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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.

  • The Cereal Rusts

    Origins, Specificity, Structure, and Physiology
    • 1st Edition
    • William Bushnell
    • English
    The Cereal Rusts, Volume I: Origins, Specificity, Structure, and Physiology presents the historical, evolutionary, taxonomic, structural, genetic, and physiological characteristics of cereal rust fungi and the diseases they cause in cereal crops. The cereal rusts are potentially serious disease threats to cereal crops and have caused widespread losses in wheat, oats, barley, and related crops. This three-part volume brings together in a single reference source the accumulated knowledge, complex, challenging science of cereal rusts. The first chapters of this 16-chapter volume cover the pioneering contributions of early scientists to the knowledge of cereal rusts, the evolution of cereal rusts, and the taxonomy of cereal rust fungi. The book also examines the specificity of cereal rusts including formae speciales, race specificity, pathogen-host genetics, histology and molecular biology of host parasite specificity, and the genetics of rust fungus populations as reflected by virulence frequency. The text further discusses the structure and physiology aspects; the germination of urediospores and differentiation of infection structures; and the infection under artificial conditions. The ultrastructure of hyphae and urediospores; the development and physiology of teliospores; and the obligate parasitism and axenic culture of rust fungi are also explained. This volume also encompasses the structure and physiology of haustoria; structural and physiological alterations in susceptible hosts; and effects of rust on plant development in relation to nutrient translocation. Cereal rust investigators, plant pathologists, agronomists, agriculturalists, research biochemists, cytologists, geneticists, physiologists, taxonomists, epidemiologists, and pathologists will find this book invaluable.

  • Agricultural Policy Formation in the European Community

    The Birth of Milk Quotas and CAP Reform
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 4
    • M. Petit + 5 more
    • English
    Understanding why agricultural policies of developed countries are what they are is critical on several accounts for the developed countries as a group and for individual countries. It is important because the inter-dependencies among national agricultural policies are so numerous, as illustrated by the ongoing agricultural trade confrontation between the United States and the European Community; confrontation that is vividly expressed in the current subsidy war between the two trading blocs. The stakes for developing countries are also very high because the domestic agricultural policies of these two giants have a considerable influence on the international markets of major agricultural commodities.Studying why policies are what they are is an important research issue: legitimate in its own right on scientific grounds and relevant for any institution dealing with agricultural policies. Thus, it is only fitting that an international research institute dealing with food policy should analyze developed country policies and actions. This book is a further development of a research report by Michel Petit, ``Determinants of Agricultural Policies in the United States and the European Community'', published by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and is written by a team of eminent European scholars from a variety of organisations called together by Michel Petit and working under his leadership. Concentrating on the policy process in the European Community, this research provides useful insights on the influence of domestic, economic and political factors in shaping the positions of member countries in Community negotiations and on the process leading to a Community policy decision.

  • Plant Pathology

    • 2nd Edition
    • George Agrios
    • English
    Plant Pathology, Second Edition incorporates developments in identifying pathogens and disease diagnosis. This book is organized into two major parts encompassing 16 chapters that discuss general aspects of plant diseases and specific plant diseases caused by various microorganisms. This edition includes chapters or sections on diseases caused by mycoplasma-like organisms, rickettsia-like bacteria, viroids, and protozoa. Information on the genetics of plant diseases, the development of resistant varieties, and their vulnerability to new pathogen races is added in this release. It also includes information on the development of epidemics. The presentation of these topics is followed by a discussion on systemic fungicides and biological control of diseases, as well as postharvest diseases of plant products. Furthermore, this edition also explains mycotoxins and mycotoxicoses, as well as techniques of isolation, culturing, indexing, and identification of pathogens. It also studies mycorrhiza and root-nodule bacteria. Considerable chapters describe diseases caused by fungi and those caused by bacteria, which have been organized in logical, cohesive groups according to their most important symptoms. Diagrams of disease cycles, groups of pathogens and symptoms, and techniques and concepts of plant pathology are incorporated in each chapter. Moreover, this edition provides numerous photographs (macroscopic, microscopic, electron micrographs, and scanning electron micrographs) that illustrate concepts, pathogens, and symptoms. Teachers and students who are interested in plant pathology and plant diseases and control will find this book very helpful.

