Journal of Environmental Quality 30:272-273 (2001)
© 2001 American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America
BOOK REVIEW
Environmental Pollution and Plant Responses
J. Augustin
Edited by Shashi Bhushan Agrawal and Madhoolika Agrawal, Lewis Publishers/CRC Press, 2000 Corporate Blvd. N.W., Boca Raton, FL 33431. 2000. 393 p. ISBN 1-56670-341-7.
The number of publications on environmental pollution dramatically increases every year. Even for specialists, it becomes more and more difficult to keep bearing through it and preserve the connection to the current state of knowledge. Well-investigated review articles written by competent specialists can ease this awkward situation. The book presented here follows this request. In this case, the central objective is to procure the current state of knowledge of different forms of environmental pollution to plants. The attempt is made to cover information from biochemical interactions of cells and tissues up to the effects on planting communities at a regional scale. It is the editor's special matter of concern to stress the practical and/or economic consequences of pollution for current and future land use in agriculture, horticulture, and forestry. Special attention is given to developing countries because of the explosiveness of the problems that loom on the horizon.
Providing knowledge generally follows the principle "... to evaluate what is known, identify the information gaps, and provide direction for future research in view of the present uncertainties about and range of potential environmental problems and consequent changes." The book contains 21 concise chapters, which were all written by well-known experts. Chapters are grouped around specific emphases, starting with reports on the effects of global climate change. Chapter 1 gives a general survey that sets the scene for subsequent contributions dedicated to more specialized questions. The uncertainties in estimating the effects of climate changes are stressed. This essentially results from a lack of available and suitable investigation methods. However, in this context it is somewhat surprising that in this context possible effects of (i) increasing CO2 concentrations and temperatures, (ii) raised tropospheric ozone concentrations, and (iii) amplified ultraviolet-B radiation are discussed. Chapter 2 concentrates on effects of global change on woody perennials. In this case climate change is essentially understood as a CO2 effect. Chapter 3 focuses on interactions between raised CO2 concentrations and plant water use efficiency. In Chapter 4 a very interesting approach is presented to bypass many of the methodic problems that hamper recording of long-term effects of raised CO2 concentrations on plant growth: The use of plants that grow and develop near sites of natural CO2 sources such as geothermal springs. The authors of Chapter 5 examine the effects of ultraviolet-B radiation on plants. Chapter 6 contains a review on the effects of various air pollutants on plant growth that is extended in the following contributions. In Chapter 7 the reader finds an overview on air pollution emission and vegetation damage in South America. The topic of Chapter 8 is the influence of the air pollutants on plant diversity while Chapter 9 is dedicated to the effect of tropospheric ozone on trees. In Chapters 10 through 13, selected mechanisms and processes are dealt with, all playing an important role for protection from and/or tolerance against ozone as well as its amelioration. Chapter 14 is special because it contains a compilation of reports on sources, atmospheric transportation, and sinks of tropospheric nitrous and nitric acids. Chapter 15 is a survey about the influence of sulfur dioxide and acid deposition on Chinese crops. Chapters 16 through 20 cover a range of indicators for air pollution, for example phytomonitoring as such, passive ozone monitors, pollens of wild plants, and lichens. Chapter 21 gives an overview on biochemical aspects of plant tolerance against toxic heavy metal concentrations caused by phytochelatins.
The reader will find that almost all contributions are written very concisely. Therefore, they offer readers a good possibility to make themselves familiar with very particular aspects of the effects of pollution on plants. However, the intention of the book, to give a comprehensive overview on the effects of pollution on plants, is only realized in part. It is well done regarding the influence of air pollution on plants. However, only limited information is given on the influence of, for example, organic pollutants, heavy metals, and radionuclides. As a result, the selection and list of contributions in some aspects appear somewhat random. Perhaps it would have been better to restrict the book to one aspect, for example, the effect of air pollutants on plants, covering the molecular basics to the global economic consequences and possible defense strategies.
Despite these shortcomings the book will attract a broad readership that extends from the profiled scientists to undergraduate students, environmental research institutions, industry, agriculture, government, and nongovernment organizations. Last but not least, this book can be recommended to teachers because of the highly interesting topics and the short and concise presentation.—J. AUGUSTIN, ZALF e.V., Eberswalder Str. 84, D-15374 Muencheberg, Germany (jaug@zalf.de).
