They cover about 30 percent of the land on this planet, and their environmental and commercial value are enormous. The authors begin with material suitable for students, including the molecular basis of inheritance in terms of genome organization, gene structure and regulation, transmission genetics, genetic markers, population genetics and quantitative genetics, genetic variation in natural populations, including variation within populations, geographic variation, evolutionary genetics and gene conservation, and tree improvement, including the structure and concepts of tree improvement programs, base populations, phenotypic mass selection, genetic testing, data analysis methods, deployment, and advanced-generation breeding stages. They conclude with professional-level reference material on biotechnology, including genomics, marker-assisted selection and breeding, and genetic engineering. Distributed by Oxford U. Press. Annotation c2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)