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Mineral nutrition of higher plants, second edition
184
Book Reviews
white maize breeding is explained, in general, in comparison to yellow corn improvement. Chapter 9 deals succinctly with the processing steps for a variety of corn products used traditionally as food sources around the world, as well as many derived for industrial purposes in the USA. There are comments here regarding quality evaluation, improvement and marketing. This is fundamental information for food technologists, marketers, and others involved in industrial processing and product utilization. Silage maize issues are analyzed in Chapter 11, including rumen digestive processes and techniques and criteria for estimating nutritive value. An overview of the advances in breeding for forage maize, and associated practices, constitutes a useful unit for specialists working in animal nutrition. An interesting use is covered in Chapter 10, that of the utilization of maize cobs to manufacture pipes. There are numerous uses for maize, most of which have not received attention genetically. Breeders should take pipe corn as an example: identify genes specifically related to a given use and then breed for improvement for that use. The book is brought to a close with a chapter informed by A. Forrest Troyer's extensive experience. There are various works describing the evolution of maize improvement in the U.S. Corn Belt. Troyer's work is a new approach focused on earlymaturing corns. This is important because any given variety must fulfill a requirement for earliness in order to make breeding progress possible in the Corn Belt. This chapter is important because it logically compiles a series of breeding criteria and methods employed from the selection step forward, and breeders, physiologists, crop ecologists, extensionists, seed distributors and farmers themselves would benefit from greater awareness of these items. Each chapter of this book condenses up-to-date information, and is complemented by an ample but select bibliography. The whole work is truly a compact encyclopedia on the topic of specialty corns. It provides a glimpse of the vast diversity of genes and genetic interactions related to maize grain, and the ample potential still remaining for selection and recombination. The book develops an acute awareness of the quantitative nature of the grain yield trait. Genetics and biochemistry are appropriately interwo-
yen in the book's treatment of the topic. I would suggest this book as an excellent textbook for an advanced course on the subject. Dr. Abel Mufioz Orozco Instituto de Recursos Gen~ticos y Productividad Colegio de Posgraduados Montecillo Mexico 56230 Mexico Mineral Nutrition
Mineral Nutrition of Higher Plants, second edition. Horst Marschner. Academic Press, London, 1995. ISBN 0-12-473543-6, 889 pp., paperback UK £29.95, US $49.95, hardback ISBN 0-12-473542-8, US $120. In this second edition of his book, Marschner reiterates that "the main aim of this textbook is to present the principles of the mineral nutrition of higher plants, based on current knowledge." It also clearly retains its original stated focus to serve as "an advanced textbook for graduate students and researchers in the various fields of agricultural, biological and environmental sciences who already have a profound knowledge of plant physiology, biochemistry and soil science." The author has retained the same structure, subject matter and chapter titles as he used in the first edition of the book but has extensively revised the contents, expanding them substantially (the number of words per page has increased by about 10% and the number of pages of text from 542 to 680 and references from 106 to 181). The subject matter is presented in two parts: 'Part I. Nutritional Physiology' (476 pages) and 'Part II. Plant-Soil Relationships' (198 pages). After a brief outline of the discovery of the essential mineral nutrients, Part I describes the basic physiology and biochemistry related to the behavior of the mineral nutrients in six chapters covering ion uptake by cells and roots, xylem and phloem transport, uptake and loss of mineral elements from leaves, source-sink relationships, and nitrogen fixation. The following three chapters then examine the functions of individual macronutrients, micronutrients, and beneficial mineral nutrients. Part I then concludes with two
Book Reviews
chapters on more directly applied aspects of nutritional physiology: 'Relationships between Mineral Nutrition and Plant Disease and Pests' and 'Diagnosis of Deficiency and Toxicity of Mineral Nutrients.' In Part II, the treatment of mineral nutrients in soils focuses on those aspects concerned with the understanding of how plant roots acquire mineral nutrients from soils and how roots modify the chemical soil properties at the soil-root interface. It deliberately does not cover in detail the fundamental processes of soil chemistry governing the interaction of mineral nutrients with soil. The four chapter headings indicate the emphasis: 'Nutrient Availability in Soils', 'Effect of Internal and External Factors on Root Growth and Development', 'The Soil-Root Interface (Rhizosphere) in Relation to Mineral Nutrition', and 'Adaptation of Plants to Adverse Chemical Soil Conditions.' In this 2nd edition, this book has been thoroughly revised, incorporating an impressive number of recent papers on all aspects of the subject. The text is clear and well written and supports its conclusions liberally with data in tables and figures from a wide range of published experimental results. It is essential reading for all nutritional physiologists and its publication will maintain the title as the pre-eminent text for all advanced students and researchers in that field. It will be a valuable reference source for all researchers in allied fields on which plant nutrition impacts: agronomists, microbiologists, plant pathologists, and soil scientists. Jack F. Loneragan School of Biological and Environmental Sciences Murdoch University Murdoch, 6140 W.A. Australia
