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Critical Thinking, Idea Innovation, and Creativity
by Richard H. McCuenUsing topics of critical and creative thinking, Critical Thinking, Idea Innovation, and Creativity discusses methods of solving complex problems, demonstrates the benefits of using the methods of imaginative thinking, identifies ways to overcome problems and inhibitors such as a lack of confidence, provides guidelines for assessing creative experiences, and encourages the application of the methods to leadership, research, and decision-making. It allows readers to turn their unidimensional technical knowledge into a multi-dimensional knowledge framework that will provide a broader and more realistic framework for the solution of complex problems. Emphasis is placed on the fundamental concepts of critical and creative thinking and idea innovation, and each chapter presents numerous activities to accompany the knowledge-based educational material provided.Features: Provides educational material on creativity in a format that stresses application. An array of creative thinking tools will enable the reader to develop imaginative ideas. Emphasizes ways that critical thinking, idea innovation, and creativity can enhance a reader’s ability to solve problems related to leadership, the conduct of research, making decisions, and solving complex problems. Focuses on ways to improve the reader’s thinking skills, which will enhance the likelihood of developing novel solutions to complex problems; this skill set includes skills like curiosity, questioning, and skepticism, which are central to efficiently solving complex problems and meeting the requirements of effective leadership. Includes numerous activities in each chapter that will enable readers to apply the methods and develop actual experience in critical and creative thinking; these activities are appropriate for use either by individuals or by small groups.
Critical Thinking in the Sustainable Rehabilitation and Risk Management of the Built Environment: CRIT-RE-BUILT. Proceedings of the International Conference, Iași, Romania, November 7-9, 2019 (Springer Series in Geomechanics and Geoengineering)
by Ancuța RotaruThis proceedings book presents contributions to the International Conference on Critical Thinking in the Sustainable Rehabilitation and Risk Management of the Built Environment – CRIT-RE-BUILT – held in Iași, Romania, November 7–9, 2019. It mirrors outcomes in fundamental and applied research covering a broad palette of competences like observations, analysis, interpretation, evaluation, problem-solving and decision making. The book sets up eight chapters related to rehabilitation and risk in the built environment. Each chapter starts with a broad state-of-the-art presentation comprising the latest ideas and methods in the field assessing and asserting synthesized levels of research, development and novelty through a critical thinking process. The authors of the eight presentations are partners in the E+ Programme for Strategic Partnerships Rehabilitation of the Built Environment in the Context of Smart City and Sustainable Development Concepts for Knowledge Transfer and Lifelong Learning (RE-BUILT).
Critical, Transdisciplinary and Embodied Approaches in STEM Education (Advances in STEM Education)
by Pratim Sengupta Marie-Claire Shanahan Beaumie KimOver the past decade, integrated STEM education research has emerged as an international concern, creating around it an imperative for technological and disciplinary innovation and a global resurgence of interest in teaching and learning to code at the K-16 levels. At the same time, issues of democratization, equity, power and access, including recent decolonizing efforts in public education, are also beginning to be acknowledged as legitimate issues in STEM education. Taking a reflexive approach to the intersection of these concerns, this book presents a collection of papers making new theoretical advances addressing two broad themes: Transdisciplinary Approaches in STEM Education and Bodies, Hegemony and Decolonization in STEM Education. Within each theme, praxis is of central concern including analyses of teaching and learning that re-imagines disciplinary boundaries and domains, the relationship between Art and STEM, and the design of learning technologies, spaces and environments. In addition to graduate research seminars at the Masters and PhD levels in Learning Sciences, Science Education, Educational Technology and STEM education, this book could also serve as a textbook for graduate and pre-service teacher education courses.
Critical Urban Infrastructure Handbook
by M. HamadaA reference for engineers and facilities professionals involved in the planning, operations, management, and maintenance of all urban utilities, this handbook addresses water supply and sewerage, power, gas, telecommunications joint utility corridor (utilidor) lifeline facilities, and other critical civil infrastructure lifelines. It covers the design and construction of facilities, maintenance, disaster management, environmental protection, and disaster and emergency recovery measures. It also discusses urban planning, life cycle cost, GIS analysis of lifeline systems, computerized integrated management systems, and the use of new materials and technologies.
