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The new edition of Physicochemical and Environmental Plant Physiology uses elementary chemistry, physics, and mathematics to explain and develop key concepts in plant physiology. In fundamental ways, all physiological processes that occur in cells, tissues, organs, and organisms obey such relations. Topics include diffusion, membranes, water relations, ion transport, photochemistry, bioenergetics of energy conversion, photosynthesis, environmental influences on plant temperature, and gas exchange for leaves and whole plants. This new edition maintains the unparalleled commitment to clear presentation and improves upon the user friendliness of the previous versions.

Submerged macrophytes play a crucial role in lake ecosystems, and their survival is dependent upon their ability to cope with variable environmental stress. Therefore, studying the plastic response of submerged macrophytes' resource allocation and functional traits to the environment may provide insights helpful for ecological restoration practices. In September 2021, a field survey was conducted in the Erhai Lake, where samples of Ottelia acuminata, and functional traits and biomass allocation in relation to water depth were measured. The study found that O. acuminata exhibited large intraspecific variations to adapt to environmental stress, and the average intraspecific variation was 55.86%. In the current environment, this study suggested that the optimal growth depth for O. acuminata is moderate water depth (1-2 m). The results of allometric growth analysis showed that the resource allocation of O. acuminata responded to the water depth with the synergistic effect of leaf area and shoot height. In shallow water, the resource allocation of O. acuminata was mainly used for leaf area growth, while in deep water, the increase of shoot height was mainly used to cope with stress. This research will provide us useful information for the ecological restoration and protection of this endemic and endangered submerged macrophyte.

Magnitude and quality of life as well as sustainable human progress inescapably depend on the state of our environment. The environment, in essence, is a common resource of all the living organisms in the biosphere as well as a vivacious basis of the evolution of life on Earth. A sustainable future broods over a sustainable environment - an environment encompassing life-originating, life-supporting and life-sustaining uniqueness. Deteriorating environment haplessly sets in appalling conditions leading to shrinkage of life and a halt in human progress. The current global environment scenario is extremely dismal. Environmental disruptions, largely owing to anthropogenic activities, are steadily leading to awful climate change. Horribly advancing towards mass extinction in near or distant future and posing a threat to our Living Planet, the unabatedly on-going climate change, in fact, is an unprecedented issue of human concern about life in the recorded human history. How to get rid of the environmental mess and resolve environmental issues leading to climate change mitigation is the foremost challenge facing humanity in our times. There are several measures the whole world is resorting to. They are primarily focused on cutting down excessive carbon emissions by means of development of technological alternatives, for example, increasing mechanical efficiencies and ever more dependence of clean energy sources. These are of great importance, but there is yet a natural phenomenon that has been and will unceasingly be pivotal to maintain climate order of the Earth. For it to phenomenally boost we need to explore deeper aspects of environmental science. It is the environmental plant physiology that links us with deeper roots of life. Environmental Plant Physiology: Botanical Strategies for a Climate Smart Planet attempts to assimilate a relatively new subject that helps us understand the very phenomenon of life that persists in the planet's environment and depends on and influenced by a specific set of operating environmental factors. It is the subject that helps us understand adaptation mechanisms within a variety of habitats as well as the implications of the alterations of environmental factors on the inhabiting organisms, their populations and communities. Further, this book can also be of vital importance for policy makers and organizations dealing with climate related issues and committed to the cause of the Earth. This book can be instrumental in formulating strategies that can lead us to a climate smart planet.

The relationship between stomatal conductance (gₛ) and leaf water potential (Ψₗ) is key to the understanding of plant function under changing climate. The variability among tree species gave rise to selection towards either of two contrasting water management types: isohydric or anisohydric. This study explores the variability of gₛ to Ψₗ across tree species. Curves of gₛ(Ψₗ) were collected from the scientific literature for 70 woody plant species. The data set is comprised of angiosperm and gymnosperm species from all major forest biomes. The hypothesis that curves from different tree species diverge between isohydric and anisohydric behaviours was tested. Species‐specific curves formed a continuum, rather than dichotomy between isohydric and anisohydric, as confirmed by distribution models. Alternatively, the water potential at 50% of the maximum gₛ (Ψgₛ50) was used to quantitatively compare between species. A major difference emerged among xylem anatomy classes whereby ring‐porous species had higher absolute gₛ at Ψₗ < −2 MPa than diffuse‐porous and coniferous species. A positive, linear correlation was shown between Ψgₛ50 and Ψₗ at 50% loss of xylem conductivity. The results suggest that stomatal sensitivity to leaf water potential strongly relates to xylem characteristics. The use of Ψgₛ50 offers a quantitative alternative to the current, yet biased, distinction between isohydric and anisohydric species.

