ENVS200 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Alpine Garden, Jens Clausen, Potentilla
Document Summary
Phenotypic variation among individuals in a population results from the combined effects of genes and environment. Because phenotypic variation is the substrate upon which the environment acts during the process of natural selection, determining the extent and sources of variation within populations is one of the most fundamental considerations in evolutionary studies. Darwin"s theory of natural selection sparked a revolution in thinking among biologists, who responded almost immediately by studying variation among organisms in all sorts of environments. The first of these biologists to conduct truly thorough studies of variation and to incorporate experimentation in their studies focused on plants. Jens clausen, david keck, and william hiesey, who worked at stanford university in california, conducted some of the most widely cited studies of plant variation. Their studies provided deep insights into the extent and sources of morphological variation in plant populations, including both the influence of environment and genetics. Though this research group and its successors studied nearly.
