The study of diversity

Summary

The study of biological diversity is the science of taxonomy or systematics in a broad understanding of those terms. The study, at its simplest, requires only a basic understanding of how groups are named and classifications are structured and the knowledge of some terminology. This is described here together with some of the basic skills required for looking at plant material.

The chapter, from section 1.3, then considers some more complex ideas in systematics (taxonomy) about the nature of variation and how it should be treated in classifications. Systematics is also the study of evolution and the way the characters of living organisms may reflect either evolutionary history or evolutionary processes and of how adaptation may provide a framework for understanding the significance of biological diversity. This is a complicated and contentious area but it makes the study of diversity a particularly interesting and exciting part of science. However this part of the chapter can be safely skipped without loss of understanding of the rest of the book.