In 2007, the first edition of Handbook of Plant Nutrition presented a compendium of information on the mineral nutrition of plants available at that time--and became a bestseller and trusted resource. Updated to reflect recent advances in knowledge of plant nutrition, the second edition continues this tradition. With chapters written by a new team of experts, each element is covered in a different manner, providing a fresh look and new understanding of the material. The chapters extensively explore the relationship between plant genetics and the accumulation and use of nutrients by plants, adding to the coverage available in the first edition.
The second edition features a chapter on lanthanides, which have gained importance in plant nutrition since the publication of the first edition, and contains chapters on the different mineral elements. It follows the general pattern of a description of the determination of essentiality or beneficial effects of the element, uptake and assimilation, physiological responses of plants to the element, genetics of its acquisition by plants, concentrations of the element and its derivatives and metabolites in plants, interaction of the element with uptake of other elements, diagnosis of concentrations of the element in plants, forms and concentrations of the element in soils and its availability to plants, soil tests and fertilizers used to supply the element.
The book demonstrates how the appearance and composition of plants can be used to assess nutritional status and the value of soil tests for assessing nutrition status. It also includes recommendations of fertilizers that can be applied to remedy nutritional deficiencies. These features and more make Handbook of Plant Nutrition, Second Edition a practical, easy-to-use reference for determining, monitoring, and improving the nutritional profiles of plants worldwide.
Allen V. Barker is a professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he has taught subjects of organic farming, soil fertility, and plant nutrition for 50 years. His research has addressed nitrogen nutrition of crops with emphasis on ammonium nutrition and on the interactions of nitrogen with other elements in affecting crop growth and nutrient accumulation. He is a member of editorial boards of several journals that publish articles on plant nutrition. He wrote Science and Technology of Organic Farming, which is also published by CRC Press, and with David J. Pilbeam edited the First Edition of Handbook of Plant Nutrition.
David J. Pilbeam has over 30 years' experience of research and teaching on plant nutrition and physiology at the University of Leeds, UK. He has published particularly on the physiology of uptake and assimilation of inorganic nitrogen by plants but also on the accumulation of other elements. As well as research on the physiological aspects of plant nutrition, David has published on more agronomic aspects of plant growth and nutrition, including work on intercropping, novel crops, and agroforestry. Together with Allen Barker, David edited the First Edition of Handbook of Plant Nutrition in 2007. He is currently a member of the editorial board of Journal of Plant Nutrition.
