Kansas State University biologist seeks to understand the world's flora

Since the time of Darwin, biologists have sought to understand the evolution of plant species. Joseph Craine, grassland ecologist and research assistant professor of biology at Kansas State University, publishes "Resource Strategies of Wild Plants" in his ongoing work to understand how ecological forces have shaped the world's flora.

Craine's work encompasses research from all over the world, including the American Great Plains.

"A Kansas prairie like Konza holds one out of every 500 terrestrial plant species in the world," Craine said. "If we are going to take them -- no less the rest of the world's quarter million plant species -- with us into the next century, we have to understand how those species differ, the ecological and evolutionary forces that created them, and why they are still here with us today."

"Answering these questions is one of the most important responsibilities for ecologists today because increases in carbon dioxide, rising temperatures and changes in our demands on natural ecosystems add great uncertainty to how ecosystems will function in the future."

Read the Kansas State University News Service article HERE.

More information about his book is HERE.