it. The choice of the most e.~sential information and its lucid arrangement is the most important criterion in a publication of this type. Inchis respect the authors of the work were successful, and the users of this book can congralulate both authors and editors for the careful lay-out, and along with the progress of this developing ~cientific discipline they will look forward to the next edition. Vt~t~R

SKALIC~

R. H~.-~,iEVVa~ DYNAMIC BIOGEOGRAPHY Cambridge UniversRy P r e ~ Cambridge etc. Price USD 54.50, GBP 30.-, ISBN 0-521-38058-8 Biogeography was one of the last areas witiain natmal sciences where descriptive and qualitative methods pcedominated. In the past 20 years numerous ex.olngi.Cs attempted to replace traditional way of thinking in biogeography by introducing new and more exact approaches. Hengeveld's book reflects the current state on the way toward a more exact biogeography. On the content: "after a chapter dealing with general topics the book .starts with the methodology of quantitative biogeographical classifications. Geographical trends in intra- and interspecific characteristics and in species richness are desen'beM in the next part. The third part deals with areog~aphy; the last but one integrates factors determining survival in space and time. Finally, a short chapter on the prospect for future is presented. The main topic of the book is biogeographical classification. Some approaches, such as dadisfic biogeography, panbiogeography and phylogenetic biogeography are however not mentioned. Other fields, such as island biogeography and vicariance biogeography are shortly criticized and refused as biassed. The book brings many ideas on scale.% variation and methodology and the author suggests concrete methods which could be applied to a particolar problem. Multivariate analysis is frequently suggested as a group of methods with good prospects in blngeography_ In spite of the amber's opinion that "any [urther progre~ in all sdences, including blogeography, depends on progress by testing more and more newly generated hypotheses" (p. 80), many of the results presented in the book were not subjected to testin8. Deductive methods are often replaced by inductive oaes, especially in ~ where older data are presented. The book contains many interesting ideas on methodological approaches and the philosophy of biogeographical re.march. It will surely .r research in the field. The text however, is, sometimes difficult to understand; figure captions are too brief and explanaficm of some symbols is missing (F'~gs.3, 4, 23). Other figures could be omitted (Figs. 6, 7, 57) whereas complicated desc.ripfion on page 123 could easily be replaced by a ftgm'e without any loss of space. The author probably did not aim to write a textbook of bingeograplay. That is another task. Hengeveld's Dynamic biogeography can serve as a source of stimulating ideas for those dealing with biogeographical classifications. LEO~ KIJMEg

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FOLIA GEOBOTANICAET PHYTOTAXONOMIU~2~ 1993

M. PENY,A, M. V~SKOT, E~ KIJMO & F. VAgfOe.K FLOODPLAIN FORF~I" ECOSYSTEM. VOL. 2 Academia, Praha. 1991, 632 pp.. 161 Figs, 32 Plates. ISBNI gt~2004~17-8 The interesting territory of Southern Moravia on the lower reach~ of the Dyjr and Morava Riwrs had a typical floodplain vogctation, mahfly hardwood (including willow-poplar) alluvial forests. Hnman activities have markedly reduced the area of forest and changed stand structure. AgricuLture is now typical in this region, but there are remnants of so-called Paununian alluvial old growth forests of great scientific importance. A series of ameliorative hydrological measures was begun in this area in 1970 to protect the landscape from floods. This transformed much of the Southern Moravian alluvial area from a highly heterogeneous, attractive region to a more homogeneous, biologically-impoverished area with large reservoirs, It was decided to evaluate the various ecological effects of these chan~es. This book is the collective work of many contributors from different scientific institutions and is one of the results of project 86 of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme. The research team accumulated as much information as possible on the botany, zoology, forestry, ecology, etc. of the ecosystceas most affected by the flood regulation works. The book of 11 chapters has useful figures, maps and photographs. It opens with coverage of anthropogcnlc impacts on the natural environment of the landscape, e.g., air and water pollution, quality of underground water, and hydro-engineering and amelioration works. The following chapters ate devoted to descriptions of the research area and changes in abiotic factors after alteration of the moisture rcgjwae. Most of the research was concentrated on the U / m o - F ~ a o n carp/neum and Querco-Frwdnemm forest typological units. Initial mlcrodimatic changes during the ten ),eat period following flood control were caused by changes in the water regime of the whole landscape, as seen in data on annum tcmperature and predpltadon. The water reghne, the most important factor influencing the existence of ullu,Aal forest, is analyzed in detail. Ten yeats monitoring of the soil water dynamics and comparison with earlier data prodnccd interesting results, including the finding that forests were not threatened by drought despite the lowering of the water table. Changes in the water table were accompanied by changes in rail properties, induding increased aeration, cessation of nutrient input in flood sediments, and altered decomposition. The soil microbiota exhibited increases in aerobic bacteria and decreases in anaerobic bacteria, including fixing bacteria nitrogen. The dominant tree speci~ (~ercus, Fmxinua) displayed no reaction to changes in the moisture regime, but species of the lower tIee layer had mall decreases in production and vitality. The largest changes in plants were observed in the shrub and herb layers which shifted toward drier communities, sometimes with a decrease in species diversity and biomass. Plants dependent on dry habitats or high nitrogen levels, e.g. Im/mtiens parv/f/ora and Unic.adioica, increased rapidly. Other invesdgatlons induded studies of the d.vnami~ of transpirational flow in trees (with differences between the overtopped, cvdominant and dominant species), as well as water relations of different layers of the floodplain forests. Among herbs, the highest transpiration rates were observed in Impatiens parviflora, the lowest in

