Every year the Nottingham University School of Agriculture holds an Easter School on some important topic in agricultural science. The nineteenth such school discussed seed ecology. The papers, by contributors who are international authorities in their own particular aspects of the subject, have been edited by Dr. Walter Heydecker. Biological systems have to fit into their environment sufficiently well to ensure their own continuation. Some of the situations encountered by seeds in nature and under the conditions imposed by cultivation are here scrutinized and the present state of our knowledge of the responses of seeds to various environmental factors is discussed. The dual purpose of this is to provide an insight into the mechanisms of adaptation, survival, germination and seedling establishment and an appreciation of their limitations. The points of view considered are not only those of the plant ecologist, but also of the geneticist, plant biochemist, plant physiologist, plant pathologist, seed technologist, soil physicist, agronomist and the agricultural engineer. The interdisciplinary approach of Seed Ecology is intended to produce a balanced picture of the complex relationship which exists between seeds and their environment and as such will be a major contribution to the literature on the subject.