Integrating phylogenomics, biogeographic inference and niche models of plants to disentangle the evolutionary patterns of the Macaronesian natural forests (MacPhylo)

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Publicações

Climate-driven vicariance and long-distance dispersal explain the Rand Flora pattern in the liverwort Exormotheca pustulosa (Marchantiophyta)

Publication . Sim-Sim, Manuela; Patiño, Jairo; Stech, Michael; Long, David; Dirkse, Gerard; van Rooy, J.; Phephu, Nonkululo; Gabriel, Rosalina; González-Mancebo, Juana; Fontinha, Susana; Porley, Ron; Sergio, Cecilia; Garcia, César; Martins, Anabela; Rodrigues, Ana S. B.

The Rand flora is a biogeographical disjunction which refers to plant lineages occurring at the margins of the African continent and neighbouring oceanic archipelagos. Here, we tested whether the phylogeographic pattern of Exormotheca pustulosa Mitt. was the result of vicariance induced by the past climatic changes or the outcome of a series of recent long-distance dispersal events. Two DNA chloroplast and one nuclear marker were analysed. Phylogenetic and phylogeographical relationships were inferred as well as divergence time estimates and ancestral areas. Exormotheca originated in Eastern Africa during the Late Oligocene/Early Miocene while Exormotheca putulosa diversified during the Late Miocene. Three main E. pustulosa groups were found: the northern Macaronesia/Western-Mediterranean; the South Africa/Saint Helena and the Cape Verde. The major split events among these groups occurred during the Late Miocene/Pliocene; diversification is recent, dating back to the Pleistocene. Climate-driven vicariance and subsequent long-distance dispersal events may have shaped the current disjunct distribution of E. pustulosa that corresponds to the Rand Flora pattern. Colonisation of Macaronesia seems to have occurred twice by two independent lineages. The evolutionary history of E. pustulosa populations of Cape Verde warrants further study.

2020-06-09Artigo científico

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Effects of elevation and disturbances on the associations between the diversities of bryophyte and macrolichen functional-taxonomic groups on Madeira Island

Publication . Boch, Steffen; Martins, Anabela; Sim-Sim, Manuela; Bergamini, Ariel

Biodiversity varies with elevation and is affected by disturbances. However, little is known about how the associations between the diversities of different bryophyte and macrolichen functional-taxonomic groups are altered along elevational gradients and by disturbances. Knowledge on the associations between these functional-taxonomic groups might be of importance in practical conservation biology, as identifying indicator taxa which are easy to monitor could be useful in estimating a wider biodiversity. We sampled the species richness of bryophytes and macrolichens in 92 plots distributed in disturbed and undisturbed stands along elevational gradients in the laurel forest of Madeira. We then calculated a matrix of correlations for all pairwise combinations of 18 different functional-taxonomic bryophyte and macrolichen groups and tested for average differences in correlations with elevation and disturbance history and whether particular functional-taxonomic groups can be used to estimate the richness of other taxa. Associations between the diversities of functional-taxonomic groups within the bryophyte group and within the macrolichen group were always positive and mainly strong. Although changes in elevation and disturbance history changed the associations between the different bryophyte and macrolichen functional-taxonomic groups, we found the species richness of mosses or liverworts to be suitable for predicting overall bryophyte species richness and the species richness of green-algae macrolichens to be reliable for estimating overall macrolichen species richness. Associations between diversities of bryophyte and macrolichen groups were generally weak, suggesting that the two groups have different ecological requirements and do not share the same environmental drivers. The fact that no single bryophyte taxon can be used to predict the richness of any macrolichen group, and vice versa, points to the need to study both bryophytes and lichens. However, we found indicator taxa that are relatively easy to monitor and therefore could be used to estimate the wider biodiversity.

2021-04-14Preprint

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Entidade financiadora

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

Programa de financiamento

3599-PPCDT

Número da atribuição

PTDC/AGR-FOR/3427/2014