Abstract
On the basis of the concepts of I.G. Serebryakov (founder of the science of plant life forms, ecological morphology) and an analysis of current data, the main directions of research and achievements of Russian botanists in studying life forms and the prospects for the development of biomorphology are shown. Plants are assessed as a distinctive group of living beings in the context of biological systems integrity. New approaches to habit characteristics, morphogenetic stages in relation to individual variations in ontogeny, and classifications of plant life forms are considered. The role of systemic and dynamic approaches in the description of plant life forms as modular organisms and the role of time as the fourth dimension and fundamental category in plant habit formation are discussed. Serebryakov’s assumption about the evolutionary system of biomorphs as a system of parallel series of life forms similar to homologous series of genetic variation is confirmed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aktual’nye problemy sovremennoi biomorfologii (Relevant Problems of Moder Biomorphology), Savinykh, N.P., Ed., Kirov: Raduga-PRESS, 2012.
Astashenkov, A.Yu., Ontogenesis and characteristics of cenopopulations of Nepeta olgae Rgl. (Lamiaceae), in Mater. mezhd. konf. “Bioraznoobrazie, sokhranenie i ratsional’noe ispol’zovanie genofonda rastenii i zhivotnykh” (Proc. Int. Conf. “Biodiversity, Preservation, and Rational Use of the Plant and Animal’s Resources”), Tashkent: Inst. Genofonda Rast. Zhivotn., 2014, pp. 212–214.
Baikova, E.V., Rod shalfei: morfologiya, evolyutsiya, perspektivy introduktsii (Genus Salvia: Morphology, Evolution, and Prospective Introduction), Novosibirsk: Nauka, 2006.
Barthélémy, D. and Caraglio, Y., Plant architecture: a dynamic, multilevel, and comprehensive approach to plant form, structure, and ontogeny, Ann. Bot., 2007, no. 99(3), pp. 375–407.
Begon, M., Harper, J.L., and Townsend, C.R., Ecology: Individuals, Populations, and Communities, Oxford, UK: Wiley, 1990, vol. 1.
Bezdeleva, T.A., Ekologicheskaya morfologiya sosudistykh rastenii: bibliograficheskii ukazatel’ literatury na russkom yazyke (s nachala XXv. po 2010 g.) (Ecological Morphology of Vascular Plants with Russian Bibliographic Index (from the Beginning of 20th Century to 2010)), Vladivsotok: Dal’nauka, 2012, vol. A.
Borisova, I.V. and Popova, G.A., Diversity of functionalspatial structure of the shoots of perennial plants, Bot. Zh., 1990, vol. 75, no. 10, pp. 1420–1426.
Cheryomushkina, V.A., Biologiya lukov Evrazii (Biology of the Eurasian Onions), Novosibirsk: Nauka, 2004.
Cheryomushkina, V.A. and Astashenkov, A.Yu., Morphogenesis and ontogenic structure of cenopopulations of Nepeta podostachys Benth (Lamiaceae) in Tajikistan, Rastit. Mir Aziat. Rossii, 2014a, no. 3(14), pp. 32–38.
Cheryomushkina, V.A. and Astashenkov, A.Yu., Morphological adaptation of Panzerina Sojak (Lamiaceae) species to various ecological conditions, Contemp. Probl. Ecol., 2014b, vol. 7, no. 5, pp. 520–525.
Denisova, G.R., Life forms of genus Dracocephalum L. in mountain systems of Northern Asia, Izv. Akad. Nauk Resp. Tadzh., Otd. Biol. Nauk, 2008, no. 3(164), pp. 22–29.
Derzhavina, N.M., Biomorphology and anatomy of isosporous ferns (epilithes, epiphytes, amphibious, and aquatic) related to adaptation processes, Extended Abstract of Doctoral (Biol.) Dissertation, Moscow, 2006.
Gatsuk, L.E., Implementation of spectra of life forms for characteristics of communities, in Mater. Vseross. konf. k 150-letiyu so dnya rozhdeniya Kh. Raunkiera “Biologicheskie tipy Khristena Raunkiera i sovremennaya botanika” (Proc. All-Russ. Conf. Dedicated to 150th Anniversary of Ch. Raunkiær “Biological Types of Christen Raunkiær and Modern Botany”), Savinykh, N.P. and Bobrov, Yu.A., Eds., Kirov: Vyat. Gos. Gumanit. Univ., 2010, pp. 55–66.
Gureeva, I.I., Ravnosporovye paporotniki Yuzhnoi Sibiri (Isosporous Ferns of Southern Siberia), Tomsk: Tomsk. Gos. Univ., 2001.
