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91-475: The park aims to protect the eleven different ecosystems present in the Guadarrama mountains, including the only Iberian examples of "high Mediterranean mountain". Altogether there are more than 1,280 different species in the zone declared a national park, of which 13 are in danger of extinction, more than 1,500 native plants and 30 different types of vegetation. The species of animals in the mountains represent 45% of

182-488: A fibre saturation point of 0.25 kg/kg, and a saturation moisture content of 1.60 kg/kg. The pine fibres are used to make the textile known as vegetable flannel , which has a hemp -like appearance, but with a tighter, softer texture. The pine has also been widely planted in New Zealand and much of the colder regions of North America; it was one of the first trees introduced to North America, in about 1600. It

273-423: A mutation–selection balance . It is predicted that a viral quasispecies at a low but evolutionarily neutral and highly connected (that is, flat) region in the fitness landscape will outcompete a quasispecies located at a higher but narrower fitness peak in which the surrounding mutants are unfit, "the quasispecies effect" or the "survival of the flattest". There is no suggestion that a viral quasispecies resembles

364-505: A natural park , or "regional park"). However, in 2009 Castile and León indicated it would approve a plan for the national park in 2010, albeit a scaled-down version, and this timetable was adhered to. The Community of Madrid made similar proposals for a scaled-down park (see below). In late 2008 the Community of Madrid proposed to reduce the size of the Madrid portion of the national park, citing

455-400: A "classical" method of determining species, such as with Linnaeus, early in evolutionary theory. However, different phenotypes are not necessarily different species (e.g. a four-winged Drosophila born to a two-winged mother is not a different species). Species named in this manner are called morphospecies . In the 1970s, Robert R. Sokal , Theodore J. Crovello and Peter Sneath proposed

546-424: A 'smallest clade' idea" (a phylogenetic species concept). Mishler and Wilkins and others concur with this approach, even though this would raise difficulties in biological nomenclature. Wilkins cited the ichthyologist Charles Tate Regan 's early 20th century remark that "a species is whatever a suitably qualified biologist chooses to call a species". Wilkins noted that the philosopher Philip Kitcher called this

637-428: A connected series of neighbouring populations, each of which can sexually interbreed with adjacent related populations, but for which there exist at least two "end" populations in the series, which are too distantly related to interbreed, though there is a potential gene flow between each "linked" population. Such non-breeding, though genetically connected, "end" populations may co-exist in the same region thus closing

728-432: A different species from its ancestors. Viruses have enormous populations, are doubtfully living since they consist of little more than a string of DNA or RNA in a protein coat, and mutate rapidly. All of these factors make conventional species concepts largely inapplicable. A viral quasispecies is a group of genotypes related by similar mutations, competing within a highly mutagenic environment, and hence governed by

819-489: A few weeks. Previously, the pine was grown in and used extensively by the coal mining regions of Flanders, Belgium. It was used to fortify tunnels, primarily because it would make a cracking sound when in need of replacement. Large patches of forest, mostly containing the species, are still scattered over the countryside. Several cultivars are grown for ornamental purposes in parks and large gardens, of which 'Aurea', 'Beuvronensis', 'Frensham', and 'Gold Coin' have gained

910-520: A flat to pyramidal apophysis (the external part of the cone scale), with a small prickle on the umbo (central boss or protuberance). The seeds are blackish, 3–5 mm ( 1 ⁄ 8 – 3 ⁄ 16  in) in length with a pale brown 12–20 mm ( 1 ⁄ 2 – 13 ⁄ 16  in) wing and are released when the cones open in spring 22–24 months after pollination. The pollen cones are yellow, occasionally pink, 8–12 mm ( 5 ⁄ 16 – 15 ⁄ 32  in) long; pollen release

1001-508: A genetic boundary suitable for defining a species concept is present. DNA barcoding has been proposed as a way to distinguish species suitable even for non-specialists to use. One of the barcodes is a region of mitochondrial DNA within the gene for cytochrome c oxidase . A database, Barcode of Life Data System , contains DNA barcode sequences from over 190,000 species. However, scientists such as Rob DeSalle have expressed concern that classical taxonomy and DNA barcoding, which they consider

