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Reflection1

Page history last edited by Betty Rossie 15 years, 2 months ago

Question 1

What are the connections between the following terms as they apply to our course?

  • systematics
  • phylogenetics
  • phylogeny
  • classification
  • taxonomy
  • parsimony
  • dendrogram/phylogram
  • taxon
  • nomenclature

 

Kaiti Reynolds' Addition:

       

     Systematics is the the science and study of organismal diversity. The ultimate goal of systematics is to document and discover all evolutionary relationships between species. This is related to Phylogenetics because phylogenetics is the study of evolutionary relatedness between a group of organisms. This means that phylogenetics relies on systematics to discover the evolutionary relationships between organisms so that phylogenetics can further study and describe those relationships. Phylogeny is the evolutionary history of a group of organisms. There is an obvious connection between phylogeny and the two previous words because phylogeny describes the categories in which organisms are placed. Another way to describe phylogeny would be with the word classification. Classification is used to to place organisms withing a phylogenetic tree.

      Taxonomy is one of the fields within systematics, in which organisms are described and named. They are given names according to the system of nomenclature which has naming rules that has been established for the field of botany (or any other field). Taxon refers to a group of organisms at a level of the nomenclature- for example a family or an order. The relationships between the organisms can be mapped out in dendrogram (tree-diagram) or phylogram. When organisms are placed into a phylogenetic tree to establish their evolutionary relationships, the rule of parsimony is used meaning that the simplest explanation for the organisms evolution and relationship to other organisms is used. -Kaitlyn Parkins

  Systematics is the study of the diversity of life on the planet. This includes the past and the present and the relationships among living things through time. In systematics there are branches of the larger picture that involves phlyogenetics. This is the use of evolutionary trees to study biodiversity and comparative biology. It is represented as an evolutionary relationship among a set of organisms that are consisted in taxa, which is plural for taxon. Taxonomy deals with taxa in that it helps in the describing, identifying, classifying and naming of organisms. Nomenclature deals with the naming of all of the organisms after they have been classified and placed into their individual taxa.

 

    


Question 2

Name, define, and explain the use and relevance of the different character state terms used in phylogenetic research. (Hint: they all in '-morphy'.)

 

Alternate task: look up and supply the etymologies of the terms.

 

Etymologies by Anna Zenner:

Synapomorphy: derived from the Greek words "syn-" (with), "apo-" (separate, away from) and "-morphe" (shape, form). 

Definition=> shared traits between 2 or more taxa that are derived from a common ancestor. Used to establish phylogenies. 

 

Plesiomorphy: derived from the Greek words "plesi-" (near, close) and "-morphe" (shape, form).

Definition=> the presence of shared character traits in both the outgroup and its ancestral clade. 

 

Apomorphy: derived from the Greek words "apo-" (separate, away from) and "-morphe" (shape, form).

Definition=> the presence of a derived character state. Sometimes referred to as 'evolutionary novelty' in textbook.

 

Autapomorhpyderived from the Greek words "aut-" (self, same), "apo-" (separate, away from) and "-morphe" (shape, form).

Definition=> a derived character trait that is unique to a particular taxon. 

 


Question 3

Why should you care about systematics, phylogenetics, or taxonomy, & what the heck does it have to do with Field Botany?

(Note: I don't expect you to care. I grade on how much thought you put into your answer, not whether you agree with me.)

 

 

Systematics, the study of biological diversity that exists on earth today, is very important because we depend on a variety of species for food, shelter, fiber, clothing, paper, medicines, tools, dyes, and many other uses.  By studying the evolutionary and biological diversity on earth today, we can make predictions about how plants may change or find other uses for plants.  Phylogenetics is just as important because it reconstructs the evolutionary history of groups of organisms.  By knowing the evolutionary history of organisms we can predict how they may change in the future as well as recall the past to see how those organisms dealt with weather changes.  Taxonomy organizes the groupings of species so one can easily view how they are related to one another.  This is very important when it comes to uses of plants; instead of only using one species, we could determine a similar species in the same family and use them both to be able to manage the species’.  Finally, this all has to do with field botany because botany studies plants, their life, structure, growth, classification; therefore, field botany is going to bring together systematics, phylogenetics, and taxonomy. - Jamie Smith      

     Lindsay Merkle- Systematics, Phylogenetics and Taxonomy of plants is very important, not only for field botany, but for everyday life. Systematics explains the diversity of organisms that like on earth today. Phylogenetics explains the geneology of plants from the past and can help predict future evolution. Taxonomy helps classify and identify plants by description and distribution of scientific names (nomenclature). All three together, we understand plants on earth today, including their names and descriptions, and understand the past evolution of plants which helps us with predictions for the future. This is very useful for field botany as we will go out and indentify plants based on the knowledge wqe recieve from Systematics, Taxonomy, and Phylogeny. In everyday life, we use plants for medicine, food, shelter, dyes, clothing, paper, etc. It is important to know which are related to use different species for the same purposes. Also, to know the evolution to predict further uses. Looking at phylogenty and systematics helped scientists discover, for example, more cortisone in another species of the yam they were using previously. Knowing this can also advance knowledge in engineering plants to be disease resistant or to produce higher yields. Even past geography can be discovered by looking at the evolution of plants. Knowing Systematics, Taxonomy, and Phylogeny is important for field botany and everyday life.

     Even if things look alike, that does not mean they are closely related.  The classifications allow us to hypothesize where common ancestory occurs and if the common traits are derived or primitive.

 


 

 

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