BOTA2000 Study Guide - Final Guide: Phylogenetic Tree, Serotiny, Controlled Burn
Document Summary
Explain (using examples) the challenges of relying on morphological data to determine a true phylogeny of the angiosperms. Phylogenetics is the study of evolutionary and genetic relationships among organisms. The other is taxonomy, the classification of organisms. ims to discover the pattern of evolutionary relatedness among groups of species or other groups by comparing their anatomical or molecular features, and to depict these relationships as a phylogenetic tree. This selective advantage is readily negated, however, in plant communities in which fires occur with a frequency higher than the time taken to flower and set seed for the slowest- maturing species in that community. The impact of fires on communities is also a function of their intensity and the season in which they occur, both of which can override any inherent advantages flowing from morphological and physiological exaptations. Compare and contrast the ecological characteristics of any four of the eight subclasses of land plants that do not produce seeds.
