Book Review

Bryan G. Bowes, ed. 1999. A colour atlas of plant propaga-tion and conservation. 224 pp. London: Manson Pub-lishing Ltd. £29.95 (softback), £48.00 (hardback).

Ideally conservation should be in situ, allowing species tosurvive in their natural wild state, free from interventionand as part of a functioning system. Sadly, as both tropicaland temperate habitats continue to disappear at analarming rate, it is becoming increasingly di�cult to ensurethe protection of many species in the wild, and theirsurvival may depend upon their protection and propagationoutside of their natural environment.

A colour atlas of plant propagation and conservation is anaccessible handbook for those interested in the ®eld of plantpropagation, an essential element of all ex situ conservationprogrammes and restoration ecology. This refreshingly slimand colourful book covers all the main areas of propa-gation, and succeeds in clearly explaining the backgroundto the ®eld and the principle procedures. It also acts as anexcellent reference work for anyone wishing to researchmore fully into this ®eld. As such it will be of great interestto both specialists and students, and at £29.95 (softback) isnot prohibitively expensive. The book is edited by BryanBowes of the University of Glasgow, UK, with each chapterwritten by authorities in the various ®elds covered.

The introductory chapter (Bryan G. Bowes) is launchedby a quote by John Muir from A thousand mile walk to theGulf. John Muir is widely considered to be the father ofconservation, and this short chapter ¯eetingly considers thedevelopment of the conservation ethic and introduces themain themes in the ®eld. With the following two chapters ithighlights the need for conservation and the importance ofplant propagation for conservation programmes. It coversmany topics including the development of the Wardiancase, the origins of plant transport across the world and theConvention on Biological Diversity. However, anyonewanting an in-depth analysis will be disappointed asnothing is covered in any detail, the aim being to providean interesting light philosophical backdrop for the remain-der of the book.

Chapter two (David Rae and David S. Ingram) considersthe rationale of conservation, outlining the many reasonswhy we should conserve biodiversity. It emphasizes theurgent need for action by quoting depressing data from theIUCN Red List of Threatened Plants, which indicates that34 000 species, or 12.5% of the world's ¯ora, faces extinc-tion. Like all the chapters in the book, the facts are fullyreferenced for those who wish to read further, and thischapter should act as a useful reminder, for those who needto be reminded, as towhy we should bother conserving at all.

Chapter three (Mike Maunder and Alastair Culham)takes as its starting point the basic component of botanicaldiversityÐthe species, and describes the fantastic variety of

plant life on earth. It lists the primary causes of human-driven diversity loss and introduces the concept of ex situplant collections, illustrating their importance as integralcomponents of conservation programmes. The importanceof Botanic Gardens as guardians of non-crop wild species isclearly highlighted in this chapter, and the importance of exsitu conservation is made more poignant by case studies ofspecies that have become extinct in the wild e.g. St Helenaredwood (Trochetiopsis erythroxylon), only remaining inprotective custody in cultivation. This chapter concludes bybrie¯y discussing the varied techniques available forassessing genetic diversity, including the measurement ofmorphological and phenetic variation, isozyme and allo-zyme studies and DNA ®ngerprinting techniques.

Chapter four (Don Blaxell) focuses on the process ofplant collecting in the ®eld for scienti®c, horticultural andconservation reasons, and functions as a quick and dirtyguide as to how plants can and should be collected. Itemphasizes the great importance of keeping precisedocumentation on ®eld characters and provenance, andhighlights a few of the things that must be considered beforeconducting ®eldworkÐsuch as the acquisition of appro-priate permits.

However, the function of this chapter is not to be a plantcollector's bible, but to complete the general backgroundon plant diversity and ex situ conservation, before the moretechnical aspects of plant propagation are considered.

Chapters ®ve to 13 provide the main meat of the book,covering a wide range of propagation techniques includingpropagation from seeds and seed preservation (chapter ®ve;Jose M. Iriondo and Ce sar Pe rez), vegetative propagation(chapter six; Paul Matthews), in vitro propagation fromnon-sterile explants (chapter seven; Bryan G. Bowes),in vitro culture (chapter eight; M. Clemente MunÄ oz),in vitro collection (chapter nine; Valerie C. Pence), in vitropropagation (chapter ten; Michael F. Fay and Eric Bunn)and in vitro preservation (chapter 11; D. H. Touchell andK. W. Dixon). These chapters clearly explain the basics ofthese techniques and will be easily understood by students.

The ®nal chapters to this book consider the applicationof in vitro culture for the conservation of forest trees (ScottA. Merkle), anatomical and histological changes inregenerating plants (Bryan G. Bowes), and a couple ofchapters dedicated to two ecological factors a�ecting plantgermination and habitat restoration. The ®rst of these,chapter fourteen (N. A. C. Brown), takes the fynbos ¯ora asits focus and considers the importance of ®re and smoke ingermination and their signi®cance for conservation, whilstchapter ®fteen (Ted St. John) touches on the role ofmycorrhizae in plant communities, the e�ect of disturbanceon mycorrhizae and restoration of mycorrhizal ecosystems.

The penultimate chapter of the book (David Rae) high-lights the conservation of natural populations, giving an

Annals of Botany 85: 703±704, 2000doi:10.1006/anbo.2000.1118, available online at http://www.idealibrary.com on

0305-7364/00/050703+02 $35.00/00 # 2000 Annals of Botany Company

overview of the issues and techniques involved in in situconservation. It details the many techniques available forconserving whole ecosystems, including the reintroductionof cultivated plants back into the wild. It emphasizes theimportance of understanding genetic variation withinpopulations, plant breeding systems and dispersal mechan-isms, upon which the success of any conservation pro-gramme depends. The ®nal chapter (Ghillean T. Prance)summarizes the ®ndings of the book, looking at theimportance of both ex situ and in situ conservation, andlisting their limitations.

In short, this is an excellent book. Specialists in the many®elds of plant propagation covered in this book are unlikelyto learn anything new as the level throughout is necessarilybasic, but the detailed references given provide a good basisfor anyone wishing to delve more deeply into the science.

As such the book is certainly a worthwhile addition tobotanical libraries, laboratories focusing on plant propaga-tion, or anyone with an interest in ex situ conservation.What makes the book all the more attractive are the manyhigh-quality photographs (over 300) and the accessible textusing simple non-jargonized English. In fact the overallpresentation is excellent. Where technical terms are usedtheir meaning is de®ned in a clear glossary. Sadly there israther unsatisfactory coverage of the Convention onBiological Diversity with its profound implications forthose individuals and institutes involved in plant propa-gation and conservation. A more detailed consideration ofits impact would have been useful, although perhaps thislies outside the scope of this book which already covers anextremely wide range of topics.

S. Bridgewater

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