Christian Korner. Alpine Plant Life: Functional Plant Ecology of High Mountain Ecosystems. Springer-Verlag. 1999 & 2003.

Why I Reviewed This Book

Rock gardening is a popular hobby world wide. We routinely try to grow "alpine plants" (those that grow above the treeline in the mountains) in our lower altitude gardens. Many times these plants fail to thrive. As a gardener and amateur horticulturist, I was seeking a book that provided a deeper understanding of where these plants originated and how they survived the rugged climate of the high peaks than the information included in books intended for the gardener.

Alpine Plant Life proved to be the right book for those who are either advanced gardeners or for those with scientific interests in the alpine ecosystem. This book is divided into 17 chapters beginning with the discussion of "Plant Ecology at High Elevations" and ending with an excellent discussion of "Global Change at High Elevation". A comprehensive listing of references follows the final chapter. Three indexes help you search by plant name (taxonomy), geography, or subject. Several color plates supplement the black and white photographs included throughout the book.

Book Strengths

First, the "Contents" pages serve as an excellent outline of the topics covered. The chapter titles follow. The contents page list secondary topics under each title. This makes it easy for everyone to find the topic they wish to read about first and doesn't make it necessary to read through the entire book when seeking particular information.

Chapter Titles
Plant ecology at high elevations.
The alpine life zone.
Alpine climate.
The climate plants experience.
Life under snow: protection and limitation.
Alpine soils.
Alpine treelines.
Climatic stress.
Water relations.
Mineral nutrition.
Uptake and loss of carbon.
Carbon investments.
Growth dynamics and phenology.
Cell division and tissue formation.
Plant biomass production.
Plant reproduction.
Global change at high elevation.

Second, although clearly written by a scientist, this book explains pertinent terms used throughout the text. The reader is guided through general topics as well as very specialized topics. I greatly appreciated the author assuming that those who read this book are truly trying to learn more about alpine ecological systems as it pertains to plant life and not necessarily botanists or ecologists with formal degrees. Even though the topic may be complex, such as learning how a plant uptakes carbon dioxide or uses various minerals, the writing style allows even an avid rock gardener to understand the concepts being presented.

Third, the author's use of bulleted lists, paragraph titles, and shade bars indicating important concepts makes it easy for both students and gardeners to learn the most important facts. Therefore, this becomes a reference book that should be in every rock gardener or alpine plant gardener's book collection. Within its covers, we find the answer to why so many of these plants fail to thrive at lower elevations or simply show uncharacteristic growth. In addition, ecology students need to learn more about alpine ecosystems, particularly since changes in the earth's average temperature seem to occur first in these regions. The book's organization makes it suitable as a college level textbook in addition to being suitable for advanced gardeners.

Fourth, the author brought together the most important information currently known about alpine climates into one convenient book. This means it isn't necessary to spend hours or days locating every journal or magazine article about the overall topic. This makes the book a time saver for everyone from the Doctoral candidate in ecology to the amateur alpine plant grower. He provides references for each topic covered to facilitate other researcher's efforts to learn more about the topic.

Book Weaknesses

These are minor weaknesses but they do influence book purchasers. First, the use of black and white photographs is rapidly becoming old-fashioned, particularly considering the cost of books today.

Second, the authors missed an important opportunity to expand the usefulness of this book to even new to alpine plant gardeners. I would have enjoyed a summary of how to apply each chapter's subject to alpine/rock gardening. This would make this book valuable for even those just beginning to study and garden with alpine or "mountain" plants.