Palms are tropical miracles. Heinrich Heine, the German poet, stated "Unter den Palmen wandert man nicht ungestraft", i.e., one does not wander unpunished under the palms. It was Professor H.C.D. de Wit who taught me this in the late 1950s, and it is a pleasure to forward this message to the next generation in such an appropriate book. Both authors, as I know them, will bear the punishment of the palms. They will never be without palm nostalgia if and when living somewhere outside this world's tropical and subtropical palm belt. Palm nostalgia goes further than palms alone. It concerns the landscape, the short but splendid sunsets and last, but not least, the tropical people. Their elegance of living, structured in subtler ways than managers will ever understand, their laughter which may be a more decisive weapon against the troubles besetting the tropics than mere economics, and their unique life force erupting on festive as well as sad occasions under the palms will always remain with those who w3)ldered beneath these trees. I know. I was there.

Klappentext

This book draws a picture of the palm communities in themain forest ecosystems of Amazonia, taking into accounttheir geographical variability. In particular, the majortrends of adaptive radiation of palms as well as their rolein forest functioning are analysed and answers to thefollowing questions are given:- How many palm species are there in Amazonian forest ecosystems?- Is palm species richness equal throughout the basin?- Which are the palm-richest ecosystems?- What about density and life forms, structure of the com- munities, palm productivity, relationship with animals, and with humans?- What is thepalms' economic potential?- How to use the natural populations of palms forforest management?A supplement to the text offers a practical key for theidentification of palms with an elementary description ofeach genusbased on the characteristics of Amazonianspecies, and the most vernacular names.

Inhalt
1 Amazonian Palm Flora - General Considerations.- 1.1 Richness of Amazonian Palm Flora.- 1.2 The Major Groups of the Amazonian Palms.- 1.3 Palm Distribution in Amazonia.- 1.4 Conclusion.- 2 Life Forms of Amazonian Palms.- 2.1 Growth Models of Amazonian Palms.- 2.2 What Kind of Plants Are the Amazonian Palms?.- 3 Palm Communities in the Forest Ecosystems of Amazonia.- 3.1 Introduction.- 3.2 Methods.- 3.3 Unflooded Forests.- 3.4 Flooded Forests.- 3.5 Montane Forests.- 3.6 Secondary Forest.- 3.7 Savannahs.- 3.8 Inselbergs.- 3.9 Conclusion.- 4 Palm Distribution as a Function of Soil Drainage, Topography, Forest Architecture and Dynamics, and Human Activities.- 4.1 Introduction.- 4.2 Soil Drainage and Topography.- 4.3 Forest Architecture and Dynamics.- 4.4 Topography, Soil Drainage, and Forest Architecture and Dynamics.- 4.5 Human Activities.- 5 Some Aspects of the Adaptive Radiation of Palms in Amazonia.- 5.1 Major Trends of the Adaptive Radiation of Palms.- 5.2 Some Phylogenic Aspects in Life Forms.- 5.3 Adaptive Value of Some Leaf and Root Structures.- 5.4 Overview of the Adaptive Radiation of Palms: Ecosystems, Life Forms, and Most Representative Species.- 6 Palms as Functional Components in Forest Ecosystems.- 6.1 Introduction.- 6.2 Palm Productivity.- 6.3 Palms and Animals in Amazonian Forests.- 6.4 Palms as Litter Collectors.- 6.5 Discussion.- 7 Palms and Forest Management in Amazonia.- 7.1 Uses and Economic Potential of Amazonian Native Palms.- 7.2 Useful Palms in Forest Ecosystems.- 7.3 Palms as a Key in Swamp Forest Management.- 8 Conclusion.- Supplement.- References.- Index of Latin Names.