| Abstract Detail
Recent Topics Posters Lusa, Makeli Garibotti [1], Appezzato-da-Glória, Beatriz [2], Bartoli, Giacomo [3], Ciccarelli, Daniela [3]. Functional groups in Lychnophorinae (Asteraceae) species from Brazilian Cerrado. The Lychnophorinae subtribe inhabits mainly areas of Brazilian Cerrado, which is characterized by intense solar radiation, fluctuations in daily temperature, water scarcity during autumn and winter, and occurrence of fire. Since the Lychnophorinae species are able to live in these extreme habitats and several of them are endemic/endangered, the principal aim of this research was to study plant-environment adaptations of Lychnophorinae species analyzing leaf and stem functional traits. In particular, we tried to answer the following questions: which functional traits, among the 35 analyzed in this study, could be interpreted as an adaptive character to the biome Cerrado? Are the Plant Functional Types (PFTs), identified among the Lychnophorinae species, related to the peculiar environmental conditions of Cerrado? Leaves and stems were sampled from adult plants belonging to 12 species of Lychnophorinae, which were collected in Minas Gerais and Bahia States, Brazil, mainly along Espinhaço Range of Mountains on Cerrado and in a fragmented area of Atlantic Forest. Whole-plant, leaf and stem functional traits were analyzed. The anatomical analyses followed the usual techniques. A comparative analysis of functional groups was performed through Principal Coordinates Analysis (PCoA), an ordination technique applied to three matrices of 30 qualitative and 5 quantitative traits. The most significant features in Lychnophorinae species to circumscribe the functional groups were the followings: habit type, overlapping leaves, coating stem/indumentum, presence of sclereids and crypts in leaf, leaf thickness on midrib, leaf thickness on internerval regions, epidermal leaf thickness and epidermal outer cell wall thickness. The multivariate analysis based on qualitative traits highlighted three functional types that could be linked to the ecological conditions: group I, subshrub plants without special morphological and anatomical adaptations, because living in less dry sites, in a fragmented environment of Atlantic Forest; group III, rosettes with highly specialized adaptations to hard environmental conditions in Cerrado, such as overlapping leaves, stems covered by remaining leaf bases and presence of sclereids in leaves; and group II, with intermediate features between the other two groups. The PCoA based on quantitative traits evidenced two main functional groups that were mostly heterogeneous and without a clear link with the environmental conditions. In conclusion, we can confirm that all significant functional traits evidenced in Lychnophorinae species could be seen as plant adaptations to the environments where the species occurs and, the absence of a trait or the occurrence of a state of the character less adaptive reflects environmental conditions less drastic. Broader Impacts:
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Related Links:
Asteraceae Project: Morphoanatomical, metabolomic and molecular studies
1 - University of Sao Paulo, Biological Sciences, 11 Padua Dias Av., Piracicaba, SP, 13418-900, Brazil
2 - University of Sao Paulo, Biological Sciences , 11 Padua Dias Avenue, Piracicaba, SP, 13418900, Brasil
3 - University of Pisa, Department of Biology, 13 Luca Ghini Street, Pisa, PI, 56126, Italy
Keywords:
Plant functional types (PFT)
Plant anatomy
Principal Coordinates Analysis (PCoA)
Savannah
Vernonieae
adaptation
functional leaf traits.
Presentation Type: Recent Topics Poster
Session: P
Location: Grand Salon A - D/Riverside Hilton
Date: Monday, July 29th, 2013
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PRT026
Abstract ID:1321
Candidate for Awards:None |
