Every organism on Earth, whether in natural or anthropogenic environments, is connected to a complex web of life, the famous 'entangled bank' coined by Darwin in 1859. Non-native species can integrate into local 'banks' by establishing novel associations with the resident species. In that context,...

Plants provide a unique ecological niche for diverse communities of fungal endophytes that vary in their impact, positive to negative, on the host plant. Fungal endophytes colonize plants without any visible disease symptoms for at least part of their life history. These symbionts are critical...

In this chapter, an attempt has been made to understand the phylogeny and phylogeography of the genus Gymnocladus and its close relatives. Gymnocladus is a small archaic genus belonging to the family Leguminosae, having very few species and showing interesting patterns of distribution. The genus...

There is mounting evidence that climate change will facilitate biological invasions. Regarding alien species relevant for human health, climate change can modify their impacts by altering the likelihood of their introduction, establishment, distribution and abundance, the scale of impacts and...

This second edition of the book contains 12 chapters, which aims to: (1) to update existing chapters with the tremendous advances in temperate agroforestry knowledge that have come to light in the last 20 years; and (2) if possible, to add new global regional examples of temperate agroforestry....

This chapter defines temperate agroforestry as 'the incorporation of trees into farming systems' or even better, 'farming with trees.' The chapter also provides the historical perspective, key systems and species used in temperate agroforestry. Finally, the chapter describes the structure of the...

This chapter discusses some of the potential benefits and future applications of agroforestry in the USA. A brief overview of the five recognized temperate agroforestry practices in the USA is followed by specific examples for integrating production agriculture and forestry to create more...

This chapter synthesizes the information on Indian temperate agroforestry systems and practices with particular reference to IHR; and highlights their potential to meet the ever-increasing food, fuel, fodder and timber requirements of the society and to provide ecosystem services. It also...

This chapter systematically reviews and updates information on temperate agroforestry systems and research in China. It is established that agroforestry has been practised by Chinese farmers for many centuries and it is becoming more and more important because of its sustainable nature under...

This chapter is a re-work and reflects a maturity in the thinking and practices amongst many of those working in agroforestry development in Australia. It begins with the likely problems, opportunities and aspirations of farmers within the temperate region that might cause them to be interested in...