2006 - Pennington, Lewis & Ratter (Eds.) - Neotropical savannas and dry forests: diversity, biogeography, and conservation

"This book is the result of a plant diversity symposium that formed part of a conference, Tropical savannas  and  seasonally  dry  forests:  ecology,  environment  and  development,  held  at  the  Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh from 14 to 20 September 2003. The conference was attended by 150 delegates from 25 countries worldwide. 

From the outset our intention was to focus on neotropical dry vegetation, where our combined expertise lies, and to address the imbalance between the study of rain forests and seasonally dry ecosystems  by  discussion,  and  then  by  publishing  data  on  seasonally  dry  forests  and  savannas. Invited speakers were thus chosen with the aim of covering these ecosystems across the whole of the Neotropics. However, like many conference proceedings, and despite our best intentions, this book is not comprehensive or even in its coverage and some geographical areas have slipped through the net. We hope, however, that it will serve to stimulate more research and, more importantly, the urgently  needed  conservation  of  the  often  neglected  seasonally  dry  forests  and  savannas  of  the Neotropics. 

We would like to thank: the Systematics Association for their generous sponsorship of the plant diversity symposium; the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew Legume Donation Fund for their support of speakers attending the symposium; the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh for provision of the venue and a reception; John-Paul Shirreffs for help with graphic design; and Sadie Watson, the Edinburgh Centre for Tropical Forests and Maureen Warwick for administrative help before and during the meeting. 

We were assisted in the production of this book by 25 reviewers whose expertise and time were greatly appreciated. We would also like to thank Sam Bridgewater, Hélène Citerne, Kim Howell, and Carol Notman for assistance in editing the manuscripts, and all the authors for their contributions." (Toby Pennington, Gwilym Lewis and James Ratter) 

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2015 - Buchanan, Gruissem & Jones - Biochemistry & Molecular Biology of Plants 2ª Edição

 

"The second edition of the Biochemistry & Molecular Biology of Plants retains the overall format of the first edition in response to the enthusiastic feedback we received from users of the book. The first edition was organized into five sections dealing with organization and functioning of the cell (Compartments), the cell’s ability to replicate (Cell Reproduction), generation of energy (Energy Flow), regulation of development (Metabolism and Developmental Regulation), and the impact of fundamental discoveries in plant biology (Plant, Environment, and Agriculture). Although the section organization of the second edition remains unchanged, many of the chapters have been written by new teams of authors, reflecting the retirement of some of our colleagues, but also the dynamic development of plant biology during the last 20 years that was driven by a cohort of younger investigators, many of whom have contributed to this second edition.

Changes in chapter authorship also reflect the impact that molecular genetics had on our field, and three chapters stand out in this regard: Chapter 9 on Genome Structure and Organization, Chapter 18 on Signal Transduction, and Chapter 19 on Molecular Regulation of Reproductive Development. Advances resulting from molecular genetics have been particularly dramatic in the field of plant hormones and other signaling molecules where the receptors for all of the major hormones and their complex signaling pathways have now been described in detail.

Soon after publication of the first edition, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology of Plants was translated into Chinese, Italian, and Japanese, and a special low‐priced English‐ language version of the book was published in India. In this version the entire book was published in black and white, illustrating the costs involved in producing four‐color versions of textbooks.

Another change that accompanied the writing and production of this second edition was the involvement of the publisher John Wiley and our interaction with the Editorial Office in the United Kingdom. Wiley had entered into an agreement with the American Society of Plant Biologists to lead the publication of books written by ASPB members. The second edition of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology of Plants is one of the first of hopefully many books that will be published jointly by ASPB and Wiley.