Subsoil Management Techniques Subsoil Management Techniques. N.S. Jayawardane, and B.A. Stewart (Editors). Lewis Publishers (CRC Press), Boca Raton, FL, 1995. ISBN 1-56670020-5, 247 pp., hardback, US $79.95. Traditional tillage systems for correcting subsoil problems usually involve massive soil disturbance
185
through deep ploughing or ripping but often fail to provide long-term improvements to the soil for crop production. Subsoil Management Techniques reviews alternative approaches involving reduced soil disturbance to overcome subsoil problems. The book consists of seven review papers and deals with techniques for alleviating compaction (4 papers out of 7) and reducing waterlogging, acidity and sodicity. Some papers focus on one particular technique, reviewing the most recent data and describing how to adapt the technique for use in other environments. These include improvement and management of subsoil structure (K.A. Olsson, B. Cockroft and P. Rengasamy), the use of slotting to ameliorate degraded soils and treat waste (N.S. Jayawardane, J. Blackwell, G. Kirchhof and W.A. Muirhead) and the application of mole drainage (G. Spoor). Other papers deal with broader approaches: well-known specialists give a comprehensive review of the state of the art in the fields of amelioration of subsoil acidity (M.E. Sumner), identification and manipulation of soil biopores (K.E. Lee and K.R.J. Smettem), stress transmission and recompaction in subsoils under trafficking (R. Horn) and minimum tillage systems (R. Lal). Chapter 1 gives an overview of minimum tillage systems, indicating their many advantages and some of their limitations. It includes an up-to-date bibliography on minimum tillage from all over the world. In terms of subsoil management, minimum tillage systems primarily prevent subsoil compaction by reducing trafficking, increasing organic matter content and enhancing biological activity. Lal advises against soil inversion if subsoil compaction is a problem, and instead recommends techniques that open slots at depths accessible for root penetration. The paper deals with minimum tillage generally but contains little information on the use of minimum tillage practices for subsoil improvement. Chapter 2, by Olsson, deals with the improvement and management of subsoil structure and consists of two contrasted parts. The first is an excellent description of restrictions on root growth and water uptake in subsoils. The second reports on an Australian experience in which sodic subsoils are first fragmented by the use of a rigid tine and then further improved by continuous cultivation in beds with controlled irrigation. This costly technique could be
Book Reviews
white maize breeding is explained, in general, in comparison to yellow corn improvement. Chapter 9 deals succinctly with the processing steps for a variety of corn products used traditionally as food sources around the world, as well as many derived for industrial purposes in the USA. There are comments here regarding quality evaluation, improvement and marketing. This is fundamental information for food technologists, marketers, and others involved in industrial processing and product utilization. Silage maize issues are analyzed in Chapter 11, including rumen digestive processes and techniques and criteria for estimating nutritive value. An overview of the advances in breeding for forage maize, and associated practices, constitutes a useful unit for specialists working in animal nutrition. An interesting use is covered in Chapter 10, that of the utilization of maize cobs to manufacture pipes. There are numerous uses for maize, most of which have not received attention genetically. Breeders should take pipe corn as an example: identify genes specifically related to a given use and then breed for improvement for that use. The book is brought to a close with a chapter informed by A. Forrest Troyer's extensive experience. There are various works describing the evolution of maize improvement in the U.S. Corn Belt. Troyer's work is a new approach focused on earlymaturing corns. This is important because any given variety must fulfill a requirement for earliness in order to make breeding progress possible in the Corn Belt. This chapter is important because it logically compiles a series of breeding criteria and methods employed from the selection step forward, and breeders, physiologists, crop ecologists, extensionists, seed distributors and farmers themselves would benefit from greater awareness of these items. Each chapter of this book condenses up-to-date information, and is complemented by an ample but select bibliography. The whole work is truly a compact encyclopedia on the topic of specialty corns. It provides a glimpse of the vast diversity of genes and genetic interactions related to maize grain, and the ample potential still remaining for selection and recombination. The book develops an acute awareness of the quantitative nature of the grain yield trait. Genetics and biochemistry are appropriately interwo-
yen in the book's treatment of the topic. I would suggest this book as an excellent textbook for an advanced course on the subject. Dr. Abel Mufioz Orozco Instituto de Recursos Gen~ticos y Productividad Colegio de Posgraduados Montecillo Mexico 56230 Mexico Mineral Nutrition
