Floristic diversity is variety in the

genome A genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding genes, other functional regions of the genome such as ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s, as well as variety at the

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

and

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

level. Floristic diversity covers how many varieties of plant species in a specific area there are. There are multiple factors that contribute to floristic diversity, including both biotic (living) and

abiotic In biology and ecology, abiotic components or abiotic factors are non-living chemical and physical parts of the environment that affect living organisms and the functioning of ecosystems. Abiotic factors and the phenomena associated with them und ...

(not living) elements. Elements that alter floristic diversity include

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloud cover, cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmo ...

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

, and

animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Biology, biological Kingdom (biology), kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, ...

s. Floristic diversity allows different regions to analyze the environment and the evolution of the area. The genome of plants can be different based on size, number of

chromosome A chromosome is a package of DNA containing part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes, the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with nucleosome-forming packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells, the most import ...

s, and order of gene. Analyzing genomes in plants helps scientists to determine differences and similarities within plant species.

Etymology

In the word floristic, "flora" means "flower" in Latin. Floristic is used to describe something relating plants or flowers, not to be confused with the word:

Floristics Floristics is the study of plants of geographical regions. It is a branch of phytogeography, which technically makes it a branch of botany, geography, and a subbranch of biogeography. Harvard University has a history of research with early contr ...

. In the word diversity, the Latin root "diversus" means "various." Diversity is used to describe variety or a range of differences.

Floristic diversity in Latin America

One region in Latin America with one of the largest amount of floristic diversity in plants is the Andes Mountains Tropical Hotspot, known for being biodiverse and having one-sixth of the worlds plant species residing there. By having a wide variety in climate such as having multiple elevations, many types of ecosystems, and temperature differences, this mountain strip has the ability to host multiple types of plants.

References

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External links

Floristic diversity in a model system using experimental microcosms
Biodiversity Flowers