Jens Christian Schou

Starting from life's beginnings 3.5 billion years ago, this book tells the story of how important plant groups evolved, showing the role that symbiosis, photosynthesis, Darwinian selection, hybridisation, mass extinctions, and other phenomena have played in producing the plants that we see today. The book explains and illustrates the relationships between plants and other organisms—especially insects—and presents the latest research on how key species groups, such as algae, mosses, ferns, conifers and flowering plants, evolved, drawing on evidence from the fossil record and recent insights gleaned from molecular evidence. Several plant groups including buttercups, orchids, and grasses are singled out for in-depth discussion and used to illuminate important mechanisms including the co-evolution of plants and pollinators and the formation of new species by hybridisation. The book then examines how humans have used and modified plants for their own ends and how these efforts have transformed the structure of plants such as wheat, rice, maize, and brassicas. This is followed by an examination of the effect of mass extinctions on plant life and the lessons that we might learn from this as we face climate change and biodiversity loss today. Throughout the text, complex ideas in plant biology are explained clearly and engagingly for a general audience, including over 150 diagrams and photographs illustrating key concepts and conveying the remarkable beauty of this fascinating aspect of life on Earth.

Hur uppkom växterna på jorden? Vad är egentligen en växt? Och behöver vi verkligen alla blommorna? Det började för 3,5 miljarder år sedan med urtidens blågröna bakterier. De ingick partnerskap med celler, som sedan gav upphov till grön- alger, vandrade upp på land och så tog utvecklingen fart med mossor, ormbunkar och fräken i koltidens skogar och så småningon uppkom barrträden, de otaliga blomväxterna och den flora, som vi har i dag. Blomväxterna representerar en artrikedom, som människor både har längtat efter men även utnyttjat hämningslöst, allra mest intensivt under de senaste tvåhundra åren. Resultatet ser vi i våra dagars kriser i naturen och klimatet. Historien visar att växternas livskraft med sin stora artrikedom och anpassningsförmåga har tagit dem genom flera globala kriser. Så kanske kommer växtvärlden åter att blomstra efter dagens biodiversitetskris och massutdöende – men den kommer att vara oåterkalleligt förändrad.

DE SKABTE FLORA DANICAFlora Danica er et af de mest imponerende botaniske værker i verdenshistorien – et storværk, der tog hele 123 år at fuldføre. Det blev ikke blot en enestående samling af planteillustrationer, men også inspirationen til det verdensberømte porcelænsstel. Når historien om de 54 bind fortælles, nævnes ofte kongerne og de botaniske hovedredaktører, der styrede værket. Men hvad med dem, der satte stregerne, graverede kobberpladerne og omhyggeligt trykte hver eneste illustration? De kunstnere og håndværkere, der forvandlede videnskab til visuel skønhed, er alt for ofte blevet glemt. Biologen og tegneren Jens Christian Schou bringer nu deres historier frem i lyset. For første gang afsløres også de veluddannede danske kvindelige kobbertrykkere, som fra omkring 1840 – trods en mandsdomineret verden – var med til at sætte det sidste, afgørende præg på værket, der blev afsluttet i 1883. Bogen tager dig med på en rejse gennem Flora Danicas skabelse, illustreret med de smukkeste plancher og fortællinger om det unikke samarbejde mellem kunstnere, forskere og kongelige. Et vidnesbyrd om passion, præcision og det ultimative møde mellem kunst og videnskab.

The first comprehensive guide to the aquatic plants of the regionBeneath the surface of bodies of freshwater—springs, streams, rivers, ponds and lakes—there is a world of plants of great variety and beauty, a realm that is often poorly known and understood. Correctly identified, these plants can tell us much about the character and condition of the habitats in which they live. A collaboration of Danish, German, and British field botanists specializing in freshwater plants, this guide presents all of the known aquatic plants of Northern and Central Europe, including Britain and Ireland, as well as many marginal and wetland species. This is the first comprehensive guide to the identification of the region’s 410 species and hybrids of both native and non-native ferns and flowering plants that are dependent upon freshwater wetlands. Following the latest taxonomy, the book features 358 plates in pen and ink, more than 1,400 colour photographs, illustrated keys, distribution maps and detailed descriptions. The introduction gives an overview of evolution, anatomy and morphology, ecology, eco-physiology, research traditions and more, and the book also includes guidelines for working with aquatic plants. The first comprehensive guide to the region’s aquatic plantsCovers all 410 known speciesFeatures 358 illustrated plates, more than 1,400 colour photographs, distribution maps, detailed descriptions and much more

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