|
|
Article: Clines and Ecotypes
- Article from:
- Plant Sciences
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Clines and Ecotypes
Clines and ecotypes are variants of a particular species adapted to a specific locale or set of environmental conditions. Charles Darwin (1809-1882) put forth his concept of evolution by natural selection to explain patterns of within species variation in 1859. Early-twentieth-century plant ecologists and
systematists
such as Frederic Clements (1874-1945) and Gote Turesson (1892-1970) recognized the usefulness of Darwin's theory and built on it. These plant biologists reasoned that variation within species reflects adaptations to specific environmental conditions.
Different
populations
of the same species often grow across a range of environmental conditions, ...