Endophytic Fungi in Grasses and Woody Plants: Systematics, Ecology and Evolution

Book Description

Grasses: Systematics and Evolution presents leading work from around the world on grasses and includes reviews and current research into their comparative biology, phylogeny and classification. The papers are based on presentations at the Third International Symposium on Grass Systematics and Evolution, (part of Monocots II) held in Sydney, Australia in late 1998, but many have been updated or extended to take into account new information. All papers have been peer-reviewed.

A companion volume Monocots: Systematics and Evolution is available. It is a similar selection of papers from the Second International Conference on the Comparative Biology of the Monocotyledons, also part of Monocots II.

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A patch-dynamics approach to savanna dynamics and woody plant encroachment - Insights from an arid savanna [An article from: Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics]
K. Wiegand , D. Saltz , and D. Ward
Manufacturer: Elsevier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000RR8896

Book Description

This digital document is a journal article from Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, published by Elsevier in . The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
The coexistence of woody and grassy plants in savannas has often been attributed to a rooting-niche separation (two-layer hypothesis). Water was assumed to be the limiting resource for both growth forms and grasses were assumed to extract water from the upper soil layer and trees and bushes from the lower layers. Woody plant encroachment (i.e. an increase in density of woody plants often unpalatable to domestic livestock) is a serious problem in many savannas and is believed to be the result of overgrazing in 'two-layer systems'. Recent research has questioned the universality of both the two-layer hypothesis and the hypothesis that overgrazing is the cause of woody plant encroachment. We present an alternative hypothesis explaining both tree-grass coexistence and woody plant encroachment in arid savannas. We propose that woody plant encroachment is part of a cyclical succession between open savanna and woody dominance and is driven by two factors: rainfall that is highly variable in space and time, and inter-tree competition. In this case, savanna landscapes are composed of many patches (a few hectares in size) in different states of transition between grassy and woody dominance, i.e. we hypothesize that arid savannas are patch-dynamic systems. We summarize patterns of tree distribution observed in an arid savanna in Namibia and show that these patterns are in agreement with the patch-dynamic savanna hypothesis. We discuss the applicability of this hypothesis to fire-dominated savannas, in which rainfall variability is low and fire drives spatial heterogeneity. We conclude that field studies are more likely to contribute to a general understanding of tree-grass coexistence and woody plant encroachment if they consider both primary (rain and nutrients) and secondary (fire and grazing) determinants of patch properties across different savannas.

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GRASS. SYSTEMATICS AND EVOLUTION [GG]
T. et al. (eds.) Soderstrom
Manufacturer: Smithsonian Institution
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000WPKVR0

Book Description

A fascinating account of Americas oceans and ocean politics, Blue Frontier explores the impact of history, commerce, and policy on marine lifeand by extension all life on earth. From the legacy of navy-funded research and development since World War II to the current newsworthy topics such as beach closures, collapsing fish stocks, killer algae, hurricanes, and oil spills, Blue Frontier takes readers on an adventure-filled tour of Americas last great wilderness range. Despite todays wide-open development along our coasts and in offshore waters, Blue Frontier argues that sensible policies can still halt the onslaught of industrial destruction. An impassioned call for a new approach to ocean stewardship, Blue Frontier is essential reading for anyone interested in saving our maritime culture and heritage.

Customer Reviews:

America's Great Ocean Adventure.......2001-12-14

David Helvarg takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of America's last great frontier - Our ocean wilderness. In lively, informative and often amusing writing he introduces us to the people and the critters who populate wet America, our 200 mile wide Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) which,he also points out, is larger than the continental United States and far more challenging than the Wild West ever was.
From aircraft carriers, to underwater science labs, offshore oil rigs to Antarctic waters, he shows us both the tremendous environmental dangers facing our living seas as well as the watermen and women who are working to right things. If you're going to read one book about the seas, or encourage students and young people to learn more about our maritime heritage and future, this is the book to pick up and pass along.

Core Information is Brilliant, Presentation is Marginal.......2001-06-02

This is the worst of several environmental books I have reviewed, largely because its style is too chatty, the type and presentation formats chosen by the editor are terrible and make it difficult to read and enjoy, and there is isn't a single map or chart or table or figure in the entire book. Bearing in mind that this book made the cut from hundreds that I could have bought and read, and it made the second more rigorous cut to be reviewed, these comments should be taken as they are intended: this is a super book that got screwed up by the publisher and a lack of decent editorial guidance. It should be fixed in the second edition, and I hope it gets to a second edition. Given the author's clearly superior access to and understanding of the individual personalities and organizational players across America, I am really stunned and disappointed that there is not an appendix to the book listing all of these, with contact information and URLs.

