Flora of Siberia Vol. 8, Rosaceae by A.V. Polozhij; L.I. MalyschevReview by: Pavel TrávničekFolia Geobotanica, Vol. 42, No. 2 (2007), p. 224Published by: SpringerStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41245527 .

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224 Bookreviews

issues. The first one, Units and currencies, is of great concern not only for conservation biologists because it covers among others one of the most intriguing topics in biological science, the definition of species. Two chapters in this section consider phytogeny's role in demarcating taxonomie units, the subsequent chapters then consider the use of currencies derived from phylogeny when trying to set conservation priorities. Generally, the authors advocate the phylogenetic species concept, among other reasons because of its ease of application (no difficult decision about whether two distinct lineages are sufficiently diverged to be recognized as separate species). I like the chapter by J.C. Avise, which is mostly devoted to phylogeography. The author clearly argues, how beneficial phylogenies at the intraspecific level can be in describing genetic diversity, adaptive variability to habitat change and the consequnces of habitat fragmentation. To sum up, the first section of the book is well balanced - although some concepts are preferred, the authors are aware of some conceptual problems and consequences. Sometimes I felt that the authors put too much stress on the power of molecular markers. The core chapters of the second section address evolutionary process. Considerable space in this section is also devoted to consequences of climatic changes and habitat degradation. Part 3 embrances chapters describing the effect of human processes and the book is concluded by a short section "Prognosis1'. Despite that many of the questions raised remain open, the book is a very important synthesis that can be recommended to researchers, experts in nature protection and decision-makers. (JCh)

A.V. Polozhij & L.I. Malyschev (eds.): Flora of Siberia, Vol. 9, Fabaceae (Leguminosae); Science Publishers Inc., Enfield etc., 2006, 276 pp. Price USD 96.-t ISBN 1-57808- 1 08-4. - The 9th volume of the English edition of Siberian Flora includes 27 genera and 35 1 species and subspecies. Each species entry includes the accepted name, selected synonyms, a description, chromosome number(s), and data about the ecology and geographical distribution. The volume is accompanied by dot maps showing the geographical distrubution of 185 taxa. The treatments of two most diverse genera of Siberian Leguminosae, Astragalus and Oxytropis is highly valuable. According to recent advances in Leguminosae research, changes might be made for the delimitation of some genera, namely Coronilla varia should be better treated as Securigera varia and a separate genus Chrysaspis might be excluded from Trifolium. The translation has appeared 12 years after the original Russian edition and reflects thus the state-of-art in the early 1990s. All botanists interested in the Siberian flora who are not familiar with the Russian language will appreciate this volume. (JCh)

A.V. Polozhij & L.I.Malyschev (eds.): Flora of Siberia Vol. 8, Rosacene; Science Publisher Inc., Enfield etc., 2004, 197 pp. Price USD 88.-, ISBN I -5 7808- 1 07-6. - This is the 8th volume of 14-volume compendium covering vascular plants of Siberian flora. It covers the family Rosaceae represented by 32 native genera containing 214 species, some depicted in the 28 imaging plates and with distribution maps included for 144 species. Although this book is an English translation of an almost 20-years-old original (Flora Sibiři, 1988), it still provides valuable information on the taxonomy, chorology and in a reduced way on ecology of the treated taxa. It offers a good initial point for further investigation and is a basic field guide for taxonomists, regional specialists, ecologists and conservationists. (Pavel Trávníček)

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