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1092-465: A lineage should be divided into multiple chronospecies , or when populations have diverged to have enough distinct character states to be described as cladistic species. Species and higher taxa were seen from the time of Aristotle until the 18th century as categories that could be arranged in a hierarchy, the great chain of being . In the 19th century, biologists grasped that species could evolve given sufficient time. Charles Darwin 's 1859 book On

1183-492: A misnomer, need to be reconciled, as they delimit species differently. Genetic introgression mediated by endosymbionts and other vectors can further make barcodes ineffective in the identification of species. A phylogenetic or cladistic species is "the smallest aggregation of populations (sexual) or lineages (asexual) diagnosable by a unique combination of character states in comparable individuals (semaphoronts)". The empirical basis – observed character states – provides

1274-449: A particular species, including which genus (and higher taxa) it is placed in, is a hypothesis about the evolutionary relationships and distinguishability of that group of organisms. As further information comes to hand, the hypothesis may be corroborated or refuted. Sometimes, especially in the past when communication was more difficult, taxonomists working in isolation have given two distinct names to individual organisms later identified as

1365-400: A perfect model of life, it is still a useful tool to scientists and conservationists for studying life on Earth, regardless of the theoretical difficulties. If species were fixed and clearly distinct from one another, there would be no problem, but evolutionary processes cause species to change. This obliges taxonomists to decide, for example, when enough change has occurred to declare that

1456-492: A positive response from the municipios affected, which welcomed the scope for increased urbanisation. Scots pine Pinus sylvestris , the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US), Baltic pine , or European red pine is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia . It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-green leaves and orange-red bark. Pinus sylvestris

1547-400: A short way of saying that something applies to many species within a genus, but not to all. If scientists mean that something applies to all species within a genus, they use the genus name without the specific name or epithet. The names of genera and species are usually printed in italics . However, abbreviations such as "sp." should not be italicised. When a species' identity is not clear,

1638-404: A specialist may use "cf." before the epithet to indicate that confirmation is required. The abbreviations "nr." (near) or "aff." (affine) may be used when the identity is unclear but when the species appears to be similar to the species mentioned after. With the rise of online databases, codes have been devised to provide identifiers for species that are already defined, including: The naming of

1729-523: A species as groups of actually or potentially interbreeding natural populations, which are reproductively isolated from other such groups. It has been argued that this definition is a natural consequence of the effect of sexual reproduction on the dynamics of natural selection. Mayr's use of the adjective "potentially" has been a point of debate; some interpretations exclude unusual or artificial matings that occur only in captivity, or that involve animals capable of mating but that do not normally do so in

1820-400: A species as determined by a taxonomist. A typological species is a group of organisms in which individuals conform to certain fixed properties (a type), so that even pre-literate people often recognise the same taxon as do modern taxonomists. The clusters of variations or phenotypes within specimens (such as longer or shorter tails) would differentiate the species. This method was used as

1911-488: A species. All species definitions assume that an organism acquires its genes from one or two parents very like the "daughter" organism, but that is not what happens in HGT. There is strong evidence of HGT between very dissimilar groups of prokaryotes , and at least occasionally between dissimilar groups of eukaryotes , including some crustaceans and echinoderms . The evolutionary biologist James Mallet concludes that there

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2002-685: A species. Generally the term includes the unknown element of a distinct act of creation. Many authors have argued that a simple textbook definition, following Mayr's concept, works well for most multi-celled organisms , but breaks down in several situations: Species identification is made difficult by discordance between molecular and morphological investigations; these can be categorised as two types: (i) one morphology, multiple lineages (e.g. morphological convergence , cryptic species ) and (ii) one lineage, multiple morphologies (e.g. phenotypic plasticity , multiple life-cycle stages). In addition, horizontal gene transfer (HGT) makes it difficult to define

2093-414: A spirally arranged scale-like pattern. On mature trees the leaves ('needles') are a glaucous blue-green, often darker green to dark yellow-green in winter, 2.5–5 centimetres (1–2 inches) long and 1–2 millimetres ( 1 ⁄ 32 – 3 ⁄ 32  in) broad, produced in fascicles of two with a persistent gray 5–10 mm ( 1 ⁄ 4 – 3 ⁄ 8  in) basal sheath. On vigorous young trees

