Disciplines Of Botany Research Articles

Ortaçağ Türk Şiirinde “Sünbül” İmgesi Üzerine Bir Değerlendirme

In the literature of medieval Turkish civilization, the concept of "sünbül" has a very rich variety of usage. This diversity has manifested itself in the humanities as well as in the natural and applied sciences, especially in Turkish poetry, where the concept of sünbül is widely used. How does the concept of sünbül differ between texts of natural and applied sciences and literature? In literary texts, it is necessary to investigate what is meant by the use of sünbül. In this study, we discussed what is meant by the use of sünbül in poetry by comparing the works created using Turkish in the Middle Ages in natural and applied sciences with the medieval Turkish poetry. In the literature of medieval Turkish civilization, the concept of "sünbül" is a concept used in the disciplines of botany, astrology and semiotics, as well as its use as a poetic image. In our study, a general viewpoint has been created to cover the definition and usage areas of the use of sünbül in the works of the Old Anatolian Turkish period, and in the conclusion part, all these uses and the values that the concept expresses. According to our findings, the use of "sünbül" in Turkish poetry is related to its terminology in the three disciplines. As a botanical term, a relation was established between the sünbül and the ideal woman's hair, and the pleasant scents of the plants known as sünbül in the Middle Ages, the filamentous structures seen in the root systems of these plants or, possibly, the inflorescence. As the term of astronomy, sünbül is meant by establishing a visual similarity with the concept of sünbül, which is used as a botanical term, and the modern sign of Virgo, called "sünbüle". As a semiotic term, the sünbül was used to indicate the perfect hair of the ideal woman, as well as the scent of this hair, it has also been mentioned among the elements that complement the beauty of a unique and celestial garden from time to time. This study also argues that in addition to the aforementioned forms of use, the establishment of the relationship between “sünbül” and “zülüf” is an evolved manifestation of the feeling of gratitude towards the goddesses of agriculture in Antiquity. Keywords: History of plants, Medieval astronomy, Medieval botany, Medieval semiology, spikenard.

Botânica no Ensino Superior: o que pensam os discentes do Amapá (Amazônia, Brasil)

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo descrever as dificuldades encontradas pelos discentes no processo ensino-aprendizagem, dos conteúdos de Botânica em cursos de licenciatura em Ciências Biológicas e Naturais ofertados por Instituições de Ensino Superior (IES) públicas do estado do Amapá. Os dados foram coletados a partir da utilização de questionários, contendo perguntas referentes as particularidades dos discentes e do curso, os obstáculos relacionados aos conteúdos e carga horária das disciplinas, a metodologia docente e o que pode ser melhorado no ensino de Botânica. As respostas destacam os empecilhos que limitam a aprendizagem dos discentes no que se referem às estratégias didáticas aplicadas pelos docentes no ensino das disciplinas, a exiguidade de aulas práticas, a escassez de material didático e de espaços específicos para as aulas e a carga horária insuficiente para estudar as disciplinas de Botânica. Os resultados apresentados neste estudo recomendam o aperfeiçoamento do ensino de Botânica nos cursos de licenciaturas analisados, principalmente no que tange as estratégias e procedimento metodológico docente ao ensinar as disciplinas de Botânica.

Botany through the Looking Glass: Cognitive Neuroscience and its Role in the Use of Art in Botanical Education

Student engagement within the discipline of Botany is not always limited to scientific content. The patterns, colours and shapes that are produced when investigating plant anatomy via sectioning are highly aesthetic and can immediately engage students. The boundaries between aesthetics and science are often blurred or, more correctly, imagined. Nurturing and developing the inspiration drawn from the integration of these two worlds provides an alternative way of engaging students in the theoretical content of the discipline. Student exposure and engagement with native Australian Flora and botanical education is too often limited and finding novel ways to engage students with Botany is critically important; even more so in this current era of Plant Blindness and climate change denial (Jacobson et al., 2016; Wandersee & Schussler, 2000). To combat this, contemporary neuroscience and cognitive psychology research show promise toward the use of visual mediums to enhance memory, leading to an improvement in educational outcomes (Bigelow & Poremba, 2014; Cohen, Horowitz, & Wolfe, 2009; Corballis, 1966; Gloede, 2015; Jensen, 1971; Kim & Olaciregui, 2008). Therefore, encouraging students to engage with botanical content, via microscopic imagery, scientific/artistic depictions, and more specifically, the production of drawings and artworks (Fernandes et al., 2018; Rosier, Locker, & Naufel, 2013) should be further incorporated into curricula to increase engagement and establish a deeper connection to Botanical subdisciplines such as plant taxonomy, morphology and systematics. In this paper, with reference to established research and an example of a science-art project, we discuss the ways in which the fusion of the aesthetic and scientific worlds creates a feedback loop from which the creative process inspired from scientific material develops a deeper enquiry-based understanding of the material itself

Integrative Paleobotany: Affirming the Role of Fossils in Modern Plant Biology—Introduction and Dedication

Integrative Paleobotany: Affirming the Role of Fossils in Modern Plant Biology—Introduction and Dedication

Building an Ontology of Flora of Thailand for Developing Semantic Electronic Dictionary

