Crop Ecology : Productivity and Management in Agricultural Systems

This book is centered on the "production processes" of crops and pastures, photosynthesis, and use of water and nutrients in fields. It is unique in its combination of great breadth and depth in its treatment of production processes and systems problems. The approach is explanatory and integrative, with a firm basis in environmental physics, soils, physiology, and morphology, in contrast to descriptive or reductionist approaches. Systems concepts are introduced early and expanded as the book proceeds, giving emphasis to quantitative approaches, to management strategies and tactics employed by farmers, and to environmental issues. The systems approach is brought together in the final chapters where production and nutrient cycling are analyzed, for example farms and problems in an uncertain future are considered. The book is designed for use as a text for an introductory course in crop ecology (advanced undergraduates and beginning post-graduate level). In addition, given the wide range of subjects, the integrated references, and the background material included, it can also be considered a "stand-alone" reference work useful to agriculturalists and botanists.