2184-519: A taxonomic decision at the discretion of cognizant specialists, is not governed by the Codes of Zoological or Botanical Nomenclature, in contrast to the PhyloCode , and contrary to what is done in several other fields, in which the definitions of technical terms, like geochronological units and geopolitical entities, are explicitly delimited. The nomenclatural codes that guide the naming of species, including

2275-506: A traditional biological species. The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses has since 1962 developed a universal taxonomic scheme for viruses; this has stabilised viral taxonomy. Most modern textbooks make use of Ernst Mayr 's 1942 definition, known as the Biological Species Concept as a basis for further discussion on the definition of species. It is also called a reproductive or isolation concept. This defines

2366-447: A variation on the morphological species concept, a phenetic species, defined as a set of organisms with a similar phenotype to each other, but a different phenotype from other sets of organisms. It differs from the morphological species concept in including a numerical measure of distance or similarity to cluster entities based on multivariate comparisons of a reasonably large number of phenotypic traits. A mate-recognition species

2457-515: A variety of reasons. Viruses are a special case, driven by a balance of mutation and selection , and can be treated as quasispecies . Biologists and taxonomists have made many attempts to define species, beginning from morphology and moving towards genetics . Early taxonomists such as Linnaeus had no option but to describe what they saw: this was later formalised as the typological or morphological species concept. Ernst Mayr emphasised reproductive isolation, but this, like other species concepts,

2548-438: Is "an entity composed of organisms which maintains its identity from other such entities through time and over space, and which has its own independent evolutionary fate and historical tendencies". This differs from the biological species concept in embodying persistence over time. Wiley and Mayden stated that they see the evolutionary species concept as "identical" to Willi Hennig 's species-as-lineages concept, and asserted that

2639-400: Is a group of sexually reproducing organisms that recognise one another as potential mates. Expanding on this to allow for post-mating isolation, a cohesion species is the most inclusive population of individuals having the potential for phenotypic cohesion through intrinsic cohesion mechanisms; no matter whether populations can hybridise successfully, they are still distinct cohesion species if

2730-452: Is a population 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 classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity . Other ways of defining species include their karyotype , DNA sequence, morphology , behaviour, or ecological niche . In addition, paleontologists use

2821-458: Is a set of organisms adapted to a particular set of resources, called a niche, in the environment. According to this concept, populations form the discrete phenetic clusters that we recognise as species because the ecological and evolutionary processes controlling how resources are divided up tend to produce those clusters. A genetic species as defined by Robert Baker and Robert Bradley is a set of genetically isolated interbreeding populations. This

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2912-479: Is a synonym of Pinus sylvestris . The cone fossil had been recovered during the years 1884 and 1885 in Niederrad which is a quarter of Frankfurt am Main , Germany . Genes of Scots Pine that are expressed in the haploid stage of the life cycle appear to be subject to stronger purifying selection than genes expressed only in the diploid stage. The concept that those genes of an organism that are expressed in

3003-464: Is an evergreen coniferous tree growing up to 35 metres (115 feet) in height and 1 m (3 ft 3 in) in trunk diameter when mature, exceptionally over 45 m (148 ft) tall and 1.7 m ( 5 + 1 ⁄ 2  ft) in trunk diameter on very productive sites. The tallest on record is a tree over 210 years old growing in Estonia which stands at 46.6 m (153 ft). The lifespan

3094-414: Is called speciation . Charles Darwin was the first to describe the role of natural selection in speciation in his 1859 book The Origin of Species . Speciation depends on a measure of reproductive isolation , a reduced gene flow. This occurs most easily in allopatric speciation, where populations are separated geographically and can diverge gradually as mutations accumulate. Reproductive isolation

3185-412: Is called the specific name or the specific epithet (in botanical nomenclature , also sometimes in zoological nomenclature ). For example, Boa constrictor is one of the species of the genus Boa , with constrictor being the species' epithet. While the definitions given above may seem adequate at first glance, when looked at more closely they represent problematic species concepts. For example,

3276-403: Is described formally, in a publication that assigns it a unique scientific name. The description typically provides means for identifying the new species, which may not be based solely on morphology (see cryptic species ), differentiating it from other previously described and related or confusable species and provides a validly published name (in botany) or an available name (in zoology) when