Production of this book required input from many talented people. First and foremost the authors, who patiently, in some cases very patiently, worked with the editors and developmental editors to produce chapters of remarkably high quality. The two excellent developmental editors, Justine Walsh and Yolanda Kowalewski, worked to produce a collection of chapters that read seamlessly; the artist Debbie Maizels produced figures of exceptional technical and artistic quality; the staff at John Wiley, who worked tirelessly on this project; and Dr Nik Prowse, freelance project manager, who efficiently handled the chapter editing and management during the production phase of the book.. Special thanks go to Celia Carden whose support, enthusiasm, and management across two continents have gone a long way to making this book successful. The support of ASPB’s leadership and staff, notably Executive Director Crispin Taylor and Publications Manager Nancy Winchester, are gratefully acknowledged. We also appreciate the continuing/ongoing support that we received from ASPB as this book was being developed. The contributing authors thank reviewers for commenting on their chapters.

Most important, we want to express appreciation to our wives, Melinda, Barbara, and Frances, who during the past few years again tolerated and accepted the textbook as a demanding family member." (Bob B. Buchanan, Wilhelm Gruissem & Russel L. Jones).

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2013 - Levin - Encyclopedia of Biodiversity 2ª Edição

 

"Twelve years have passed since the appearance of the First Edition of the Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, and a great deal has transpired. We continue to lose biodiversity at rates and in ways that severely threaten the services that humans derive from ecosystems. Attention to biodiversity and sustainability has led to major scientific advances, though the efforts to implement the necessary changes in policy to limit our losses remain elusive. As Edward O. Wilson pointed out in his Foreword to the First Edition, reprinted in this Edition, the pathway to address the great challenge we face will be more easily traveled as we accumulate more and more information, organized in a way that is accessible to practicing scientists, to students, to the public, and especially to the decision makers in industry and governments who hold the keys to success. With this in mind, it became essential to update the Encyclopedia of Biodiversity to reflect the new information and scientific advances that have arisen in the past dozen years.

The Second Edition retains the same breadth across the basic and applied dimensions as did the First Edition. The great majority of entries from the First Edition have been revised to reflect the changes that have taken place, or in some cases replaced by entirely new contributions. In addition, the scope of the coverage has been expanded substantially, to broader treatment of emergent scientific advances in subjects like the microbial ecology of the oceans, landscape ecology, conservation biology, and ecological economics. In all, in addition to those that have been substantially revised, there are nearly 100 completely new articles to complement the solid foundation that already existed. These include articles that broaden the general scientific foundations of the subject of biodiversity, like the  measurement and estimation of species richness, as well as the application of those basic principles to management problems.

New entries expand the coverage of areas that have grown in importance in the past decade; elucidation of the importance of ecosystem services, for example, has provided a way to connect biodiversity to the economic forces that impacts it, and has stimulated major scientific advances in the past decade in terms of how to measure and protect those services. The linkages to economics more generally have provided aframework for addressing the loss of biodiversity by understanding what drives anthropogenic impacts, and how we might manage the Commons we all share. These issues have been covered in much greater depth in this new Edition, along with other issues related to climate change, land use, biofuels, and the growing subject of conservation biology.

I am extremely grateful to the excellent staff that assisted in the preparation of this edition but especially to the associate editors who advised on whom to invite, aided with invitations, shepherded manuscripts through the process, and eventually read final drafts. Katarzyna Miklaszewska, Elsevier’s in-house editor, was remarkable at every stage of the process, and it has been a pleasure to work with her; she minimized damage from the unavoidable glitches that developed along the way, and maintained a cheery demeanor while guiding the Encyclopedia to completion. Chris Morris, who was indispensable in the production of the First Edition, rejoined our efforts to update the excellent Glossary he produced the first time through. Also thanks are due to Carole Levin, for her patience throughout the whole process.

