Lecture 5: Classification, Taxonomy, Domestication - 10/9 Flashcards
Taxonomy
The ordered naming and division of organisms
What are the units in taxonomy?
Taxa (singular: taxon)
Theophrastus
Proposed a systematic treatment of over 500 species according to habitat and separated into flowering and non-flowering
Artificial classification systems
Based on physical appearance of plants
Carl Linnaeus
Created a ‘sexual’ system that divided plants into different classes based on flower morphology. Its application produced ‘unnatural groupings’
Linnaeus’ system of classification
Kingdoms, divisions, classes, orders, genera, species
Binomial nomenclature
A combination of genus and species
Phylogeny
The evolutionary history of a species inferred from morphological and molecular data
Clade
A common ancestor and all its lineal descendants; a monophyletic group
Six most important plant families
Fabaceae (legume)
Solanaceae (tomato)
Brassicaceae (cabbage)
Rosaceae (rose)
Poaceae (grass)
Liliaceae (lily)
Groups/subspecies
Crops that have been bred to such an extent that groups/subspecies have been created
For example, in the brassica family, kale, broccoli, and cabbage all count as groups/subspecies
Cultivar
A further development of a group/subspecies
Examples of this would be in tomatoes, where there are many cultivars such as Mochi (F1), Cherokee Purple to name a few
Six major sites of crop origin
Fertile Crescent
Central Africa
Central China
Southeast Asia
North America
Chile-Ecuador-Bolivia
Fertile Crescent crops
First barley, emmer wheat, legumes
Central Africa crops
Sorghum and millet
Central China crops
Rice
Southeast Asia crops
Rice
North America
Corn, common bean, squash
South America
Quinoa, common bean, lima bean, potato, chili, tomato
Why was the Green Revolution significant and when did it occur?
1930-1970, crop production significantly increased