3367-671: Is further weakened by the existence of microspecies , groups of organisms, including many plants, with very little genetic variability, usually forming species aggregates . For example, the dandelion Taraxacum officinale and the blackberry Rubus fruticosus are aggregates with many microspecies—perhaps 400 in the case of the blackberry and over 200 in the dandelion, complicated by hybridisation , apomixis and polyploidy , making gene flow between populations difficult to determine, and their taxonomy debatable. Species complexes occur in insects such as Heliconius butterflies, vertebrates such as Hypsiboas treefrogs, and fungi such as

3458-726: Is hard or even impossible to test. Later biologists have tried to refine Mayr's definition with the recognition and cohesion concepts, among others. Many of the concepts are quite similar or overlap, so they are not easy to count: the biologist R. L. Mayden recorded about 24 concepts, and the philosopher of science John Wilkins counted 26. Wilkins further grouped the species concepts into seven basic kinds of concepts: (1) agamospecies for asexual organisms (2) biospecies for reproductively isolated sexual organisms (3) ecospecies based on ecological niches (4) evolutionary species based on lineage (5) genetic species based on gene pool (6) morphospecies based on form or phenotype and (7) taxonomic species,

3549-493: Is in mid to late spring. Over 100 Pinus sylvestris varieties have been described in the botanical literature, but only three or four are now accepted. They differ only minimally in morphology, but with more pronounced differences in genetic analysis and resin composition. Populations in westernmost Scotland are genetically distinct from those in the rest of Scotland and northern Europe, but not sufficiently to have been distinguished as separate botanical varieties. Trees in

3640-554: Is listed as an invasive species in some areas there, including Ontario , Michigan . It has been widely used in the United States for the Christmas tree trade, and was one of the most popular Christmas trees from the 1950s through the 1980s. It remains popular for that usage, though it has been eclipsed in popularity, by such species as Fraser fir , Douglas-fir , and others. Despite its invasiveness in parts of eastern North America,

3731-403: Is no easy way to tell whether related geographic or temporal forms belong to the same or different species. Species gaps can be verified only locally and at a point of time. One is forced to admit that Darwin's insight is correct: any local reality or integrity of species is greatly reduced over large geographic ranges and time periods. The botanist Brent Mishler argued that the species concept

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3822-487: Is normally 150–300 years, with the oldest recorded specimens in Lapland , Northern Finland over 760 years. The bark is thick, flaky and orange-red when young to scaly and gray-brown in maturity, sometimes retaining the former on the upper portion. The habit of the mature tree is distinctive due to its long, bare and straight trunk topped by a rounded or flat-topped mass of foliage. The shoots are light brown, with

3913-468: Is not valid, notably because gene flux decreases gradually rather than in discrete steps, which hampers objective delimitation of species. Indeed, complex and unstable patterns of gene flux have been observed in cichlid teleosts of the East African Great Lakes . Wilkins argued that "if we were being true to evolution and the consequent phylogenetic approach to taxa, we should replace it with

4004-586: Is similar to Mayr's Biological Species Concept, but stresses genetic rather than reproductive isolation. In the 21st century, a genetic species could be established by comparing DNA sequences. Earlier, other methods were available, such as comparing karyotypes (sets of chromosomes ) and allozymes ( enzyme variants). An evolutionarily significant unit (ESU) or "wildlife species" is a population of organisms considered distinct for purposes of conservation. In palaeontology , with only comparative anatomy (morphology) and histology from fossils as evidence,

4095-434: Is slower. In Scandinavian countries, the pine was used for making tar in the preindustrial age. Some active tar producers still exist, but that industry has almost ceased. The pine has also been used as a source of rosin and turpentine . The wood is pale brown to red-brown, and used for general construction work. It has a dry density around 470 kg/m (varying with growth conditions), an open porosity of 60%,

4186-654: Is the only pine native to northern Europe, ranging from Western Europe to Eastern Siberia , south to the Caucasus Mountains and Anatolia , and north to well inside the Arctic Circle in Fennoscandia . In the north of its range, it occurs from sea level to 1,000 m (3,300 ft), while in the south of its range it is a mountain tree, growing at 1,200–2,600 m (3,900–8,500 ft) altitude. Its distribution intersects with T. piniperda's habitat, making

