Grassland farming in Europe was already established during the settlement of the rst farmers together with their domesticated animals after the last ice age. Since then, grassland provides the forage basis to feed ruminant animals for the p- duction of meat and milk. Depending on the ecological conditions and intensity of usage, various plant communities with different species developed, displaying a rich biodiversity. With the introduction of improved crop rotations at the end of the 16th century, grasses and legumes were also grown to an important extent as forage crops on arable land. In the last decades the importance of amenity grasses increased markedly, due to the demand of the society for new usages like landscape protection. Around 1900 interested farmers and academics identi ed the need for gra- land improvement through systematic selection and seed production. This marks the beginning of breeding and research in companies but also at universities and specialized research institutes. Plant collection started with many of the species that are still of importance today. The collected materials were grouped according to the intended use and some type of phenotypic selection was applied. Seed mul- plication of such populations was performed in pure stands and the harvested seed was marketed. Although the vegetative biomass and its quality are of utmost imp- tance in forage crop breeding, it is the seed yield potential which determines the commercial success of a new variety.

"Book and Multimedia Publishing Committee; David Baltensperger, chair ... [et al.]."

Grassland produces feed for livestock, improves soil fertility and structure, protects water resources and may contribute to climate change mitigation through carbon storage and to biodiversity preservation. It simultaneously maintains sustainable economic outputs for farmers and provides ecosystem services. Turf similarly c- siderably contributes to our environment by adding beauty to our surroundings, providing a safe playing surface for sports and recreation. The species diversity present in most grasslands and turfs is a functional div- sity contributing to the previously mentioned agronomic and environmental bene?ts. The species belong to different functional groups and the adequate species com- sition may maximise the agronomic performance through a higher production and a better quality and the environmental bene?ts through symbiotic nitrogen ?xation or sources of pollen and nectar to pollinators. In a given grassland or turf, the genetic diversity available in each variety contributes to this economic and environmental performance, but also to the stability of these performances including the stability of the resistance against pathogens and pests. Natural grasslands share many species with the sown swards. They may be regarded as favourable sites for in situ preservation of genetic diversity as well as valuable sources of diversity for breeding.

"This book contains a compilation of offered papers presented at the main congress of the XX International Grassland Congress held in University College Dublin, Ireland from 26 June to 1 July, 2005. It is complemented by six other books arising from the XX IGC as listed on the back cover: the book of invited papers from the main congress and five books containing the proceedings of five satellite workshops held immediately after the main congress at locations in the UK and Ireland (Aberystwyth, Belfast, Cork, Glasgow and Oxford). The workshops were designed to facilitate more in-depth presentations and discussions on more specialised topics of worldwide significance. The main congress brought together scientists from many disciplines, policy makers, consultants and producers involved directly in grass production and utilisation, as well as people in associated industries. They discussed issues around the theme of the congress, Grasslands : a Global Resource. The congress programme was organised around three main thematic areas: Efficient Production from Grassland Grassland and the Environment Delivering the Benefits from Grassland"

Since its first publication in 1991, New Flora of the British Isles has become established as the standard work on the identification of the wild vascular plants of the British Isles. The Flora remains unique in many features, including its full coverage of all British wild plants, its user-friendly organisation, and its specially compiled keys and descriptions. This new edition includes the addition of more than 160 species, so that 4,800 taxa are now covered in varying degrees of detail. It also incorporates the new molecular system of classification based on DNA sequences. Furthermore, it includes 1600 species illustrations, rewritten distributions and an overhaul of the designation of degrees of rarity, with the introduction of a third, less rare, category. These revisions should ensure that this third edition remains the essential reference source for all taxonomists, ecologists, conservationists, plant hunters and biogeographers, whether they be researchers, teachers, students or amateurs.