The urgency of addressing the loss of biodiversity is greater now than it was a decade ago, and undoubtedly will be greater yet in another decade. The science has grown to match, spilling over into disciplines like genomics, economics, sociology, psychology, and ethics. A decade from now, most likely, a new Edition will be needed. For now, however, this Edition represents the state of the art, covering the latest advances in a rapidly changing subject. I am pleased to be a part of what has been a very satisfying partnership with Elsevier, our editors, and our authors." (Simon Levin)

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2006 - Sadava et al. - Life: The Science of Biology 8th Edition

 

"As active scientists working in a wide variety of both basic and applied biology, we are fortunate to be part of a field that is not only fascinating but also changes rapidly. It is apparent not just in the time span since we started our careers-we see it every day when we open a newspaper or a scientific journal. As educators of both introductory and advanced-level students, we desire to convey our excitement about biology's dynamic nature. 

This new edition of Life looks, and is, quite different from its predecessors. In planning the Eighth Edition, we focused on three fundamental goals, The first was to maintain and enhance what has worked well in the past-an emphasis on not just what we know but how we came to know it; the incorporation of exciting new discoveries; an art program distinguished by its beauty and clarity; plus a unifying theme, As should be the case in any biology textbook, that theme is evolution by natural selection, a 150-year-old idea that more than ever ties together the living world. We have been greatly helped in this endeavor by the addition of a new author, David Hillis, His knowledge and insights have been invaluable in developing our chapters on evolution, phylogeny, and diversity, and they permeatp thp rest of the book as well. 

Our second goal has been to make Life more pedagogically accessible, From the bold new design to the inclusion of numerous learning aids throughout each chapter (see New Pedagogical Features), we have worked to make our writing consistently easy to follow as well as engaging. 

Third, between editions we asked seven distinguished ecologists-ail of whom teach introductory biology-to provide detailed critiques of the Ecology unit. As a result of their extensive suggestions, Part Nine, Ecology, has a fresh organization (see The Nine Parts), And one of the seven, May Berenbaum, has agreed to join the Life author team for the Ninth Edition. The other six stalwarts are thanked in the "Reviewers of the Eighth Edition"section..." (David Sadava, Craig Heller, Gordon Orians, Bill Purves & David Hillis)

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2017 - Mancina & Flores - Diversidad biológica de Cuba, métodos de inventário, monitoreo y coleciones biológicas

 

"Es frecuente en la actualidad encontrar libros que aborden temas biológicos, relacionados con la identificación y clasificación de grupos de seres vivos particulares, así como sobre las metodologías de trabajo especializado que se emplean para su estudio, en correspondencia con diferentes ópticas de investigación. Otros por el contrario se basan en el análisis conceptual de procesos biológicos generales que involucran a diferentes niveles de organización de los sistemas vivientes, sobre todo, relacionados con poblaciones y comunidades. No obstante, en la presente obra el lector encontrará a lo largo de sus 22 capítulos, un compendio de información actualizada, único de su tipo en Cuba, que abarca los grupos más conspicuos de nuestra biodiversidad. Este es el resultado del esfuerzo mancomunado de destacados especialistas de diversas instituciones nacionales, que bajo una óptica común han aunado esfuerzos para sistematizar sus conocimientos y organizarlos de manera uniforme, coherente y atractiva. 

La obra resultante será de gran utilidad tanto para estudiantes de las ramas biológicas y afines, como para especialistas y técnicos que encontrarán en este apretado volumen, respuestas a muchas interrogantes, antes de abordar investigaciones de campo con diferentes alcances, sobre la biodiversidad cubana. Resulta novedoso el nivel de organización logrado en todos sus capítulos, en los cuales se sintetizan, a lo largo de una línea preconcebida, los elementos esenciales a tener en cuenta por los estudiosos de la biología. Línea que parte de elementos generales del grupo bajo estudio y avanza con rigor a través de caracteres taxonómicos específicos, apoyados con esquemas y excelentes fotografías que permiten ganar en claridad sobre las diferencias entre las categorías taxonómicas bajo análisis. 

