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Invasion Genetics
Invasion genetics is the area of study within biology that examines evolutionary processes in the context of biological invasions. Invasion genetics considers how genetic and demographic factors affect the success of a species introduced outside of its native range, and how the mechanisms of evolution, such as natural selection, mutation, and genetic drift, operate in these populations. Researchers exploring these questions draw upon theory and approaches from a range of biological disciplines, including population genetics, evolutionary ecology, population biology, and phylogeography. Invasion genetics, due to its focus on the biology of introduced species, is useful for identifying potential invasive species and developing practices for managing biological invasions. It is distinguished from the broader study of invasive species because it is less directly concerned with the impacts of biological invasions, such as environmental or economic harm. In addition to applications f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biology
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary information encoded in genes, which can be transmitted to future generations. Another major theme is evolution, which explains the unity and diversity of life. Energy processing is also important to life as it allows organisms to move, grow, and reproduce. Finally, all organisms are able to regulate their own internal environments. Biologists are able to study life at multiple levels of organization, from the molecular biology of a cell to the anatomy and physiology of plants and animals, and evolution of populations.Based on definition from: Hence, there are multiple subdisciplines within biology, each defined by the nature of their research questions and the tools that they use. Like other scientists, biologists use the sc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended from a common ancestor is now generally accepted and considered a fundamental concept in science. In a joint publication with Alfred Russel Wallace, he introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding. Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history and was honoured by burial in Westminster Abbey. Darwin's early interest in nature led him to neglect his medical education at the University of Edinburgh; instead, he helped to investigate marine invertebrates. His studies at the University of Cambridge's Christ's Col ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert I
Robert I may refer to: *Robert I, Duke of Neustria (697–748) *Robert I of France (866–923), King of France, 922–923, rebelled against Charles the Simple *Rollo, Duke of Normandy (c. 846 – c. 930; reigned 911–927) * Robert I Archbishop of Rouen (d. 1037), Archbishop of Rouen, 989–1037, son of Duke Richard I of Normandy * Robert the Magnificent (1000–1035), also named Robert I, Duke of Normandy, 1027–1035), father of William the Conqueror. Sometimes known as Robert II, with Rollo of Normandy, c. 860 – c. 932, as Robert I because Robert was his baptismal name when he became a Christian *Robert I, Duke of Burgundy (1011–1076), Duke of Burgundy, 1032–1076 * Robert I, Count of Flanders (1029–1093), also named Robert the Frisian, Count of Flanders, 1071–1093 * Robert I de Brus (ca. 1078 – 1141/1142) *Robert I of Dreux (c. 1123 – 1188), Count of Braine in France, son of King Louis VI *Robert I of Artois (1216–1250), son of King Louis VIII of France *Robert ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Mark Richardson
David Mark Richardson (born 16 June 1958) is a South African ecologist, particularly known for his work on invasive species, especially invasive trees and shrubs. Biography Richardson was born in Pretoria. He received his BSc degree in Forestry from Stellenbosch University in 1981 and his PhD in Botany from the University of Cape Town in 1989. He worked as Associate Professor of Botany and deputy director of the Institute for Plant Conservation at the University of Cape Town from 1992 to 2004. He joined the Department of Botany and Zoology at Stellenbosch University as Professor of Ecology and served as Deputy-Director (Science Strategy) at the Centre for Invasion Biology between 2004 and 2012. In 2012 he was appointed Director of the Centre for Invasion Biology, and in 2014 he was promoted to Distinguished Professor. He was Editor-in-Chief of the journal ''Diversity and Distributions'' between 1998 and 2015. Awards and honours * In 2006, Richardson was awarded the Hans Sigri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alastair Fitter
Alastair Hugh Fitter CBE FRS (born 20 June 1948) is a British ecologist at the University of York. Fitter was educated at Oxford and at Liverpool, and came to the Department of Biology in York in 197In 2004 he was appointed Pro-Vice-Chancellor, with the Research portfolio. He is a member of Council of the Natural Environment Research Council. Fitter's research interests include plant and microbial behaviour in a changing world; functional ecology of roots and mycorrhizal associations under field conditions; root system architecture; carbon cycling in soil, especially in relation to mycorrhizas; phenological responses to climate change. Alastair Fitter is the son of the naturalist and author Richard Fitter (1913–2005), and together in 2002 they published an article in ''Science'' on the changing phenology of wild flowers due to global warming. They have also collaborated on numerous field guides and other natural history books. Fitter was elected Fellow of the Royal Society ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Williamson (biologist)
Mark Herbert Williamson is Professor Emeritus of Biology at the University of York, England. He is an expert on biological invasions. Williamson attended Christ Church, Oxford where he gained a BA degree in 1950 and received a D.Phil. in 1958, having been a Departmental Demonstrator in the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford since 1952. Between 1958 and 1962, Williamson was a Senior/Principal Scientific Officer (SSO/PSO) at the Oceanographic Laboratory of the Scottish Marine Biological Association. Between 1962 and 1965, he was a Lecturer at the Department of Zoology at Edinburgh University. In 1963, he was appointed Professor at the Department of Biology, University of York, on its founding. He was Head of Department in the Department of Biology at York from 1963 until 1984. In 1993, Mark Williamson was appointed professor emeritus. In 1994, he received an OBE in the 1994 New Year Honours. Books * Williamson, Mark (1972). ''The Analysis of Biological Populations' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Population Bottlenecks
