ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the current state of knowledge regarding the aspects of hyperaccumulation, presents some new and previously unpublished findings, and provides hypotheses that may be relevant to future studies. The central paradigm of evolutionary ecology is that adaptation occurs primarily as a result of natural selection. This is a process whereby in a genetically variable population some individuals are more suited to their environment than others, and consequently reproduce more successfully and leave more offspring to future generations. Phenotypic differences among plants are consequences of both genetic variation and the modifications imposed by the particular environments in which individuals are growing. A continuous spectrum of variation usually results from a polygenic system of inheritance, in which many loci affect the same trait. The population genetic models of the Hardy-Weinberg law describe the factors that can potentially change gene frequencies in a population and thus drive evolution.