Critical Zone and Ecosystem Dynamics (Advances in Critical Zone Science)
by Timothy White Antonello ProvenzaleThe critical zone is the thin outer veneer of continental Earth extending from the top of the vegetation canopy to subsurface depths where fresh groundwater circulates. It is the heterogeneous amalgamation of landscapes, ecosystems, and subsurface environments. The concept of the critical zone is relatively new and while thousands of manuscripts have been published from this interdisciplinary field, they exist within a wide array of journals, and none have comprehensively addressed the intersection between the geosciences and ecosystem science—“where rock meets life”. The goal of this contributed book is to promote the great potential that exists in a merger of critical zone and ecosystem science to further scientific discovery by leveraging the strengths of multiple disciplines to address societally relevant questions, keep pace with scientific advances, and more effectively engage with broader scientific communities and the public. The core readership will be collaborative researchers working at the intersection between the greater Earth, environmental and ecological sciences, and policy and business sectors that draw on science evidence to support sustainable economic development. The book also serves further readership that includes scientists from many fields, particularly those in early and mid-career stages who are interested in environmental sustainability and are seeking to step out from disciplinary research into collaborative cross-disciplinary study.
Critique in Design and Technology Education (Contemporary Issues in Technology Education)
by P John Williams Kay StablesThis book addresses notions of critique in Design and Technology Education, facilitating a conceptual and practical understanding of critique, and enabling both a personal and pedagogical application to practice. Critique can be a frame of mind, and may be related to a technology, product, process or material. In a holistic sense, critique is an element of a person's technological literacy, a fundamentally critical disposition brought to bear on all things technological. This book provides a reasoned conceptual framework within which to develop critique, and examples of applying the framework to Design and Technology Education. The book builds on The Future of Technology Education published by Springer as the first in the series Contemporary Issues in Technology Education. In the 21st century, an 'age of knowledge', students are called upon to access, analyse and evaluate constantly changing information to support personal and workplace decision making and on-going innovation. A critical Design and Technology Education has an important role to play, providing students with opportunities to integrate economic, environmental, social and technological worlds as they develop and refine their technological literacy. Through the design and development of technology, they collaborate, evaluate and critically apply information, developing cognitive and manipulative skills appropriate to the 21st century. Critique goes beyond review or analysis, addressing positive and negative technological development. This book discusses and applies this deeper perspective, identifying a clear role for critique in the context of Design and Technology Education.
Critter Control: A Homeowner's Guide to Getting Rid of Rodents, Deer, Bears, Foxes, Skunks, Birds, Snakes, and Other Pests
by Larry GruppThe sprawl of suburbia, destruction of wildlife areas, overregulation of game animals, and reduced popularity of hunting and fishing have resulted in more and more people coming into direct contact with wild animals on a regular basis. In this invaluable do-it-yourself guide, veteran outdoorsman Larry Grupp gives readers a comprehensive "toolbox" of specific devices and strategies to deal safely, legally and effectively with more than 30 common North American pests, including deer, bears, raccoons, rabbits, beavers, porcupines, skunks, foxes, coyotes, rats, squirrels, bats, birds, fish and reptiles. Understanding these critters and how to best control them is the basis of this information-packed manual. You will learn when to be cautious, when to be accommodating and when and how to take direct action if the animals must be eradicated. The primary tools for dealing with unwanted creatures are fences, repellants, fumigators and traps. Grupp examines each solution and tells the reader how to most effectively and economically use them. He also provides a helpful table for using specific baits and lures to trap various varmints. City and country dwellers alike will find the answers they need to rid their homes and properties of destructive wildlife once and for all.
Crop Adaptation to Climate Change
by Shyam Singh Yadav Robert J. Redden Jerry L. Hatfield Hermann Lotze-Campen Anthony J. HallA major task of our time is to ensure adequate food supplies for the world's current population (now nearing 7 billion) in a sustainable way while protecting the vital functions and biological diversity of the global environment. The task of providing for a growing population is likely to be even more difficult in view of actual and potential changes in climatic conditions due to global warming, and as the population continues to grow. Current projections suggest that the world's temperatures will rise 1.8-4.0 by 2100 and population may reach 8 billion by the year 2025 and some 9 billion by mid-century, after which it may stabilize. This book addresses these critical issues by presenting the science needed not only to understand climate change effects on crops but also to adapt current agricultural systems, particularly in regard to genetics, to the changing conditions. Crop Adaptation to Climate Change covers a spectrum of issues related to both crops and climatic conditions. The first two sections provide a foundation on the factors involved in climate stress, assessing current climate change by region and covering crop physiological responses to these changes. The third and final section contains chapters focused on specific crops and the current research to improve their genetic adaptation to climate change. Written by an international team of authors, Crop Adaptation to Climate Change is a timely look at the potentially serious consequences of climate change for our global food supply, and is an essential resource for academics, researchers and professionals in the fields of crop science, agronomy, plant physiology and molecular biology; crop consultants and breeders; as well as climate and food scientists.
