scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
Author

Peter F. Stevens

Bio: Peter F. Stevens is an academic researcher from Missouri Botanical Garden. The author has contributed to research in topics: Ontology (information science) & Phylogenetic tree. The author has an hindex of 27, co-authored 62 publications receiving 13259 citations. Previous affiliations of Peter F. Stevens include University of Missouri & Harvard University.


Papers
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A revised and updated classification for the families of the flowering plants is provided in this paper, which includes Austrobaileyales, Canellales, Gunnerales, Crossosomatales and Celastrales.

7,299 citations

Book
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a taxonomic system in the field of plant systematics, which is based on a Phylogenetic approach to determine evolution history and construct a classification of plants.
Abstract: THE SCIENCE OF PLANT SYSTEMATICS - What Do We Mean by Plant? - What Do We Mean by Systematics? - A Phylogenetic Approach - The Practice of Plant Systematics - Why is Systematics Important? - Aims and Organization of This Book - PRINCIPLES OF BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMATICS - What is a Phylogeny? - Determining Evolutionary History - Constructing a Classification - Summary - CLASSIFICATION AND SYSTEM IN FLOWERING PLANTS: THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND - Classification, Nature, and Stability - Understanding Relationships - Classifications and Memory - Higher Taxa and Their Formation - Plant Groupings - Summary - TAXONOMIC EVIDENCE: STRUCTURAL AND BIOCHEMICAL CHARACTERS - Morphology - Pollination Biology - Inflorescences, Fruits, and Seeds - Anatomy - Embryology - Chromosomes - Palynology - Secondary Plant Compounds - Proteins - Summary - MOLECULAR SYSTEMATICS - Plant Genomes - Generating Molecular Data - Types of Molecular Data - Analysis of Molecular Data - Molecular Characters - Summary - THE EVOLUTION OF PLANT DIVERSITY - Plant Diversity Is the Result of Evolution - Variation in Plant Populations and Species - Speciation - Species Concepts - Summary - AN OVERVIEW OF PLANT EVOLUTION - Endosymbiotic Events - Miscellaneous 'Algae' - Green Plants - Land Plants - Vascular Plants - Seed Plants - Flowering Plants - PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS OF LYCOPHYTES, FERNS AND THEIR ALLIES, AND GYMNOSPERMS - Lycophytes - Ferns and Their Allies - Gymnosperms - Cycads - Ginkgos - Conifers - Gnetophytes - PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS OF ANGIOSPERMS - 'Basal Families' - Amborellales - Nymphaeales - Austrobaileyales - Magnoliid Complex - Magnoliales - Laurales - Canellales - Piperales - Monocots - Alismatales - Petaloid Monocots (Liliales, Asparagales, Dioscoreales) - Commelinoid Monocots (Arecales, Commelinales, Poales, Zingiberales) - Eudicots (Tricolpates) - 'Basal Tricolpates' - Ranunculales, Proteales, and several small groups - Core Eudicots - Caryophyllid Clade (Caryophyllales, Polygonales) - Santalales - Rosid Clade - Saxifragales - Vitales - Myrtales - Eurosids I (Zygophyllales, Oxalidales, Celastrales, Malpighiales, - Fabales, Rosales, Cucurbitales, Fagales) - Eurosids II (Brassicales, Malvales, Sapindales) - Asterid clade (Sympetalae) - Cornales - Ericales - Euasterids I (Solanales, Gentianales, Lamiales) - Euasterids II (Aquifoliales, Apiales, Dipsacales, Asterales) - - Appendix 1. Botanical Nomenclature - Appendix 2. Specimen Preparation and Identification - Glossary - Taxonomic Index - Subject Index

1,374 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: Recent cladistic analyses are revealing the phylogeny of flowering plants in increasing detail, and there is support for the monophyly of many major groups above the family level.
Abstract: Recent cladistic analyses are revealing the phylogeny of flowering plants in increasing detail, and there is support for the monophyly of many major groups above the family level. With many elements of the major branching sequence of phylogeny established

1,225 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
06 Feb 2014-Nature
TL;DR: It is shown that woody clades successfully moved into freezing-prone environments by either possessing transport networks of small safe conduits and/or shutting down hydraulic function by dropping leaves during freezing.
Abstract: Early flowering plants are thought to have been woody species restricted to warm habitats 1–3 . This lineage has since radiated into almost every climate, with manifold growth forms 4 . As angiosperms spread and climate changed, they evolved mechanisms to cope with episodic freezing. To explore the evolution of traits underpinning the ability to persist in freezing conditions, we assembled a large species-level database of growth habit (woody or herbaceous; 49,064 species), as well as leaf phenology (evergreen or deciduous), diameter of hydraulic conduits (that is, xylem vessels and tracheids) and climate occupancies (exposure to freezing). To model the evolution of species’ traits and climate occupancies, we combined these data with an unparalleled dated molecular phylogeny (32,223 species) for land plants. Here we show that woody clades successfully move di nto freezingprone environments by either possessing transport networks of small

1,221 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Feb 2000-Taxon
TL;DR: This book discusses the practice of Plant Systematics, Classification, Nature, and Stability, and the aims and Organization of this book.

1,217 citations


Cited by
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A revised and updated classification for the families of the flowering plants is provided in this paper, which includes Austrobaileyales, Canellales, Gunnerales, Crossosomatales and Celastrales.

