The Evolution of Plants

The Evolution of Plants PDF Author: K. J. Willis
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 9780198500650
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 392

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Book Description
This is a broad but provocative examination of the evolution of plants from the earliest forms of life to the development of our present flora. Taking a fresh, modern approach to a subject often treated very stuffily, the book incorporates many recent studies on the morphological evolution of plants, enlivens the subject with current research on ancient DNA and other biomolecular markers, and places plant evolution in the context of climate change and mass extinction. Also includes special Biome Maps, showing the flora on the Earth's surface at different geological ages. Written for a non-specialist audience.

The Evolution of Plants

The Evolution of Plants PDF Author: K. J. Willis
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 9780198500650
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 392

Get Book

Book Description
This is a broad but provocative examination of the evolution of plants from the earliest forms of life to the development of our present flora. Taking a fresh, modern approach to a subject often treated very stuffily, the book incorporates many recent studies on the morphological evolution of plants, enlivens the subject with current research on ancient DNA and other biomolecular markers, and places plant evolution in the context of climate change and mass extinction. Also includes special Biome Maps, showing the flora on the Earth's surface at different geological ages. Written for a non-specialist audience.

Plant Evolution

Plant Evolution PDF Author: Karl J. Niklas
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022634228X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 590

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Book Description
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.

Variation and Evolution in Plants and Microorganisms

Variation and Evolution in Plants and Microorganisms PDF Author: National Academy of Sciences
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309070996
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
"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.

When Plants Took Over the Planet

When Plants Took Over the Planet PDF Author: Chris Thorogood
Publisher: Happy Yak
ISBN: 0711261261
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 66

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Book Description
This beautifully illustrated book follows the amazing story of plant evolution, from the first plants arriving on a dark and lifeless planet to the colorful—often weird and wonderful—world of today’s varied and vibrant plant life.

The Evolution of Plants

The Evolution of Plants PDF Author: Kathy Willis
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019929223X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 409

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Book Description
Blends evidence from the fossil record and data from biomolecular studies to tell the story of plant evolution from the earliest forms of life to the present day. Its straightforward explanations and clear illustrations provide the most accessible introduction to plant evolution available.

The Diversity and Evolution of Plants

The Diversity and Evolution of Plants PDF Author: Lorentz C. Pearson
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1000947106
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 682

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Book Description
This exciting new textbook examines the concepts of evolution as the underlying cause of the rich diversity of life on earth-and our danger of losing that rich diversity. Written as a college textbook, The Diversity and Evolution of Plants introduces the great variety of life during past ages, manifested by the fossil record, using a new natural classification system. It begins in the Proterozoic Era, when bacteria and bluegreen algae first appeared, and continues through the explosions of new marine forms in the Helikian and Hadrynian Periods, land plants in the Devonian, and flowering plants in the Cretaceous. Following an introduction, the three subkingdoms of plants are discussed. Each chapter covers one of the eleven divisions of plants and begins with an interesting vignette of a plant typical of that division. A section on each of the classes within the division follows. Each section describes where the groups of plants are found and their distinguishing features. Discussions in each section include phylogeny and classification, general morphology, and physiology, ecological significance, economic uses, and potential for research. Suggested readings and student exercises are found at the end of each chapter.

Paleobotany and the Evolution of Plants

Paleobotany and the Evolution of Plants PDF Author: Wilson N. Stewart
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521382946
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 544

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Book Description
This 1993 textbook describes and explains the origin and evolution of plants as revealed by the fossil record.

The Botany of Desire

The Botany of Desire PDF Author: Michael Pollan
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN: 0375760393
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
“Pollan shines a light on our own nature as well as on our implication in the natural world.” —The New York Times “A wry, informed pastoral.” —The New Yorker The book that helped make Michael Pollan, the New York Times bestselling author of How to Change Your Mind, Cooked and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, one of the most trusted food experts in America Every schoolchild learns about the mutually beneficial dance of honeybees and flowers: The bee collects nectar and pollen to make honey and, in the process, spreads the flowers’ genes far and wide. In The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan ingeniously demonstrates how people and domesticated plants have formed a similarly reciprocal relationship. He masterfully links four fundamental human desires—sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control—with the plants that satisfy them: the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato. In telling the stories of four familiar species, Pollan illustrates how the plants have evolved to satisfy humankind’s most basic yearnings. And just as we’ve benefited from these plants, we have also done well by them. So who is really domesticating whom?

The Art of Plant Evolution

The Art of Plant Evolution PDF Author: W. John Kress
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Botanical artists
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
'Art meets science' in this beautiful book that aims to give readers a sense of some contemporary scientific discoveries that are changing our understanding of plant relationships.136 botanical paintings from the Shirley Sherwood Collection, by 84 artists, cover 50 orders of plants in 118 families, and a total of 133 species, providing a sweeping overview of the evolution of plants on earth.The paintings display a sampling of the plant world from fungi to daisies, including algae, mosses, ferns, conifers and flowering plants arranged in the most up to date evolutionary sequence, determined by recent DNA analysis.The text places each artist's observations as displayed in the paintings, in the context of modern plant classification, providing readers with a new understanding of the complex interrelationships between plant species, and enhancing their appreciation of the botanical artist's ability to portray the delicate beauty of nature.This publication is based on an exhibition in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, running from August to December 2009, to celebrate Kew's 250th anniversary and Darwin's bicentenary.

Plant Evolution in the Mediterranean

Plant Evolution in the Mediterranean PDF Author: John D. Thompson
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 9780198515340
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
Plant Evolution in the Mediterranean integrates a diverse and scattered literature to produce a synthetic account of plant evolutionary ecology. The central theme is differentiation, both among and within species in the contemporary flora of the Mediterranean basin. This approach is developed by attempting to link population processes to species evolution, and by examining the variation and evolution of ecological function in the context of spatial habitat variation and regional history. This accessible text explores the evolutionary processes which have shaped plant evolution in the context of these major influences on vegetation.