Physicochemical and Environmental Plant Physiology

The new edition of Physicochemical and Environmental Plant Physiology uses elementary chemistry, physics, and mathematics to explain and develop key concepts in plant physiology. In fundamental ways, all physiological processes that occur in cells, tissues, organs, and organisms obey such relations. Topics include diffusion, membranes, water relations, ion transport, photochemistry, bioenergetics of energy conversion, photosynthesis, environmental influences on plant temperature, and gas exchange for leaves and whole plants. This new edition maintains the unparalleled commitment to clear presentation and improves upon the user friendliness of the previous versions.

Table of Contents:
PrefaceSymbols and Abbreviations1 Cells and Diffusion2 Water3 Solutes4 Light5 Photochemistry of Photosynthesis6 Bioenergetics7 Temperature and Energy Budgets8 Leaves and Fluxes9 Plants and FluxesSolutions to ProblemsAppendix IAppendix IIAppendix IIIAppendix IV

About the Author :
Park S. Nobel is the Distinguished Professor of Biology Emeritus in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Los Angeles. His early career focused on cell physiology, especially chloroplasts, and his first book was entitled Plant Cell Physiology: A Physicochemical Approach (W.H. Freeman, 1970). He eventually shifted toward plant physiological ecology and has written six books on the subject that have been cited extensively. Besides writing these texts, he has published six books on agaves and cacti. He has also authored nearly 400 scientific research articles and reviews. Dr. Nobel has developed original equations for the air boundary layers surrounding cylinders and spheres and has championed the importance of the mesophyll surface area per unit leaf area, Ames/A. Other research topics have included the importance of shallow root distribution for taking advantage of light desert rainfalls and the influences of an air gap developing around roots during drought on root-soil water movement.

Review :
“Nobel’s book has been a cornerstone of plant physiology for over three decades—a must read for any self-respecting plant physiologist. Where else can one find such an analytically precise presentation that couples the engineering equations of ecophysiology to the basic principles of physical chemistry? This edition represents the penultimate integration of the quantitative sciences within the field of plant physiology” --William K. Smith, Wake Forest University “Park Nobel presents, in an unusually lucid and quantitative manner, the fundamentals of plant physiology in relation to basic physical and chemical processes. This book is an important starting point for anyone concerned with the response of plants to their physical environment.” --Harold Mooney, Stanford University "A generation of biologists has turned to Park Nobel's Physicochemical and Environmental Plant Physiology for answers to all fundamental questions about how plants function in the environment...The references are thoroughly updated, and the theory behind newer techniques is explained with Nobel's customary precision and elegance. The many small changes have improved the book without altering its essential rigor and scholarly appeal." --Gretchen North, Occidental College "Basic textbooks on plant physiology lately have become rare...This thoroughly updated third edition can help both undergraduate and graduate students gain a solid foundation in fundamental concepts of plant physiology. The integrative power of physical and chemical background helps the understanding of basic physiological process of photosynthesis and respiration, plant water relations, and the response of plants to the environment. It will also be useful as a supplemental text for courses in agronomy, forestry, functional ecology, and horticulture, and for researches working on the mechanisms underlying plant physiological ecology in natural and cultivated systems." --Eulogio Pimienta-Barrios, Universidad de Guadalajara, Mèxico "I have used and recommended this text since it beginnings because it is unique in its emphasis on a quantitative approach to problems in plant physiology, biophysics and biochemistry...It is important to foster the more quantitative aspects of biology now that the data collecting phase of genomics is maturing. Nobel has consistently provided a text that promotes this goal." --Roger M. Spanswick, Cornell University "Nobel's text, in its various incarnations, has long provided a relatively painless introduction to topics such as diffusion, chemical potentials, active transport, carbon and water fluxes, and energy budgets. It has been accessible to students with little prior training in thermodynamics, physics, or chemistry; its success is attested to by the fact that there really is little in the way of direct competition for the topics it covers. The recent revision maintains the focus of the previous ones, being concerned more with basic concepts than with detailed experimental data, though there is excellent guidance given on the values and ranges of many important physiological parameters... If anyone is capable of helping readers develop this understanding, it is Park Nobel." --ECOLOGY, praise for the 1st edition