Introductory Plant Biology

This book presents a comprehensive overview of medicinal plants and their potential uses, with chapters on Chinese traditional medicine, antioxidant activity of faba bean extracts, and antiviral activity of several plant extracts. This book will prove useful to a wide variety of readers, from medical professionals to farmers and gardeners to those interested in herbs and herbal medicine.

This handbook is intended as an introductory guide to students at all levels on the principles and practice of plant growth analysis. Many have found this quantitative approach to be useful in the description and interpretation of the performance of whole plant systems grown under natural, semi-natural or controlled conditions. Most of the methods described require only simple experimental data and facilities. For the classical approach, GCSE biology and mathematics (or their equivalents) are the only theoretical backgrounds required. For the functional approach, a little calculus and statistical theory is needed. All of the topics regarding the quantitative basis of productivity recently introduced to the Biology A-level syllabus by the Joint Matriculation Board are covered. The booklet replaces my elementary Plant Growth Analysis (1978, London: Edward Arnold) which is now out of print. The presentation is very basic indeed; the opening pages give only essential outlines of the main issues. They are followed by brief, standardized accounts of each growth-analytical concept taken in turn. The illustrations deal more with the properties of well-grown material than with the effects of specific environmental changes, even though that is where much of the subject's interest lies. However, detailed references to the relevant parts of more com­ prehensive works appear throughout, and a later section on 'Inter­ relations' adds perspective. Some 'Questions and answers' may also help to show what topics will arise if the subject is pursued further.

This book will provoke the interest of various readers, researchers, and scientists, who will find this information useful for the advancement of their plant genetic diversity research work. The book discusses approaches related to environmental stresses. Moreover, it sheds new light on the current research trends and future research directions related to plant genetic diversity studies.

This book provides basic principles and several case studies of polycrop utilization in various regions of the world as a method of functional biodiversity amplification through species associations that maximize the productivity per unit of land area, suppress the growth and development of weeds, and reduce the amount of harmful pests and insects.

This volume rovides new insights and sheds new light regarding the exciting hormonal cross talk phenomenon in plants. This book brings together recent work and progress that has recently been made in the dynamic field of phytohormone regulation in plant development and stress responses.

This book provides an overview of the present state in the research of abiotic stresses and molecular, biochemical, and whole plant responses, helping to prevent the negative impact of global climate change.