Geobiology And Ecology Of Metasequoia

by LePage, Ben A.; Williams, Christopher J.; Yang, Hong

• ISBN13: 9781402026317
• ISBN10: 1402026315
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-01-30
• Publisher: Kluwer Academic Pub

Summary

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 overview 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, geologists, paleobotanists, biogeographers, foresters, ecologists, paleoecologists, 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

Contributors	xi
The Evolution and Biogeographic History of Metasequoia	3	(112)
Ben A. LePage
Hong Yang
Midori Matsumoto
Paleoecology and History of Metasequoia in Japan, with Reference to its Extinction and Survival in East Asia	115	(22)
Arata Momohara
A High-Resolution Palynological Analysis, Axel Heiberg Island, Canadian High Arctic	137	(22)
Suzanna L. Richter
Ben A. LePage
Metasequoia in the Oligocene Bridge Creek Flora of Western North America: Ecological Implications and the History of Research	159	(28)
Herbert W. Meyer
Gunther's Travels: The Odyssey of Metasequoia Seeds from the 1920s?	187	(10)
Judy Barrett Litoff
Cuticle Analysis of Living and Fossil Metasequoia	197	(22)
Qin Leng
Ultrastructural Preservation in Middle Eocene Metasequoia Leaf Tissues from the Buchanan Lake Formation	219	(34)
Karimah Schoenhut
Biomolecules from Living and Fossil Metasequoia: Biological and Geological Applications	253	(32)
Hong Yang
Ecological Characteristics of Metasequoia glyptostroboides	285	(20)
Christopher J. Williams
Physiological Ecology of Metasequoia glyptostroboides Hu et Cheng	305	(30)
David R. Vann
Competitive Advantages of Metasequoia in Warm High Latitudes	335	(18)
Richard Jagels
Maria A. Equiza
Selecting and Propagating New Cultivars of Metasequoia	353	(8)
John Kuser
Cultivars of Metasequoia glyptostroboides	361	(6)
Christophe Nugue
A Conservation Plan for Metasequoia in China	367	(52)
Gaytha A. Langlois
Index	419