Class Text

There is no required text for Plant Evolutionary Biology. Readings will draw from multiple sources and primary literautre. Additional materials will be made available on the class website as needed. My preference is to reduce financial barriers where possible, but I am also transparent about the source of course content below.

The closest thing to a text is Plant Evolution by Karl Niklas. A brief glance will reveal that I use a lot of material in the early evolution section and that the class roughly follows the ordering of major themes. The class and the book Plant Evolution both move from the smallest evolution units (populations) to the largest (ecosystems). Our class has a bit of a narrower but deeper focus on a subset of topics rather than covering Plant Evolution from cover to cover. This is in-part due to our emphasis on genomic data and some practical skill building to do research with such data. You will find that I take many liberties on the macroevolutionary section too. I skip some topics in plant physiology and gene expression networks in order to give space for covering primary literature and in-class project activities as well. My recommendation is that a student does not need this text to get the most from the class. Graduate students looking to develop research or teaching careers in evolutionary biology might consider adding it to their personal library. The libraries should have copies for the class if interested.

  • Niklas K. 2016. Plant Evolution: An Introduction to the History of Life. University of Chicago Press. Chicago, IL.

I utilize other sources throughout the course as well. None encompasses the course content from end-to-end but provides a basis for different elements and activities.

  • Simpson MG. 2019. Plant Systematics. 3rd Edition. Academic Press. London, UK.
  • Judd et al. 2015. Plant Systematics: A Phylogenetic Approach. 4th Edition. Sinaur Associates. Sunderland, MA.
  • Charlesworth B & Charlesworth D. 2010. Elements of Evolutionary Genetics. 1st Edition. WH Freeman & Co. New York, NY.
  • Yang Z. 2014. Molecular Evolution: A Statistical Approach. Oxford University Press. Oxford, UK.

Al of these books are available in the Tiley lab for short loans if helpful. I am working on ensuring the library has copies too. They tend to provide a bit more organismal, population genetic, or phylogenetic perspecitives, respectively.