Crop Breeding: Genetic Improvement Methods (Methods in Molecular Biology #2264)
by Pasquale TripodiThis volume describes breeding methods for the development of biparental and multiparental mapping populations. Chapters detail lab protocols for high-throughput isolation of nucleic acids and metabolites, high performing genotyping approaches, mapping strategies for QTLs, mutation identifications, computational, bioinformatic pipelines, tissue culture-based and transformation methods for androgenesis, ploidy modification, and RNA interference. Additional chapters highlight recent developed genome editing protocols including CRISPR and TALEN methods and methodologies for in-field/in-soil plant phenotyping. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and cutting-edge, Crop Breeding: Genetic Improvement Methods aims to ensure successful results in the further study of this vital field.
Crop Ferality and Volunteerism
by Jonathan GresselAt a time when much of humanity is already but one failed harvest removed from starvation, we cannot afford to ignore any potential danger to food security, especially when that danger poses a threat to rice, the staff of life for so much of the world. Crop Ferality and Volunteerism brings together research pioneers from various disciplines
Crop Genetic Diversity in the Field and on the Farm
by Anthony H. Brown Toby Hodgkin Devra I. JarvisBased on twenty years of global research, this is the first comprehensive reference on crop genetic diversity as it is maintained on farmland around the world. Showcasing the findings of seven experts representing the fields of ecology, crop breeding, genetics, anthropology, economics, and policy, this invaluable resource places farmer-managed crop biodiversity squarely in the center of the science needed to feed the world and restore health to our productive landscapes. It will prove to be an essential tool in the training of agricultural and environmental scientists seeking the solutions necessary to ensure healthy, resilient ecosystems for future generations.
Crop Genetic Resources as a Global Commons: Challenges in International Law and Governance (Issues in Agricultural Biodiversity)
by Michael Halewood Isabel López Noriega Selim LouafiFarmers have engaged in collective systems of conservation and innovation – improving crops and sharing their reproductive materials – since the earliest plant domestications. Relatively open flows of plant germplasm attended the early spread of agriculture; they continued in the wake of (and were driven by) imperialism, colonization, emigration, trade, development assistance and climate change. As crops have moved around the world, and agricultural innovation and production systems have expanded, so too has the scope and coverage of pools of shared plant genetic resources that support those systems. The range of actors involved in their conservation and use has also increased dramatically. This book addresses how the collective pooling and management of shared plant genetic resources for food and agriculture can be supported through laws regulating access to genetic resources and the sharing of benefits arising from their use. Since the most important recent development in the field has been the creation of the multilateral system of access and benefit-sharing under the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, many of the chapters in this book will focus on the architecture and functioning of that system. The book analyzes tensions that are threatening to undermine the potential of access and benefit-sharing laws to support the collective pooling of plant genetic resources, and identifies opportunities to address those tensions in ways that could increase the scope, utility and sustainability of the global crop commons.
Crop Improvement: Challenges in the Twenty-First Century
by Manjit S. KangLearn to integrate molecular genetic techniques with traditional plant breeding methods!This comprehensive book provides the latest authoritative scientific information on improvement of both temperate and tropical crops. Crop Improvement: Challenges in the Twenty-First Century brings together expert plant breeders and geneticists to address issues related to crop adaptability and stability across environments for important food and fiber crops. It emphasizes the need to integrate molecular genetic techniques with traditional plant breeding methods to develop hardier, more productive crops. Crop Improvement includes the latest research on physiological and biochemical responses of plants to drought and heat stress, which should help breeders develop effective strategies for improving resistance to abiotic stresses. In addition, this helpful book elucidates the use of mixed models and best linear unbiased prediction. To make the book comprehensive, chapters discuss stability analysis in crop performance trials and genotype-by-environment interactions.Crop Improvement includes detailed information on breeding specific crops, including: rice tropical maize sorghum common bean sugar beet bananas and plantain cotton Crop Improvement offers both practical information and up-to-date research. It also suggests a vision of new directions and partnerships that are expected to evolve in this century. This book is an essential resource for practicing plant breeders and geneticists at universities, government agencies, and industry. It should also be of use to teachers and students engaged in crop breeding.
