Forest Ecology

Authoritative resource covering traditional plant ecology topics and contemporary components such as climate change, invasive species, ecosystem services, and more.

Forest Ecology provides comprehensive coverage of the field, focusing on traditional plant ecology topics such as tree structure and growth, regeneration, and the effects of light and temperature on tree physiology. It delves into forest communities, succession, and diversity. The work also reviews abiotic factors like light, temperature, physiography (landforms and topography), soil, and disturbance (especially fire), while providing coverage of ecosystem-level topics including carbon storage and balance, nutrient cycling, and forest ecosystem productivity.

The 5th edition of Forest Ecology retains the readability and accessibility of previous editions and includes important additional topical material that has emerged in the field. All topics are approached with a landscape ecosystem or geo-ecological view, placing biota (organisms and communities) in context as integral components of whole ecosystems. These ecosystems also include air (atmosphere and climate), topography, soil, and water. This book fills a unique niche, unlike any other forest ecology text on the market, aiding students and researchers in considering whole ecosystems at multiple scales.

Sample topics covered in Forest Ecology include:

• Contemporary components of forest ecology, including climate change, invasive species, diversity, ecological forestry, landscape ecology, and ecosystem services.
• Characteristics of physiography important for forest ecosystems, and its effects on microclimate, disturbance, soil, and vegetation.
• Genetic diversity of woody plants and genecological differentiation of tree species, such as the importance of hybridisation, polyploidy, and epigenetics.
• Site quality estimation using tree height and ground flora, alongside multiple-factor approaches to forest site and ecosystem classification and mapping.

Forest Ecology is a highly accessible text for students and serves as an excellent reference for academics. Additionally, practitioners of forest ecology can utilise the information within to gain better insights that are practical and applicable to the field.