This book brings together a selection of original studies submitted to Biodiversity and Conservation addressing aspects of the conservation and biodiversity of plants. Plants are, along with terrestrial vertebrates, the best known organisms on Earth, and and so work on them can be a model for that on less known organism groups. Further, plants are crucial to ecosystem processes, and provide habitats and food for myriads of dependent organisms. At the same time, plants are exploited for food and fuel by humans, and forests continue to be felled for the timber trade or to provide more grazing for cattle. As individual plants are not mobile, they are also particularly vulnerable to global climate change.The contributions are drawn from a wide range of countries from different continents, and collectively provide a snap-shot of the types of studies and actions being taken in plant conservation ' topical examples that will make the volume especially valuable for use in conservation biology courses.

Floristic and structural changes related to opportunistic soil tilling and pasture planting in grassland communities of the Flooding Pampa; C.M. Ghersa et al.- Decreased frugivory and seed germination rate do not reduce seedling recruitment rates of Aristotelia chilensis in a fragmented forest; C.E. Valdivia, J.A. Simonetti.- Vascular plant diversity and climate change in the alpine zone of the Lefka Ori, Crete; G. Kazakis et al.- RAPD variation among North Vietnamese Flemingia macrophylla (Willd.) Kuntze ex Merr. accessions; B. Heider et al.- Non-timber forest product harvesting in alien-dominated forests: effects of frond-harvest and rainfall on the demography of two native Hawaiian ferns; T. Ticktin et al.- Tequila and other Agave spirits from west-central Mexico: current germplasm diversity, conservation and origin; P. Colugna-Garcìamarìn, D. Zizumbo-Villarreal.- Spatial patterns of dicot diversity in Argentina; A. Juàrez et al.- Unsustainable collection and unfair trade? Uncovering and assessing assumptions regarding Central Himalayan medicinal plant conservation; H. Overgaard Larsen, C. Smith Olsen.- Woody plant species richness in the Turvo State park, a large remnant of deciduous Atlantic forest, Brazil; A.R. Ruschel et al.- Genetic diversity ssessment in Somali sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) accessions using microsatellite markers; M. Manzelli et al.- Demand for rubber is causing the loss of high diversity rain forest in SW China; H. Li et al.- Comparing conservation priorities for useful plants among botanists and Tibetan doctors; W. Law, J. Salick.- Environmental heterogeneity and disturbance by humans control much of the tree species diversity of Atlantic montane forest fragments in SE Brazil; J.A.A. Pereira et al.-Correspondence between scientific and traditional ecological knowledge: rain forest classification by the non-indigenous ribereos in Peruvian Amazonia; K.J. Halme, R.E. Bodmer.- Species richness, endemism and conservation of Mexican gymnosperms; R. Contreras-Medina, I. Luna-Vega.- Impacts of El Nio related drought and forest fires on sun bear fruit resources in lowland dipterocarp forest of East Borneo; G.M. Fredriksson et al.- Pollinator shift and reproductive performance of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau endemic and endangered Swertia przewalskii (Gentianaceae); Y.-W. Duan, J.-Q. Liu.- An analysis of altitudinal behavior of tree species in Subansiri district, Eastern Himalaya; M. Dev Behera, S. Prakash Singh Kushwaha.- Distribution, diversity and environmental adaptation of highland papayas (Vasconcellea spp.) in tropical and subtropical America; X. Scheldeman et al.- Ecological niche modeling and geographic distribution of the genus Polianthes L. (Agavaceae) in Mexico: using niche modeling to improve assessments of risk status; E. Solano, T.P. Feria.- The uses, local perceptions and ecological status of 16 woody species of Gadumire Sub-county, Uganda; J.R.S. Tabuti.- Mapping the geographic distribution of Aglaia bourdillonii Gamble (Meliaceae), an endemic and threatened plant, using ecological niche modeling; M. Irfan-Ullah et al.- Optimizing conservation of forest diversity: a country-wide approach in Mexico; M. Ricker et al.- Seeing the wood for the trees: how conservation policies can place greater pressure on village forests in southwest China; D. Melick et al.- Medicinal plant conservation and management: distribution of wild and cultivated species in eight countries; M. Aguilar-Stoen, S.R. Moe.- Biodiversity effects on biomass production and invasion resistance in annual versus perennial plant communities; X.L. Jiang et al.