This textbook covers Plant Ecology from the molecular to the global level. It covers the following areas in unprecedented breadth and depth: - Molecular ecophysiology (stress physiology: light, temperature, oxygen deficiency, drought, salt, heavy metals, xenobiotica and biotic stress factors) Autecology (whole plant ecology: thermal balance, water, nutrient, carbon relations) Ecosystem ecology (plants as part of ecosystems, element cycles, biodiversity) Synecology (development of vegetation in time and space, interactions between vegetation and the abiotic and biotic environment) Global aspects of plant ecology (global change, global biogeochemical cycles, land use, international conventions, socioeconomic interactions) The book is carefully structured and well written: complex issues are elegantly presented and easily understandable. It contains more than 500 photographs and drawings, mostly in colour, illustrating the fascinating subject. The book is primarily aimed at graduate students of biology but will also be of interest to post-graduate students and researchers in botany, geosciences and landscape ecology. Further, it provides a sound basis for those dealing with agriculture, forestry, land use, and landscape management.

Introduction Chapter 1: Stress Physiology 1.1 Environment as stress factor: Stress physiology of plants 1.2 Light 1.3 Temperature 1.4 Oxygen deficiency (Anaerobiosis and hypoxia) 1.5 Water deficiency (drought) 1.6 Salt stress (osmotic stress) 1.7 Heavy metals 1.8 Aluminium 1.9 Xenobiotica 1.10 Biotic stress: Herbivory, infection, allelopathy Chapter 2: Autecology: Whole Plant Ecology 2.1 Thermal balance of plants 2.2 Water relations of plants 2.3 Nutrient relations of plants 2.4 Carbon balance Chapter 3: Ecology of Ecosystems 3.1 The ecosystem concept 3.2 Processes in stands and ecosystems 3.3 The biogeochemical cycles 3.4 Biodiversity and ecosystem processes 3.5 Case studies at the scale of ecosystems Chapter 4: Syndynamics, Synchorology, Synecology 4.1 Historic-genetic development of phytocenoses and their dynamics 4.2 Synchorology: Basis of spatial distribution of plants 4.3 Interaction between vegetation and abiotic and biotic environments - synecology Chapter 5: Global Aspects of Plant Ecology 5.1 Global change and global institutions 5.2 Global material cycles 5.3 Human influence on carbon balance and significance for global climate 5.4 Significance of changes in land use for carbon cycles 5.5 Influence of human activities on biodiversity 5.6 Socio-economic interactions Subject Index