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The Evolutionary Stages of Plant Physiology and a Plea for Transdisciplinarity

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Abstract

In this paper, the need of increasing transdisciplinarity research is advocated. After having set out some peculiarity of transdisciplinarity compared with related concepts such as multidisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity, four evolutionary stages of scientific disciplines, based on a model recently proposed (Shneider in Trends Biochem Sci 34:217–223, 2009) are presented. This model is then applied to the case of Plant Physiology in order to attempt an evaluation of the potential for transdisciplinary engagement of the discipline, and each of the four stages of the discipline is evaluated. In conclusion, some future perspectives of Plant Physiology are sketched with reference to its transdisciplinary potential.

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Correspondence to Jorge Marques da Silva.

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Marques da Silva, J., Casetta, E. The Evolutionary Stages of Plant Physiology and a Plea for Transdisciplinarity. Axiomathes 25, 205–215 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10516-014-9257-4

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