4277-594: Is threatened by hybridisation, but this can be selected against once a pair of populations have incompatible alleles of the same gene, as described in the Bateson–Dobzhansky–Muller model . A different mechanism, phyletic speciation, involves one lineage gradually changing over time into a new and distinct form (a chronospecies ), without increasing the number of resultant species. Horizontal gene transfer between organisms of different species, either through hybridisation , antigenic shift , or reassortment ,

4368-600: The Caledonian Forest , which once covered much of the Scottish Highlands . Overcutting for timber demand, fire, overgrazing by sheep and deer, and even deliberate clearance to deter wolves have all been factors in the decline of this once great pine and birch forest. Only comparatively small areas – 17,000 hectares (42,000 acres), only just over 1% of the estimated original 1,500,000 ha (3,700,000 acres)  – of this ancient forest remain,

4459-508: The Community of Madrid revived the project. In the absence of a designated national park, some areas of the sierra were given alternative protection: As proposed at the beginning of the 21st century, the park would have been the fourth-largest in Spain. In 2006 it appeared that the designation of the national park was imminent. A plan for the part of the national park falling within the boundaries of

4550-523: The ICZN for animals and the ICN for plants, do not make rules for defining the boundaries of the species. Research can change the boundaries, also known as circumscription, based on new evidence. Species may then need to be distinguished by the boundary definitions used, and in such cases the names may be qualified with sensu stricto ("in the narrow sense") to denote usage in the exact meaning given by an author such as

4641-623: The Royal Horticultural Society 's Award of Garden Merit . The Scots pine is the plant badge of Clan Gregor . It is the national tree of Scotland . One fossil seed cone of Pinus montana fossilis was sent by the Naturmuseum Senckenberg to the Swedish Museum of Natural History (Swedish: Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet), as a scientific gift specimen, the seed cone is of late Pliocene age ( Reuverian ). Pinus montana

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4732-563: The Spanish imperial eagle or the Eurasian black vulture . Recently, a pack of wolves was discovered in the park after a 70-year absence in the region. The Peñalara Mountain climbing society proposed in the 1920s that the Guadarrama mountain range (in Spanish: Sierra de Guadarrama ) should be declared a national park. This project had to be put on hold until the beginning of the 21st century, when

4823-399: The fly agaric . Natural hybridisation presents a challenge to the concept of a reproductively isolated species, as fertile hybrids permit gene flow between two populations. For example, the carrion crow Corvus corone and the hooded crow Corvus cornix appear and are classified as separate species, yet they can hybridise where their geographical ranges overlap. A ring species is

4914-498: The jaguar ( Panthera onca ) of Latin America or the leopard ( Panthera pardus ) of Africa and Asia. In contrast, the scientific names of species are chosen to be unique and universal (except for some inter-code homonyms ); they are in two parts used together : the genus as in Puma , and the specific epithet as in concolor . A species is given a taxonomic name when a type specimen

5005-406: The "cynical species concept", and arguing that far from being cynical, it usefully leads to an empirical taxonomy for any given group, based on taxonomists' experience. Other biologists have gone further and argued that we should abandon species entirely, and refer to the "Least Inclusive Taxonomic Units" (LITUs), a view that would be coherent with current evolutionary theory. The species concept

5096-457: The Community of Madrid was approved in November 2006. The autonomous community of Castile and León agreed in principle to the inclusion of part of its territory in the proposed national park, but delays in creating the corresponding plan made it appear in early 2008 that the project was being put aside. It was reported in the press that as Castile and León had been suffering from population loss,

5187-554: The Lake District and North Pennines 500 years later. It was present in Ireland over 8,800 years ago but absent from Wales at that time which suggests that the pine in Ireland had a separate Iberian origin or contained surviving populations, although evidence towards its survival is lacking. Pine expanded into Scotland between 8,000 and 8,500 years ago either from an independent refuge, from Scandinavia (via Doggerland ) or from Ireland. As

