Description
Book SynopsisPlant diversity sustains all animal life, and the genetic diversity within plants underpins global food security. This text provides a practical and theoretical introduction to the strategies and actions to adopt for conserving plant genetic variation, as well as explaining how humans can exploit this diversity for sustainable development. Notably readable, it initially offers current knowledge on the characterization and evaluation of plant genetic resources. The authors then discuss strategies from in situ and ex situ conservation to crop breeding, exploring how these can be used to improve food security in the face of increasing agrobiodiversity loss, human population growth and climate change. Each chapter draws on examples from the literature or the authors'' research and includes further reading references. Containing other useful features such as a glossary, it is invaluable for professionals and undergraduate and graduate students in plant sciences, ecology, conservation, genet
Trade Review'This work in fact builds on their contributions and will broaden the scope of any student's perspective.' T. Johnson, Choice
Table of ContentsForeword; Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. Establishing the social, political and ethical context; 3. Plant taxonomy; 4. Plant population genetics; 5. Genetic diversity measurement; 6. Planning plant conservation; 7. Conservation strategies and techniques; 8. In situ conservation; 9. On-farm conservation; 10. Community-based conservation; 11. Germplasm collecting; 12. Seed gene bank conservation; 13. Whole plant, plantlet and DNA conservation; 14. Plant uses; 15. Germplasm evaluation; 16. Plant breeding; 17. Participatory plant breeding; 18. Conservation data management; Glossary; Acronyms and Abbreviations; References; Index.