Crop Improvement: Sustainability Through Leading-Edge Technology
by Siti Nor Akmar Abdullah Ho Chai-Ling Carol WagstaffThe book covers the latest development in the biosciences field covering key topics in crop improvement including 'omic approaches to improving sustainable crop production, advancement in marker technology, strategies in genetic manipulation, crop quality and sustainability and plant microbe interaction detailing on proven technologies to address critical issue for agricultural sustainability which are beneficial for researchers and students. The book also includes aspects of preserving crops after harvest as this is a key factor in promoting sustainable crop quality in terms of addressing waste, choosing the appropriate packaging and moving crops through the food and industrial supply chain. An important strategy to overcome the challenges in providing food for the world population in a sustainable manner is through concerted efforts by crop scientists to embrace new technologies in increasing yield, quality and improving food safety while minimizing adverse environmental impact of the agricultural activities. Most of the proven molecular and genetic technologies in crop science have been tested and verified in model plants such as Arabidopsis and tomato. The technologies, when deployed on various plant species of importance for human nutrition and industrial applications, including cereals, vegetables, fruits, herbs, fibre and oil crops, face many challenges, not only due to their longer life cycle but many other physiological and environmental factors affecting yield and quality of plant products. Furthermore, major impacts on crop production due to catastrophic diseases and global climate change needs urgent and innovative solutions. Therefore a systematic approach, employing various leading-edge technologies that enable the functional elucidation of key pathway genes via 'omics tools, genome wide association with desired phenotypes and development of cost effective and practicable molecular tools for selection, is vital. The International Conference on Crop Improvement was held to address these and other pressing issues. This volume summarizes the keynote presentations from the meeting and highlights addition discussions that are critical to crop improvement in a challenging time.
Crop Improvement Utilizing Biotechnology
by Rup LalThis book discusses; somaclonal variation in crop improvement, the role of tissue culture in rapid clonal propagation and production of pathogen-free plant, protoplasts in crop improvement, cell selection and long-term high-frequency regeneration of cereals and legumes, agrobacteria-mediated gene transformation and vectors for gene cloning in plants, and plant frost injury and its management.
Crop Pollination by Bees, Volume 1: Evolution, Ecology, Conservation, and Management
by Dr Keith DelaplaneSince the second half of the 20th Century, our agricultural bee pollinators have faced mounting threats from ecological disturbance and pan-global movement of pathogens and parasites. At the same time, the area of pollinator-dependent crops is increasing globally with no end in sight. Never before has so much been asked of our finite pool of bee pollinators. This book not only explores the evolutionary and ecologic bases of these dynamics, it translates this knowledge into practical research-based guidance for using bees to pollinate crops. It emphasizes conserving wild bee populations as well as culturing honey bees, bumble bees, and managed solitary bees. To cover such a range of biology, theory, and practice from the perspectives of both the pollinator and the crop, the book is divided into two volumes. Volume 1 focuses on bees, their biology, coevolution with plants, foraging ecology and management, and gives practical ways to increase bee abundance and pollinating performance on the farm. Volume 2 (also available from CABI) focuses on crops, with chapters addressing crop-specific requirements and bee pollination management recommendations. Both volumes will be essential reading for farmers, horticulturists and gardeners, researchers and professionals working in insect ecology and conservation, and students of entomology and crop protection.
Crop Pollination by Bees, Volume 2: Individual Crops and their Bees
by Dr Keith DelaplaneSince the second half of the 20th Century, our agricultural bee pollinators have faced mounting threats from ecological disturbance and pan-global movement of pathogens and parasites. At the same time, the area of pollinator-dependent crops is increasing globally with no end in sight. Never before has so much been asked of our finite pool of bee pollinators. This book not only explores the evolutionary and ecologic bases of these dynamics, it translates this knowledge into practical research-based guidance for using bees to pollinate crops. It emphasizes conserving wild bee populations as well as culturing honey bees, bumble bees, and managed solitary bees. To cover such a range of biology, theory, and practice from the perspectives of both the pollinator and the crop, the book is divided into two volumes. Volume 1 focuses on bees, their biology, coevolution with flowering plants, foraging ecology and management, and gives practical ways to increase bee abundance and pollinating performance on the farm. Volume 2 (this volume) focuses on crops, with chapters addressing crop-specific requirements and bee pollination management recommendations. Both volumes are essential reading for farmers, horticulturists and gardeners, researchers and professionals working in insect ecology and conservation, and students of entomology and crop protection.
