Global Vegetation: Fundamentals, Ecology and Distribution

This up-to-date textbook of global vegetation ecology, which comprises the current state of knowledge, is long overdue and much-needed. It is a translation of the textbook ＂Vegetation der Erde＂ (Springer-Spektrum, Heidelberg). A short introductory chapter deals with the fundamentals of vegetation ecology that are of importance for the delimitation and characterization of the global vegetation presented in this book (chorology, evolution of plants, physiognomic and structural characteristics, phytodiversity and the human impact on it as well as general terminology concerning both plant growth forms and on vegetation structure types). In the following chapters the zonal and azonal vegetation from the tropics to the polar regions including high mountains is described and discussed. The main focus is on the characterization of interactions between the spatial location of plants and plant communities on the one hand and site conditions, historic and genetic processes, spatial andtemporal patterns, ecophysiology and anthropogenic influences on the other hand. Additional information on specific topics is provided in 51 boxes.

Jörg S. Pfadenhauer was born in 1945 and studied biology, chemistry and geography in Munich. After some years of research stays in Switzerland (Zurich) and Brazil (Porto Alegre), he moved to the chair of vegetation ecology (now restoration ecology) at the School of Life Sciences at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). His main research topics are restoration ecology of mires and semi-natural grassland in central Europe, the ecology of southern Brazilian grassland and agrobiodiversity and conservation.

Frank A. Klötzli was born in 1934 and studied biology in Zurich. He was a professor at the former Geobotanical Institute of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. His research was directed at problems concerning the limits and vitality of dominant plants in forests and grassland as well as the analysis of the effects of browsing, both in central European ecosystems as well as in Africa. He was also active in high mountain areas in different countries on Earth.

Christine von Gadow was born in 1975 in East London, South Africa. She studied arts and philosophy at the University of Stellenbosch, after having finished high school in Germany. In 1999 she moved back to Germany. Christine has worked on various translations in a number of academic fields. This is the most extensive book she has translated so far.