  • Principles of Plant Infection

    • 1st Edition
    • J Van Der Plank
    • English
    Principles of Plant Infection investigates interactions among pathogens, host plants, the environment, time and space, and their role in plant infection. It describes the principles of infection, particularly of the root, stem, or leaf, as they apply to fungi, bacteria, or viruses. It also highlights the dual nature of resistance and suggests theories of host resistance. Organized into seven chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the relation between the amount of inoculum and the amount of disease it causes. It then turns to a discussion of the disease/inoculum relations of tobacco mosaic virus; how obligate synergism restricts the transmission of pathogens; disease/inoculum relations in root disease; the independent action of spores as inoculum; variable factors other than the amount of inoculum that affect plant disease; and time as a determining factor of the degree of plant infection. The reader is also introduced to endemic disease of plants, the implications of endemicity for plant resistance to disease, the spread of disease via migration of pathogens, and the genetics of host-pathogen interactions. Plant pathologists and plant breeders will gain valuable information from this book.

  • The Soil Mites of the World

    Vol. 1: Primitive Oribatids of the Palaearctic Region
    • 1st Edition
    • J. Balogh + 1 more
    • English
    Soil mites are of great biological importance both in natural and in cultivated soils. Recently much attention has been paid to them especially because of their sensitivity to a number of chemicals used in agriculture. Of the soil mites, the Oribatids represent the largest number of both individuals and species. Unfortunately, the study of Oribatids has been greatly hampered by the lack of modern reference works from which they can be identified, and it was this great lack that stimulated the authors to launch this new series of books.The first volume, after a short morphological treatment, gives the method of collection, preparation, and mode of study of prepared specimens. The work is designed to discuss critically all recognizable species and is amply complemented with differential diagnoses and entirely new figures from supercohorts down to species. The book also includes an index of taxa.

  • Primate Locomotion

    • 1st Edition
    • Farish A. Jr. Jenkins
    • English
    Primate Locomotion discusses researches on the concept of primate locomotion. It is organized into 11 chapters that cover biomechanical principles, which are the foundation of understanding of locomotor adaptations. This book first gives an introduction to parallels and analogs between mammalian and mechanical structures. It then describes the mechanisms of arboreal mammal locomotion, as well as the behavioral observations and locomotor patterns of tree shrew. The jumping locomotion of Galago alleni and the role of wrist specialization in the locomotor evolution of the Hominoidea are also explained. The subsequent chapter discusses the relationship between the mechanical features of the scapula and shoulder region and the characteristics of locomotor behavior. A chapter also discusses the adaptive nature of postural behavior in quadrupedal primates, represented by the New and Old World monkeys. Moreover, this book examines the morphological differences between living Insectivora, Carnivora, Primates, and the relevant known fossils of Cretaceous and Early Tertiary Eutheria. This is to evaluate the origins, evolution, and function of the Tarsus. Another chapter presents a functional analysis of most of the foot skeleton, primarily, the Lemuriformes. The concluding chapters deal with electromyographical studies on gorillas; the mechanics of knuckle-walking; the theories on hominoid phylogeny; and the locomotor adaptations in prosimians. This text is intended not only for researchers dealing with primate locomotion, but equally for students and others who share an interest in mammals and locomotor adaptations.

  • Nitrogen, the Confer-N-s

    • 1st Edition
    • K. van der Hoek + 3 more
    • English
    The First International Nitrogen Conference provided an opportunity for researchers and decision-makers to exchange information on environmental pollution by nitrogen compounds on three scales: global, continental/regional and local. The main topics were air, ground water and surface water pollution; emission sources, atmospheric chemistry, deposition processes and effects; disturbance of nitrogen cycles, critical loads and levels; assessments, policy development and evaluation; target groups and abatement techniques; and new approaches leading to an integrated abatement strategy.The peer-reviewed papers from the Conference presented in this volume will provide readers with a comprehensive review of the transport, deposition and impact on ecosystems of nitrogen.

