Botany is a field of biology that studies plants. This group includes autotrophs, eukaryotes and other organisms, including multicellular ones that produce their own food. The plant kingdom is a huge variety of species. Plant science is engaged in the study of species, as well as the ecology, anatomy and physiology of plants.
What does botany study?
Botany is a branch of plant science. One of the oldest natural sciences in the world is studying the metabolism and function of organisms, the so-called plant physiology, as well as the processes of growth, development and reproduction.
Plant science is responsible for the study of heredity (plant genetics), adaptation to the environment, ecology, and geographical distribution. Among the varieties, geobotany, phytogeography, and paleontology (the study of fossils) are worth mentioning.
History of Botany
Botany is a branch of plant science. They began to consider botany as a science starting from the period of European colonialism, although human interest in plants goes much further. The field of study covered plants and trees on their land, as well as exotic samples brought during numerous trips. And in ancient times, willy-nilly, it was necessary to study certain plants. Even at the dawn of time, people tried to identify the healing properties of plants, their growing season.
Cereals, fruits and vegetables were vital to the social development of all mankind. When there was no science in the modern sense of the word, mankind studied plants in the framework of the agricultural revolution.
Such prominent figures of Ancient Greece and Rome as Aristotle, Theophrastus and Dioscorides, among other important sciences, have taken botany to a new level. Theophrastus is even called the father of botany, thanks to which two fundamental works were written, which have been used for 1,500 years and continue to be used to this day.
As in many sciences, during the Renaissance and the Reformation and at the dawn of the Enlightenment there was a significant breakthrough in the study of botany. The microscope was invented at the end of the 16th century, which made it possible to study plants like never before, including small details such as phytoliths and pollen. Knowledge began to expand not only about the plants themselves, but also about their reproduction, metabolic processes and other aspects that until then were closed to humanity.
Plant groups
1. The simplest plants are all bryophytes, they are small, do not have stems, leaves and roots. Mosses prefer places with high humidity and constantly need water for reproduction.
2. All vascular spore plants, unlike mosses, have vessels that conduct juice, as well as leaves, stem and root. These plants are also highly dependent on water. Representatives include, for example, ferns and horsetails.
3. All seeds are more complex plants with such an important evolutionary advantage as seeds. This is extremely important because it guarantees the protection of the embryo and the provision of its food. There are gymnosperms (pine) and angiosperms (coconut palms).
Plant ecology
Plant ecology is different from botany; its subject of study is how plants interact with the environment and respond to environmental and climate changes. The human population is constantly growing, and more and more land is required, which is why the issue of protecting natural resources and their respect for them is especially acute.
Plant ecology recognizes eleven basic types of environments in which plant life is possible:
- rainforests,
- temperate forests
- coniferous forests
- tropical savannahs
- meadows of the temperate zone (plains),
- deserts and arid ecosystems,
- Mediterranean regions
- land and wetlands,
- ecology of freshwater, coastal or marine sites and the tundra.
Each type has its own ecological profile and balanced flora and fauna, and how they interact is important for understanding their evolution.
Biology: Botany Section
Botany is a science about the structure, life activity, distribution and origin of plants, it explores, systematizes and classifies all these characteristics, as well as the geographical distribution, evolution and ecology of flora. Botany is a branch of science about the whole diversity of the plant world, which includes many branches. For example, paleobotany studies extinct plants or petrified specimens extracted from geological layers. The subject of study is also fossilized algae, bacteria, fungi and lichens. Understanding climate change in the past is fundamental to modern times. This science can even shed light on the nature and scale of plant species from the Ice Age.
Archeobotany is functional in terms of studying the spread of agriculture, draining swamps and so on. Botany (plant biology) conducts research at all levels, including ecosystems, communities, species, individuals, tissues, cells and molecules (genetics, biochemistry). Biologists study many types of plants, including algae, mosses, ferns, gymnosperms and flowering (seed) plants, including wild and cultivated ones.
Botany is a branch of the science of plants and crop production. The 20th century is considered the golden age of biology, because thanks to new technologies this science can be studied at a completely new level. Advanced molecular biology techniques provide the latest tools for researching both plants and other living organisms that inhabit planet Earth.