In the recent past, threats from climate change and unforeseeable environmental extremes to plant growth and productivity have consistently increased. The climate change-driven effects, especially from unpredictable environmental fluctuations, can result in an increased prevalence of abiotic and biotic stresses in plants. These stresses have slowed down the global yields of crop plants. On the other hand, food security for the rapidly growing human population in a sustainable ecosystem is a major concern of the present-day world. Thus, understanding the core developmental, physiological and molecular aspects that regulate plant growth and productivity in a challenging environment is a pivotal issue to be tackled by the scientific community dealing with sustainable agricultural and horticultural practices. 
Plants are influenced by the adverse environmental conditions at various levels, their different and diverse responses play a significant role in determining their growth, production and the overall geographical distribution. The chapters in this book focus on the biological mechanisms and fundamental principles that determine how different plant species grow, perform and interact with a challenging environment. 
This book covers a broad range of topics in plant science, including gene function, molecules, physiology, cell biology and plant ecology, to understand the functioning of plants under harsh environmental conditions. The book elucidates the physiological and molecular mechanisms in different plant species, ecophysiological interactions of plants, interplay between plant roots, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, biosensors for monitoring stress, production of secondary metabolites, stress alleviation processes, and more.

Professor Azamal Husen (BSc from Shri Murli Manohar Town Post Graduate College, Ballia, UP, MSc from Hamdard University, New Delhi; and PhD from Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun, India) is a Foreign Delegate at Wolaita Sodo University, Wolaita, Ethiopia. He has served the University of Gondar, Ethiopia, as a Full Professor of Biology, and also worked as the Coordinator of MSc Program and the Head, Department of Biology. He was a Visiting Faculty of the Forest Research Institute, and the Doon College of Agriculture and Forest at Dehra Dun, India. He has a more than 20 years' experience of teaching, research and administration. Dr. Husen specializes in biogenic nanomaterials fabrication and their application, plant response to nanomaterials, plant production and adaptation to harsh environments at physiological, biochemical and molecular levels, herbal medicine, and clonal propagation and improvement of tree species. He has conducted several research projects sponsored by various funding agencies, including the World Bank, the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), the Indian Council of Forest Research Education (ICFRE); and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), etc. He has published over 100 research papers, review articles and book chapters, edited books of international repute, presented papers in several conferences, and produced over a dozen of manuals and monographs. Husen received four fellowships from India and a recognition award from University of Gondar, Ethiopia, for excellent teaching, research and community service. An active organizer of seminars/conferences and an efficient evaluator of research projects and book proposals as he is, Dr. Husen has been on the Editorial board and the panel of reviewers of several reputed journals of Elsevier, Frontiers Media SA, Taylor & Francis, Springer Nature, RSC, Oxford University Press, Sciendo, The Royal Society, CSIRO, PLOS and John Wiley & Sons. He is included in the advisory board of Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK. He is a Fellow of the Plantae group of American Society of Plant Biologists, and a Member of International Society of Root Research, Asian Council of Science Editors, and INPST, etc. Also, he is Editor-in-Chief of American Journal of Plant Physiology; and a Series Editor of 'Exploring Medicinal Plants' published by Taylor & Francis Group, USA.