Systematics, Plant

Systematics, Plant

Plant systematics is a broad discipline that is often defined as the study of the kinds of organisms (both living and fossils), and of the relationships among these organisms. Thus, students and researchers in the area of systematics (termed systematists) study the diversity of all life, including bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals, with several major goals. Systematics includes the identification, naming, and classification of plants, as well as the investigation of evolutionary relationships (phylogeny) and of evolutionary processes. As such, some consider systematics the fundamental discipline upon which all other areas of biology must rely. That is, other areas of investigation all depend on a clear understanding of species names, species delimitation, and organismal relationships. Thus, systematics is a unifying discipline and operates in a highly similar fashion regardless of the major group of organisms investigated (e.g., plants, fungi, animals, or bacteria).

Research in systematics may involve the collection of organisms in the field and the study of these organisms in their natural setting, in museums, and in the laboratory; the latter may employ approaches also used in molecular biology. The sources of evidence used in systematics are also highly varied and may include morphology, chemistry (a subdiscipline often referred to as chemosystematics), paleobotany, physiology, ecology, biogeography, and various sources of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)/ribonucleic acid (RNA) data (an area referred to as molecular systematics).

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