5278-696: The Netherlands. Whether it truly became extinct in England is unknown. It has been speculated that it may have survived wild long enough for trees used in cultivation in England to derive from native (rather than imported) sources. Shakespeare (in Richard II ) was familiar with the species in the 1590s, as was Evelyn in the early 1660s ( Sylva ), both around the time when the pine was thought to become extinct in England, but when landowners were also beginning ornamental and forestry planting. The pine formed much of

5369-622: The Origin of Species explained how species could arise by natural selection . That understanding was greatly extended in the 20th century through genetics and population ecology . Genetic variability arises from mutations and recombination , while organisms themselves are mobile, leading to geographical isolation and genetic drift with varying selection pressures . Genes can sometimes be exchanged between species by horizontal gene transfer ; new species can arise rapidly through hybridisation and polyploidy ; and species may become extinct for

5460-405: The abbreviation "sp." in the singular or "spp." (standing for species pluralis , Latin for "multiple species") in the plural in place of the specific name or epithet (e.g. Canis sp.). This commonly occurs when authors are confident that some individuals belong to a particular genus but are not sure to which exact species they belong, as is common in paleontology . Authors may also use "spp." as

5551-570: The amount of hybridisation is insufficient to completely mix their respective gene pools . A further development of the recognition concept is provided by the biosemiotic concept of species. In microbiology , genes can move freely even between distantly related bacteria, possibly extending to the whole bacterial domain. As a rule of thumb, microbiologists have assumed that members of Bacteria or Archaea with 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences more similar than 97% to each other need to be checked by DNA–DNA hybridisation to decide if they belong to

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5642-487: The autonomous community, such as San Glorio ). The reason given publicly for the lack of progress with the national park was a desire to protect the interests of "traditional" uses of the land, including commercial forestry which is prohibited in Spanish national parks. There were indications that Castile and León would prefer its side of the sierra to be given a lower level of protection than implied by national park status (e.g.

5733-563: The beetle a primary pest of the tree. The species is mainly found on poorer, sandy soils, rocky outcrops, peat bogs or close to the forest limit. On fertile sites, the pine is out-competed by other tree species, usually spruce or broad-leaved trees . The tree spread across Britain and Ireland after the Last Glacial Maximum . Pollen records show that pine was present locally in southern England by 9,000 years ago having entered from northeast France and that it had spread as far north as

5824-474: The biological species concept, "the several versions" of the phylogenetic species concept, and the idea that species are of the same kind as higher taxa are not suitable for biodiversity studies (with the intention of estimating the number of species accurately). They further suggested that the concept works for both asexual and sexually-reproducing species. A version of the concept is Kevin de Queiroz 's "General Lineage Concept of Species". An ecological species

5915-505: The biological species concept, a cladistic species does not rely on reproductive isolation – its criteria are independent of processes that are integral in other concepts. Therefore, it applies to asexual lineages. However, it does not always provide clear cut and intuitively satisfying boundaries between taxa, and may require multiple sources of evidence, such as more than one polymorphic locus, to give plausible results. An evolutionary species, suggested by George Gaylord Simpson in 1951,

6006-428: The boundaries between closely related species become unclear with hybridisation , in a species complex of hundreds of similar microspecies , and in a ring species . Also, among organisms that reproduce only asexually , the concept of a reproductive species breaks down, and each clone is potentially a microspecies. Although none of these are entirely satisfactory definitions, and while the concept of species may not be

6097-623: The climate warmed it became extinct from most of Britain and Ireland around 5,500 years ago except in Scotland, Kielder in England and The Burren in County Clare , Ireland. The Irish and western Scottish populations went through a massive decline around 4,000 years ago which ultimately led to the practical extinction of the Irish population between 2,000 and 1,000 years ago. It was replaced by large areas of blanket bog in western Scotland and Ireland though

6188-433: The concept of a chronospecies can be applied. During anagenesis (evolution, not necessarily involving branching), some palaeontologists seek to identify a sequence of species, each one derived from the phyletically extinct one before through continuous, slow and more or less uniform change. In such a time sequence, some palaeontologists assess how much change is required for a morphologically distinct form to be considered

6279-416: The concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined. The most recent rigorous estimate for the total number of species of eukaryotes is between 8 and 8.7 million. About 14% of these had been described by 2011. All species (except viruses ) are given a two-part name , called a "binomial". The first part of a binomial is the genus to which the species belongs. The second part

