Crop ecology : productivity and management in agricultural systems

Author(s)

• Loomis, R. S.
• Connor, D. J.

Bibliographic Information

Crop ecology : productivity and management in agricultural systems

R.S. Loomis and D.J. Connor

Cambridge University Press, 1992

• : hardback
• : pbk

Note

Bibliography: p. 493-514

Includes index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

This book is centred on the 'production processes' of crops and pastures - photosynthesis and use of water and nutrients in fields. The book 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 based on courses taught by the authors in Australia and the United States and is designed for use as a text for an introductory course in crop ecology (advanced undergraduates and beginning post-graduate level). It is more than a text, however. Given the wide range of subjects, the authors have integrated reference and background material to create a 'stand-alone' reference work useful to a wide audience of agriculturalists.

Table of Contents

• Part I. Farming Systems and the Biological Components: 1. Agricultural systems
• 2. Community concepts
• 3. Stability
• 4. Genetic resources
• 5. Development
• Part II. Physical and Chemical Environments: 6. Aerial environment
• 7. Soil resources
• Part III. Production Processes: 8. Nitrogen processes
• 9. Water relations
• 10. Photosynthesis
• 11. Respiration and partitioning
• Part IV. Resource Management: 12. Soil management and sustainability
• 13. Strategies and tactics for rainfed agriculture
• 14. Water management in irrigated agriculture
• 15. Energy and labour
• 16. Wheat-sheep farming in Southern Australia
• 17. Mixed farming in the North American Corn Belt
• 18. Towards an uncertain future
• References
• Species list
• Conversions and constants useful in crop ecology
• Index.

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

• NCID: BA18609549
• ISBN:
  • 052138379X
  • 0521387760
• LCCN: 91029201
• Country Code: uk
• Title Language Code: eng
• Text Language Code: eng
• Place of Publication: Cambridge [England]
• Pages/Volumes: xiv, 538 p.
• Size: 25 cm