There is so much solid, worthwhile information in this book, including valuable insights in why Western political interests are undermining proper representation of our national oceans, coasts, and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in Congress, that I would urge those interested in the oceans (hugely more important to our future than the Amazon or globla forestry, just to make the point), to buy this book, suffer its limitations, and ultimately benefit from the wisdom and experience of the author, for whom my respect is unqualified and whole-hearted. In passing, it would probably be helpful if the first thing we all demanded was that EEZ stand for Exclusive Environmental Zone, rather than treating the oceans as a for-profit target area.

There is one other information-related observation I would make that emerged from reading this book: both the United Nations and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are clearly doing heroic and deeply important work vital to the future of the oceans--and they are doing a terrible job of communicating the basic information about the oceans and their work to the larger world of voters and concerned citizens. What really came home to me as I reflected on what to emphasize in this review is that there is a very wide, almost impenetratable, barrier between what the UN and NOAA know, and what is being communicated to the citizens who have the right to know (they paid for that information with their tax dollars) and the need to know and the desire to know. From this I would say that the next big step for those who would seek to save the oceans, is to demand that all UN and US Government information paid for by the taxpayer be put online henceforth, available at no further cost to the public. It is this information, the bullets and beans of the information war between corporate and citizen interests, that will decide the future of the oceans.

Waxing poetic on oil rigs.......2001-05-30

Helvarg offers front-line account of fight to save the Blue Frontier

By David Liscio

If it's possible to wax poetically about the way offshore oil rigs attract fish, while still remaining a staunch environmentalist, then author David Helvarg has succeeded.

Aboard a helicopter, he writes, "We circle around the flat-topped platform called Pompano. Owned by BP-Amoco, it is the second tallest bottom-fixed structure in the world, drilling into the ocean floor 1,310 feet below the surface. About 700 feet wide at its base, it is taller than the Empire State Building."

Another platform, Amberjack, is described as "the ultimate Tinkertoy. An active drilling rig, it towers 272 feet from the waterline to the top of its bottle-shaped derrick. Its density of utilized space is a structural salute to human ingenuity."

Author of "The War Against the Greens," Helvarg's latest book, "Blue Frontier: Saving America's Living Seas," (New York: W.H. Freeman & Co., 2001), delivers in-depth reporting on subjects such as ocean mining, reef management, oil exploration, over-fishing, and government ineptitude when it comes to formulating sound environmental policy. The author clearly has divided his time between research libraries and the field. He has visited the underwater living quarters of scientists off the coast of Key West, climbed the towering oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, and gone diving off Monterey where Californians keep sharp lookout for white sharks, all with the intention to see up-close what's going on.

At the start of the chapter on offshore petroleum drilling, Helvarg quotes an oil company spokesman recalling the Huntington Beach oil spill of 1990. The spokesman says, "Then this Hollywood star pulls up in his limo, must have been half a block long, wanting to know what we've done to his beach. And I'm thinking, hey that limo of yours doesn't run on sunbeams you know."

Helvarg has been beneath the surface of the sea to examine precisely the rampant devastation of fragile ecosystems, the destruction of coral reefs by disease, human waste, phosphate blanketing, and sheer overuse, particularly dive boats that anchor rather than use fixed moorings.

Although the Alaskan coast dominates the news in 2001 whenever discussion turns to offshore drilling, Helvarg noted, "There are some 4,000 platforms operating in the Gulf of Mexico today. Offshore drilling accounts for 20 percent of U.S. oil production and 27 percent of its natural gas. Despite heated debate over drilling off California, Florida, Alaska, and North Carolina, 93 percent of all present offshore production takes place in the gulf." He found that many of those expensive rigs are run by disciplined crews who produce lucrative returns for investors.

Helvarg has meticulously and colorfully described how the oil industry was created in North America, and included a brief review of the movie industry and the media impact it produced. For example, he cited the 1953 film "Thunder Bay" starring Jimmy Stewart as an oil geologist confronting suspicious shrimp fishermen in Louisiana's bayou. As Helvarg put it, the film reflects the dominant view of the time when progress and industry were thought to be synonymous, while today, an oil gusher would be viewed as an ecological disaster.

