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This collection of reviews by leading investigators examines plant reproduction and sexuality within a framework of evolutionary ecology, providing an up-to-date account of the field. The contributors discuss conceptual issues, showing the importance of sex allocation, sexual selection and inclusive fitness, and the dimensions of paternity and maternity in plants. The evolution, maintenance, and loss of self-incompatibility in plants, the nature of 'sex choice' in plants, and sex dimorphism are all explored in detail. Specific forms of biotic interactions shaping the evolution of plant reproductive strategy are discussed, and a taxonomically based review of the reproductive ecology of non-angiosperm plant groups, such as bryophytes, ferns, and algae, is presented. Together these studies focus on the complexities of plant life cycles and the distinctive reproductive biologies of these organisms, while showing the similarities between nonflowering plants and the more thoroughly documented flowering species.

Plant ecology. Plant sociology --- Plant genetics. Plant evolution --- 581.56 --- 581.57 --- 581.16 --- Plant ecology --- Plants --- #WPLT:ecol --- #WPLT:dd.prof.J.Vendrig --- Gemmation (Botany) --- Plant reproduction --- Plant physiology --- Reproduction --- Plants, Sex in --- Plant spores --- Botany --- Ecology --- Breeding habits --- Means of protection. Means of attraction. Adaptations for self-preservation --- Reproduction. --- Plant ecology. --- 581.16 Reproduction --- 581.57 Means of protection. Means of attraction. Adaptations for self-preservation --- 581.56 Breeding habits --- Phytoecology --- Vegetation ecology --- Floristic ecology --- Plants - Reproduction

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The tobacco plant synthesizes nicotine to protect itself from herbivores. The female moth broadcasts sex pheromones to attract a mate, while a soldier ant deploys an alarm pheromone to call for help. The carbon dioxide on a mammal's breath beckons hungry ticks and mosquitoes, while a flower's fragrance speaks to the honey bee. Indeed, much of the communication that occurs within and between various species of organisms is done not by sight, sound, or touch, but with chemicals. From mating to parenting, foraging to self-defense, plant and animal activities are accomplished largely by the secretion or exchange of organic chemicals. The fascinating and fast-developing science that encompasses these diverse phenomena is introduced here, by William Agosta, in a series of remarkable stories absolutely accessible to the general reader yet revelatory to chemists and biologists. Among Agosta's characters are the organisms that steal, counterfeit, or interpret the chemical signals of other species for their own ends. We learn of seeds that mimic ant odors to facilitate their own dispersion and flies that follow the scent of truffles to lay their eggs. We read about pit vipers that react in terror when their flicking tongues detect a king snake, and slave-making ants incapable of finding their own food. And we meet ice-age people who ate birch fungus to relieve whipworms and early human hunters who used the urine of wolves to maneuver deer to favorable sites. Agosta also chronicles the rapid development of the applied science that makes use of chemical ecology. As researchers deepen our understanding of the biological world, they are making economically significant discoveries (such as enzymes that remain stable in extreme heat), finding ways to reduce our reliance on manufactured pesticides, identifying new uses for traditional medicines, and developing sophisticated new pharmaceuticals effective in treating malaria and several cancers. On the horizon are antiviral agents derived from the chemical defenses of marine species. From the exploits of flies to the high-stakes effort to cure human disease, Agosta's tour of chemical ecology grants any reader entrance to the invisible realm where chemistry determines life and death.

574 --- 57.044 --- 57.026 --- 577.19 --- 591.58 --- 581.57 --- 581.57 Means of protection. Means of attraction. Adaptations for self-preservation --- Means of protection. Means of attraction. Adaptations for self-preservation --- 591.58 Communication and expression by sound or ultrasonic vibrations, mime or other signals, smell, touch or chemical sense (chemoreception) --- Communication and expression by sound or ultrasonic vibrations, mime or other signals, smell, touch or chemical sense (chemoreception) --- 577.19 Pheromones and phytocins --- Pheromones and phytocins --- 57.026 Social processes and behaviour. --- Social processes and behaviour. --- 57.044 Chemical factors --- Chemical factors --- 574 General ecology. Biocoenology. Hydrobiology. Biogeography --- General ecology. Biocoenology. Hydrobiology. Biogeography --- Chemoecology --- Ecologie chimique --- Chemical ecology. --- Ecology --- Metabolites --- Chemosensory ecology