This textbook covers Plant Ecology from the molecular to the global level. It covers the following areas in unprecedented breadth and depth:

- Molecular ecophysiology (stress physiology: light, temperature, oxygen deficiency, drought, salt, heavy metals, xenobiotica and biotic stress factors)
- Autecology (whole plant ecology: thermal balance, water, nutrient, carbon relations)
- Ecosystem ecology (plants as part of ecosystems, element cycles, biodiversity)
- Synecology (development of vegetation in time and space, interactions between vegetation and the abiotic and biotic environment)
- Global aspects of plant ecology (global change, global biogeochemical cycles, land use, international conventions, socio-economic interactions)

The book is carefully structured and well written: complex issues are elegantly presented and easily understandable. It contains more than 500 photographs and drawings, mostly in colour, illustrating the fascinating subject.
The book is primarily aimed at graduate students of biology but will also be of interest to post-graduate students and researchers in botany, geosciences and landscape ecology. Further, it provides a sound basis for those dealing with agriculture, forestry, land use, and landscape management.

Stress Physiology

Environment as Stress Factor: Stress Physiology of Plants
Light
Temperature
Oxygen Deficiency (Anaerobiosis and Hypoxia)
Water Deficiency (Drought)
Salt Stress (Osmotic Stress)
Heavy Metals
Aluminium
Xenobiotics
Biotic Stress: Herbivory, Infection, Allelopathy
Autecology: Whole Plant Ecology
Thermal Balance of Plants
Water Relations of Plants
Nutrient Relations of Plants
Carbon Relations
Ecology of Ecosystems
The Ecosystem Concept
Processes in Stands and Ecosystems
The Biogeochemical Cycles
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Processes
Case Studies at the Scale of Ecosystems
Syndynamics, Synchorology, Synecology
Historic-Genetic Development of Phytocenoses and Their Dynamics
Synchorology: Basis of Spatial Distribution of Plants
Interactions Between Vegetation and Abiotic and Biotic Environments - Synecology
Global Aspects of Plant Ecology
Global Change and Global Institutions
Global Element Cycles
Human Impacts on the Carbon Budget and Its Significance for the Global Climate
Significance of Changes in Land Use for the Global Carbon Cycle
Influence of Human Activities on Biodiversity
Socio-economic Interactions.