Understanding plant responses to abiotic stresses is central to our ability to predict the impact of global change and environmental pollution on the production of food, feed and forestry. Besides increasing carbon dioxide concentration and rising global temperature, increasingly frequent and severe climatic events (e.g. extended droughts, heat waves, flooding) are expected in the coming decades. Additionally, pollution (e.g. heavy metals, gaseous pollutants such as ozone or sulfur dioxide) is an important factor in many regions, decreasing plant productivity and product quality. This Research topic focuses on stress responses at the level of whole plants, addressing biomass-related processes (development of the root system, root respiration/fermentation, leaf expansion, stomatal regulation, photosynthetic capacity, leaf senescence, yield) and interactions between organs (transport via xylem and phloem, long-distance signaling and secondary metabolites). Comparisons between species and between varieties of the same species are helpful to evaluate the potential for species selection and genetic improvement. This research topic is focused on the following abiotic stresses and interactions between them: - Increased carbon dioxide concentration in ambient air is an important parameter influenced by global change and affects photosynthesis, stomatal regulation, plant growth and finally yield. - Elevated temperature: both the steady rise in average temperature and extreme events of shorter duration (heat waves) must be considered in the context of alterations in carbon balance through increased photorespiration, decreased Rubisco activation and carboxylation efficiency, damage to photosynthetic apparatus, as well as loss of water via transpiration and stomatal sensitivity. - Low temperatures (late frosts, prolonged cold phases, freezing temperature) can decrease overwintering survival rates, productivity of crop plants and species composition in meadows. - Water availability: More frequent, severe and extended drought periods have been predicted by climate change models. The timing and duration of a drought period is crucial to determining plant responses, particularly if the drought event coincides with an increase in temperature. Drought causes stomatal closure, decreasing the cooling potential of transpiration and potentially leading to thermal stress as leaf temperature rises. Waterlogging may become also more relevant during the next decades and is especially important for seedlings and young plants. It is not the presence of water itself that causes the stress, but the exclusion of oxygen from the soil which causes a decrease in respiration and an increase in fermentation rates followed by a period of potential oxidative stress as water recedes. - Salinity: high salt concentration in soil influences soil water potential, the water status of the plant and hence affects productivity. Salt tolerance will become an important trait driven by increased competition for land and the need to exploit marginal lands.Understanding plant responses to abiotic stresses is central to our ability to predict the impact of global change and environmental pollution on the production of food, feed and forestry. Besides increasing carbon dioxide concentration and rising global temperature, increasingly frequent and severe climatic events (e.g. extended droughts, heat waves, flooding) are expected in the coming decades. Additionally, pollution (e.g. heavy metals, gaseous pollutants such as ozone or sulfur dioxide) is an important factor in many regions, decreasing plant productivity and product quality. This Research topic focuses on stress responses at the level of whole plants, addressing biomass-related processes (development of the root system, root respiration/fermentation, leaf expansion, stomatal regulation, photosynthetic capacity, leaf senescence, yield) and interactions between organs (transport via xylem and phloem, long-distance signaling and secondary metabolites). Comparisons between species and between varieties of the same species are helpful to evaluate the potential for species selection and genetic improvement. This research topic is focused on the following abiotic stresses and interactions between them: - Increased carbon dioxide concentration in ambient air is an important parameter influenced by global change and affects photosynthesis, stomatal regulation, plant growth and finally yield. - Elevated temperature: both the steady rise in average temperature and extreme events of shorter duration (heat waves) must be considered in the context of alterations in carbon balance through increased photorespiration, decreased Rubisco activation and carboxylation efficiency, damage to photosynthetic apparatus, as well as loss of water via transpiration and stomatal sensitivity. - Low temperatures (late frosts, prolonged cold phases, freezing temperature) can decrease overwintering survival rates, productivity of crop plants and species composition in meadows. - Water availability: More frequent, severe and extended drought periods have been predicted by climate change models. The timing and duration of a drought period is crucial to determining plant responses, particularly if the drought event coincides with an increase in temperature. Drought causes stomatal closure, decreasing the cooling potential of transpiration and potentially leading to thermal stress as leaf temperature rises. Waterlogging may become also more relevant during the next decades and is especially important for seedlings and young plants. It is not the presence of water itself that causes the stress, but the exclusion of oxygen from the soil which causes a decrease in respiration and an increase in fermentation rates followed by a period of potential oxidative stress as water recedes. - Salinity: high salt concentration in soil influences soil water potential, the water status of the plant and hence affects productivity. Salt tolerance will become an important trait driven by increased competition for land and the need to exploit marginal lands.

This book shows the significant progress made in establishing the methodological basis for the genetic manipulation of forage and turf grasses, with particular emphasis on our most important temperate grasses, the fescues and ryegrasses. It provides detailed and beautifully illustrated descriptions of all relevant methodological aspects of molecular breeding of forage and turf grasses. The topics covered range from the establishment of plant regeneration systems from in vitro cultures, the recovery of haploids and somaclonal variants, the combination of whole or partial genomes by somatic hybridization, and the production of transgenic plants, to the development of molecular markers.

Issues in Genomics and Non-Human Genetic Research: 2013 Edition is a ScholarlyEditions™ book that delivers timely, authoritative, and comprehensive information about Genetic Research. The editors have built Issues in Genomics and Non-Human Genetic Research: 2013 Edition on the vast information databases of ScholarlyNews.™ You can expect the information about Genetic Research in this book to be deeper than what you can access anywhere else, as well as consistently reliable, authoritative, informed, and relevant. The content of Issues in Genomics and Non-Human Genetic Research: 2013 Edition has been produced by the world’s leading scientists, engineers, analysts, research institutions, and companies. All of the content is from peer-reviewed sources, and all of it is written, assembled, and edited by the editors at ScholarlyEditions™ and available exclusively from us. You now have a source you can cite with authority, confidence, and credibility. More information is available at http://www.ScholarlyEditions.com/.

This book includes papers presented at the 2021 online meeting of the Fodder Crops and Amenity Grasses Section of EUCARPIA. The theme of the meeting 'Exploiting genetic diversity of forages to fulfil their economic and environmental roles' was presented in four sessions (1) Natural diversity - a valuable source for breeding, (2) Characterizing genetic diversity - the basis for selection, (3) Strategies to optimally exploit genetic diversity and (4) ""Minor"" and ""new"" species - solution for future challenges. Parts I to IV of this book correspond to these four sessions. Part V contains the contributions from the Festulolium Working Group Workshop. The book provides a unique source of information on the most recent results on breeding and research of forage species.