In arid and semiarid lands throughout the world, where the cover of vegetation is sparse or absent, the open spaces between the higher plants are generally not bare of autotrophic life, but covered by a community of highly specialized organisms. This soil-surface community consists of cyanob- teria, algae, lichens, mosses, microfungi, and other bacteria in differing proportions. Cyanobacterial and microfungal filaments, rhizinae and rhi- morphs of lichens, and the rhizinae and protonemata of bryophytes weave throughout the top few millimeters of soil, gluing loose soil particles together....

This book reviews established methodologies that have provided new insights into ecosystem function and adaptations of plants in Mediterranean climate zones. New methodologies are examined which have been used in recent ecological studies and which have supplied information of a new kind. Chapters include studies on plant water relations, photosynthesis and production, mineral nutrition, plant growth and development, and response to fire. Gas exchange techniques, advances in chlorophyll fluorescence techniques, root function analysis, leaf orientation and canopy function are discussed at...

During the last decade, forest decline has become increasingly apparent. The decline in forest health was often reported to be associated with air pollution. The present study on Norway spruce stands in the Fichtelgebirge analyses various processes interacting within forest ecosystems. It covers transport and deposition of air pollutants, the direct effects of pollutants on above-ground plant parts, the responses of soil to acid rain, and the changing nutrient availability, and the accompanying effects on plant metabolism and growth. The role of fungi, microorganisms and soil animals in the...