This volume provides a unique comparative treatment of annual and seasonal photosynthetic production in both terrestrial and aquatic environments.

The International Biological Programme took the form of an evolving process which occupied some five years of preliminary planning, followed by a decade of work. Just how it was conceived, initiated, conducted and completed is set down in this volume. The programme's successes and shortcomings are discussed, as it its relevance to future coordinated research. Much useful background data on the organisation of IBP, its publications, meetings and other relevant information are presented in the appendices. An IBP booklet on recommended quantities, units and symbols is reprinted in its entirety....

The ability of small mammals to exploit environmental resources, based upon a rapid adaptation to short-term changes in population and/or the environment, as well as to a variety of local conditions, implies a strong impact upon natural resources. The role played by small mammal consumers in the flow of energy within natural and man-modified ecosystems is therefore of equal importance to that of larger, longer-lived species which have been studied more intensively. This volume, first published in 1975, looks at small mammal populations with emphasis being placed on their ecology and energy...

This 1975 book deals with one of the world's fastest disappearing natural resources - the invaluable reservoir of genetic variability in our cultivated plants which have evolved since our forebears began to domesticate them some 10,000 years ago. The preservation of these 'genetic resources', as they have come to be called, is vital to mankind. Without them the geneticists and plant breeders cannot breed the new varieties needed to feed the world's population by providing more disease-resistant strains of our food plants. This volume explores topics such as how to collect and preserve this...

A 1976 synthesis of knowledge on the fixation of nitrogen by systems involving plants, especially legumes, and micro-organisms.

The best alternative to chemical control is often seen as being biological control - the introduction of natural enemies in areas where foreign pests become abundant. However, biological control alone is not always sufficient to maintain pest populations under a tolerable level; and it is necessary to learn how to make it compatible with other methods of control, and in particular with chemicals, in integrated control programs. Data on these important aspects was collected and elaborated over a period of seven to eight years and synthesized in this volume, which was originally published in...

Biological nitrogen fixation, the conversion of nitrogen from the atmosphere to ammonia, is the main process of nitrogen input to the earth today. There this nitrogen is indispensable for plant and animal production, and the maintenance of adequate protein standards. This 1976 volume provides information, presented at an international symposium in Edinburgh, on the free-living nitrogen-fixing bacteria and blue-green algae. In addition to information on the distribution of the nitrogenase enzyme within these groups, their role in the soil and in aquatic systems is considered, as are the...

Grey mullets are extremely important fish which are cultured or farmed in many countries, especially in the Mediterranean and South-East Asia. Mullets can be fed on a variety of food; this flexibility of feeding, together with the wide salinity of temperature tolerance, make these fish particularly suitable for agriculture. This 1981 volume considers all the aspects of these important food fish which are of relevance to their culture. After a discussion of the taxonomy and means of identification, both of adult fish and fry, the various authors consider reproduction, growth and feeding. The...

First published in 1977, this book deals with the importance of weed seed and grain-eating birds in natural and agricultural environments.

This 1980 book was a synthesis of much of the recent work on the functioning of grassland ecosystems at the time.