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Water and plant life
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Boundary Layer Climates. T. R. Oke. Methuen & Co., Andover, 1978, 372 pp., £10.50 {hard cover), £5.75 (paperback). What can a person say about a book that is described by its author as being a qualitative introduction to the nature of the atmosphere near the ground that attempts to be illustrative rather than comprehensive? Little more than that his efforts have been successful. It must be pointed out, however, that because of these self-imposed restrictions, the book breaks no new ground. Everything presented can readily be found in m a n y other fine texts. Its virtue lies in the scope of material presented and in its descriptions of the great variety of boundary layer climates to be found on earth. Although the author claims his exposition is explanatory rather than descriptive, it is surely this latter characteristic that gives the book its primary value. The book is arranged in three major sections. Part I deals with atmospheric systems and briefly introduces the concepts of energy and mass exchanges, setting up the physical basis for the development of boundary layer climates. Part II then presents numerous examples of natural atmospheric envir9nments, including climates of simple non-vegetated surfaces, vegetated surfaces, non-uniform terrain, and, finally, animals. Part III concludes with man-modified atmospheric environments, treating both intentional and inadvertent climate modification. In this latter category, air pollution in the boundary layer is singled out for extensive consideration. In addition to the primary text, the book has a set of five appendices that treat some subjects in more detail. The first covers atmospheric lapse rates and stability; the second deals with measurement techniques for evaluating pertinent energy and mass fluxes; the third is a table of temperaturedependent properties of air, water and water vapor; the fourth is a short exposition on the Syst~me International (SI) units and their equivalents; and the fifth is a glossary of terms. There is also a list of symbols used in the front of the book and a set of references and author and subject indices at the back. The book is very easy reading and hits well the author's mark of aiming for an audience "whose curiosity about the atmosphere has been raised by an introductory course or general interest, but who are daunted by the technical nature of most micro- or biometeorological texts which assume a reasonably advanced ability in physics and mathematics." I have no qualms about recommending it for use by anyone whose situation fits this description. They will come away from the experience well-rewarded. SHERWOOD B. IDSO (Phoenix, Ariz.)
Water and Plant Life. O. L. Lange, L. Kappen and E.-D. Schulze (Editors). (Ecological Studies, 19) Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 536 pp., US $49.20. This book contains an impressive series of essays on the major facets of plant--water relations. The essays form a coherent whole and the overall
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treatment, including the preface to each section, reflects favourably on the work of the editors themselves as well as on the individual authors. The b o o k is in seven sections. Part 1 deals primarily with cell--water relations, and with the status and structure of water in the cell; and parts 2 and 3 with water uptake and soil water relations, on the one hand, and with transpiration and the regulation of transpiration on the other. Parts 4 and 5 deal, respectively, with water stress, including its effect on metabolism; and with the major carbon assimilation mechanisms of higher plants. Parts 6 and 7 deal with the application of fundamental considerations of water relations to plant productivity and plant distribution. All sections of the b o o k are valuable, even though some chapters traverse ground adequately covered in earlier treatments. However, the sections dealing with water stress, and with CO2-fixation types, bring together a good deal of new material, and those dealing with productivity and vegetation patterns are very stimulating, developing a number of new concepts and integrating much information that was previously fragmented. Although it is somewhat invidious to single o u t individual chapters in a volume of this type, there are a number of particularly good chapters and sections of chapters. The two chapters on root extension and water absorption (Caldwell), and on resistance to water flow in the roots of cereals (Greacen et al.) contain excellent material, as does the chapter on stomatal response to environment (Hall et al.). All of the chapters on water stress and CO 2 -fixation are impressively written, and the latter group are a welcome addition to a volume on water relationships even if some readers might regard them as somewhat peripheral. Of the more agronomically oriented chapters, those on the growth and yield of crop plants (Hsiao et al.) and on plant production in a r i d a n d semiarid areas (Evenari et al.) are of particular value. Of the more ecologically oriented chapters, those on the water exchanges of forest ecosystems (by Benecke, and by Waring and Running) as well as those on Alpine timberline (Tranquillini) and on the Mediterranean vegetation (Dunn et al.) contain penetrating ideas which are well argued and which help to synthesize ideas and experimental evidence. Overall, the b o o k is a valuable addition to the literature on plant--water relationships, and individual chapters will be frequently referred to by research workers in a variety of disciplines, ranging from plant physiology and ecology into the applied science disciplines of agronomy and forestry. R. O. S L A T Y E R (Paris)
