Heavy metal phytotoxicity has been known for more than a century. Therefore, it is astonishing that interest in the effects of heavy metals on organisms has been aroused only recently. Research in the past years, however, has confirmed the immense damage by metal pollution to plants, the soil and ultimately to humans. This revised and updated second edition gives a state-of-the art review on both field and laboratory work. It deals with the various functional and ecological aspects of heavy metal stress on plants and outlines the scope for future research and the possibilities for remediation.