  • Stress Responses of Photosynthetic Organisms

    Molecular Mechanisms and Molecular Regulations
    • 1st Edition
    • Kimiyuki Satoh + 1 more
    • English
    Sixteen topics from the results of the research project "Molecular Mechanisms for Responses of the Photosynthetic Apparatus to the Environment," are documented in this excellent and timely work.Photosynthesis research has a long history in Japan, and many Japanese laboratories working in this field have been very active and productive. Based on the foundation established by these laboratories, the research reflected in this book focuses on elucidating the interactions between photosynthesis and the environment, with special emphasis on the molecular aspects of these interactions. The major purpose of the research was to identify specific genes required for (a) repair of the organisms from stress-induced damage to the photosynthetic machinery and (b) acclimation of photosynthetic processes to specific changes in environmental conditions. Once specific genes were identified, the effects of expression (and overexpression) of these genes in transgenic plants on acclimation processes were analyzed.Through the analysis of transgenic plants and cyanobacteria, the volume clarifies a number of molecular mechanisms by which plants acclimate to environmental variations, and the factors that govern recovery from stress-induced damage, especially with respect to the photosynthetic apparatus.A treatize on stress physiology and photosynthesis, the book also indicates the agricultural usefulness of transgenic plants and microalgae which are produced to study the molecular mechanisms of the tolerance of plants to changes in their environment.

  • The Biology and Management of Lobsters

    Physiology and Behavior
    • 1st Edition
    • English
    This two-volume work presents a summary and review of the current state of lobster biology, ecology, physiology, behavior, and management. It emphasizes the biology of clawed lobsters (Nephropidae) and spiny lobsters (Palinuridae), with attention also given to slipper lobsters (Scyllaridae) and coral lobsters (Synaxidae).The first chapter of Volume 1 provides an overview of the general aspects of lobster biology that serves as an introduction for readers of both volumes. Subsequent chapters examine the topics of growth, neurobiology, reproduction, nutrition, pathology, social behavior, and migration patterns.The chapters in Volume II consider the ecology, population dynamics, fishery biology, and aquaculture of spiny and clawed lobsters. The topics selected in both volumes represent areas of current research whose findings have not been previously synthesized into a coherent form.An important feature of these volumes is the emphasis on the interaction between biology and management and culture. Many of the contributors have done research in both applied and basic biology and can articulate both points of view. The interaction between basic and applied research is of fundamental importance in these volumes in which management aspects of the research have been integrated with the basic biology of lobsters.The Biology and Management of Lobsterswill be of interest to crustacean biologists, marine biologists and ecologists, zoologists, physiologists, animal behavior researchers, aquaculturalists, fisheries biologists and managers of fisheries, neurobiologists, pathologists, and food scientists.

  • Biology and Geology of Coral Reefs V4

    Geology 2
    • 1st Edition
    • O.A. Jones
    • English
    Biology and Geology of Coral Reefs, Volume IV: Geology 2 covers the major advances made in the geological aspects of coral reef problems. This book is composed of 10 chapters that summarize the types, economics, radiometric dating, and geological features of coral reefs. The introductory chapters present the types and distribution of coral reefs, such as fringing, barrier, and Atoll reefs. A chapter discusses the findings of the 1973 Royal Society and Queensland Universities Expedition to the northern part of the Great Barrier Reefs on the specialized Low Wooded Islands. Another chapter deals with the interrelation of ecology and sedimentation in coral reef complexes and the Coral Sea Plateau. The next part of the book discusses the techniques and results of radiometric dating of coral reefs and the coral reefs of the Solomon Islands. The remaining chapters deal with the Great Barrier Reef Province and discuss the geology of the basement upon which the reefs rest is included. The reefs are described from geological, geophysical, and hydrological viewpoints, providing a complete bibliography on the reefs. This volume will acquaint readers with some of the exciting developments in coral reef geology and will provide information that will enable them to assess the status of research in different fields.

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