Biological Approaches And Evolutionary Trends In Plants

Biological Approaches and Evolutionary Trends in Plants is a collection of papers presented at the Fourth International Symposium of Plant Biosystematics held on July 10-14, 1989 in Kyoto, Japan. Contributors, some are world's leading plant biologists, discuss the findings in evolutionary biology and issues in plant biosystematics in light of the evidence and ideas brought forward at various levels of biological organization, from molecule to cell, individual, population, species, and community levels. This volume is organized into four sections encompassing 22 chapters and begins with an overview of discoveries concerning parapatric differentiation of weed populations, including adaptive evolution in herbicide resistant biotypes and complex evolutionary patterns in weed-crop complexes of various groups. The next section explores molecular approaches in plant biosystematics, focusing on amino acid sequencing of proteins; restriction-site variations of cpDNA, mitDNA, rDNA, etc.; and chromosome-banding patterns revealed by differential staining. The discussion shifts to a wave of research in plant population biology and evolutionary ecology since the 1970s and its impact on biology and biosystematics. The book considers various aspects of reproductive biology and evolutionary changes in significant reproductive parameters and attempts to demographically quantify these parameters. The final chapter is devoted to the use of functional phylogenetic systematics for predictive ecology. This book will be of interest to plant biologists and scientists and researchers in fields such as biochemistry, botany, microbiology, ecology, and evolutionary biology.

Many of the characteristics that distinguish plants from other living organisms can be traced to their bacterial origin early in the history of life. These features-such as a multicellular haploid life stage, prevalent hermaphroditism, self-fertilization, and general dependence on biotic and abiotic vectors for reproduction-stem directly from the plant's ability to obtain energy from the sun. This novel mode of energy capture had far-ranging implications for plant evolution. It not only fueled the tremendous diversification of life on Earth that followed, but also had far-ranging implications for the evolution of photosynthetic microorganisms and eventually for land plants. Understanding the evolutionary processes for the proliferation and diversification of plants requires an appreciation of their unique biological features. While the processes of mutation, selection, genetic drift, and gene flow remain the same for both plants and animals, there are specific characteristics of plants that modify the way their evolution is implemented. Unique traits of plants affect everything from the fate of mutations, through exposure to selection in a haploid life phase, to the distribution of genetic variation within populations, and ultimately the rates and patterns of diversification. This book examines the origins of the unique evolutionary features of plants, as well as their implications for evolutionary processes. Author Mitchell B. Cruzan provides contemporary discussion of subjects including population genetics, phylogeography, phylogenetics, ecological genetics, and genomics. The book fills a need for modern coverage of these topics, all of which are essential to a wide range of advanced courses in plant biology.

"The present book is intended as a progress report on [the] synthetic approach to evolution as it applies to the plant kingdom." With this simple statement, G. Ledyard Stebbins formulated the objectives of Variation and Evolution in Plants, published in 1950, setting forth for plants what became known as the "synthetic theory of evolution" or "the modern synthesis." The pervading conceit of the book was the molding of Darwin's evolution by natural selection within the framework of rapidly advancing genetic knowledge. At the time, Variation and Evolution in Plants significantly extended the scope of the science of plants. Plants, with their unique genetic, physiological, and evolutionary features, had all but been left completely out of the synthesis until that point. Fifty years later, the National Academy of Sciences convened a colloquium to update the advances made by Stebbins. This collection of 17 papers marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Stebbins' classic. Organized into five sections, the book covers: early evolution and the origin of cells, virus and bacterial models, protoctist models, population variation, and trends and patterns in plant evolution.

