InhaltsangabeReview.- Botanical Aspects of Landscape Ecology with Outlooks on Forest Dieback.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Important Concepts.- a) Landscape and Landscape Ecology.- b) Geoecology.- c) Ecotopes and Other Units in the Landscape.- d) Site and Environment.- 3. Research Methods and Some Results.- a) Exploring and Mapping the Ecological Pattern.- b) Functions and Turnovers in Landscapes.- c) Potentials, Suitabilities, Values, and Risks.- 4. Regional Examples of Landscape Ecological Studies.- a) Central Europe.- b) Other Parts of the World.- 5. Practical Tasks and Responsibilities.- a) Land Use Planning and Nature Conservation.- b) Public Importance of Landscape Ecology.- 6. Problems of Forest Dieback.- a) Known Forms and Causes of Forest Decline.- b) The General Forest Dieback as a Construct.- References.- A. Physiology.- I. Plant Water Relations: Metabolic Responses to Water Deficit and Surplus.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Effects of Water Deficit on Cellular Processes.- a) Influence of Water Stress on Protein Biosynthesis.- b) Metabolism of Drought Stress-Protective Compatible Nitrogen Compounds.- c) Oxidative Damage and Compensatory Metabolic Responses Under Cellular Water Stress.- 3. Effects of Water Surplus on Plant Performance.- a) Transcription and Protein Synthesis Under Hypoxic Conditions.- b) Disturbance Effects of Hypoxia on Intermediary Metabolism.- 4. Conclusions.- References.- II. The Leaf Epidermis: its Ecophysiologieal Significance.- 1. Introduction.- 2. The Morphology of Epidermal Cells and Their Subcellular Organization.- 3. New Methods in the Investigation of Epidermal Functions.- 4. Interactions Between Environmental Factors Acting on Plants and the Leaf Epidermis.- a) Visible and UV Light.- b) Water Vapor Saturation Deficit.- c) Gases.- d) Xenobiotics.- e) Pathogens.- 5. The Biochemistry of the Epidermis.- a) Basic Epidermal Metabolism.- b) Synthesis of Cuticular Compounds.- c) Secondary Plant Products.- 6. Function of the Epidermis in Mineral Nutrition.- a) Compartmentation of Nutrient Elements.- b) Salt and Water Stress.- c) Heavy Metal Stress.- 7. The Role of the Epidermis in Homeostasis of the Plant Stress Hormone Abscisic Acid (ABA).- a) ABA Uptake.- b) Basic Permeability of the Epidermis Plasma Membrane.- c) ABA Transport Across the Epidermis Plasma Membrane.- d) ABA Transport Across the Epidermis Tonoplast.- e) ABA Metabolism in the Epidermis.- f) Consequences of Epidermal ABA Uptake and Metabolism for ABA Redistribution in Stressed Leaves.- 8. First Approaches Towards a Genetic Understanding of Epidermal Cell Specificity.- References.- III. Developmental Physiology: Regulation of Polar Cell Growth and Morphogenesis.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Cellular Morphogenesis.- a) Induction and Rise of Polarity in the Fucacean Zygote.- b) Cell Shape Formation in Desmid Cells.- 3. Polar Tip Growth of Pollen Tubes, Rhizoid and Root Hair Cells.- a) Morphology, Cytoskeleton, and Cytoplasmic Streaming.- b) Turgor Pressure and Cell Growth.- c) Ion Pumps, Channels, Currents, and Growth Localization.- d) Exocytosis and Vesicle Fusion.- e) Molecular Biology of Polar Growth.- 4. Concluding Remarks.- References.- IV. Intracellular Movement.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Actin- and Microtubule-Dependent Organelle Motors.- 3. Cytoplasmic Streaming.- a) Vaucheria andAcetabularia.- b) Characean Internodal Cells.- ?) Actin and Myosin.- ?) Tubulin.- ?) Mechanism of Streaming.- ?) Calcium Effects on Reconstituted Motility.- 4. Oriented Positioning of Organelles.- a) Nuclear Positioning.- b) Chloroplast Orientation in Mougeotia, Mesotaenium, and Adiantum.- ?) Photoreceptors.- ?) Mechanics of the Movement.- ?) Calcium Effects.- ?) Microtubules.- References.- V. Thermotropic Responses of Biomembranes Exemplified by the Tonoplast of Crassulacean Acid Metabolism Plants.- 1. Introduction.- 2. The Role of the Vacuole in Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM) and the Transport of Malic Acid Across the Tonoplast.- 3. The Tonoplast as a Likely Target of Temperature Eff