A population bottleneck or genetic bottleneck is a sharp reduction in the size of a population due to environmental events such as famines, earthquakes, floods, fires, disease, and droughts; or human activities such as specicide, widespread violence or intentional culling, and human population planning. Such events can reduce the variation in the gene pool of a population; thereafter, a smaller population, with a smaller genetic diversity, remains to pass on genes to future generations of offspring through sexual reproduction. Genetic diversity remains lower, increasing only when gene flow from another population occurs or very slowly increasing with time as random mutations occur. This results in a reduction in the robustness of the population and in its ability to adapt to and survive selecting environmental changes, such as climate change or a shift in available resources. Alternatively, if survivors of the bottleneck are the individuals with the greatest genetic fitness, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phenotypic Plasticity
Phenotypic plasticity refers to some of the changes in an organism's behavior, morphology and physiology in response to a unique environment. Fundamental to the way in which organisms cope with environmental variation, phenotypic plasticity encompasses all types of environmentally induced changes (e.g. morphological, physiological, behavioural, phenological) that may or may not be permanent throughout an individual's lifespan. The term was originally used to describe developmental effects on morphological characters, but is now more broadly used to describe all phenotypic responses to environmental change, such as acclimation (acclimatization), as well as learning. The special case when differences in environment induce discrete phenotypes is termed polyphenism. Generally, phenotypic plasticity is more important for immobile organisms (e.g. plants) than mobile organisms (e.g. most animals), as mobile organisms can often move away from unfavourable environments. Nevertheless, mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genetic Variation
Genetic variation is the difference in DNA among individuals or the differences between populations. The multiple sources of genetic variation include mutation and genetic recombination. Mutations are the ultimate sources of genetic variation, but other mechanisms, such as genetic drift, contribute to it, as well. Among individuals within a population Genetic variation can be identified at many levels. Identifying genetic variation is possible from observations of phenotypic variation in either quantitative traits (traits that vary continuously and are coded for by many genes (e.g., leg length in dogs)) or discrete traits (traits that fall into discrete categories and are coded for by one or a few genes (e.g., white, pink, or red petal color in certain flowers)). Genetic variation can also be identified by examining variation at the level of enzymes using the process of protein electrophoresis. Polymorphic genes have more than one allele at each locus. Half of the genes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mating System
A mating system is a way in which a group is structured in relation to sexual behaviour. The precise meaning depends upon the context. With respect to animals, the term describes which males and females mating, mate under which circumstances. Recognised systems include monogamy, polygamy (which includes polygyny, polyandry, and polygynandry), and promiscuity, all of which lead to different mate choice outcomes and thus these systems affect how sexual selection works in the species which practice them. In plants, the term refers to the degree and circumstances of outcrossing. In human sociobiology, the terms have been extended to encompass the formation of relationships such as marriage. In plants The primary mating systems in plants are outcrossing (cross-fertilisation), autogamy (self-fertilisation) and apomixis (asexual reproduction without fertilization, but only when arising by modification of sexual function). Mixed mating systems, in which plants use two or even all three ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernst Mayr
Ernst Walter Mayr (; 5 July 1904 – 3 February 2005) was one of the 20th century's leading evolutionary biologists. He was also a renowned Taxonomy (biology), taxonomist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, Philosophy of biology, philosopher of biology, and History of science, historian of science. His work contributed to the conceptual revolution that led to the Modern synthesis (20th century), modern evolutionary synthesis of Gregor Mendel, Mendelian genetics, systematics, and Charles Darwin, Darwinian evolution, and to the development of the Species, biological species concept. Although Charles Darwin and others posited that multiple species could evolve from a single common ancestor, the mechanism by which this occurred was not understood, creating the ''species problem''. Ernst Mayr approached the problem with a new definition for species. In his book ''Systematics and the Origin of Species'' (1942) he wrote that a species is not just a group of Morphology (biology), morph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theodosius Dobzhansky
Theodosius Grigorievich Dobzhansky (russian: Феодо́сий Григо́рьевич Добржа́нский; uk, Теодо́сій Григо́рович Добржа́нський; January 25, 1900 – December 18, 1975) was a prominent Russian-American geneticist and evolutionary biologist, and a central figure in the field of evolutionary biology for his work in shaping the modern synthesis. Born in the Russian Empire, Dobzhansky emigrated to the United States in 1927, aged 27. He was a distant relation of the Russian writer Feodor Dostoevsky. His 1937 work ''Genetics and the Origin of Species'' became a major influence on the modern synthesis. He was awarded the US National Medal of Science in 1964 and the Franklin Medal in 1973. Biography Early life Dobzhansky was born on January 25, 1900, in Nemirov, Russian Empire (now Nemyriv, Ukraine), the only child of Grigory Dobzhansky, a mathematics teacher, and Sophia Voinarsky. He was given a rare name, Theodosius, bec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