Key Largo, off Southern Florida, epitomizes another dilemma. In Helvarg's words, "Branching corals that once grew here remain only as skeletal sticks in bleached rubble fields. Many of the abundant rock corals are being eaten away by diseases that have spread in an epidemic wave throughout the Florida Keys. The names of the diseases tell the story: black band, white band, white plague, and aspergillus, a fungus normally found in terrestrial soil that can shred fan corals like moths shred Irish lace."

Through interviews and an exhaustive search for truth, Helvarg has broken new ground. He has managed to explain in a clear and straightforward writing style such issues as beach closings, oil spills, collapsing fish stocks, killer algae, pollution, reckless development, and the failure of the U.S. government to protect what may be its final frontier - the Blue Frontier.

Most importantly, he has found reason to remain optimistic. Consider his closing remarks: "Our oceans remain full of strange wonders and grand experiences that will thrill generations yet unborn. Despite all the problems and challenges we face fighting for America's living seas, that is still enough to give one hope. After all, it is not every great nation, forged by its earliest frontier experiences, that gets a second chance."

(David Liscio is the environmental reporter for The Daily Item newspaper in Lynn, MA, an ecology professor at Endicott College in Beverly, MA, and the Massachusetts correspondent to the Society of Environmental Journalists.

THIS BOOK IS GREAT!!!!.......2001-05-09

It's not just a book -- it's an adventure!

This book is full of interesting information yet amazingly fun to read as it takes us on an exciting journey around America's oceans. I learned much about various threats to the marine environment and the struggles dedicated people are launching against those threats.

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Blue Frontier: Saving America's Living Seas
David Helvarg
Manufacturer: W.H. Freeman c2001
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000ONLU34

Book Description

Nuclear Superfluidity is the first modern text devoted exclusively to pair correlations in nuclei. It begins by exploring pair correlations in a variety of systems including superconductivity in metals at low temperatures and superfluidity in liquid 3He and in neutron stars. The book goes on to introduce basic theoretical methods, symmetry breaking and symmetry restoration in finite many-body systems. The last four chapters are devoted to introducing new results on the role of induced interactions in the structure of both normal and exotic nuclei. The most important of these is the renormalization of the pairing interaction due to the coupling of pairs of nucleons to low energy nuclear collective excitations. This book will be essential reading for researchers and students in both experimental and theoretical nuclear physics, and related research fields such as metal clusters, fullerenes and quantum dots.

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History, mystery, kidnapping and humor

Good installment in a great series

A refreshingly old-fashioned mystery

A Good Historical Series About New York

Quick enjoyable historical mystery

In Like Flynn : A Molly Murphy Series (Molly Murphy)

Manufacturer: Amazon Remainders Account
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Similar Items:

For the Love of Mike (Molly Murphy Mysteries)

Death of Riley (Molly Murphy Mysteries)

Oh Danny Boy (Molly Murphy Mysteries)

Murphy's Law (Molly Murphy Mysteries)

In Dublin's Fair City (Molly Murphy Mysteries)

ASIN: B000GX57XG

Customer Reviews:

History, mystery, kidnapping and humor.......2006-06-14

Like the first book in this Molly Murphy series, this book is thoroughly delightful. Molly is always putting herself in danger, and just when you think she is out of trouble, trouble just seems to follow her. There were a lot of twists, turns and surprises.
Although this book is the fourth in a series, it is not necessary to read all the previous books. I did read the first book, and I plan on reading books 2 and 3 in this series.

Good installment in a great series .......2006-03-14

In Like Flynn is the fourth Molly Murphy mystery. Each book gives you enough background that you can read them stand alone if you wish, but they a best read in order. I read the of them in a few days. They are easy reads that blend history, mystery and a little romance very well. Molly is a single young lady who had to leave Ireland in a bit of a rush after an incident involving her families landlord's son. She arrives in the New York under an assumed name, escorting two young children, and stumbles into a murder before she leaves Ellis Island (Murphy's Law). She has a hard time finding a "suitable job" for an opinionated female and eventually finds herself to be an investigator (Death of Riley). This book takes Molly out of NYC to the high dollar estates along the Hudson River. As always, Molly's assignment takes a turn for the strange as she discovers that the two spiritualists she has been paid to investigate are not the only mysterious people around

A refreshingly old-fashioned mystery.......2005-04-27

IN LIKE FLYNN is the fourth novel in the Molly Murphy mystery series written by Rhys Bowen. Molly is the gritty young woman who could be the poster girl for women's rights a decade later than her time. She's a fiery red-haired colleen from Ireland who lives in New York City at the turn of the twentieth century. She practices the trade of private investigation as her livelihood. But her gender gets in the way much of the time. A former boyfriend, Captain Daniel Sullivan of the New York City Police Department, gives her a job that takes her out of the city. When she spends time in the Hudson River Valley at the private estate of a U.S. Senator, Barney Flynn, she escapes the ravages of a typhoid fever epidemic in the city.

