This text is the first to fully integrate the fields of plant population ecology, population genetics and evolutionary biology. Developed from many years of teaching experience, with plentiful illustrations, this clear and simple exposition provides an excellent introduction to the field. Effectively, it is a radically updated and expanded third edition of Jonathan Silvertown's earlier book, Introduction to Plant Population Ecology.
Jonathan was born and raised in London and his schoolboy nature watching was done while taking furtive short-cuts on cross-country runs across Hampstead Heath. He made much faster progress when running back from Hampstead’s bookshops in time to beat the end of lunch hour bell. His first scientific paper was submitted with an epigraph by Walter de la Mare which the editor removed with a snide comment, and ever since Jonathan has done his best to hide the poetry in his scientific prose. In Orchard Invisible the poet emerges barefaced in the very first line with the words: “Seeds have a mirrored life, the original in nature and another reflected in literature and the imagination.”