holds for a separate illustration of the construction to support the end post of training systems, a problem that every grower will solve in his own way.
In Part 2, this kind of trivialities are lacking. The subject matter is reviewed always in a similar manner, which makes ®nding something or comparing various fruits very easy. After a few remarks on origin, distribution and botanical name, under the heading `key points' a number of important aspects on cultivation, storage, diseases, etc. are mentioned. The central part of each description is always a large table summarizing, for each fruit, particulars of botanical nature and on cultivation, climate, soil needed, pests, etc. In this way, the information is given very adequately, limited to essentials.
The book is written very clearly and is easy to read, in my opinion even, for people who are less familiar with the English language. Although a number of chapters is written by `quests' the homogeneity in the various contributions is high. The spelling errors are minimum. The book is well illustrated by a large number of drawings that are simple and clear, and usually of good quality.
The same, however, does not hold for many of the photographs, which are too small and seem to be out of focus. It is a great pity that the excellent color-plates of fruits, as found in the ®rst edition, are omitted, probably for reasons of cost. As is usual for this type of book, the list of references at the end of each chapter is restricted to a few books or reviews for `further reading'. A glossary of technical terms and a good index concludes the book.
In short, although a few critical remarks can be made, this book is a good intro-duction for those who want to get familiar with practical fruit growing in a quick way. In my opinion, especially the ®rst part is too super®cial and too practical for university students, but as a whole I hope, following the editors that `producers and practitioners will long value the book as an accurate and user-friendly reference'.
J. Tromp Department of Horticultural Production Chains Wageningen University, Marijkeweg 22 6709 PG Wageningen Netherlands
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Plants in Action: Adaptation in Nature, Performance in Cultivation
B.J. Atwell, P.E. Kriedemann, C.G.N. Turnbull (Eds.); MacMillan Education Australia, South Yarra, Victoria, Australia, 1999, 664 pp, AUD/US$ 74.95, hardback, ISBN 0-7329-4439-2
Plants in Action is a textbook that provides basic plant biological knowledge and is aimed at upper level undergraduate students. The book has been a collective effort by members of plant science societies in Australia and New
Zealand. It seems that Australia hosts a much larger part of the prominent plant scientists than may be expected merely on the size of its population. Over 120 authors, almost all from Australia have contributed, among them many outstanding scientists like L.T. Evans, G.D. Farquhar, R.M. Gifford, R. Munns, C.E. Of¯er, J.B. Passioura, J.W. Patrick, R.O. Slatyer and I.F. Wardlaw. Co-ordination in the writing process, which was undertaken by P.E. Kriedemann, must have been a tremendous job. He succeeded in avoiding overlap, creating cross references, and therefore, indeed in producing a book that looks and reads like a monograph.
Plants in Action has adopted genotypeenvironment interactions as a
fundamental theme for processes and adaptation in higher plants. The book contains many original data, which were unpublished so far. It concludes with a list of over 1000 references and an extensive index. It differs in at least two major aspects from most text books in plant biology: (1) much attention is paid to the links between basic plant science and crop production (agriculture, forestry, horticulture) and (2) examples come to a much larger extent from Australasian natural and managed ecosystems. An illustration of the ®rst point are paragraphs on `Horticultural application of CO2enrichment' (here even the positive role CO2
enrichment can play in vegetative propagation is not forgotten), `Salt-affected land: utilisation and reclamation', `Orchard design and canopy management' and `Pine forest canopies and biomass production'.
After Part I: Perspectives on plant science (17 pp.), 20 chapters follow, grouped in three parts: (II) Processes and resources for growth (198 pp.), (III) Co-ordination of growth and reproduction (154 pp.) and (IV) Ecophysiology in natural and managed communities (334 pp.). Within most chapters, case studies and feature essays are provided, for example on `Development of A:Pi curves', `Discovering C4 photosynthesis', `Partitioning of carbon and nitrogen in a
legume', `More plant for less water?', `Plant parasites' and `Swamp paperbark: a coloniser of ¯ooded, saline wetlands'. These studies and essays are easily recognised by the light-green background colour of these texts. Every chapter starts with an outline and concludes with a few references, mostly review papers or books, for further reading. It is not easy to ®nd the names of the authors of the different parts, since these are not given in the chapters or sections. One has to consult the two-page alphabetical authorship list following the preface of the book to ®nd who exactly did what. The book is richly illustrated with high-quality drawings, tables and photographs, and 78 photographs are reproduced on full-colour-print pages. Although the colour photographs are concentrated on certain pages, the whole book looks very attractive since table headings, bars, lines and symbols in graphs and the background colour of case studies and essays are printed in several gradations of a fresh green colour.
