Contents



Preface

The environment has been altered during the last 200 years, and more dramatically in recent decades, due to climatic change on a global scale as well as anthropogenic activities affecting smaller areas but with significant impact on both natural and cultivated plant communities. The rate of environmental alteration might overcome the natural ability of plants to adapt to new conditions and thus challenge agronomists to breed new plant varieties and find better cultivation techniques to

This book presents different perspectives on how to understand the complex interaction between plants and environment. Plants have phenological adaptations to climate change that might serve as indicators of these same changes. Understanding their plasticity mechanisms is valuable to design breeding strategies for the crops that feed the world. Plant communities are naturally dynamic and exhibit capacity to respond to stimulus to protect themselves from both biotic and abiotic stresses. Understanding these phenomena provides the means to enhance plant resistance to harmful effects, to bring degraded land to healthier conditions, and to make better use of their potential to produce our food.

**Manuel T. Oliveira**

Portugal

Portugal

**Feyza Candan** Biology Department, Arts and Science Faculty, Manisa Celal Bayar University,

Manisa, Turkey

Department Agronomy,

**Anabela Fernandes-Silva**

University Tras os Montes Alto Douro (UTAD),

University Tras os Montes Alto Douro (UTAD),

raise crops capable of sustaining adverse conditions.