Hallé, F. and Oldeman, R.A.A., Essai sur l’Architecture et la Dynamique de Croissance des Arbres Tropicaux, Paris: Masson, 1970.
Hallé, F., Oldeman, R.A.A., and Tomlinson, P.B., Tropical Trees and Forests: An Architectural Analysis, Berlin: Springer-Verlag; 1978.
Khokhryakov, A.P., Somaticheskaya evolyutsiya odnodol’nykh (Somatic Evolution of Monocotyledons), Moscow: Nauka, 1975.
Khokhryakov, A.P., Changes of the life span of the plant in ontogenesis, Zh. Obshch. Biol., 1978, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 357–372.
Khokhryakov, A.P., Categories of the life forms of the plants and their evolution, Zh. Obshch. Biol., 1981, vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 169–180.
Kolegova, E.B. and Cheryomushkina, V.A., Structure of shoot systems of species of genus Thymus, Bot. Zh., 2012, vol. 97, no. 2, pp. 173–183.
Levin, G.G., A problem of individuality of the plants, Bot. Zh., 1961, vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 432–447.
Mal’tseva, T.A., Biomorphology of some racemose-rooted hygrohelophytes, Extended Abstract of Cand. Sci. (Biol.) Dissertation, Syktyvkar, 2009.
Markov, M.V., Populyatsionnaya biologiya rozetochnykh i polurozatochnykh mnogoletnikh rastenii (Population Biology of Rosette and Semirosette Juvenile Plants), Kazan: Kazan. Gos. Univ., 1990.
Marfenin, N.N., A concept of module structure in development, Zh. Obshch. Biol., 1999, vol. 60, no. 1, pp. 6–17.
Musina, L.S., Shooting and development of life forms of some rosette-forming herbs, Byull. Mosk. O-va. Ispyt. Prir., Otd. Biol., 1976, vol. 81, no. 6, pp. 123–132.
Nukhimovskii, E.L., About term and definition “caudex.” 2. Modern status of a problem, Vestn. Mosk. Univ., Ser. Biol. Pochvoved., 1969, no. 2, pp. 71–78.
Nukhimovskii, E.L., Osnovy biomorfologii semennykh rastenii (Basic Biomorphology of the Seed Plants), Moscow: Nedra, 1997, vol. 1.
Pichugina, E.V. and Savinykh, N.P., Specific ontogenesis of Jurinea cyanoides (Asteraceae) at the northern border of habitat, Rastit. Resur., 2006, no. 3, pp. 10–25.
Savinykh, N.P., Shooting, morphogenesis of Veronica gentianoides Vahl. (Scrophyllariaceae), and origin of semirosette herbs, Bot. Zh., 1999, vol. 84, no. 6, pp. 20–31.
Savinykh, N.P., Biomorphology of Veronica of Russia and neighboring states, Wulfenia. Mitteilungen des Kärntner Botanikzentrums Klagenfurt, 2003, vol. 10, pp. 73–102.
Savinykh, N.P., Rod Veronika: morfologiya i evolyutsiya zhiznennykh form (Genus Veronica: Morphology and Evolution of Life Forms), Kirov: Vyatk. Gos. Pedagog. Univ., 2006.
Savinykh, N.P., Biomorphology and a system of life forms of aquatic and coastal plants, in Tr. VIII mezhd. konf. po morfologii rastenii posvyshchennoi pamyati I.G. Serebryakova i T.I. Serebryakovoi (Trans. XIII Int. Conf. on the Plant Morphology Dedicated to the Memory of I.G. Serebryakov and T.I. Serebryakova), Viktorov, V.P., Ed., Moscow: Mosk. Pedagog. Gos. Univ., 2009, vol. 2, pp. 173–182.
Serebryakov, I.G., Morfologiya vegetativnykh organov vysshikh rastenii (Morphology of Vegetative Organs of Higher Plants), Moscow: Sov. Nauka, 1952.
Serebryakov, I.G., Ekologicheskaya morfologiya rastenii (Ecological Morphology of the Plants), Moscow: Vysshaya Shkola, 1962.
Serebryakova, T.I., Morfogenez pobegov i evolyutsiya zhiznennykh form zlakov (Morphogenesis of Shoots and Evolution of the Life Forms), Moscow: Nauka, 1971.
Serebryakova, T.I., Once again about “life form” definition for the plants, Byull. Mosk. O-va. Ispyt. Prir., Otd. Biol., 1980, vol. 95, no. 6, pp. 75–86.
Serebryakova, T.I., General “architecture models” of herbaceous perennial plants, and their transformed types, Byull. Mosk. O-va. Ispyt. Prir., Otd. Biol., 1977, vol. 82, no. 5, pp. 112–128.