Part I contains a Preamble by R.O. Slatyer, `Plant science manifesto' by J.B. Passioura, `Southern hemisphere view of nature' by D. Adamson, `Crop
adaptation in Australasia' by L.T. Evans, `Plant science applied: a case study on cotton' by A.B. Hearn and a Synopsis by P.E. Kriedemann. Part I clearly demonstrates, that successful adaptation in nature not necessarily implies satisfactory performance in cultivation.
Part II is about photosynthesis, respiration, the functioning of roots, cell growth, storage of resource and growth analysis. S. Von Caemmerer and G.D. Farquhar give an excellent essay on the development of A:Pi curves. From early models of leaf gas exchange as electrical analogues of resistances, which make a useful distinction between stomatal and mesophyll limitations on CO2
assimilation possible, to biochemical models, putting Rubisco at centre stage. In the section on biomass distribution at whole-plant level, allometry (empirical model) is given much attention. However, I missed the so-called functional equilibrium concept and also partitioning models based on organ sink strengths (potential growth rates) are not mentioned here. In crop growth analysis, light use ef®ciency is given much attention, whereas the valuable extension given to it by J. Goudriaan and J.L. Monteith, the expo-linear growth model, is not mentioned.
In Part III plant growth, reproduction, plant hormones, differentiation and gene expression, fruit growth and postharvest physiology are presented. A case study on `Models for control of shoot branching: more than just auxin and cytokinin' is very informative. The statement in the title of this case study is deduced from reciprocal grafting experiments of pea mutants exhibiting greater than normal branching. In the fruit growth chapter, ethylene is prominently positioned. However, I missed clear information on the in¯uence of assimilate availability and temperature on fruit growth. Postharvest physiology is limited to fruits only. Genetic engineering technologies are presented and the capacity these techniques may have in supporting environmentally and economically sustainable crop production are made clear. However, also possible risks (e.g. potential spread of engineered genes from crops to wild relatives) and public concern (need for labelling of products that contain genetically modi®ed components) are not forgotten here.
In Part IV, rightly taking more than 50% of the book, ecophysiological topics are presented, divided in chapters on sunlight, CO2, temperature, water, nutrients,
salt, waterlogging and submergence. Two exciting chapters conclude this book: `Fire: an ecosystem sculptor' and `Herbicide resistance: a case of rapid evolution'. Fire is a familiar event when vegetation experiences extended dry periods, like in large parts of Australia. Fires are lit naturally through lightning strikes, but also by human presence. `Strategies for surviving in ®re-prone environments: seeders and resprouters' is the core paragraph in this chapter. Impact of climate change and burning practices on vegetation are discussed in a following paragraph. It seems a bit odd to combine these two topics in one paragraph. Herbicide resistance started in the early 1980s as a biological curiosity, but it has now become a serious problem over more than two million
hectares of the Australian cereal region. The chapter focuses onLolium rigidum as this species alone contributes more than 80% of all documented herbicide resistance in Australia.
In conclusion, this textbook is a must in all libraries with collections on biology or crop production. I found the Australasian ¯avour of Plants in Action very refreshing. It is an excellent textbook for students, as it is easy to read (caused both by text and layout), explains terminology and presents up-to-date scienti®c knowledge in a clear manner. Unfortunately, although this book certainly provides value for ones money, its price will still put a heavy constraint on student budgets.
Ep Heuvelink Wageningen University Horticultural Production Chains Group (Leerstoelgroep Tuinbouwproductieketens) Marijkeweg 22, 6709 PG, Wageningen Netherlands
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