Hawaii as a Natural Laboratory for Research on Climate and Plant Response

Abstract

The interplay of genetic and environmental forces has resulted in the process of evolution. The distribution of indigenous plants is a product of the genetic make-up of the successful invaders of a particular area and the total physical and biological environment of that area. Native plants have achieved a point in which their genetic constitution is in a certain degree of harmony with their environment. Plants in extreme latitudes, for example, have a genetic constitution which few, if any, tropical plants possess and so are able to withstand the low temperatures. The successful cultivation of economic plants is in even greater measure dependent upon the harmonious interaction of the plant's genes and its environment. One of the most important components of the plant's environment is climate.