Destaca a continuación la incorporación de métodos para la evaluación poblacional, con una visión amplia y crítica que propone al lector tanto los más utilizados, como otros que según las necesidades de la investigación, se pueden usar para obtener resultados acorde con los objetivos trazados. Una óptica similar se sigue en relación con la recolecta y toma de muestras biológicas en el campo, tanto para el desarrollo de investigaciones como para el fomento de colecciones científicas en las instituciones autorizadas. Las claves presentes en muchos capítulos, así como la relación de especies registradas en nuestro territorio, en otros, son un aporte más al acervo cultural de todo aquel que atesora conocimientos sobre nuestra biodiversidad.

Se destaca al final de cada capítulo una amplia y actualizada bibliografía, que no sólo justifica los elementos ofrecidos al lector, sino también constituye una sugerencia para el estudio y profundización de los contenidos presentados y con ello un aporte a la superación y unificación de criterios entre los especialistas dedicados al estudio de cada uno de los grupos de la biodiversidad incorporados.

En general resulta loable el esfuerzo realizado por los editores para sintetizar y organizar en esta esmerada presentación tal cúmulo de información, que de seguro constituirá en lo adelante una base metodológica para la elaboración de protocolos de investigación encaminados a discernir sobre aspectos básicos relacionados con el estudio y conservación de nuestra biota." (Dr. C. Martín Acosta Cruz)

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2012 - Maia-Silva et al. - Guia de plantas visitadas por abelhas na Caatinga

 

"O “Guia de plantas da caatinga visitadas por abelhas” insere-se nos  objetivos do Projeto “De Olho na Água” como parte das ações integradas e participativas, fundamentadas em pesquisas científicas e na aplicação de técnicas ecossustentáveis.

A longo prazo, o manejo de abelhas nativas tem um propósito maior além da geração de renda suplementar que a produção de mel pode proporcionar. O ganho maior é a conservação da flora nativa, que tem nesses polinizadores um dos vetores mais importantes para a manutenção da qualidade dos ecossistemas e, consequentemente, da qualidade de vida de todas as espécies. 

Patrocinado pela Petrobras, através do Programa Petrobras Ambiental, o Projeto “De Olho na Água” apresenta esse Guia como o resultado da articulação entre o saber científico e a prática sustentável dos recursos naturais. Daí sua importância num momento crucial em que a humanidade discute em fóruns internacionals a necessidade de um novo paradigma na relação do homem com a natureza. A escolha de implementar este trabalho de plantas visitadas pelas abelhas no Projeto “De Olho na Água” , com a Fundação Brasil Cidadão, foi pelo excelente trabalho de conservação da natureza, em especial do manguezal, desenvolvido em Icapuí, a valorização local do capital natural e a formação de uma nova geração que vai fazer a diferença na gestão dos recursos naturais. 

Este Guia é útil para o reconhecimento destas plantas essenciais para as abelhas que estão na caatinga. Foi construído baseado em trabalhos de campo de teses de doutoramento e projetos de pesquisa desenvolvidos por pesquisadores da Universidade de São Paulo e da Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido, com apoio das agências financiadoras de pesquisa CAPES e CNPq. O estudo identificou as plantas com flores da caatinga e a utilização destes recursos florais pelas abelhas.  Temos árvores, arbustos, herbáceas e trepadeiras importantes para as abelhas da caatinga. Os ramos floridos foram coletados para identificação por especialistas e depositados no Herbário da Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido. 

Desta forma, temos à disposição informações úteis para a população em geral, assim como para aqueles que se dedicam à jardinagem e paisagismo com plantas nativas da caatinga, pois falamos  sobre as flores observadas, suas formas, tamanhos, cores e época de florescimento. As fotografias foram feitas especialmente para este guia. 

Uma aplicação importante deste conhecimento é o incentivo à construção de jardins para polinizadores, uma ação que já é implementada em várias partes do mundo, para conservar as abelhas. Esses jardins podem ter tamanhos variados e são utilizados em residências, escolas, ruas, praças e parques."

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