Plant adaptation is a fundamental process in plant breeding. It was the
first criterion in the initial domestication of plants thousands of
years ago. Adaptedness is generally a quantitative complex feature of
the plant, involving many traits, many of which are quantitative.
Adaptation to stresses like cold, drought or diseases are among the most
central problems in a world grappling with global food security. Modern
plant breeding, based on mendelian genetics, has made plant improvement
more effective and more precise and selective. Molecular genetics and
genetic engineering has considerably increased this selectivity down to
single genes affecting single traits. The time has come when plant
breeding efficiency may cause loss of genetic resources and adaptation.
In these proceedings an effort is made to merge modern plant breeding
efficiency with ecological aspects of plant breeding, reflected in
adaptation. It is hoped that this merger results in more sustainable use
of genetic resources and physical environments.
The book is based on 10 keynotes addressing a wide spectrum of themes
related to adaptation. In addition each subject is further elaborated in
up to three case studies on particular plant species or groups of
plants. The keynotes do in fact overlap to some degree and there are
articles in this volume that seemingly contradict each other, a common
aspect in advanced fields of research. The keen reader may conclude
that, in a world where climates and environments are under continuous
change and where human society is more and more polarized into a
developed and a developing part, adaptation of our cultivated plants has
different constraints on yields depending on ecology, and indeed
economy.