Mineral Nutrition of Higher Plants, second edition. Horst Marschner. Academic Press, London, 1995. ISBN 0-12-473543-6, 889 pp., paperback UK £29.95, US $49.95, hardback ISBN 0-12-473542-8, US $120. In this second edition of his book, Marschner reiterates that "the main aim of this textbook is to present the principles of the mineral nutrition of higher plants, based on current knowledge." It also clearly retains its original stated focus to serve as "an advanced textbook for graduate students and researchers in the various fields of agricultural, biological and environmental sciences who already have a profound knowledge of plant physiology, biochemistry and soil science." The author has retained the same structure, subject matter and chapter titles as he used in the first edition of the book but has extensively revised the contents, expanding them substantially (the number of words per page has increased by about 10% and the number of pages of text from 542 to 680 and references from 106 to 181). The subject matter is presented in two parts: 'Part I. Nutritional Physiology' (476 pages) and 'Part II. Plant-Soil Relationships' (198 pages). After a brief outline of the discovery of the essential mineral nutrients, Part I describes the basic physiology and biochemistry related to the behavior of the mineral nutrients in six chapters covering ion uptake by cells and roots, xylem and phloem transport, uptake and loss of mineral elements from leaves, source-sink relationships, and nitrogen fixation. The following three chapters then examine the functions of individual macronutrients, micronutrients, and beneficial mineral nutrients. Part I then concludes with two
Book Reviews
chapters on more directly applied aspects of nutritional physiology: 'Relationships between Mineral Nutrition and Plant Disease and Pests' and 'Diagnosis of Deficiency and Toxicity of Mineral Nutrients.' In Part II, the treatment of mineral nutrients in soils focuses on those aspects concerned with the understanding of how plant roots acquire mineral nutrients from soils and how roots modify the chemical soil properties at the soil-root interface. It deliberately does not cover in detail the fundamental processes of soil chemistry governing the interaction of mineral nutrients with soil. The four chapter headings indicate the emphasis: 'Nutrient Availability in Soils', 'Effect of Internal and External Factors on Root Growth and Development', 'The Soil-Root Interface (Rhizosphere) in Relation to Mineral Nutrition', and 'Adaptation of Plants to Adverse Chemical Soil Conditions.' In this 2nd edition, this book has been thoroughly revised, incorporating an impressive number of recent papers on all aspects of the subject. The text is clear and well written and supports its conclusions liberally with data in tables and figures from a wide range of published experimental results. It is essential reading for all nutritional physiologists and its publication will maintain the title as the pre-eminent text for all advanced students and researchers in that field. It will be a valuable reference source for all researchers in allied fields on which plant nutrition impacts: agronomists, microbiologists, plant pathologists, and soil scientists. Jack F. Loneragan School of Biological and Environmental Sciences Murdoch University Murdoch, 6140 W.A. Australia
Subsoil Management Techniques Subsoil Management Techniques. N.S. Jayawardane, and B.A. Stewart (Editors). Lewis Publishers (CRC Press), Boca Raton, FL, 1995. ISBN 1-56670020-5, 247 pp., hardback, US $79.95. Traditional tillage systems for correcting subsoil problems usually involve massive soil disturbance
185
through deep ploughing or ripping but often fail to provide long-term improvements to the soil for crop production. Subsoil Management Techniques reviews alternative approaches involving reduced soil disturbance to overcome subsoil problems. The book consists of seven review papers and deals with techniques for alleviating compaction (4 papers out of 7) and reducing waterlogging, acidity and sodicity. Some papers focus on one particular technique, reviewing the most recent data and describing how to adapt the technique for use in other environments. These include improvement and management of subsoil structure (K.A. Olsson, B. Cockroft and P. Rengasamy), the use of slotting to ameliorate degraded soils and treat waste (N.S. Jayawardane, J. Blackwell, G. Kirchhof and W.A. Muirhead) and the application of mole drainage (G. Spoor). Other papers deal with broader approaches: well-known specialists give a comprehensive review of the state of the art in the fields of amelioration of subsoil acidity (M.E. Sumner), identification and manipulation of soil biopores (K.E. Lee and K.R.J. Smettem), stress transmission and recompaction in subsoils under trafficking (R. Horn) and minimum tillage systems (R. Lal). Chapter 1 gives an overview of minimum tillage systems, indicating their many advantages and some of their limitations. It includes an up-to-date bibliography on minimum tillage from all over the world. In terms of subsoil management, minimum tillage systems primarily prevent subsoil compaction by reducing trafficking, increasing organic matter content and enhancing biological activity. Lal advises against soil inversion if subsoil compaction is a problem, and instead recommends techniques that open slots at depths accessible for root penetration. The paper deals with minimum tillage generally but contains little information on the use of minimum tillage practices for subsoil improvement. Chapter 2, by Olsson, deals with the improvement and management of subsoil structure and consists of two contrasted parts. The first is an excellent description of restrictions on root growth and water uptake in subsoils. The second reports on an Australian experience in which sodic subsoils are first fragmented by the use of a rigid tine and then further improved by continuous cultivation in beds with controlled irrigation. This costly technique could be