Michael Fenner's 1985 book entitled Seed Ecology was packed with information about seeds, and served an important role in stimulating many students to become involved in this field. Now, Michael Fenner and Ken Thompson have expanded this book from 42 000 to 94 000 words and from 334 to 1117 cited references in their new book The Ecology of Seeds. As in the previous book, The Ecology of Seeds begins with life histories, reproductive strategies and energy allocation, and then takes the reader through seed dispersal, dormancy and germination, ending with seedling establishment and the limitations of recruitment in canopy gaps.