7,299 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is argued that adaptation has taken place on a theme rather than via fundamentally different paths and similarities underlying the extensive diversity in the dormancy response to the environment that controls germination are identified.
Abstract: Seed dormancy is an innate seed property that defines the environmental conditions in which the seed is able to germinate. It is determined by genetics with a substantial environmental influence which is mediated, at least in part, by the plant hormones abscisic acid and gibberellins. Not only is the dormancy status influenced by the seed maturation environment, it is also continuously changing with time following shedding in a manner determined by the ambient environment. As dormancy is present throughout the higher plants in all major climatic regions, adaptation has resulted in divergent responses to the environment. Through this adaptation, germination is timed to avoid unfavourable weather for subsequent plant establishment and reproductive growth. In this review, we present an integrated view of the evolution, molecular genetics, physiology, biochemistry, ecology and modelling of seed dormancy mechanisms and their control of germination. We argue that adaptation has taken place on a theme rather than via fundamentally different paths and identify similarities underlying the extensive diversity in the dormancy response to the environment that controls germination.

2,411 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A single ‘fast–slow’ plant economics spectrum that integrates across leaves, stems and roots is a key feature of the plant universe and helps to explain individual ecological strategies, community assembly processes and the functioning of ecosystems.
Abstract: Summary 1. The leaf economics spectrum (LES) provides a useful framework for examining species strategies as shaped by their evolutionary history. However, that spectrum, as originally described, involved only two key resources (carbon and nutrients) and one of three economically important plant organs. Herein, I evaluate whether the economics spectrum idea can be broadly extended to water – the third key resource –stems, roots and entire plants and to individual, community and ecosystem scales. My overarching hypothesis is that strong selection along trait trade-off axes, in tandem with biophysical constraints, results in convergence for any taxon on a uniformly fast, medium or slow strategy (i.e. rates of resource acquisition and processing) for all organs and all resources. 2. Evidence for economic trait spectra exists for stems and roots as well as leaves, and for traits related to water as well as carbon and nutrients. These apply generally within and across scales (within and across communities, climate zones, biomes and lineages). 3. There are linkages across organs and coupling among resources, resulting in an integrated whole-plant economics spectrum. Species capable of moving water rapidly have low tissue density, short tissue life span and high rates of resource acquisition and flux at organ and individual scales. The reverse is true for species with the slow strategy. Different traits may be important in different conditions, but as being fast in one respect generally requires being fast in others, being fast or slow is a general feature of species. 4. Economic traits influence performance and fitness consistent with trait-based theory about underlying adaptive mechanisms. Traits help explain differences in growth and survival across resource gradients and thus help explain the distribution of species and the assembly of communities across light, water and nutrient gradients. Traits scale up – fast traits are associated with faster rates of ecosystem processes such as decomposition or primary productivity, and slow traits with slow process rates. 5. Synthesis. Traits matter. A single ‘fast–slow’ plant economics spectrum that integrates across leaves, stems and roots is a key feature of the plant universe and helps to explain individual ecological strategies, community assembly processes and the functioning of ecosystems.

2,246 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Halophytes, plants that survive to reproduce in environments where the salt concentration is around 200 mm NaCl or more, constitute about 1% of the world's flora and research should be concentrated on a number of 'model' species that are representative of the various mechanisms that might be involved in tolerance.
Abstract: Halophytes, plants that survive to reproduce in environments where the salt concentration is around 200 mM NaCl or more, constitute about 1% of the worlds flora. Some halophytes show optimal growth in saline conditions; others grow optimally in the absence of salt. However, the tolerance of all halophytes to salinity relies on controlled uptake and compartmentalization of Na+, K+ and Cl- and the synthesis of organic compatible solutes, even where salt glands are operative. Although there is evidence that different species may utilize different transporters in their accumulation of Na+, in general little is known of the proteins and regulatory networks involved. Consequently, it is not yet possible to assign molecular mechanisms to apparent differences in rates of Na+ and Cl- uptake, in root-to-shoot transport (xylem loading and retrieval), or in net selectivity for K+ over Na+. At the cellular level, H+-ATPases in the plasma membrane and tonoplast, as well as the tonoplast H+-PPiase, provide the transmembrane proton motive force used by various secondary transporters. The widespread occurrence, taxonomically, of halophytes and the general paucity of information on the molecular regulation of tolerance mechanisms persuade us that research should be concentrated on a number of model species that are representative of the various mechanisms that might be involved in tolerance.

2,127 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Recent developments include several new genome releases, progress on functional annotation of the genome and the release of several new tools including Textpresso for Arabidopsis which provides the capability to carry out full text searches on a large body of research literature.
Abstract: The Arabidopsis Information Resource (TAIR, http://arabidopsisorg) is a genome database for Arabidopsis thaliana, an important reference organism for many fundamental aspects of biology as well as basic and applied plant biology research TAIR serves as a central access point for Arabidopsis data, annotates gene function and expression patterns using controlled vocabulary terms, and maintains and updates the A thaliana genome assembly and annotation TAIR also provides researchers with an extensive set of visualization and analysis tools Recent de- velopments include several new genome releases (TAIR8, TAIR9 and TAIR10) in which the A thaliana assembly was updated, pseudogenes and transposon genes were re-annotated, and new data from proteomics and next generation transcriptome sequencing were incorporated into gene models and splice variants Other highlights include progress on functional anno- tation of the genome and the release of sev- eral new tools including Textpresso for Arabidopsis which provides the capability to carry out full text searches on a large body of research literature

1,874 citations