Boundary Layer Climates. T. R. Oke. Methuen & Co., Andover, 1978, 372 pp., £10.50 {hard cover), £5.75 (paperback). What can a person say about a book that is described by its author as being a qualitative introduction to the nature of the atmosphere near the ground that attempts to be illustrative rather than comprehensive? Little more than that his efforts have been successful. It must be pointed out, however, that because of these self-imposed restrictions, the book breaks no new ground. Everything presented can readily be found in m a n y other fine texts. Its virtue lies in the scope of material presented and in its descriptions of the great variety of boundary layer climates to be found on earth. Although the author claims his exposition is explanatory rather than descriptive, it is surely this latter characteristic that gives the book its primary value. The book is arranged in three major sections. Part I deals with atmospheric systems and briefly introduces the concepts of energy and mass exchanges, setting up the physical basis for the development of boundary layer climates. Part II then presents numerous examples of natural atmospheric envir9nments, including climates of simple non-vegetated surfaces, vegetated surfaces, non-uniform terrain, and, finally, animals. Part III concludes with man-modified atmospheric environments, treating both intentional and inadvertent climate modification. In this latter category, air pollution in the boundary layer is singled out for extensive consideration. In addition to the primary text, the book has a set of five appendices that treat some subjects in more detail. The first covers atmospheric lapse rates and stability; the second deals with measurement techniques for evaluating pertinent energy and mass fluxes; the third is a table of temperaturedependent properties of air, water and water vapor; the fourth is a short exposition on the Syst~me International (SI) units and their equivalents; and the fifth is a glossary of terms. There is also a list of symbols used in the front of the book and a set of references and author and subject indices at the back. The book is very easy reading and hits well the author's mark of aiming for an audience "whose curiosity about the atmosphere has been raised by an introductory course or general interest, but who are daunted by the technical nature of most micro- or biometeorological texts which assume a reasonably advanced ability in physics and mathematics." I have no qualms about recommending it for use by anyone whose situation fits this description. They will come away from the experience well-rewarded. SHERWOOD B. IDSO (Phoenix, Ariz.)
Water and Plant Life. O. L. Lange, L. Kappen and E.-D. Schulze (Editors). (Ecological Studies, 19) Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 536 pp., US $49.20. This book contains an impressive series of essays on the major facets of plant--water relations. The essays form a coherent whole and the overall
82
treatment, including the preface to each section, reflects favourably on the work of the editors themselves as well as on the individual authors. The b o o k is in seven sections. Part 1 deals primarily with cell--water relations, and with the status and structure of water in the cell; and parts 2 and 3 with water uptake and soil water relations, on the one hand, and with transpiration and the regulation of transpiration on the other. Parts 4 and 5 deal, respectively, with water stress, including its effect on metabolism; and with the major carbon assimilation mechanisms of higher plants. Parts 6 and 7 deal with the application of fundamental considerations of water relations to plant productivity and plant distribution. All sections of the b o o k are valuable, even though some chapters traverse ground adequately covered in earlier treatments. However, the sections dealing with water stress, and with CO2-fixation types, bring together a good deal of new material, and those dealing with productivity and vegetation patterns are very stimulating, developing a number of new concepts and integrating much information that was previously fragmented. Although it is somewhat invidious to single o u t individual chapters in a volume of this type, there are a number of particularly good chapters and sections of chapters. The two chapters on root extension and water absorption (Caldwell), and on resistance to water flow in the roots of cereals (Greacen et al.) contain excellent material, as does the chapter on stomatal response to environment (Hall et al.). All of the chapters on water stress and CO 2 -fixation are impressively written, and the latter group are a welcome addition to a volume on water relationships even if some readers might regard them as somewhat peripheral. Of the more agronomically oriented chapters, those on the growth and yield of crop plants (Hsiao et al.) and on plant production in a r i d a n d semiarid areas (Evenari et al.) are of particular value. Of the more ecologically oriented chapters, those on the water exchanges of forest ecosystems (by Benecke, and by Waring and Running) as well as those on Alpine timberline (Tranquillini) and on the Mediterranean vegetation (Dunn et al.) contain penetrating ideas which are well argued and which help to synthesize ideas and experimental evidence. Overall, the b o o k is a valuable addition to the literature on plant--water relationships, and individual chapters will be frequently referred to by research workers in a variety of disciplines, ranging from plant physiology and ecology into the applied science disciplines of agronomy and forestry. R. O. S L A T Y E R (Paris)