Glechoma hederacea. The book includes a chapter on changes in the fauna, as well as information on the use of forest resources in the floodplain landscape and the use of "land resources of formerly inundated meadows. The tenth chapter provides information on the influence of hydrological works on aquatic ecosystems. This book is the first attempt at a multifaceted evaluation of changes in alluvial habitat and their relationship to vegetation and fauna. This highly valuable research should continue. ZDENKA NEUHAUSLOVA

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P.A. Cox & S.A. BANACK ISLAND, PLANTS AND POLYNESIANS. AN INTRODUCTION TO POLYNESIAN ETHNOBOTANY Dioscorides Press, Portland, Oregon 1991, 288 pp, 13 Photo~ 9 Figs., 8 Tabs. Price USD 34.95, ISBN 0-931146-18-6 Ethnobotany is a science concerned with the utilization of plants by the indigenous population and it is a borderline subject requiring a wealth of information on anthropology, archeology and linguistics apart from a thorough knowledge of botany, as well close cooperation with experts in the latter disciplines. Publications of world-wide importance in ethnobotany are very rare and that is why we appreciate the efforts of Prof. Paul Alan Cox and the doctorand Sandra Anne Banack, who c.ditcd and put together 10 different patmrs delivered during the symposium "Plants and Men in Polynesia" held in December, 1988 at Laie in the Hawaii, thus c~e~ti-~ a scientific, lucid and very readable work of 10 chapters. It is only to be regretted, that with the exceplio~ of chapter 7, thexe is -almost no photographic documentation. In the introduction we are told, that unfortunately even in far-away Polynesia, considered the last paradise in the world, the country has been affected by a number of clviiL-,.afionproblems, since the effects of the European and American way of llfe which have almost destroyed the traditional experience and customs of the native populatiom are irreversible and irreparable. Chapter 1 is devoted to a description of the Polynesian environment, including geology, climate, island phenomena (as distinct from continental phenomena), and the presumed earlier forest species composition prior to man's interference and the ehang~ brought about later by the Polynesian population and by Europeans and Americans. We can only state with great sorrow that most of the i~lands were affected by the introduction of earlier-lmlmowa discuses of man and animals, that the native social patterns have been altered by the advent of despo6c colonizers and missionary fanatics, that many plant and animal spedes were exterminated before they could be described, that extensive plantations of Cocos nuc/fera and Sacchanan offu:/namm have occnpied the islands' shores and that the surrounding seas have been heavily polluted. Chapter 2 fists the tree species useM by the natives for shipbuilding: canoes, rafts, ~ row.s, to ship calking. dyeing the making of fishing gear etc and a history of legends of gifts to the gods. Chapter 3 reviews the chronology of the discovery of Polynesia since 1595 and a llst of 72 plant species deliberately in.educed, of which 70 % are indigenous in Indomalaysia and Africa. In Chapter 4 the authors consider the origins of certain cultivated crops, such as Attcr.wt~ altilis, Cyaosperma chamissonis, ~ sp. div., D/oscorea sp. div. and particularly taro (Co/ocas/a escuienta), for which analysis of the caryotype is given. Linguistic analysis of the Polynesian names of plants is studied in Chapter 5 and on this linguistic basis it is h~ely that Ipomoea batatas was introduced to Polynesia from South America at least twice, via the Hawaiian Islands and Via the Easter Islands. Chapter 6 is concerned with agriculture, b~olnnin~ Wtth a description of Polynesian soih and the local climate and descr/bing the main practices in growing the major field crops (taro,

