Structure-Function Relations of Warm Desert Plants

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XI

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2. Plant Life Forms of Warm Desert Climates

   • Arthur Charles Gibson

   Pages 1-22

3. Functional Morphology of Nonsucculent Leaves

   • Arthur Charles Gibson

   Pages 23-43

4. Physiological Anatomy of Nonsucculent Leaves

   • Arthur Charles Gibson

   Pages 45-89

5. Photosynthetic Stems of Nonsucculent Plants

   • Arthur Charles Gibson

   Pages 91-116

6. Succulent Photosynthetic Organs

   • Arthur Charles Gibson

   Pages 117-142

7. Special Topics in Water Relations

   • Arthur Charles Gibson

   Pages 143-168

8. Origins of Desert Structural Adaptations

   • Arthur Charles Gibson

   Pages 169-175

9. Back Matter

   Pages 177-215

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For centuries biologists have been extremely interested in the structure of desert plants as examples of natural selection to harsh environmental conditions. Indeed, desert plants are frequently used as examples in many biology classes and textbooks to illustrate natural selection, but this has led to an unfortunate litany of errors and misconceptions about desert plant adaptations.
This new synthesis focuses on plants of lowland tropical and subtropical arid deserts. Readers will be surprised to discover that many features commonly ascribed to desert plants are rareley observed in the most common species. Instead, the typical structural adaptations of nonsucculent warm desert plants are now viewed as ways to maximize photosynthetic rate.

• Anpassung
• Asteraceae
• Atacama
• C4-Photosynthese
• C4-photosynthesis
• Desert plants
• Flora
• Shrub
• Tree
• Xeropythen
• Xylem
• desert
• energy balance
• metabolism
• physiology

"This book can be recommended to all researchers working on desert plants." Trends in Plant Sciences

• Department of Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA

  Arthur Charles Gibson

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