Plant Systematics

The greatest treasure of our Earth is its biodiversity. The life forms that share our world are responsible for the environment that we know and appreciate, which permits Earth to be so inviting in comparison with the other barren and desolate planets in our solar system. Systematics is the science that deals with understanding these millions of organisms, and plant systematics focuses on the green world that covers much of our continents. To understand plant biodiversity involves chronicling evolutionary origins (processes), interpreting evolutionary patterns (phylogeny), and ordering the diversity into classifications (taxonomy). Plant Systematics offers insight to these three major aspects of the plant world. Five chapters provide an overview of the many evolutionary mechanisms that have been operative in the production of plant biodiversity. Six chapters contain information on the concepts and methods of modern phylogenetic reconstruction. Five chapters deal with issues of classification, including historical perspectives and comparisons among phenetic, cladistic, and evolutionary (phyletic) approaches. Three chapters also present types of data, from the morphological to the molecular, which are routinely used in plant systematics research programs. Plant Systematics, designed for use at the upper undergraduate and graduate levels, contains extensive literature citations that open avenues to topics for further study or analysis.