title: The evolutionary dynamics of polyploid plants: origins, establishment and persistence.
abstract: The role of polyploidy in the origin of evolutionary novelty and the maintenance of diversity in plant populations has come to be recognized as an integral component of the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of plant species populations. Recent attempts to examine the evolutionary significance of polyploidy have focused on the processes responsible for the origin of polyploid plants and the conditions that favour their establishment and persistence. The importance of these issues is not simply limited to the evolutionary dynamics of polyploidy but is, in fact, central to our understanding of the population biology processes that act on the establishment of new 'types' and the maintenance of biotic diversity at both the inter- and intraspecific levels.
authors.affiliation: John Thompson and Roselyne Lumaret are at the Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionelle et Evolutive, Centre Louis Emberger, CNRS, Route de Mende, BP 5051, 34033 Montpellier Cedex, France.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lumaret