Thailand is one of the tropical countries teeming with diverse flora and vegetation. The diverse vascular plants of Thailand with estimated number of no less than 10,000 species, have been recorded and published in continuation in the Flora of Thailand since 1970. Domain ontologies express conceptualization that are specific for particular domain and greatly useful in knowledge acquisition, sharing and analysis. In this paper, we propose a Thailand’s Flora Ontology (TFO) for developing semantic dictionary on the web to discover the flora knowledge for plant biologists across all disciplines of botany. A mixed methods was applied in organizing of the specification of conceptualizations on flora of Thailand using the domain analytic approach in order for developing an ontology. The TFO has been constructed by using HOZO ontology editor. The research methods included 1) Domain analysis for knowledge organization. 2) Ontology development. The results of classification of Thailand’s Flora based on concise encyclopedia of plants in Thailand, floral characteristics and area of distribution can be divided into 8 concepts including Plant_Information, Plant_Family, Plant_Genus, Plant_Habitat, Botany_Habit, Uses, Medicinal_Properties, and Floristic_Regions. In the next step, semantic electronic dictionary will be developed by using the TFO from this study.

Chemicals on plant surfaces as a heretofore unrecognized, but ecologically informative, class for investigations into plant defence.

Plants produce and utilize a great diversity of chemicals for a variety of physiological and ecological purposes. Many of these chemicals defend plants against herbivores, pathogens and competitors. The location of these chemicals varies within the plant, some are located entirely within plant tissues, others exist in the air- (or water-) space around plants, and still others are secreted onto plant surfaces as exudates. I argue herein that the location of a given defensive chemical has profound implications for its ecological function; specifically, I focus on the characteristics of chemical defences secreted onto plant surfaces. Drawing from a broad literature encompassing ecology, evolution, taxonomy and physiology, I found that these external chemical defences (ECDs) are common and widespread in plants and algae; hundreds of examples have been detailed, yet they are not delineated as a separate class from internal chemical defences (ICDs). I propose a novel typology for ECDs and, using existing literature, explore the ecological consequences of the hypothesized unique characteristics of ECDs. The axis of total or proportional investment in ECDs versus ICDs should be considered as one axis of investment by a plant, in the same way as quantitative versus qualitative chemical defences or induced versus constitutive defences is considered. The ease of manipulating ECDs in many plant systems presents a powerful tool to help test plant defence theory (e.g. optimal defence). The framework outlined here integrates various disciplines of botany and ecology and suggests a need for further examinations of exudates in a variety of contexts, as well as recognition of the effects of within-plant localization of defences.

Method of Quick-Survey of the Phytocoenosium in Urban Green Space

By comparing research methods in the different disciplines of botany, military science and mathematics, in order to discover the phytocoenosium structure of urban green space, this paper induced a simple and practical method, which included four steps, i.e., quadrats selection, integrity indicators surveying, individual indicators surveying and type identification. This method applies to those research activities with less precision need and compact time.

Southern Geographies and the Domestication of Science in the Photography of J.W. Lindt

John William Lindt's (I845-1926) photography of his house and garden retreat, The Hermitage, in the Yarra Ranges near Melbourne, attests to contemporary debates on what one contemporary termed the domestication of science : the call for the common man and increasingly, the interested woman to participate first-hand in the scientific study of the natural world, especially the disciplines of botany and geography. Recalling the earlier doctrines of German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt (l769-1859), who linked the botanical geography of southern continents with the development of egalitarian values in art and science and the advancement of modern civilization, Australian protagonists of such ideals coupled field research by the average citizen with the intellectual progress of the colony. We argue that Limit 's Hermitage, which was designed on Humboldtian principles, also became an important site for scientific activities that were intellectually indebted to Humboldtian ideals. In order to show how Lindt's photographic images of The Hermitage and surrounds specifically address contemporary discourses on the access to science by non-professionals, including women, we will focus on Lindt's practical involvement in the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia , including his participation in scientific expeditions to New Guinea and Fiji, and his use of The Hermitage as a base for geographical carnivals and field trips . These images were widely disseminated by Llndt in diverse forms such as stereographs, tourist postcards and in scientific presentations. By these means, Lindt was able to impart to a global audience Humboldtian insights about the botanical abundance of me south and its potential to awaken a comprehension of science and art in the general population of Australia.

Leaf epicuticular waxes.

The external surface of the higher plants comprises a cuticular layer covered by a waxy deposit. This deposit is believed to play a major part in such phenomena as the water balance of plants and the behavior of agricultural sprays. The wax contains a wide range of organic compounds. These complex mixtures are amenable to modern microchromatographic and microspectrometric analytical procedures. The few surveys which have been made of the species distribution of certain classes of constituents indicate that such distribution may be of limited taxonomic value; however, the wax composition of a species may differ for different parts of the same plant and may vary with season, locale, and the age of the plant. This fascinating subject, in which the disciplines of botany, biochemistry, chemistry, and physics overlap and interact, is still in a very active state. Much remains to be learned about the composition and fine structure of the wax deposits, and, for this, experimental study of wax crystallization and permeation through artificial membranes will be required. Enzymic studies, radiolabeling, and electron microscopy will be needed to reveal the mode of biogenesis of the wax constituents and their site of formation and subsequent pathway through the cuticle to the leaf surface.