Plant Biology - Hardcover

Linda E. Graham is Professor of Botany and Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She received her Ph.D. in Botany from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Dr. Graham has taught a nonmajors plant biology course each year for more than 20 years. She has a strong desire to inspire students to learn about plants as a way of understanding and appreciating nature. Dr. Graham's teaching focuses on biological topics that every informed citizen should understand in order to make responsible decisions about both the environment and personal well-being. She also teaches courses on the biology of algae and bryophytes, contributes to an introductory biology course for majors, and has taught marine botany on a remote tropical island. Dr. Graham's research explores the evolutionary origin of land-adapted plants, focusing on their cell and molecular biology as well as ecological interactions. Dr. Graham's research and teaching are connected—both inspired by a desire to help preserve the life-sustaining properties of the natural world. Dr. Graham is the co-author of Algae, a majors textbook on algal biology, as well as the author of Origin of Land Plants.

James M. Graham received his Ph.D. in Biological Science from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is an Associate Scientist at the University of Wisconsin- Madison, where he conducts research in the area of microbial ecology. Dr. Graham contributed a chapter on phytoplankton ecology to the textbook Algae, by L. Graham and L. Wilcox. He has also taught a number of courses, including ecology, biology of algae, introductory biology for majors, and introductory botany for non-science majors.

Lee W. Wilcox received his Ph.D. in Botany from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research interests include symbiosis, algal evolution, and plant and algal cell biology. Dr. Wilcox designed the art programs for both Algae and Plant Biology and has provided many original photographs to both texts. He has also contributed scientific illustrations to a variety of other scientific articles and book chapters. During his experience as a graduate teaching assistant and, later, as a guest lecturer in a variety of courses, he became acutely aware of the need to illustrate subject matter clearly and with an eye toward aesthetics in order for students to best appreciate the material.

To the student

Throughout your lifetime you will make many decisions that will influence the ecological and social integrity of our world, as well as your personal life. You will vote, support political candidates, and serve on juries. You may lead major corporations or government agencies, or teach thousands of students. You will decide whether or not to use herbal supplements, consume genetically modified foods, favor organically grown products, harvest wild pants or mushrooms, recycle wastes, purchase energy-efficient vehicles and appliances, select natural fiber clothing, plant gardens or woodlands, or support conservation organizations. A basic knowledge of biology—biological literacy—will provide invaluable background as you make these important decisions.

The study of plant biology is an exciting way to learn many fundamental and useful concepts in biology. Who can deny the appeal of beautiful flowers or breathtaking forested landscapes? While exploring the fascinating world of plants in your course, you will learn that plant biology is more than learning the names of plants and their parts. Plant Biology is also a study of how and why plants are so important in the world. The focus on the function of plants will help you understand that plant biology is key to many newsworthy issues and has many practical applications. This textbook is designed to aid your discovery by focusing on the biological concepts that every educated citizen should know in order to make well-informed decisions that will affect us all.

Plant biology is so important to human life that a vast amount of information has accumulated as the result of scientific discovery. In this textbook we have selected topics for their importance in conveying basic biological concepts, as well as their relevance to human life and issues frequently covered by news media. We provide examples of the scientific process in action, so that you will gain insight into the ways in which plant biologists make discoveries. You will thereby learn how we know the information presented in this textbook.

We hope that you will enjoy your studies of plants as much as we have. Please feel free to let us know what you think about this textbook and if you have ideas for improvement. You can reach us through the Feedback section of the Companion Website that accompanies your text at http://www.prenhall.com/plantbio/.

To the instructor

Our increasingly technological society requires citizens who have( been educated in basic science process and biology, because these serve as a basis for making rational decisions in many critical areas. Non-science majors make up at least two-thirds of college student populations. Accordingly, college academic offerings typically provide science and biology courses that include, or are designed specifically for, nonmajors.

Increasing the level of scientific and biological literacy among introductory students is certainly one of the most important instructional contributions we make, but achieving a high level off student involvement can be a challenge. Plants offer a particularly inviting way to impart biological and scientific literacy because: plants are intrinsically attractive. Students are often very interested in plants as sources of useful materials and as components off familiar and exotic ecosystems. In writing Plant Biology, our principal goal has been to foster biological and scientific literacy., We work toward this by focusing on the function of plants in the' world. Linking important concepts to student interests and issues that appear in the news media, and by providing many attractive, relevant, and compelling examples helps us achieve this goal. We also endeavor to promote student awareness of humans' evolutionary and ecological relationships with other life on Earth, in an effort to cultivate environmental ethics.

