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Ecological differences between herbs and woody plants, and evolution of the herbaceous habit
Klimeš, Adam ; Herben, Tomáš (advisor) ; Lens, Frederic (referee) ; Těšitel, Jakub (referee)
Ecological differences between herbs and woody plants, and evolution of the herbaceous habit Adam Klimeš, doctoral thesis Abstract Flowering plants (angiosperms), which make up most present-day vegetation, were originally woody. While flowering plants have repeatedly given rise to herbaceous lineages since their first appearance, we lack a clear explanation for these common evolutionary events. Freezing temperatures and drought periods have been proposed as factors which had caused huge success of the younger growth form but the evidence is very limited and not in favour of these hypotheses. In this thesis, we aimed to build the foundations of research on the evolution of herbs. We outlined new potential drivers of the evolution of herbs, suggested solutions to some methodological challenges and provided evidence about differences between herbs and woody plants relevant to the hypotheses on herb evolution. To this end, we used common garden experiments with young plants of both growth forms and global trait data from public databases which we evaluated using phylogenetic comparative techniques. Annuality of aboveground biomass and fast life-strategy of herbs are characteristics which differentiate them from woody plants and which in some conditions are expected to be behind their success. Apart from the...
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Ecological differences between herbs and woody plants, and evolution of the herbaceous habit
Klimeš, Adam ; Herben, Tomáš (advisor) ; Lens, Frederic (referee) ; Těšitel, Jakub (referee)
Ecological differences between herbs and woody plants, and evolution of the herbaceous habit Adam Klimeš, doctoral thesis Abstract Flowering plants (angiosperms), which make up most present-day vegetation, were originally woody. While flowering plants have repeatedly given rise to herbaceous lineages since their first appearance, we lack a clear explanation for these common evolutionary events. Freezing temperatures and drought periods have been proposed as factors which had caused huge success of the younger growth form but the evidence is very limited and not in favour of these hypotheses. In this thesis, we aimed to build the foundations of research on the evolution of herbs. We outlined new potential drivers of the evolution of herbs, suggested solutions to some methodological challenges and provided evidence about differences between herbs and woody plants relevant to the hypotheses on herb evolution. To this end, we used common garden experiments with young plants of both growth forms and global trait data from public databases which we evaluated using phylogenetic comparative techniques. Annuality of aboveground biomass and fast life-strategy of herbs are characteristics which differentiate them from woody plants and which in some conditions are expected to be behind their success. Apart from the...
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