In this symposium volume, an international team of contributors provides a

Life-history variation and environment; The evolution of reproductive systems: a hierarchy of causes; Plasticity, canalization and evolutionary stasis in plants; Somatic variation and genetic structure in plant populations; Variation in the performance of individuals in plant populations; Morphological plasticity, foraging and integration in clonal perennial herbs; Physiological and demographic implications of modular construction in cold environments; Distribution limits and physiological tolerances with particular reference to the salt marsh environment; Distribution limits from a demographic viewpoint; Genetic influences on the distribution and abundance of plants; The demographic and evolutionary consequences of seed dormancy; Population dynamics of annual plants; The effects of environmental heterogeneity in space and time on the regulation of populations and communities; The influence of tree population dynamics on forest species composition; The demography of tropical trees in the context of forest gap dynamics: the case of Astrocaryum mexicanum at Los Tuxtlas tropical rain forest; Some ecological properties of intimate mutualisms involving plants; The influence of microorganisms, particularly Rhizobium, on plant competition in grass-legume communities; Herbivores and plant population dynamics; Plant parasitism: the population dynamics of parasitic plants and their effects upon plant community structure; Impact of pathogens on natural plant populations; An apophasis of plant population biology