Biological and scientific literacy—central themes

Three central themes—global ecology, evolution, and DNA science—that are essential to biological literacy and relevant to everyday issues form this text's focal points. A chapter is devoted to each of these important themes. In addition, they are integrated throughout the text, marked by icons to aid student recognition.

• Evolution
• Ecology
• DNA Science

Book organization

A central core of chapters covers familiar territory—plant structure, reproduction, and evolution (Part 3). The message of this central core is that "plant biology is not only exciting but also useful." You may want to precede this core material with a group of three introductory chapters that focus on human relationships with plants and on naming plants (Part 1). The next series of chapters (Part 2) covers fundamental aspects of biological molecules, cells, and microbes associated with plants, with many examples of applications to plant and animal life. These introductory chapters transmit the message that "learning basic biology is worthwhile."

A final group of chapters (Part 4) explores the lives of plants within their environments—the biomes. The biome chapters are designed to appeal to students' interests while at the same time reinforcing biochemical, cellular, metabolic, structural, genetic, and evolutionary concepts presented earlier in the text. For example, Chapter 27—Grasslands—includes a description of grass fruits and seeds that will reinforce concepts of pollination and dispersal (Chapter 22), general fruit structure and function (Chapter 21), and hormone function during seed germination (Chapter 12). Plant diversity, introduced in Chapter 1 and presented again in an evolutionary context in Chapter 20, is revisited as the ecological roles of bryophytes, ferns, gymnosperms, and angiosperms are emphasized in the biome chapters. The biome chapters also provide an opportunity for richer discussions of environmental issues than are present in other introductory plant biology texts. This is a particular advantage for non-science majors, who may take few or no other biology, ecology, or environmental science courses. In the biome chapters, we hope to convey the message that "understanding plants and their interactions with other organisms and the physical world will help to sustain ourselves and future generations."

Building relevance—chapter organization

To emphasize the significance of the material and to stimulate student interest, each chapter opens with a short list of key concepts that will be addressed in the chapter and an introductory story. The story links the key concepts to a familiar facet of everyday experience or human interest. For example, a plant identification mistake that caused serious human illness is the subject of the opening story for Chapter 3, Naming and Organizing Plants, and Chapter 19—Biological Evolution—opens with a description of Charles Darwin's concerns as a college student and how those influenced his epochal journey on HMS Beagle. The text includes many other examples of plant scientists and their discoveries, because these examples illuminate the process of science, and provide the means for students to search library databases and websites for additional information. Key concepts and opening stories illustrate why it is important for educated people to know something about the topics covered in this book.

Applying botany—essays and examples

Each chapter also includes one or more essays that provide examples of how humans apply basic biological information. "The Botany of Beer (p. 128)," "Heavy-Metal Plants (p. 108)," "Supermarket Botany (p. 190)," and "Restoring a Lost Forest (p. 482)." are examples of timely essay topics that will engage and motivate your students.

Supporting learning

Once students are engaged, we then provide them with the necessary support to learn the concepts. Important concepts are revisited in multiple contexts to aid retention of knowledge. For example, in separate chapters students will learn about the importance of protein-rich legume food crops (p. 18), the role of nitrogen in plant growth and DNA structure (DNA Science, p. 6. the benefits of nitrogen-fixing bacteria associated with legume roots (p. 87), the role of roots in nitrogen absorption (p. 23. global nitrogen cycling and the ecological impact of excess nitrogen-compounds in aquatic systems (Global Ecology, p. 420), insectivory as an evolutionary adaptation to low soil nitrogen content (Evolution, p. 253), and how knowledge about the relationship between plants and nitrogen can be used to reduce environmental degradation (p. 493).

The art program has also been carefully crafted to attr2 and keep student interest and aid learning. The art program which includes hundreds of original photos and illustrations exceptionally high quality, was developed by one of us (Wilcox) as the text was written. The art is thus tightly integrated with the text. Illustrations were designed to increase comprehension among students having little science or biology background by stepping them through complex processes and highlighting relevant details.

Key terms and the names of famous scientists who are linked to important discoveries are set in boldface type. These terms and names will help your students search libraries and the World Wide Web for more information. Netsearch is a tool on the Companion Website designed to help students conduct their searches. End-of-chapter highlights provide useful summaries, and questions at each chapter's end are designed to help you evaluate you students' mastery of the material.

Supplements

Our goal of developing biological and scientific literacy extend to the supplements. To support the instructor and to enhance the students' learning experience, we have developed a robust set a supplemental materials.

For the instructor

Instructor's Resource CD-ROM (0130090891). The I...