The root economics spectrum (RES) hypothesis predicts that fast‐growing tree species have short‐lived roots with high specific root length (SRL) to allow rapid resource uptake, and opposite trait expressions for slow‐growing species. Yet, the mixed support for this hypothesis suggests that trees can adopt alternative strategies to increase resource uptake, besides an increase in SRL. We combined a novel mechanistic whole‐tree model and empirical fine‐root data of 10 tree species to test the effects of one of these alternative strategies, notably increasing fine‐root mass, on the tree's net C gain (used here as a proxy for tree performance), and to assess how fine‐root life span influences the relative importance of SRL and fine‐root mass for the C balance of trees. Our results indicate that accounting for the short life span of high‐SRL roots has important implications for explaining tree performance and the role of roots herein. Without considering their faster turnover, high‐SRL roots and low fine‐root mass resulted in the highest performance as predicted from the RES. Yet, when their higher turnover rates were accounted for, a high fine‐root mass and low SRL lead to the highest performance. Both our model outcomes and field data further show a negative relationship between SRL and fine‐root mass through which species aim to realize a similar root length density. This trade‐off further indicates how high a SRL and low fine‐root mass as well as opposite trait values can both lead to a positive C balance in a similar environment. Our study may explain why high‐SRL roots do not necessarily lead to the fastest tree growth as often hypothesized and demonstrates the importance of fine‐root mass in combination with fine‐root life span for explaining interspecific differences in tree performance. More generally, our work demonstrates the value of identifying and investigating different below‐ground strategies across species from a whole‐plant modelling perspective, and identifies the relationship between SRL, fine‐root biomass and life span as an important functional dimension to variation in species’ performance. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

1. Recent evidence indicates tight control of plant resource economics over interspecific trait variation amongst species, both within and across organs, referred to as 'plant economics spectrum' (PES). Whether and how these coordinated whole-plant economics strategies can influence the decomposition system and thereby impact on ecosystem carbon and nutrient cycling are yet an open question. More specifically, it is yet unknown whether plant functional traits have consistent afterlife effects across different plant organs. 2. To answer those questions, we conducted a common-garden decomposition experiment bringing together leaves, fine stems, coarse stems, fine roots and reproductive parts from a wide range of subarctic plant types, clades and environments. We measured all plant parts for the same (green and litter) plant economics traits and identified a whole-plant axis of carbon and nutrient economics. 3. We demonstrated that our local 'PES' has important afterlife effects on carbon turnover by driving coordinated decomposition rates of different organs across species. All organ decomposabilities were consistently controlled by the same structure-related traits (lignin, C and dry matter content) whilst nutrient-related traits (N, P, pH, phenols) had more variable influence, likely due to their contrasting functions across organs. Nevertheless, consistent shifts in elevation of parallel trait-decomposition relationships between organs indicate that other variables, potentially related to organ dimensions, configuration or chemical contents, codetermine litter decomposition rates. 4. Whilst the coordinated litter decomposabilities across species organs imply a coordinated impact of plant above-ground and below-ground litters on plant–soil feedbacks, the contrasting decomposabilities between plant parts suggest a major role for the relative inputs of organ litter as driver of soil properties and ecosystem biogeochemistry. These relationships, underpinning the afterlife effects of the PES on whole-plant litter decomposability, will provide comprehensive input of vegetation composition feedback to soil carbon turnover.

Acrachne racemosa (B. Heyne. ex Roem. & Schult.) Ohwi of the subfamily Chloridoideae of the family Poaceae is an economically important grass species. Grasses are characterized by deposits of silica in the cells or tissues in the form of phytoliths which protect them from various types of biotic and abiotic stresses. Owing to variable shape and specificity of morphotypes, phytolith helps in taxonomical studies, reconstruction of paleoenvironments and prediction of climate changes. The present study focussed on developing a phytolith profile of the selected species. For isolation of phytolith, Dry Ashing Method was employed, and by epidermal peeling, in-situ location of phytoliths was deciphered. In the present study, silica percentage was studied from different parts of the plant and the maximum amount was found in the leaf. Frequency and morphometric data of phytolith morphotypes from different parts of the plants were also collected and analyzed. The strongest correlation was found between phytolith types of root and culm by Pearson's correlation coefficient supported by cluster analysis. The saddle type of phytoliths had the highest frequency in the leaf; other types of phytoliths in different parts of the plant were bilobate, blocky types, elongate types, trapezoids, triangular, cross, sinuate elongate, tabular types, globular types. Functional groups and amorphous polymorphic phases of silica were also analyzed by FTIR and XRD. It was concluded that phytolith types are controlled by parts of plant body and by anatomical and environmental factors.