Colleagues,
I think population biology and plant taxonomy are two completely different
subjects. Taxonomy, to me, includes understanding evolutionary
relationships and affinities as well as working through how to use a key,
recognizing family characteristics, etc. When you start looking at how
plant groups interact with each other, those questions come under the aegis
of ecology, which is a different ball of wax.
I think if you had only limited time and wanted students to get exposed to
both you could develop some kind of course that dealt with both subjects,
but in my mind they are very different, and someone trained in population
biology/ecology would not *necessarily* be an expert in taxonomy or
systematics.
Kathleen Archer
