Park S. Nobel

Physicochemical and Environmental Plant Physiology, Fifth Edition, is the updated version of an established and successful text and reference for plant scientists. This work represents the seventh book in a 50-year series by Park Nobel beginning in 1970. The original structure and philosophy of the book continue in this new edition, providing a genuine synthesis of modern physicochemical and physiological thinking, while updating the content. Key concepts in plant physiology are developed with the use of chemistry, physics, and mathematics fundamentals. The book contains plant physiology basics while also including many equations and often their derivation to quantify the processes and explain why certain effects and pathways occur, helping readers to broaden their knowledge base. New topics included in this edition are advances in plant hydraulics, other plant–water relations, and the effects of climate change on plants. This series continues to be the gold standard in environmental plant physiology.

Physicochemical and Environmental Plant Physiology, Fourth Edition, is the updated version of an established and successful reference for plant scientists. The author has taken into consideration extensive reviews performed by colleagues and students who have touted this book as the ultimate reference for research and learning. The original structure and philosophy of the book continue in this new edition, providing a genuine synthesis of modern physicochemical and physiological thinking, while entirely updating the detailed content. This version contains more than 40% new coverage; five brand new equations and four new tables, with updates to 24 equations and six tables; and 30 new figures have been added with more than three-quarters of figures and legends improved. Key concepts in plant physiology are developed with the use of chemistry, physics, and mathematics fundamentals. The book is organized so that a student has easy access to locate any biophysical phenomenon in which he or she is interested.

The Environmental Biology of Agaves and Cacti constitutes the first comprehensive review of how these two interesting and economically important desert succulent taxa respond, in what turn out to be remarkably similar ways, to specific environmental factors such as water, temperature, photosynthetically active radiation, and nutrients, which affect the exchange of carbon dioxide and water vapor with the environment. Park Nobel first summarizes early environmental research as well as the many ethnobotanical uses of agaves and cacti. He then develops the main themes by considering the three most studied species in detail. Much of the relevant research has been carried out in his own laboratory since the mid-1970s. The book's clear style, many photographs and line drawings, and comprehensive data summaries make it accessible to professionals and interested laypeople alike. Every scientific term is defined the first time it is used. Agaves and cacti are shown to be highly productive compared to other plant groups, and this productivity helps account for their many uses for beverages, food, and animal fodder. Plant ecologists and physiologists, agronomists, environmental biologists, modelers, ethnobotanists, students, amateur succulent enthusiasts, and those responsible for land use and agricultural policy in arid and semiarid regions will all find this book an invaluable resource.

"The Cactus Primer" presents the amateur cactophile with an excellent introduction to cactus biology and provides the informed reader with an invaluable summary of the last forty years' research. This book goes far beyond books that instruct readers in the propagation, growth, and care of these plants; addressing matters of more scientific interest, it takes an integrated approach to the presentation of the form, physiology, evolution, and ecology of cacti. The book is unique in that it combines the descriptive morphology and physiology documented in the scientific literature with more general observations found in popular publications on cacti. It provides a new generic classification of the cacti and contains much new information, including data on photosynthesis, heat and cold tolerance, computer modeling of ribs, and the effects of spines. Enhanced by over 400 illustrations and supplemented with an extensive glossary, this book will appeal to cactus enthusiasts interested in the classification and growth of cacti, as well as to plant biologists who use cacti to illustrate desert adaptation and convergent evolution. Written in accessible style, "The Cactus Primer" is bound to serve a dual function as both an instructive tool and a reference work in cactus biology for years to come.