Darwinian evolution : Process or pattern?

Darwinian evolution is a central tenet in biology. Conventionally, the defi nition of Darwinian evolution is linked to a population-based process that can be measured by focusing on changes in DNA/allele frequencies. However, in some publications it has been suggested that selection represents a state, not a process. If this is true any defi nition of Darwinian evolution that includes selection no longer can represent a process, because the ontological kind of selection is that of a state. There are other publications that also suggest that the concept of evolution needs a rethink, for example to deal with epigenetics, niche construction and horizontal DNA transfer. As a basis for contributing to both demands for re-conceptualisation, we will explore in this chapter whether or not the defi nition of the concept of Darwinian evolution can be defi ned in a stringent individual/object-based way, in terms of individual parents and their individual offspring, instead of in terms of populations of parents and offspring. The reason why we focus on an individual/ object-based approach is that this offers a basis for explicit descriptions of the objects involved and of the kinds of relationships between the objects, while a combination of these aspects offers a basis for decisions about which kind of over-all graph-pattern can be used for defi ning the concept of Darwinian evolution. Taking advantage of such possibilities, we suggest a graph-pattern for Darwinian evolution at the smallest scale. This smallest graph-pattern also offers a foundation for future scaling and extension. In the context of evolution, where everything seems prone to change, the pattern of Darwinian evolution at the smallest scale would also offer an unchanging core conceptualisation. We emphasise that the population viewpoint and the use of DNA/allele frequencies offer a solid and practical basis for calculations. In addition to this, we see theoretical reasons for the application of objectbased graph-patterns as a means to solve ambiguities about how Darwinian evolution can be defi ned conceptually

Introducing the operator theory

The Operator Theory is a new theory about the hierarchical organisation of complexity in nature. The theory is based on the idea that in the space of all possible processes, a small subset exists of highly specifi c processes through which small objects can integrate to form new, more complex objects. The Operator Theory focuses on this small subset of objects. The processes that the Operator Theory focuses on are referred to as uniform closure of the structural and functional kind. The combination of such closures is called a dual closure. Based on dual closures, and in a step by step way, the Operator Theory identifi es a branching hierarchy of kinds of objects that have increasingly complex organisation. Any object of a kind that is included in this hierarchy is called an operator, and the branching hierarchy is called the Operator Hierarchy. Interestingly, there are strong indications that, in analogy with the primary and secondary structure of amino acids, the Operator Hierarchy has a secondary structure. The Operator Theory hypothesises that this secondary structure offers a means to one day predict the structure of future kinds of operators. By offering a stringent classifi cation of the operators of different kinds, from quarks to multicellular animals, the Operator Theory can be used to contribute to discussions about fundamental concepts in science, e.g. individuality, organismality, hierarchy, life and (the prediction of) evolution.</p

Generalising darwinian evolution by using its smallest-scale representation as a foundation

The Latin word evolvere means to unroll. As unrolling is a very general concept, the sensu lato interpretation of evolution has become a catchall for many different dynamic phenomena in nature. While zooming in on part of this broad context, this chapter focuses on the Darwinian kind of evolution. The structure of Darwinian evolution was analysed in Chap. 4, resulting in the identifi cation of an object-based graphpattern for Darwinian evolution at the smallest scale. The hypothesis of this book is that, because of its irreducible complexity, a defi nition at the smallest scale can serve as a reference for a range of extensions, which defi ne a family of related patterns of Darwinian evolution. To test this hypothesis, several extensions of the pattern in the smallest form are explored. The results offer a new perspective on the proposition of generalised Darwinism that evolutionary phenomena in different domains can be viewed as identical in their basic structure if they are analysed at a suffi ciently abstract level of analysis.</p

Community genetics in the time of next generation molecular technologies

Community genetics in the time of next generation molecular technologie

Community genetics in the time of next generation molecular technologies

Community genetics in the time of next generation molecular technologie

5 Fagaceae Trees

Worldwide, there are more than 1,000 species belonging to the Fagaceae. All Fagaceae species are woody plants and are spread throughout the northern hemisphere, from the tropical to the boreal regions. The family comprises seven genera (Govaerts and Frodin 1998), and the number of species is extremely variable among genera: Castanea (12), Castanopsis (100 to 200), Chrysolepis (2), Fagus (11), Lithocarpus (300), Quercus (450 to 600), Trigonobalanus (3).Oaks (Quercus), chestnuts (Castanea), and beeches (Fagus) are widely used in forestry for wood products over the three continents (Asia, Europe, and America) and are important economic species. Consequently, they have received more attention in forest genetic research than other genera. In addition to their cultivation in forestry, chestnuts are also used for their fruit production and have been partially domesticated for that purpose. Castanopsis and Lithocarpus are important ecological components of the Asian flora and have recently been investigated for their biological diversity (Cannon and Manos 2003). The remaining genera comprise only a very few species and for the time being have been studied mainly in botany and taxonomy