Crop Production and Global Environmental Issues
by Khalid Rehman HakeemMeeting the world's food security challenge will require a multi-national, collaborative effort to integrate the best research from science, engineering and socioeconomics so that technological advances can bring benefits where they are most needed. The present book covers the effect of major environmental problems on crop production and how to cope with these issues for sustainable agriculture and improvements of crops. The world's population is predicted to hit 9. 6 Billion by 2050, up from today's total of nearly 7. 3 Billion, and with it food demand is predicted to increase substantially. The post-war 'second agricultural revolution' in developed countries, and the 'green revolution' in developing nations in the mid- 1960s converted agricultural practices and elevated crop yields spectacularly, but the outcome is levelling off and will not meet projected demand. Simultaneously, crop production is affected by many other factors, including industrial pollution, overuse of fertilizers and insecticides, heavy metal and radiation stresses etc. It has been noted that many pests are becoming resistant to insecticides. Estimates vary, but around 25% of crops can be lost to pests and diseases. Climate change associated with agriculture is also a global issue. Agriculture is a significant contributor to greenhouse gases and is estimated to account for 10-12% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Many of the issues highlighted are global problems and are addressed thoroug hly in this work.
Crop Production and One Health
by Prasun Chatterjee Kajal Sengupta Madhurima BauriThe subject matter of this book focuses on recognizing the relationship between humans, animals, plants, and their environment to attain optimum health results. The key objectives of ‘One Health’ are to identify and track the numerous risk factors, the system’s strengths, and weaknesses that can further reduce the risk factors’ rising effects and promote several eco-friendly and more sustainable choices.Considering all the elements of 'One Health' in one location, this book also explains its four key components which are – the geographical component, the ecological component, the human activities component and the food and agricultural component. Print edition not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Bhutan)
Crop Production for Agricultural Improvement
by Münir Öztürk Muhammad Ashraf Ahmet Aksoy Muhammad Sajid AhmadIn the recent years, the looming food scarcity problem has highlighted plant sciences as an emerging discipline committed to devise new strategies for enhanced crop productivity. The major factors causing food scarcity are biotic and abiotic stresses such as plant pathogens, salinity, drought, flooding, nutrient deficiency or toxicity which substantially limit crop productivity world-wide. In this scenario, strategies should be adopted to achieve maximum productivity and economic crop returns. In this book we have mainly focused on physiological, biochemical, molecular and genetic bases of crop development and related approaches that can be used for crop improvement under environmental adversaries. In addition, the adverse effects of different biotic (diseases, pathogens etc.) and abiotic (salinity, drought, high temperatures, metals etc) stresses on crop development and the potential strategies to enhance crop productivity under stressful environments are also discussed.
Crop Production under Stressful Conditions: Application of Cutting-edge Science and Technology in Developing Countries
by Shuichi Asanuma Makie KokubunThis book presents field studies on crop production in developing countries such as Vietnam, Kenya, Namibia, Colombia, Afghanistan and Sudan. Further, it examines the achievements of SATREPS, a development assistance program sponsored by the Japanese government that promotes international joint research to address these global issues. In this context, multidisciplinary research teams consisting of breeders, physiologists, soil scientists, agronomists, and other scientists related to agricultural development worked together to tackle the challenges involved in enhancing the capacity of crop production in the respective regions. In addition to presenting novel scientific findings, this book highlights practical field studies that verify the effectiveness of the scientific findings in actual environments. The achievements will help to improve crop production worldwide, and the lessons learnt will be useful in re-designing strategies to address global issues in crop production, particularly in developing regions. Lastly, the outcomes discussed will be useful to policymakers and professionals engaged in crop production and food security in developing countries, as well as researchers and students.