6370-424: The eastern part of its range, it occurs with Siberian pine , among others. In 2020, black spot needle blight was found on hundreds of Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica trees in four forest farms in northeastern China. It first appeared on the upper part of the needles, and then the needles became withered and gradually showed light black spots, although they still remained green. As the fungal disease progressed,

6461-435: The evidence to support hypotheses about evolutionarily divergent lineages that have maintained their hereditary integrity through time and space. Molecular markers may be used to determine diagnostic genetic differences in the nuclear or mitochondrial DNA of various species. For example, in a study done on fungi , studying the nucleotide characters using cladistic species produced the most accurate results in recognising

6552-465: The far north of the range were formerly sometimes treated as var. lapponica , but the differences are clinal and it is not genetically distinct. Before the 18th century, the species was more often known as Scots fir or Scotch fir . Another, less common name is European redwood . The timber from it is also called red deal or yellow deal ; the name "deal" comes from an archaic unit of volume used to measure wood . Pinus sylvestris

6643-418: The haploid stage are subject to more efficient natural selection than those genes expressed exclusively in the diploid stage is referred to as the “masking theory”. This theory implies that purifying selection is more efficient in the haploid stage of the life cycle where fitness effects are more evidently expressed than in the diploid stage of the life cycle. Species A species ( pl. : species)

6734-409: The interests of "traditional" uses of the land which might be restricted by planning regulations. The President of the Community, Esperanza Aguirre , argued that traditional uses were the best conservation strategy, and she specified the keeping of livestock, mountaineering and forestry as being traditional in the sierra. Aguirre subsequently clarified that she considered hunting and fishing as being in

6825-769: The leaves can be twice as long, and occasionally occur in fascicles of three or four on the tips of strong shoots. Leaf persistence varies from two to four years in warmer climates, and up to nine years in subarctic regions. Seedlings up to one year old bear juvenile leaves; these are single (not in pairs), 2–3 cm ( 3 ⁄ 4 – 1 + 1 ⁄ 4  in) long, flattened, with a serrated margin. The seed cones are red at pollination, then pale brown, globose and 4–8 mm ( 5 ⁄ 32 – 5 ⁄ 16  in) in diameter in their first year, expanding to full size in their second year, pointed ovoid-conic, green, then gray-green to yellow-brown at maturity, 3–7.5 cm ( 1 + 1 ⁄ 8 –3 in) long. The cone scales have

6916-608: The main surviving remnants being at Abernethy Forest , Glen Affric , Rothiemurchus Forest , and the Black Wood of Rannoch . Plans are currently in progress to restore at least some areas and work has started at key sites. It forms either pure forests or mixes with Norway spruce , common juniper , silver birch , European rowan , Eurasian aspen and other hardwood species. In central and southern Europe, it occurs with numerous additional species, including European black pine , mountain pine , Macedonian pine , and Swiss pine . In

7007-523: The needles eventually died and turned gray with many dark black spots. The fungus was identified as Heterotruncatella spartii (within the family Sporocadaceae ) based on morphology and molecular methods. Pinus sylvestris is an important tree in forestry . The wood is used for pulp and sawn timber products. A seedling stand can be created by planting, sowing, or natural regeneration. Commercial plantation rotations vary between 50 and 120 years, with longer rotations in northeastern areas where growth

7098-478: The numerous fungi species of all the concepts studied. Versions of the phylogenetic species concept that emphasise monophyly or diagnosability may lead to splitting of existing species, for example in Bovidae , by recognising old subspecies as species, despite the fact that there are no reproductive barriers, and populations may intergrade morphologically. Others have called this approach taxonomic inflation , diluting

7189-585: The paper is accepted for publication. The type material is usually held in a permanent repository, often the research collection of a major museum or university, that allows independent verification and the means to compare specimens. Describers of new species are asked to choose names that, in the words of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature , are "appropriate, compact, euphonious, memorable, and do not cause offence". Books and articles sometimes intentionally do not identify species fully, using

7280-674: The person who named the species, while the antonym sensu lato ("in the broad sense") denotes a wider usage, for instance including other subspecies. Other abbreviations such as "auct." ("author"), and qualifiers such as "non" ("not") may be used to further clarify the sense in which the specified authors delineated or described the species. Species are subject to change, whether by evolving into new species, exchanging genes with other species, merging with other species or by becoming extinct. The evolutionary process by which biological populations of sexually-reproducing organisms evolve to become distinct or reproductively isolated as species

