22 April 2005
Ben A. LePage, Christopher J. Williams and Hong Yang (Edited by)
The GEOBIOLOGY and ECOLOGY of  METASEQUOIA

Metasequoia - Cover Topics in Geobiology, Volume 22, Series Editor: Neil H. Landman and Douglas S. Jones, Springer, The Netherlands, 2005, 434 pages, black-and-white photographs, maps, tables, index
ISBN 1-4020-2631-5

Back Cover

"The plant fossil record provides evidence that the genus Metasequoia was widely distributed and experienced a wide range of climatic and environmental conditions throughout the Northern Hemisphere from the early Late Cretaceous to the Plio-Pleistocene. Today the genus is limited to one species with approximately 5’000 mature individuals growing in the Xiahoe Valley in southeastern China. This book is a distillation of the collective efforts and results of the world’s Metasequoia specialists and enthusiasts. It is the most up-to-date and comprehensive reference source for the genus and the authors have sought to incorporate obscure, hard-to-get and non-English reference sources. The book reviews what is known about the biology, ecology and physiology of fossil and living Metasequoia, current research directions and problems that remain unresolved.

This book presents a definitive oveview of fossil and living Metasequoia and was written by sixteen of the world’s experts on this important genus. Given the reality of increasing human pressure and the inevitability of global change, efforts to conserve this ancient genus are underway. This book will be of interest to botanists, ecophysiologists, geochemists, climate modelers, geneticists, naturalists, science historians, and gardeners and will be useful as a supplemental text for advanced undergraduate and graduate level courses in paleoecology."

Table of Contents
Contributorsxi
1.Ben A. LePage, Hong Yang and Midori Matsumoto
The Evolution and Biogeographic History of Metasequoia3
2.Arata Momohara
Paleoecology and History of Metasequoia in Japan, with Reference to its Extinction and Survival in East Asia115
3.Suzanna L. Richter and Ben A. LePage
A High-Resolution Palynological Analysis, Axel Heiberg Island, Canadian High Arctic 137
4.Herbert W. Meyer
Metasequoia in the Oligocene Bridge Creek Flora of Western North America: Ecological Implications and the History of Research 159
5.Judy Barrett Litoff
Gunther's Travels: The Odyssey of Metasèquoia Seeds from the 1920s? 187
6.Qin Leng
Cuticle Analysis of Living and Fossil Metasequoia 197
7.Karimah Schoenhut
Ultrastructural Preservation in Middle Eocene Metasequoia Leaf Tissues from the Buchanan Lake Formation 219
8.Hong Yang
Biomolecules from Living and Fossil Metasequoia: Biological and Geological Applications 253
9.Christopher J. Williams
Ecological Characteristics of Metasequoia glyptostroboides 285
10.David R. Vann
Physio1ogical Ecology of Metasequoia glyptostroboides Hu et Cheng 305
11.Richard Jagels and Maria A. Equiza
Competitive Advantages of Metasequoia in Warm High Latitudes335
12.John Kuser
Selecting and Propagating New Cultivars of Metasequoia353
13.Christophe Nugue
Cultivars of Metasequoia glyptostroboides361
14.Gaytha A. Langlois
A Conservation Plan for Metasequoia in China367
Index419


23 April 2005
Back         Home