Crop Protection Strategies For Subsistence Farmers
by Miguel A AltieriTop-down approaches to pest management, relying on agrochemical inputs that can be scarce, expensive, ecologically toxic, or inaccessible, have repeatedly failed to solve pest problems that affect small farmers in developing countries. Crop Protection Strategies for Subsistence Farmers offers an alternative. Drawing on examples from Latin Am
Crop Protection Under Changing Climate
by Khawar Jabran Singarayer Florentine Bhagirath Singh ChauhanThis book addresses the impact of important climatic changes on plant pests (including weeds, diseases and insect pests), and their interactions with crop plants. Anthropogenic activities have seriously impacted the global climate. As a result, carbon dioxide (CO2) and temperature levels of the earth are on a continuous rise. The global temperature is expected to increase by a 3°C or more by the end of this century. The CO2 concentration was below 300 parts per million (ppm) before the start of the industrial era; however, recently it has exceeded 400 ppm. This is highest ever in human history. Other than global warming and elevated CO2 concentrations, anthropogenic activities have also disturbed the global water cycle, ultimately, impacting the quantity and distribution of rainfall. This has resulted in drought conditions in many parts of the world. Global warming, elevated CO2 concentration and drought are considered the most important recent climatic changes that are impacting global ecosystems and human societies. Among other impacts, the effects of climatic changes on pests, pest-crop interactions and pest control are important with relevance to global food security, and hence require immediate attention by plant scientists. This book discusses innovative and the most effective pest control methods under an environment of changing climate and elaborates on the impact of drought on plant pests and their control.
Crop Responses and Adaptations to Temperature Stress: New Insights and Approaches
by Amarjit S. BasraExamine the ways in which various plants respond when exposed to high and low temperatures!The growing demand for food makes breeding for high-yielding crops with built-in resistance against environmental constraints one of the most important challenges for plant breeders today. Crop Responses and Adaptations to Temperature Stress investigates the adaptive mechanisms plants have evolved in response to unfavorable temperature conditions. It describes gene transfer technology and other tolerance improvement techniques that aid in developing stress-tolerant plants.Adverse environmental stress conditions, such as extreme temperatures, affect the productivity of important world food crops by inhibiting plant growth and development. Crop Responses and Adaptations to Temperature Stress provides valuable information on the mechanisms of stress tolerance in plants that encourage growth and enhance yield performance.Agriculture professionals, researchers, and plant breeders will benefit from the ideas shared on such topics as: mechanisms of chilling injury and tolerance injury and acclimation of root system functions during chilling temperatures mechanisms of cold acclimation signal transduction under low-temperature stress mechanisms of thermotolerance in crops control of the heat shock response in crop plants the effects of heat stress on cereal yield and qualityCrop Responses and Adaptations to Temperature Stress presents detailed discussions on the effects and outcomes of crop exposure to low and high temperatures. The textual information is liberally supplemented with visual representations of field experiment data as well as comprehensive tables and schematic drawings.In addition to a detailed review of current knowledge on the molecular biology of plant responses to temperature stress and an introduction to biotechnological advances in improving crop tolerance, Crop Responses and Adaptations to Temperature Stress suggests avenues for further study and speculates on the implications of such work for the future of food production.
Crop Responses to Environment: Adapting to Global Climate Change, Second Edition
by Anthony E. HallFollowing in the tradition of its predecessor, Crop Responses to Environment, this fully updated and more comprehensive second edition describes aspects of crop responses to environment that are particularly relevant to the development of improved crop cultivars and management methods on a global scale. It includes an extensive discussion of the difficulties in developing agricultural systems that accommodate increasing human needs for agricultural products during the twenty-first century in a sustainable manner. The book features new sections on adaptation to global climate change including adapting to global warming, elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, and increased flooding and salinity through plant breeding and changes in crop management. Warming effects include stressful effects of heat on pollen development and reduced winter chilling effects on fruit and nut trees. The book examines principles, theories, mathematical models, and experimental observations concerning plant responses to environment that are relevant to the development of improved crop cultivars and management methods. It illustrates the importance of considering emergent plant properties as well as reductionist approaches to understanding plant function and adaptation. Plant physiological and developmental responses to light and temperature, and plant water relations are considered in detail. Dr. Hall also describes climatic zone definitions based on temperature, rainfall, and evaporative demand in relation to plant adaptation and the prediction of crop water use. Irrigation management and crop responses to salinity, flooding and toxic levels of boron and aluminum are considered. Crop responses to pests and diseases as they interact with crop responses to physical and chemical aspects of the environment are examined. The book concludes with analyses illustrating the relevance of crop responses to environment to plant breeding.