Alocasia macrorrhiza, Xanthosoma sagiltifolium, Oyrtosperma charnissonis, Dioscorea, Musa, Attocarpus aM!~, lpomoea batataz, MamT~ escu/enta); depicts the woody species and stands and the keeping of domestic animals imported mostly from South-East Asia. Chapter 7 is very interesting, drawing our attention to the practical utilization of seaweed (marine algae) supplementing native foods and to their part in religious services. The eighth chapter deals with herbal medidne; according to ~APERNICK (1972) there are 427 plant species employed by the 1"olyn"c.sian population to treat sickness, about 2/3 of them utilized only in Polynesia. The author gives a list of 17 major medicinal plants, while others have been destroyed or greatly reduced as civilization has spread. A very detailed treatise on the traditional Polynesian narcotic drug - kava (P/per methya/cum) is given in Chapter 9, discussing its botanical characteristics and probable origin from P/per w/chmann//, cultivation practices, its generally beneficial influence on the haman organism (universal treatment) and its variation. The concluding chapter deals with the ethnobotany of the breadfruit, which is one of the most important crops in Polynesia. Apart

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from the morphology and wide variability of the species, the authors deal in detail with food preparation and with the multipurpose use of its wood, phloem, latex and leaves in industry (canoe building, house construction, impregaafion, rope making etc). Each chapter is accompanied by a comprehensive Ikst of references and Latin and Polynesian plant terminology is added. VACLAV7~1 .~zJ~

A.R. HOE2EL & G.A. DOVER MOLECULAR GENETIC ECOLOGY Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1991. Price GBP 6..50, ISBN 0-19-963265-0 The thin booklet Molecular Genetic Ecology presents a very instructive review in 75 pages. It describes in outline the new field of biological science origi~ating on the boundary of molecular biology and ecology. Genetic variation in natural populations can be studied by direct methods of the analysis of proteins and DNA. The investigation of polymorphism on the basis of the elcetrophoretic mobility of isoenzymes has been widely used for at least twenty years. The advantages and limitations of this method are discussed. The analysis of isocnzymes reveals only a minor part of the genetic variability in a population - the changes in th~ first and the second position of codoas in coding sequences of the genome. Recent te~chniques of direct analysis of DNA provide rese.arch workers in the field of population geneti~ with quite new tools. The complete genetic record is now acceg~%le to scientists. They may compare either sequences of nucleotid~ or the pattern of DNA restriction fragments. The changes in restriction sites (target sites for restriction enzymes) result in DNA fragments of different lengths found on the electrophoretic pattern. This method based on tim comparison of DNA restriction fragments is known as RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) analysis. The content of the book is divided into four chapters. The first describes briefly the source of genetic variation in natural populations. G.A. Dowr, one of the authors of the book, is an outstanding investigator in the field of biological evolution He is the father of the theory of molecular drive. Natural selection, genetic drift and molecular drive are three important means for tim dissemination of mutations in populations. The second chapter deals with molecular approaches to the analysis of genetic variation. The methods of protein and DNA electrophoresis, DNA sequencing and PCR (polymerase chain reaction) are explained very dearly, even a secoadary school student must understand them. Statistical interpretation is the content of the third chapter. 3'he estimation of heterozygosity in the population and imerpopulation diversity are discnsseA. The most interesting chapter is the last one, describing examples of application of molecular techniques to population problems. For instance, the analysis of rDNA (DNA coding ~mal RNA) in wild wheat (T~iticum dicoccoides) is very interesting. Using RFLP analysis of the spacer (non-transcribed region between two rDNA units containing rcl~titivr elements), the authors have revealed considerable heterogenity among the populations studied. All examples of the application of molecular techniques to population problems emphasize the importance of new methods in population genetics. The booklet Molecular Genetic Biology is therefore wry interesting not only for undergraduate students. Every experienced investigator in taxonomy and genetic can find new ideas here on how to solve old problems. HELENA ~TORCHOVA