Plant Variation and Evolution

We are in the midst of a biological revolution. Molecular tools are now providing new means of critically testing hypotheses and models of microevolution in populations of wild, cultivated, weedy and feral plants. They are also offering the opportunity for significant progress in the investigation of long-term evolution of flowering plants, as part of molecular phylogenetic studies of the Tree of Life. This long-awaited fourth edition, fully revised by David Briggs, reflects new insights provided by molecular investigations and advances in computer science. Briggs considers the implications of these for our understanding of the evolution of flowering plants, as well as the potential for future advances. Numerous new sections on important topics such as the evolutionary impact of human activities, taxonomic challenges, gene flow and distribution, hybridisation, speciation and extinction, conservation and the molecular genetic basis of breeding systems will ensure that this remains a classic text for both undergraduate and graduate students in the field. Review of previous edition: '... one of the classics of plant evolutionary biology ... Briggs and Walters has mentored students for over four decades and is as balanced and relevant today as it was in 1969 when the first edition was released.' Tan Bao, Plant Science BulletinPreface; Acknowledgements; Note on names of plants; List of abbreviations; 1. Investigating plant variation and evolution; 2. From Ray to Darwin; 3. Early work on biometry; 4. Early work on the basis of individual variation; 5. Post-Darwinian ideas about evolution; 6. DNA: towards an understanding of heredity and molecular evolution; 7. Breeding systems; 8. Infraspecific variation and the ecotype concept; 9. Pattern and process in plant populations; 10. Pattern and process: factors interacting with natural selection; 11. Populations: origins and extinctions; 12. Species and speciation: concepts and models; 13. Allopatric speciation and hybridisation; 14. Abrupt speciation by polyploidy; 15. The species concept; 16. Flowering plant evolution: advances, challenges and prospects; 17. Historical biogeography; 18. The evolutionary impact of human activities; 19. The taxonomic challenge ahead; 20. Conservation: from protection to restoration and beyond; Index.