Australian Vegetation

Description

Australian Vegetation has been an essential reference for students and researchers in botany, ecology and natural resource management for over 35 years. Now fully updated and with a new team of authors, the third edition presents the latest insights on the patterns and processes that shaped the vegetation of Australia. The first part of the book provides a synthesis of ecological processes that influence vegetation traits throughout the continent, using a new classification of vegetation. New chapters examine the influences of climate, soils, fire regimes, herbivores and aboriginal people on vegetation, in addition to completely revised chapters on evolutionary biogeography, quaternary vegetation history and alien plants. The book's second half presents detailed ecological portraits for each major vegetation type and offers data-rich perspectives and comparative analysis presented in tables, graphs, maps and colour illustrations. This authoritative book will inspire readers to learn and explore first-hand the vegetation of Australia.

David A. Keith is Professor of Botany in the Centre for Ecosystem Science at the University of New South Wales, Australia and he also works at the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage. He won the Australian Ecology Research Award in 2013 and led the team who were awarded the 2015 Eureka Prize for Environmental Research. He is the author of the award-winning book Ocean Shores to Desert Dunes: The Native Vegetation of New South Wales and the ACT (2004).

'This book is a landmark of Australian science. It is one of the fundamental elements on which research, planning and policy development are built. David A. Keith leads a group of Australia's foremost plant ecologists to produce the new edition. It is an outstanding achievement. It provides a clarity of writing and level of scientific rigour that equals or exceeds any equivalent endeavour internationally. Part I explains the origins of and the forces acting on the Australian vegetation. Part II describes the sixteen primary vegetation types and subtypes, and includes their interactions, conservation challenges and practical management. Quite simply, this is a great book.' Mark Burgman, Imperial College London 'The first two editions of Australian Vegetation, edited by Richard Groves, were valuable resources for anyone requiring an overview of Australia's plant cover, and foundation references for many undergraduate courses. For the third edition the editorial baton has passed to David A. Keith, who has assembled a large cast of authors, all well-known experts in their fields ... the volume has grown, but necessarily so, to incorporate the great increase in knowledge over the last three decades, and also the change in the predominant paradigm underlying present approaches to conservation and land management ... The book is a tour de force, and will become the essential text for anyone interested in Australia's vegetation. Australia has the distinction of being both a nation and a continent, and the book will thus attract an international audience of those interested in comparative ecology at the global scale.' Paul Adam, University of New South Wales, Australia