Preface 



This book grew out of several successive reorganizations of an 

 introductory course in plant ecology. Since it is intended as an 

 introduction to plant ecology, effort has been made to make it as 

 stimulating as possible while presenting basic information. From 

 experience we know that this ideal is best achieved through study 

 of plant communities with emphasis on field work. The plant 

 community, therefore, is made the basis of this book. 



The plan, in brief, proceeds from a consideration of the nature 

 and variation of communities to methods of distinguishing and 

 describing them. This is followed by a discussion of the factors 

 which limit, maintain, and modify communities both locally and 

 regionally. Thus the interrelationships between organisms and 

 environment are emphasized and a foundation is laid for presenta- 

 tion of the concepts of succession and climax. Then the climax 

 regions of North America become a logical consideration since 

 they are illustrative of all that comes before. To answer the ques- 

 tions which must arise regarding the permanence of climax, a sec- 

 tion is devoted to past climaxes and their study and reconstruction. 

 Finally, the potentialities of the ecological point of view in prac- 

 tical considerations are emphasized by a survey of its possible and 

 desirable applications in range management, agriculture, conserva- 

 tion, landscaping, forestry, and even human relations. 



The intent has been to write a textbook with a wide usefulness. 

 It was assumed that, in some instances, the text material might 

 serve as the complete subject-matter of a course. To this end, the 

 presentation aims at a fairly broad but solid foundation for eco- 

 logical thinking and appreciation. At the same time there is no 

 attempt at completeness, either in subject matter or bibliography, 

 such as might be expected in a reference volume. Although con- 

 troversial issues are not deliberately obscured, they are not em- 



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