Making use of possibilities in plant evolution research: Frontiers in Plant Science launches new section, Plant Systematics and Evolution

Frontiers in Plant Science is delighted to welcome Jim Leebens-Mack, University of Georgia, and Gerald Schneeweiss, University of Vienna, as Chief Editors for Plant Systematics and Evolution, a new specialty section in the journal.

The Plant Systematics and Evolution section will publish research on the origin and maintenance of plant diversity in all photosynthetic lineages, including flowering plants, gymnosperms, bryophytes, ferns and lycophytes, and algae.

“We live in exciting and challenging times for biodiversity research,” says Schneeweiss. “On the one hand we are in the middle of a major biodiversity crisis, with large proportions of plant diversity threatened, directly or indirectly, by human activities such as habitat destruction and global warming; on the other hand we now have unprecedented possibilities to study plant evolution at all relevant scales.”

For Schneeweiss, his interest in plants blossomed long before his studies: “There was never any doubt that I would study botany to get to know plants better, and I’ve never regretted this decision.”

Interest and curiosity drives the field of plant evolution forward, and undoubtedly for many researchers young and old, for each question answered: “at least two equally exciting ones open up.”

The Frontiers in Plant Science editorial team extends a warm welcome to Jim Leebens-Mack and Gerald Schneeweiss as Chief Editors.

Plant Systematics and Evolution is now ready to welcome high-quality submissions and Research Topic proposals.

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Frontiers journals have some of the highest citation rates. Among the world’s 20 largest publishers in 2017, Frontiers ranks 4th most-cited with an average of 3.65 citations per article.  In total, Frontiers articles have received more than 700,000 citations to date.