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Books in Agricultural and biological sciences

The Agricultural and Biological Sciences collection advances science-based knowledge for the improvement of animal and plant life and for secure food systems that produce nutritious, novel, sustainable foods with minimal environmental impact. Food Science titles include not only those products from agriculture but all other aspects from food production to nutrition, health and safety, chemistry to security, policy, law and regulation. Biological Sciences address animal behaviour and biodiversity, organismal and evolutionary biology, entomology, marine biology and aquaculture, plant science and forestry.

  • Exploitation of Environmental Heterogeneity by Plants

    Ecophysiological Processes Above- and Belowground
    • 1st Edition
    • English
    There is a new emerging interest in the effects of gaps and patches on succession and biodiversity. This innovative volume is a synthesis of studies of plant responses to temporal and spatial heterogeneity, the exploitation of resources from pulses and patches by plants, and their competition with neighbors in the face of this variability.Abovegro... the book focuses upon the nature of canopy patchiness, consequences of this heterogeneity for the light environment, and the mechanisms by which plants respond to and exploit this patchiness. Belowground, the text explores the heterogeneity of soil environments and how root systems obtain nutrients and water in the context of this temporal and spatial variability. As a new reference in an evolving and growing field, this text is sure to be a valuable tool for researchers and advanced students in plant physiology, ecology, agronomy, and forestry alike.
  • Nitrogen Management and Ground Water Protection

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 21
    • Ronald F Follett
    • English
    Supplying crops with adequate nitrogen is vital to ensuring food supplies. Once nitrogen is added to the soil, it is subject to chemical transformations of the nitrogen-cycle including transformation to nitrate. Excessive amounts of accumulated nitrate may then leach out of the soil and could potentially enter and contaminate drinking water supplies. The purpose of this book is to examine the subject of nitrogen management and ground water protection.The issue of maintaining ground water quality is addressed primarily from an agronomic point of view. Topics covered include: health and economic aspects of nitrate in drinking water; nitrate sources; ground water nitrate in the USA and other developed countries; transport, leaching and accounting for nitrogen; soil, nitrogen, crop and water management; and nitrate in aquifer systems. The book contains a keyword index and is organized into thirteen chapters, each with appropriate references, tables and figures. Chapter authors are among the leading experts on the subject of nitrate and ground water quality.Readers to whom the book is directed include soil scientists and agronomists, agricultural engineers (irrigation and drainage), environmental scientists, agricultural policy makers, and hydrologists.
  • Dolichopodidae-Platypezidae

    • 1st Edition
    • Bozzano G Luisa
    • English
    Catalogue of Palaearctic Diptera, Volume 7: Dolichopodidae-Platy... offers information on family Dolichopodidae and family Platypezidae, including type-species designation, authors, and proposed names. The catalogue first elaborates on family Dolichopodidae, including subfamily Sciapodinae, Rhaphiinae, Peloropeodinae, Diaphorinae, Hydrophorinae, and Peloropeodinae. The book then examines family Lonchopteridae and family Phoridae. Topics include Dohrniphora, Megaselia, Chaetopleurophora, Gymnophora, Beckerina, and Aenigmatias. The book takes a look at family Opetiidae and family Platypezidae, as well as subfamily Microsaniinae, subfamily Callomyiinae, and subfamily Platypezinae. The catalogue is a valuable source of information for researchers interested in family Dolichopodidae and family Platypezidae.
  • Trickle Irrigation for Crop Production

    Design, Operation and Management
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 9
    • F.S. Nakayama + 1 more
    • English
    An entirely new agricultural technology, trickle or drip irrigation, began its development in the early 1960's. Initial progress was sporadic even though the advantages in water management with trickle systems were recognized. Operators were reluctant to use the system because of its high initial cost and questions regarding its reliability. Once the main problems were isolated and solutions developed to make the system reliable, rapid acceptance by the growers resulted. Today, trickle irrigation is being used on crops that were earlier considered to be uneconomical. This multi-purpose handbook brings together current knowledge from various engineering and scientific disciplines (crop, hydraulic, irrigation and soil sciences) needed for understanding the trickle irrigation system for crop production. The two dozen contributors are experts on the various subjects, which range from the basic to the more practical aspects of trickle irrigation. Major topics include design, operation and management - with individual chapters covering historical development, emitter construction and clogging, system design, water and salt distribution, automation, water treatment, irrigation scheduling, maintenance, fertilization and salinity.The book greatly expands the scope of research papers, reviews, extension bulletins, and updates earlier text with new information on trickle systems. A multi-disciplinary approach has been taken on a multi-faceted subject. The material contained in the book is the most comprehensive yet developed on the topic. Illustrative sample problems and solutions provide field operators and extension personnel with information needed to install and maintain trickle systems. As it is up-to-date, it is useful as a teaching and reference source for students, manufacturers and irrigation system operators as well as irrigation and crop specialists, and consultants.
  • Crop Production and Crop Protection

