Exam I Study Guide – 2023 This is intended as a supplement to your studying. Questions in the exam will be a mixture of essay, figure interpretation, short answer, and multiple-choice. Here’s some example questions from previous tests of mine: 1.) Whether a plant is an annual, biennial, or perennial relates to a plant’s: (1 pt) A. Habit B. Duration C. Caulescence D. Inflorescence 2.) The artichoke we eat is an immature… (1 pt) A. Rhizome B. Petiole C. Raceme inflorescence D. Head inflorescence 4.) The inflorescence to the right is best described as a (1 pt) A. Panicle B. Spike C. Corymb D. Raceme 16.) Random fluctuations in allele frequency through time (genetic drift) is more dramatic when… (1 pt) A. Mating is random B. Epistatic interactions are strong C. Populations are very small D. Pleiotropy is strong 9.) Which professions require a strong foundation in systematic botany? (more than one can be correct) (1 pt.) A.) Psychiatrist B.) Ethnobotanist C.) Forester D.) Wildlife biologist E.) Mechanic 11.) The taxonomic level of family is identifiable by the suffix: A.) - aceae B.) - opsida C.) - idae D.) - phyta 22.) What does the inclusion of an “outgroup” do when constructing a phylogeny (2 pt)? 34.) Illustrate a flower in longitudinal cross-section. Label all parts, including the names for collective organs, e.g., “petals (corolla collectively)” (12 pts). Here’s a list of concepts and terms that seem important to me: Provide context for the diversity and timing of plant species Give some examples of the diversity of lifeforms Be able to what plant systematics is and how a major goal of the field is to understand how evolution works and how it shapes biodiversity Know what a phylogeny is and how to interpret it (including down to the individual/population-level) Identify monophyletic and non-monophyletic groups Understand “descent with modification” Understand the importance of reproductive isolation Be able to describe how the study of patterns of variation are important in classification. Why should we care about diversity and classification? No need to be able to reconstruct the viridophyte phylogeny, but you should know roughly which group is basal, where the bryophytes, gymnosperms, and angiosperms diverge. Understand what a phylogenetic approach is and why it is important in increasing the predictive power of classifications Understand how classifications are hierarchical; suffix for Order and Family? Formatting conventions for genus and species and specific epithet? Be able to discuss Doyle & Luckow (2003 – Legume evolution) e.g., monophyletic or non-monophyletic subfamilies, biogeographic hypotheses for their evolutionary patterns and nitrogen fixation. Be able to discuss Murray (1997) and Abbott & Brochmann (2003). What patterns describe arctic plant species richness (diversity)? What is Beringia and why is it important? How was chloroplast DNA sequence patterns used to support the Beringia hypothesis and not support Hultén’s amphi-atlantic hypothesis? Character, character state, apomorphy (in particular synapomorphy), pleisiomorphy Homology, homoplasy Rooting networks to polarize character states and root phylogenetic trees Know what variation (phenotypic and genotypic) is and why it is important Know what natural selection is and how it operates Understand some of the environmental sources of phenotypic variation (incl. maternal effects, abiotic environment, etc.) Know what discrete or discontinuous traits are relative to continuous/quantitative Threshold traits, developmental stability? Know what narrow sense heritability is and the Breeder’s equation – and WHY it is important. Be able to calculate simple response to selection questions. Be able to describe additive genetic variation vs. non-additive sources of genetic variation and why this matters. Be able to describe the addition, maintenance, and loss of genetic variation in a population (ID sources and phenomena that are important) Be able to describe what genetic drift is and why it is important. Morphology- Why do we care about it? Reproductive vs. vegetative morphology (parts?) Duration (annual, biennial, perennial) and Habit (e.g., tree, shrub, vine, forb, graminoid) Don’t worry about branching architecture or bud terminology Roots (functions, major types = ?) Stems (functions, node and internode, acaulescent, caulescent, bulb, corm, tuber, rhizome) Leaves (functions, stipules, petiole, blade; arrangements; simple vs. compound leaves, types of compound leaves = ) Venation (recurrent, parallel) Leaf shapes (ovate, obovate, elliptic, oblong) Leaf apex shapes (acute, acuminate, obtuse) Leaf margin (entire or lobed) Hairs (aka trichomes: pubescent vs. glabrous or glaucous) Flowers (function, complete vs. incomplete, bisexual or unisexual, monoecious, dioecious) Perianth (parts = ) Androecium (parts = ) Gynoecium (parts = ) Floral symmetry (radial/actinomorphic vs. bilateral/zygomorphic) Fusion of floral parts (connate vs distinct, adnate vs free) Ovary position (superior vs. inferior – less important to know hypogynous, perigynous, epigynous) Ovary (carpels, locules, septa, placenta, Inflorescence (determinate vs. indeterminate, cyme, raceme, spike, panicle, head/capitulum, umbel, catkin, don’t worry about spathe and spadix or cauliflory) Fruit (what is it, function?) Fruit types (achene, nut, berry, drupe, capsule, follicle, pome, legume, schizocarp, silique Adaptation & Natural Selection Deductive argument for Natural Selection (if these three conditions are met, a trait distribution can change within generation and across generations) Response to selection What is fitness? How do correlated characters respond to phenotypic selection? Define trait-fitness relationship and surface Define sexual selection Basics of flowering plant reproduction Higher scores for students that are able to tie in info from the readings, text, and answer completely, etc.