Shabalkina, S.V. and Savinykh, N.P., Biomorphology of Rorippa amphibian (Brassicaceae), Rastit. Resur., 2012, vol. 48, no. 3, pp. 315–325.
Shafranova, L.M. A plant as the life form (the definition “the plant”), Zh. Obshch. Biol., 1990, vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 6–7.
Shafranova, L.M., Gatsuk, L.E., and Shorina, N.I., Biomorfologiya rastenii i ee vliyanie na razvitie ekologii (Biomorphology of the Plants and Its Influence on Development of Ecology), Moscow: Mosk. Pedagog. Gos. Univ., 2009.
Shorina, N.I., Ecological morphology and population biology of the species of subclass Polypodiidae, Extended Abstract of Doctoral (Biol.) Dissertation, Moscow, 1994.
Smirnova, O.V., Zaugol’nova, L.B., Ermakova, I.M., et al., Tsenopopulyatsii rastenii (osnovnye ponyatiya i struktura) (Plant Populations: General Terms and Structure), Moscow: Nauka, 1976.
Sovremennye podkhody k opisaniyu struktury rastenii (Modern Approaches to Description of the Plant Structure), Savinykh, N.P. and Bobrov, Yu.A., Eds., Kirov: Loban’, 2008.
Suetina, Y.G. and Glotov, N.V., Ontogeny and morphogenesis of the fruticose lichen Usnea florida (L.) Weber ex F.H. Wigg, Russ. J. Dev. Biol., 2010, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 24–31.
Sviridenko, B.F., Life forms of the plants of Northern Kazakhstan, Byull. Mosk. O-va. Ispyt. Prir., Otd. Biol., 1991, vol. 76, no. 5, pp. 687–698.
Teteryuk, B.Yu., Biomorphological structure of flora of ancient lakes of European Northeast of Russia, Bot. Zh., 2012, vol. 97, no. 2, pp. 231–245.
Tr. IX mezhd. konf. po ekologicheskoi morfologii rastenii posvyshchennoi pamyati I.G. Serebryakova i T.I. Serebryakovoi (k 100-letiyu sa dmya rozhdeniya I.G. Serebryakova) (Trans. XIII Int. Conf. on the Plant Morphology Dedicated to the Memory of I.G. Serebryakov and T.I. Serebryakova (To the 100th Anniversary of I.G. Serebryakov)), Viktorov, V.P., Ed., Moscow: Mosk. Pedagog. Gos. Univ., 2014, in 2 vols.
Vishnitskaya, O.N., Biomorphology of some sudd-forming hygrohelophytes, Extended Abstract of Cand. Sci. (Biol.) Dissertation, Syktyvkar, 2009.
Vseross. nauch. konf. s mezhdunarodnym uchastiem “Fundamental’naya i prikladnaya biomorfologiya v botanicheskikh i ekologicheskikh issledovaniyakh ekologicheskikh issledovaniyakh” (All-Russ. Sci. Conf. with International Participation “Fundamental and Applied Biomorphology in Botanical and Ecological Studies”), Kirov: Raduga-PRESS, 2014.
Yurtsev, B.A., Life forms: one of the key object of botany, in Problemy ekologicheskoi morfologii rastenii (Problems of Ecological Morphology of the Plants), Tr. Mosk. O-va. Ispyt. Prir., Moscow: Nauka, 1976, vol. 42, pp. 9–44.
Zhmylev, P.Yu., Lednev, S.A., and Shcherbakov, A.V., Biomorphology of water plants: problems and approaches to classification, in Leonid Vasil’evich Kudryashov. Ad memoriam, Sbornik statei (Collection of Scientific Papers Ad Memoriam of Leonid Vasil’evich Kudryashov), Timonin, A.K., Ed., Moscow: MAKS Press, 2012, pp. 101–128.
Zhukova, L.A., Populyatsionnaya zhizn’ lugovykh rastenii (Population Life of the Meadow Plants), Yoshkar-Ola: Lanar, 1995.
Zhuravleva, I.A. and Savinykh, N.P., Ontogenic morphogenesis of bittersweet Solanum dulcamara, Vestn. Tyumen. Gos. Univ., Ser. Med.-Biol. Nauki, 2013, no. 6, pp. 7–14.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © N.P. Savinykh, V.A. Cheryomushkina, 2015, published in Sibirskii Ekologicheskii Zhurnal, 2015, No. 5, pp. 659–670.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Savinykh, N.P., Cheryomushkina, V.A. Biomorphology: Current status and prospects. Contemp. Probl. Ecol. 8, 541–549 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1995425515050121
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1995425515050121