    Estimated Losses in Major Food and Cash Crops
    • 1st Edition
    • E.-C. Oerke + 3 more
    • English
    The objective of this book is to provide information to be used as a basis for evaluating the fragile, shaky structure of global food production. The volume analyses the data by region and by intensity of cultivation; and furnishes information about the yield response, giving some indication of the health of the plants. It will be invaluable to all plant and crop scientists as well as to agriculturalists.
  • Environmental Injury to Plants

    • 1st Edition
    • Bozzano G Luisa
    • English
    The reaction of plant tissue to stress is of critical importance to growers concerned with the production of horticultural or agronomical plants on a large scale. This book discusses several factors that contribute to plant stress, including freezing and chill injury, drought stress, heat shock, salt stress, and toxic metals. The detection of plant stress by remote sensing devices is also examined.
  • Methods in Plant Biochemistry Volume 1

    • 1st Edition
    • P. M. Dey
    • English
    Methods in Plant Biochemistry, Volume 1: Plant Phenolics reviews current knowledge about techniques used in the analysis of the biochemistry of plant polyphenols and their importance in the agricultural and food industries. It looks at the application of these techniques in the fractionation of cellular constituents, isolation of enzymes, electrophoretic separation of nucleic acids and proteins, and chromatographic identification of the intermediates and products of cellular metabolism. Organized into 15 chapters, this book opens with an overview of the general procedures and measurement of total phenolics, from detecting phenolic substances in crude plant extracts to determining which classes they belong to and the quantitative estimation of total phenol. The reader is introduced to the chemistry, structural variation, function, and distribution of each class of plant phenolics and, in a few cases where this is practicable, detailed listings of known derivatives are given. Most chapters focus on chromatographic separations and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), along with thin layer and paper Rf values with HPLC retention times and NMR spectroscopy. The book also outlines the procedures for the extraction, isolation, separation, and characterization of different classes of phenolic compounds, ranging from phenols and phenolic acids to phenylpropanoids, lignins, stilbenes and phenanthrenes, flavones and flavonols, chalcones and aurones, flavanoids, anthocyanins, biflavanoids, tannins, isoflavanoids, quinones, xanthones, and lichen substances. The book is a valuable resource for students, biochemists, and researchers in the plant sciences.
  • Transgenic Plants

    Engineering and Utilization
    • 1st Edition
    • English
    Volumes 1 and 2 of Transgenic Plants assemble important information on transgenic crops which has appeared scattered in many different publications. These two volumes are a significant milestone in plant/agricultural biology, promote the practical application of recombinant DNA technology, and assist in transforming the agricultural industry.
  • Economic and Medicinal Plant Research

    • 3rd Edition
    • H. Wagner + 2 more
    • English
    This series identifies areas of research in natural plant products that are of immediate or projected importance from a practical point of view. It reviews these areas in a concise and critical manner. Graduate students, researchers will find the timely reviews presented here to be invaluable. Decision makers in industry and government agencies will also find the material beneficial.
  • Physics and Biology

    • 1st Edition
    • M Volkenstein
    • English
    Physics and Biology demonstrates the unlimited possibilities of physics in explaining a variety of biological phenomena. It explores developments in biophysics and the most general problems of biological thermodynamics, information theory, and the physical theory of biological development and how they are all connected with the biophysics of complicated systems. Organized into 13 chapters, this volume begins with a historical overview of biophysics, with emphasis on molecular biophysics, followed by a discussion of the biophysics of the cell and of complicated systems. It then introduces the reader to the physical basis of theoretical chemistry and biologically functional substances, with emphasis on some concepts that are necessary for the understanding of molecular biophysics. The next chapters focus on some properties of biopolymers such as proteins and nucleic acids, how molecules interact with each other, and the peculiarities of macromolecules. More specifically, the molecules of organic substances, the chemical reaction involved in molecular interactions, van der Waals forces, and the role of hydrogen bonds in biological processes are considered. The final chapter analyzes the physicochemical basis of the functions of biological molecules. This book will be a valuable resource for physicists, biologists, chemists, natural scientists, and anyone who wants help in tackling some important biophysics-related problems in the contemporary natural sciences.