Exercise 1: Backyard Inventory

• Systematics is a science that deals with the reconstruction of phylogeny or evolutionary history of organisms
• Taxonomy


  Comprises description, identification, nomenclature and classification of organisms
• Description


  A particular character (e.g. leaf shape) can have varied character states (e.g. oval, linear, mucronate)
• Taxonomic keys


  Essential in the recognition of unknown organisms or identification
• Binomial nomenclature


  Consists of two names: Genus and Species specific epithet followed by the abbreviated author's name (i.e. Oryza sativa L.)
• Classification


  Involves the arrangement of entities (taxa, pl.) into some type of order and its purpose is to provide a system for cataloguing and expressing relationships between these entities
• Phenetic classification


  Based on the overall similarity between and among taxa
• Phylogenetic classification


  Through the evolutionary history or pattern of descent (e.g. characters or traits) between ancestral organisms and its descendants
• Cladogram


  Conceptually illustrates the pattern of descent wherein lines in the diagram represents lineages or clades
• Phylogenetic tree


  Evolutionary pattern has time and genetic distance components as they can be generated using molecular tools and analysis
• Apomorphy


  The change from pre-existing character or ancestral character state into a new derived character state or evolutionary novelty
• Herbarium specimen


  Plant samples that are usually pressed and dried and are then glued or permanently attached to a sheet of paper with documentation labels
• Herbaria house numerous plant collection and serve as center for research and sources of materials for systematic work
• Huge amount of information in herbaria are organized and stored as computerized data which can be accessed online through "Data Information System" or Databases
• Classification of plants (Viridiplantae)

  • Mosses
  • Ferns
  • Fern-allies
  • Gymnosperms
  • Angiosperms: Monocot
  • Angiosperms: Dicot
  • Aquatic Plants
  • Fungi
• Creating a Plant Guide and Cladogram

  1. Capture images of the group's most prevalent plants

  2. Include photos of full plant, shoot system, root system, close-up on leaves, stem, and reproductive parts

  3. Label genus and/or species as well as the location of the specimen

  4. Complete table of traits (spores, rhizoids, true roots, stem, cuticle, leaves with 1 vein, leaves with many veins, flower, seed)

  5. Create a cladogram of the representative species