Browsing by Author "Gomes, I."
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- Preliminary data on microcharacters and chromosome number in Tornabenea species (Apiaceae) from Cape Verde IslandsPublication . Grosso, A. C.; Rodrigues, L.; Gomes, I.; Martins, E. S.; Teixeira, G.Tornabenea is a small Apiaceae genus that is endemic to the Cape Verde Islands. Its species differentiation is based just on a few macromorphological characters: leaf shape, number and shape of umbel bracts and mericarp ribs. These characters vary within
- Preliminary data on microcharacters and chromosome number in Tornabenea species (Apiaceae) from Cape Verde islandsPublication . Grosso, A.C.; Rodrigues, L.; Gomes, I.; Martins, E.S.; Teixeira, G.Tornabenea is a small Apiaceae genus that is endemic to the Cape Verde Islands. Its species differentiation is based just on a few macromorphological characters: leaf shape, number and shape of umbel bracts and mericarp ribs. These characters vary within each species and show high plasticity. Thus, in recent taxonomic data of the genus, there are different viewpoints as to the number of species. Here, in order to improve the taxonomy of the genus, microcharacters of the vegetative and reproductive structures of three taxa—T. insularis, T. annua and T. tenuissima—have been examined. The shape and arrangement of hairs on the surface of the mericarps, and the presence and structure of starch grains are the only different microcharacters noted in T. insularis and T. annua. Chromosome number of the latter two species is 2n¼18. Our preliminary results disagree with the existing classifications of the genus Tornabenea. In fact, they do not lead to a clear separation between T. insularis and T. annua. By contrast, it is easy to distinguish between these species and T. tenuissima, which possesses more peculiar microcharacters
- Trust your guts? The effect of gut section on diet composition and impact of Mus musculus on islands using metabarcodingPublication . Pinho, C.J.; Lopes, E.P.; Paupério, J.; Gomes, I.; Romeiras, Maria M.; Vasconcelos, R.1. DNA metabarcoding is widely used to characterize the diet of species, and it becomes very relevant for biodiversity conservation, allowing the understanding of trophic chains and the impact of invasive species. The need for cost-effective biodiversity monitoring methods fostered advances in this technique. One question that arises is which sample type provides a better diet representation. 2. Therefore, with this study, we intended to evaluate if there were differences in diet estimates according to the section of the gastrointestinal tract analysed and which section(s) provided the best diet representation. Additionally, we intended to infer the ecological/economic impacts of an invader as a model of the potential effects in an originally mammal-free ecosystem. 3. We examined the gut contents of the house mouse Mus musculus introduced to Cabo Verde, considering three sections: stomach, small intestine, and large intestine. We applied a DNA-metabarcoding approach using two genetic markers, one specific for plants and another for invertebrates. 4. We showed that this invader consumed 131 taxa (73 plants and 58 invertebrates). We obtained significant differences in the composition of two of the three sections, with a higher incidence of invertebrates in the stomach and plants in the intestines. This may be due to stomach inhibitors acting on plants and/or to faster absorption of soft-body invertebrates compared to the plant fibers in the intestines. We verified that the impact of this invader in the ecosystem is predominantly negative, as at least 50% of the ingested items were native, endemic, or economically important taxa, and only 19% of the diet items were exotics 5. Overall, results showed the need to analyse only two gastrointestinal tract sections to obtain robust diet data, increasing the cost-effectiveness of the method. Furthermore, by uncovering the native taxa most frequently preyed on by mice, this DNA-metabarcoding approach allowed us to evaluate efficiently which are at the highest risk