

e 



^ A MASS. /^ <;y^ 



REINHOI^D BOOKS IN 



Consulting Editor: 

 Professor Peter Gray 



Department of Biological Sciences 



University of Pittsburgh 



Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 



The plant community is the heart and soul of any ecological system. 

 Yet, surprisingly enough, it is often neglected in ecological texts since 

 the animal community is so much more spectacular. I therefore wel- 

 come Dr. Hanson's and Dr. Churchill's book to the Reinhold Books 

 in the Biological Sciences as a book which will make plant ecology 

 exciting to any reader. Though the book is intended as a text for a 

 short course, it cannot fail to interest anyone concerned with the 

 maintenance and development of life on this planet. 



Unlike many contemporary ecological texts, this work does not 

 neglect taxonomy in theory or practice, so that the reader starts with 

 a clear realization of the role of a species in helping to build a com- 

 munity, and goes from there to an understanding of the community 

 as a functional entity. 



The authors have drawn not only from their own wide experience 

 of many natural environments but also from the whole field of eco- 

 logical literature to build a book which offers a fresh, well-integrated 

 approach to a subject which should be of universal interest. 



February, 1961 Peter Gray 