7371-548: The pine does not often grow well there, partly due to climate and soil differences between its native habitat and that of North America, and partly due to damage by pests and diseases; the tree often grows in a twisted, haphazard manner if not tended to (as they are in the Christmas tree trade). The pines may be killed by the pine wood nematode , which causes pine wilt disease . The nematode most often attacks trees that are at least ten years old and often kills trees it infects within

7462-588: The reasons for its decline and extinction in England are not clear, but it may have been influenced by human activities. In Britain it now occurs naturally only in Scotland. Historical and archaeological records indicate that it also occurred in Wales and England until about 300–400 years ago, becoming extinct there due to over-exploitation and grazing; it has been re-introduced in these countries. Similar historical extinction and re-introduction applies to Ireland, Denmark and

7553-409: The regional government was reluctant to restrict development in an area which was attractive to developers because of its proximity to the Spanish capital. However, the arrest of population decline was not the official explanation for lack of progress with the park (although the regional government cited population decline as a reason for supporting development on ecologically valuable sites elsewhere in

7644-487: The result of misclassification leading to questions on whether there really are any ring species. The commonly used names for kinds of organisms are often ambiguous: "cat" could mean the domestic cat, Felis catus , or the cat family, Felidae . Another problem with common names is that they often vary from place to place, so that puma, cougar, catamount, panther, painter and mountain lion all mean Puma concolor in various parts of America, while "panther" may also mean

7735-573: The ring. Ring species thus present a difficulty for any species concept that relies on reproductive isolation. However, ring species are at best rare. Proposed examples include the herring gull – lesser black-backed gull complex around the North pole, the Ensatina eschscholtzii group of 19 populations of salamanders in America, and the greenish warbler in Asia, but many so-called ring species have turned out to be

7826-399: The same category. Aguirre suggested that the area to be protected was not being reduced in size, but rather the level of protection was to be reduced outside a core area. The area of the national park would be largely confined to the summits. Lower down the slopes there would be plenty of opportunities to build houses in the sierra. More detailed proposals were produced in 2009, and received

7917-508: The same species. This concept was narrowed in 2006 to a similarity of 98.7%. The average nucleotide identity (ANI) method quantifies genetic distance between entire genomes , using regions of about 10,000 base pairs . With enough data from genomes of one genus, algorithms can be used to categorize species, as for Pseudomonas avellanae in 2013, and for all sequenced bacteria and archaea since 2020. Observed ANI values among sequences appear to have an "ANI gap" at 85–95%, suggesting that

8008-529: The same species. When two species names are discovered to apply to the same species, the older species name is given priority and usually retained, and the newer name considered as a junior synonym, a process called synonymy . Dividing a taxon into multiple, often new, taxa is called splitting . Taxonomists are often referred to as "lumpers" or "splitters" by their colleagues, depending on their personal approach to recognising differences or commonalities between organisms. The circumscription of taxa, considered

8099-502: The species concept and making taxonomy unstable. Yet others defend this approach, considering "taxonomic inflation" pejorative and labelling the opposing view as "taxonomic conservatism"; claiming it is politically expedient to split species and recognise smaller populations at the species level, because this means they can more easily be included as endangered in the IUCN red list and can attract conservation legislation and funding. Unlike

8190-405: The total fauna of Spain and 18% of European fauna. The vegetation features the Scots pine , the oak , the juniper , the oak and piorno and many other species. As regards fauna, there are many mammals such as deer ( red , roe and fallow ), wild boar , wild goats, badgers , several mustelidaes , wild cats, foxes, hares, etc.; many species of waterfowl in the reservoirs, and great raptors like

8281-537: The wild. It is difficult to define a species in a way that applies to all organisms. The debate about species concepts is called the species problem. The problem was recognised even in 1859, when Darwin wrote in On the Origin of Species : I was much struck how entirely vague and arbitrary is the distinction between species and varieties. He went on to write: No one definition has satisfied all naturalists; yet every naturalist knows vaguely what he means when he speaks of

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