Her job is to watch two spinster sisters at their trade. They assist persons in grief by contacting the dead through a séance. Daniel authorizes Molly to investigate the two for a reason to prosecute. He thinks they are bogus and play on the tragedies of their victims. The Senator's wife, Theresa, mourns her son who was kidnapped from the estate five years before. Her second child, Eileen, reminds her more of her loss. Theresa remains inconsolable, grasping at remote possibilities to reunite with her dead child.

Molly is shown as spunky, bright, energetic and living on the verge of propriety for a young woman of her day. However, she exhibits a vulnerability to feminine emotion that makes her real. She's moved on romantically but leans on her former lover for support. She's masquerading as a distant cousin from Ireland who visits the Flynns. But shadows from her past life thwart her in the form of a man she's been accused of killing back in her homeland.

Life at the turn of the century is a pallet drawn well in IN LIKE FLYNN. Bowen writes her characters well, especially the female side. Her men are not as easy to like, with the exception of the police detective. The butler, gardener, male secretary, and even the Senator are more predictable characters then their female counterparts. The Senator is a wanderer, chasing all young skirts on the property. At the same time he indulges his wife's whims and dominates her with petty minutia.

The mystery has twists and turns that lead to a pleasing outcome, though not altogether fulfilling. IN LIKE FLYNN isn't a story that yearns for a sequel, but it does leave the details of Molly's future open-ended. Thus, we'll look for the next Molly Murphy mystery at the bookstores.

A majority of modern mysteries deal with murder, mayhem and today's technologies. IN LIKE FLYNN is a pleasant change in the genre, relying on old-fashioned problem solving, without benefit of cell phones, computers and speeding police chases. Bowen's style is deserving of the awards she has received for her suspense-filled stories.

--- Reviewed by Judy Gigstad

A Good Historical Series About New York.......2005-04-24

This is Ms. Bowen's fourth book in this series and I've enjoyed all four of them. She is meticulous in her research about early 20th Century New York, which sparked my interest to look further into that era. I appreciated her explaination at the end of the book about what was true and what wasn't. I'd like to see more of this in historical fiction. Many times it's confusing as to what is historical and what is fiction. I recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries with a dose of history thrown in.

Quick enjoyable historical mystery.......2005-04-21

I've enjoyed the Molly Murphy series from the very first book - Murphy's Law.
In this third visit with mischevious Molly, she gets to go undercover to investigate the shaky Sorenson sisters and their seances.
The story moves from turn of the century New York City to the more peaceful atmosphere of upper state New York.
Molly however doesn't find alot of peace and ever true to her Irish spunk & curiosity becomes involved with crimes of a more serious nature: kidnapping and murder.
Molly Murphy is not some plastic perfect PI. She ofter makes mistakes, but she learns from them. Even as the story wraps up we find Molly making a choice that only her next tale may reveal the consequences. Yet my money, as always, is with Molly.

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Dare to Care Like Jesus
Leslie B. Flynn
Manufacturer: Victor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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In Like Flynn (Harlequin Flipside)
Dorien Kelly
Manufacturer: Harlequin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Comic | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Romance | Subjects | Books

General | Contemporary | Romance | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0373442017

TechTV's Guide to Creating Digital Video Like a Pro (TechTV)

Average customer rating:

Decent Primer
Great resource
a good DV shooting and editing primer...

