Francisco Pugnaire
In short, the quality and timeliness of this book's contents make it an indispensable tool for PhD students and researchers interested in the organization, functioning and evolution of plant communities and in their conservation and restoration, which cannot be achieved without understanding the biotic interactions that shape ecosystems. - S. Rodriguez-Echeverria, University of Coimbra, Portugal; in Ecosistemas 19 (1): 100-102. 2010 (translated from Spanish) ... reviews and integrates a decade's worth of growth in one of ecology's most exciting fields, incorporating new analyses and results that nicely demonstrate the principles discussed and point to directions for future research. The book is refreshingly focused on how positive and negative plant interactions are important beyond the population level, influencing the structure of communities and the functioning of ecosystems, with implications for understanding processes as diverse as succession, invasion, restoration, global environmental change and evolution. -Paul J. Richardson, in Annals of Botany