Plant evolutionary ecology is a rapidly growing discipline which emphasizes that populations evolve and adapt not in isolation, but in relation to other species and abiotic environmental features such as climate. By combining approaches from the traditional evolutionary and ecological fields of study, evolutionary ecology is connected to branches of population biology, genetics, botany, conservation, and to other fields of applied science, primarily through shared concepts and techniques. However, other books regarding evolutionary ecology typically focus on animals, creating a substantial need for a synthesis of the scholarly literature with an emphasis on plants. Approaches to Plant Evolutionary Ecology is the first book to specifically explore the evolutionary biology of plant populations. Renowned plant ecologist G. P. Cheplick summarizes and synthesizes much of the primary literature regarding evolutionary perspective. The book also provides summaries of both traditional (common gardens, reciprocal transplants) and modern (molecular genetic) approaches used to address questions about plant adaptation to a diverse group of abiotic and biotic factors. Cheplick provides a rigorously written introduction to the rapidly growing field of plant evolutionary ecology that will appeal to undergraduate and graduate students with an interest in ecology and evolution, as well as educators who are teaching courses on related topics. -- from back cover.

This completely revised, fourth edition of Introduction to PlantPopulation Biology continues the approach taken by its highlysuccessful predecessors. Ecological and genetic principles areintroduced and theory is made accessible by clear, accurateexposition with plentiful examples. Models and theoreticalarguments are developed gradually, requiring a minimum ofmathematics. The book emphasizes the particular characteristics of plantsthat affect their population biology, and evolutionary questionsthat are particularly relevant for plants. Wherever appropriate, itis shown how ecology and genetics interact, presenting a roundedpicture of the population biology of plants. Topics covered include variation and its inheritance, geneticmarkers including molecular markers, plant breeding systems,ecological genetics, intraspecific interactions, populationdynamics, regional dynamics and metapopulations, competition andcoexistence, and the evolution of breeding systems and lifehistory. An extensive bibliography provides access to the recentliterature that will be invaluable to students and academicsalike. Effective integration of plant population ecology, populationgenetics and evolutionary biology. The new edition is thoroughly revised and now includesmolecular techniques. The genetics chapters have been completely rewritten by a newco-author, Deborah Charlesworth.

Although plants comprise more than 90% of all visible life, and land plants and algae collectively make up the most morphologically, physiologically, and ecologically diverse group of organisms on earth, books on evolution instead tend to focus on animals. This organismal bias has led to an incomplete and often erroneous understanding of evolutionary theory. Because plants grow and reproduce differently than animals, they have evolved differently, and generally accepted evolutionary views—as, for example, the standard models of speciation—often fail to hold when applied to them. Tapping such wide-ranging topics as genetics, gene regulatory networks, phenotype mapping, and multicellularity, as well as paleobotany, Karl J. Niklas’s Plant Evolution offers fresh insight into these differences. Following up on his landmark book The Evolutionary Biology of Plants—in which he drew on cutting-edge computer simulations that used plants as models to illuminate key evolutionary theories—Niklas incorporates data from more than a decade of new research in the flourishing field of molecular biology, conveying not only why the study of evolution is so important, but also why the study of plants is essential to our understanding of evolutionary processes. Niklas shows us that investigating the intricacies of plant development, the diversification of early vascular land plants, and larger patterns in plant evolution is not just a botanical pursuit: it is vital to our comprehension of the history of all life on this green planet.

Tremendous progress has been made during the past decade in the burgeoning field of plant reproductive biology. A number of quantitative and technical breakthroughs, such as horizontal starch-gel electrophoresis, have resulted in a revolution in our thinking. The study of breeding systems, which used to be marked by a rather static focus on pollination and self-incompatibility, has been transformed by dynamic models of transitional pathways, and investigators are looking not only into genetic factors but ecological ones as well. Workers in the field have recently produced detailed accounts of mating success and the relative fitness of plants as male and female parents, thus testing the applicability of sexual selection theory to plants. Ecology and Evolution of Plant Reproduction surveys recent advances in the field of plant reproductive biology and identifies fruitful avenues for future research. The contributors are well known in the fields of morphology, systematics, genetics, cell biology, and ecology, representing the full spectrum of approaches that contribute vigor to this emerging field. This new work will benefit professionals and graduate students in plant science and plant breeding, evolutionary ecology, genetics, and reproductive biology.