1. Low Temperature and Frost as Environmental Factors.- 1.1 Low Temperature Hazards.- 1.2 Cold, Frost, and Snow.- 1.3 The Occurrence of Cold, Frost, and Snow.- 1.4 Frost and Snow in the Plant’s Environment.- 1.5 Time of Onset, Severity and Duration of Frost: The Freezing Risk.- 1.6 Temperature Fluctuations in Wintering Trees.- 2. The Freezing Process in Plants.- 2.1 Freezing of Water and Aqueous Solutions.- 2.1.1 Ice Nucleation.- 2.1.2 Freezing of Solutions.- 2.1.3 Sequence of Events in the Freezing of Liquids.- 2.1.4 Vitrification of Water and Solutes.- 2.2 Freezing of Plant Cells.- 2.2.1 Extracellular Freezing.- 2.2.2 Intracellular Freezing.- 2.2.3 Freezing of Intact Tissues.- 2.2.4 Threshold Freezing Temperature and Supercooling of Plant Tissues.- 2.2.5 Initiation and Progress of Freezing in the Whole Plant.- 3. Freezing Injuries in Plants.- 3.1 Typology of Freezing Mechanisms.- 3.2 Causes of Death by Freezing.- 3.3 Phenomenology of Frost Damage.- 3.3.1 Symptoms of Injury.- 3.3.2 Freezing Damage Peculiar to Trees.- 3.4 Results of Freezing Injury and Chances of Recovery.- 4. Mechanisms of Frost Survival.- 4.1 Components of Frost Survival.- 4.1.1 Frost Mitigation.- 4.1.2 Frost Exclusion.- 4.1.3 Components of Frost Resistance.- 4.2 Supercooling as a Survival Mechanism.- 4.2.1 Persistent Supercooling of Leaves.- 4.2.2 Deep Supercooling of Xylem Ray Parenchyma Cells.- 4.3 Extraorgan and Extratissue Freezing.- 4.3.1 Deep Supercooling and Extraorgan Freezing of Hydrated Seeds.- 4.3.2 Deep Supercooling and Extraorgan Freezing of Floral Primordia of Woody Angiosperms.- 4.3.3 Extraorgan Freezing of Conifer Buds.- 4.4 Comparison and Classification of Frost Survival Mechanisms.- 4.5 Survival at Ultralow Temperatures.- 4.5.1 Desiccated Plant Tissues.- 4.5.2 Hydrated Plant Tissues.- 5. Cold Acclimation in Plants.- 5.1 The Annual Course of Frost Resistance.- 5.2 The Seasonal Cold Acclimation Process.- 5.2.1 Seasonality Timing.- 5.2.2 Induction of Cold Acclimation and the First Stage of the Hardening Process.- 5.2.3 The Second Stage of Frost Hardening.- 5.3 Environmental Control of the Level of Frost Resistance.- 5.3.1 Fluctuation of Frost Resistance During Winter.- 5.3.2 Water Content of the Plant and Frost Resistance.- 5.4 Biochemical and Structural Changes During Cold Acclimation.- 5.4.1 Metabolic Pathway Shifts from the Growing State to the Dormant State.- 5.4.2 Sugars and Related Compounds.- 5.4.3 Amino Acids.- 5.4.4 Nucleic Acids and Proteins.- 5.4.5 Lipid Changes.- 5.4.6 Abscisic Acid.- 5.4.7 Cytological Changes During Cold Acclimation.- 6. Frost Resistance in Plants.- 6.1 Genetic Variation in Frost Resistance.- 6.1.1 Differences in Frost Resistance Between Plant Taxa.- 6.1.2 Differences in Frost Resistance Within Populations.- 6.1.3 Inheritance of Frost Resistance.- 6.2 Differences in Frost Resistance of Various Plant Organs and Tissues.- 6.2.1 Vegetative Organs.- 6.2.2 Reproductive Organs.- 6.3 Ontogenetic Variation in Frost Resistance.- 6.3.1 Variation of Frost Resistance During the Cell Cycle.- 6.3.2 Frost Resistance of Seeds.- 6.3.3 Frost Susceptibility During Germination and at the Early Seedling Stage.- 6.3.4 Frost Resistance During Establishment and Ageing.- 7. Regional Distribution of Plants and Their Adaptive Responses to Low Temperatures.- 7.1 Woody Plants Within the Tropics.- 7.1.1 Mangroves.- 7.1.2 Palms.- 7.2 Evergreen Broad-Leaved Trees and Shrubs.- 7.2.1 Temperate Rain Forest Species.- 7.2.2 Mediterranean Sclerophylls.- 7.3 Transition from an Evergreen to a Deciduous Flora and Its Consequences for Frost Survival.- 7.3.1 Woody Plants.- 7.3.2 Ferns.- 7.4 Conifers.- 7.4.1 The Freezing Resistance of Various Conifer Families and Its Connection with Their Distribution Range.- 7.4.2 Characteristics of Freezing Resistance of Conifers.- 7.5 Mountain Plants.- 7.5.1 Dwarf Shrubs and Herbs of Temperate Mountains.- 7.5.2 Caulescent Giant Rosette Plants of Tropical High Mountains.- 7.6 Trends of Adaptive Improvement of Low Temperature Resistance in Vascular Plants.- 8. Winter Damage as the Result of a Complexity of Constraint.- 8.1 Winter Desiccation.- 8.2 Damage Due to Ice Encasement and Compact Snow.- 8.3 Harmful Effects of Heavy and Long-Lasting Snow Cover.- 8.4 Winter Survival: A Complex Response.- Determination of Frost Resistance for Comparative Studies.- Field Survival.- Artificial Freezing Tests.- Analysis of the Freezing Process.- Frost Treatment of the Samples.- Identification of Frost Injuries.- Quantification of Frost Resistance.- References.- Terminology and Definitions.- Taxonomic Index.
