Since the publication of the first edition of this book ten years ago, international research into the physiological ecology of plants in the tropics has increased enormously in quantity and quality. This brand new edition brings the story right up to date. New approaches have been developed in remote sensing while at the other end of the scale molecular biology has come on in leaps and bounds, particularly regarding ecological performance of tropical plants, e.g. in understanding the adaptation of resurrection plants to the extreme habitat of inselbergs. In this fully revised and updated second edition the wealth of new information has made it necessary to break large chapters down into smaller ones.