Modelling Potential Crop Growth Processes : Textbook with Exercises : Springer : 9780792332206 : 0792332202 : 31 Oct 1994 : We dedicate this book to professor C. T. de Wit (1924 - 1993) who initiated Production Ecology as a school of thought at the Wageningen Agricultural Univer­ sity (see Rabbinge et at. , 1990). To acknowledge the leading role of C. T. de Wit, a recently formed graduate school at this university in Production Ecology was named after him. Production Ecology is the study of ecological processes, with special attention to flows of energy and matter as factors that determine the productivity of ecological systems. Agro-ecosystems are a special case of ecosystems which are much better suited for the productivity approach than natural ecosystems are. This is the reason for the strong role of agricultural research in production ecology. On the other hand, it must be recognized that the spatial heterogeneity of natural ecosys­ tems and their species richness may alter some e