TechTV's Guide to Creating Digital Video Like a Pro (TechTV)
Deras Flynn
Manufacturer: TechTV
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Digital Photography | Digital Photography & Video | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Graphic Design | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Arts & Photography | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Computers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Digital Video Production Cookbook: 100 Professional Techniques for Independent and Amateur Filmmakers (Cookbooks (O'Reilly))

ASIN: 0789726564

Book Description

TechTV's Guide to Creating Digital Video Like a Pro is the ultimate guide for anyone interested in the field of digital video. Readers learn what digital video is and how it differs from and surpasses analog video; what kind of digital equipment fits their needs from camcorder to computer; how best to shoot their videos; what software to use and how to use it; best output options; and the future of digital video editing. The book is packed with real-world projects for the reader to practice. The CD contains actual footage from techniques used in the book, and footage from the book's projects for readers to see what their finished products should resemble.

Customer Reviews:

Decent Primer.......2003-11-06

As a technology instructor, I evaluated this book for use as a student text. In that respect, it works well enough, covering material such as computer hardware, video terminology and the practices of editing video in just enough detail for me to be satisfied, even appreciative.

The book is not without faults. In particular, I would've liked another 100 pages or so regarding the editing features of software besides Premier, and of course this book suffers from the technology-book curse - it's 18 months old and many aspects are at this point somewhat out of date or inaccurate; something like this should really be updated annually.

The author did have the foresight to include a short section on authoring video projects to DVD and various types of video CDs, and I like that effort was made to introduce the reader to techniques in capturing good footage.

Great resource.......2003-01-09

Finally, a clear, coherent and comprehensive resource that explains everything that I could only find in bits and pieces elsewhere.

a good DV shooting and editing primer..........2002-04-28

I wanted to get a book that would give me a clue on using my camcorder better, as well give me a better idea of computer video editing (not to mention humor me with my filmmaking aspirations). This book covers all that and more very clearly, with lots of helpful picture examples. I now know what all my camcorder's manual controls do and when to use them. On the computer front, I finally was able to figure out how to make a VCD/SVCD that has good image quality, and if I can ever afford a DVD recorder I am fairly confident I know how to do that now too. If you want to know all about DV (both filming and editing), this is an accessible, solidly written book.

Act Like You've Got Some Sense: The collected works of

Average customer rating:

Charming, Clever and Funny! A delightful read!
A great read

Act Like You've Got Some Sense: The collected works of
Mandy Flynn
Manufacturer: AuthorHouse
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1418440426

Book Description

Ride shotgun alongside a smalltown raised wife and mother who serves up life lessons with crayons and honeysuckle. Close your eyes and inhale the memories of a country road. Follow the sidewalk for a barefoot summer stroll and make mud pies by the back steps before going in for supper. Cherish quiet moments when the remote can't be found. Make them eat green beans. And, by all means, dance. even if your children won't claim you.

Customer Reviews:

Charming, Clever and Funny! A delightful read!.......2005-01-15

This collection of essays is so charming, clever and funny that you'll want to read them again and again! It is laugh out loud hilarious and I love this book! Mandy's writing brings the Southern way of living to life on every page. It actually made me homesick for Atlanta when I read it! Thank you Mandy for a delightful book. I look forward to great things from you in the future!

A great read.......2004-07-13

I loved this book. Where has this girl been hiding? Every newspaper in America should carry her columns. Her style reminds me of Celestine Sibley, Erma Bombeck and Lewis Grizzard all rolled into one. Funny, touching, so incredibly true. She paints pictures with words.

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In Like Flynn
Shari Thayn , and Thayer
Manufacturer: Indigo Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Women Sleuths | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1583650245

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In Like Flynn
Robin De Loxley
Manufacturer: Minerva Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1858634008

Average customer rating:

Me Be Like Jesus?
Leslie B. Flynn
Manufacturer: Victor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 088207234X

Playgirl Magazine December 1993 SPECIAL HOLIDAY STRIPTEASE; THey Don't make Men like this anymore (cary Grant, Errol Flynn, etc)

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Playgirl Magazine December 1993 SPECIAL HOLIDAY STRIPTEASE; THey Don't make Men like this anymore (cary Grant, Errol Flynn, etc)
Playgirl
Manufacturer: PLAYGIRL
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Sex | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000OP8WDS

Playgirl Magazine, issue dated December 1993 SPECIAL HOLIDAY STRIPTEASE; THey Don't make Men like this anymore (cary Grant, Errol Flynn, etc)

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Playgirl Magazine, issue dated December 1993 SPECIAL HOLIDAY STRIPTEASE; THey Don't make Men like this anymore (cary Grant, Errol Flynn, etc)
Playgirl Magazine Inc.
Manufacturer: Playgirl Magazine Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000UUA9EM

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