Plant Evolution and the Origin of Crop Species

Evolution is the force that shapes our living world. Countless different kinds of plants and animals pack the earth and each species is itself composed of a wide range of morphologies and adaptations. These species are continually being modified as they face the realities of their particular environments. In its simplest sense, evolution can be defined as a change in gene frequency over time. Genetic variability is produced by mutation and then that variability is shuffled and sorted by the various evolutionary forces. It does not matter whether the species are cultivated or wild, the basic evolutionary processes are the same.