PLBIO 2480

Vascular Plant Systematics

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2019-2020.

An introduction to the goals and methods of plant systematics, and a survey of the diversity of vascular plants, including ferns, conifers, flowering plants, and related groups. Lectures cover plant reproduction and evolution, patterns of plant diversity, biogeography, and the methods used to analyze and interpret these patterns. The laboratory presents a survey of the diversity of vascular plants with a focus on major plant families, emphasizing groups that are prominent in natural habitats and in cultivation.

When Offered Spring.

Prerequisites/Corequisites Prerequisite: PLBIO 2410 or permission of instructor.

• Describe the goals of systematics and the methods used to analyze and interpret the history of plant diversification.
• Interpret and describe vegetative and reproductive structures of plants, using standard botanical terminology.
• Discuss the methods used to interpret major evolutionary changes in plant characteristics, with reference to the time, geographic location, and ecological setting in which these changes occurred.
• Discuss the nature of plant species, the principal mechanisms of plant speciation, and the methods used to describe, name, and classify species and higher-level groups.
• Distinguish 60 families of vascular plants.

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