PLANT EVOLUTION AND BIODIVERSITY

The curse is aimed at studying in depth some aspect of Evolutionary Botany, by recalling the main mechanisms of plant evolution (origin, phylogeny, land colonization, seed evolution, etc.). Broad space will be given (with practical examples) to the transposition of general Gouldian concepts (i.e., punctuated equilibria, adaptation in ontogeny and phylogeny, exaptation, etc.) into plant evolution and biodiversity. The course will be ended by some thorough analyses of methods for measuring and evaluating plant biodiversity, with pertinent study in depth on “hot-spots”, as well as on conservation and “weakness points” of biodiversity itself.