Leaf reflectance spectra capture the evolutionary history of seed plants

Leaf reflection spectra have been increasingly used to assess plant diversity. However, we do not yet understand how spectra vary across the tree of life or how the evolution of leaf traits affects the differentiation of spectra among species and lineages. Here we describe a framework that integrates spectra with phylogenies and apply it to aglobal dataset of over 16 000 leaf-level spectra (400–2400 nm) for 544 seed plant species. We test for phylogenetic signal in spectra, evaluate their ability to classify lineages, and characterize their evolutionary dynamics. We show that phylogenetic signal is present in leaf spectra but that the spectral regions most strongly associated with the phylogeny vary among lineages. Despite among-lineage heterogeneity, broad plant groups, orders, and families can be identified from reflectance spectra. Evolutionary models also reveal that different spectral regions evolve at different rates and under different constraint levels, mirroring the evolution of their underlying traits. Leaf spectra capture the phylogenetic history of seed plants and the evolutionary dynamics of leaf chemistry and structure. Consequently, spectra have the potential to provide breakthrough assessments of leaf evolution and plant phylogenetic diversity at global scales

A list of land plants of Parque Nacional do Caparaó, Brazil, highlights the presence of sampling gaps within this protected area

Brazilian protected areas are essential for plant conservation in the Atlantic Forest domain, one of the 36 global biodiversity hotspots. A major challenge for improving conservation actions is to know the plant richness, protected by these areas. Online databases offer an accessible way to build plant species lists and to provide relevant information about biodiversity. A list of land plants of “Parque Nacional do Caparaó” (PNC) was previously built using online databases and published on the website "Catálogo de Plantas das Unidades de Conservação do Brasil." Here, we provide and discuss additional information about plant species richness, endemism and conservation in the PNC that could not be included in the List. We documented 1,791 species of land plants as occurring in PNC, of which 63 are cited as threatened (CR, EN or VU) by the Brazilian National Red List, seven as data deficient (DD) and five as priorities for conservation. Fifity-one species were possible new ocurrences for ES and MG states

DNA matrix: chloroplast spacer rpl32-trnl

DNA matrix of the rpl32-trnl chloroplast spacer isolated from Aechmea nudicaulis in nexus forma

Microsatellite data

Microsatellite data for Aechmea nudicaulis from southeastern Brazi

The Effects of Geography, Environment and Phylogeny on Community Assembly and Gene Flow Dynamics

<p>It is increasingly evident that evolutionary processes play a role in how ecological communities are assembled. However the extend to which evolution influences how plants respond to spatial and environmental gradients and interact with each other is less clear. In this dissertation I leverage evolutionary tools and thinking to understand how space and environment affect community composition and patterns of gene flow in a unique system of Atlantic rainforest and restinga (sandy coastal plains) habitats in Southeastern Brazil.</p><p>In chapter one I investigate how space and environment affect the population genetic structure and gene flow of Aechmea nudicaulis, a bromeliad species that co-occurs in forest and restinga habitats. I genotyped seven microsatellite loci and sequenced one chloroplast DNA region for individuals collected in 7 pairs of forest / restinga sites. Bayesian genetic clustering analyses show that populations of A. nudicaulis are geographically structured in northern and southern populations, a pattern consistent with broader scale phylogeographic dynamics of the Atlantic rainforest. On the other hand, explicit migration models based on the coalescent estimate that inter-habitat gene flow is less common than gene flow between populations in the same habitat type, despite their geographic discontinuity. I conclude that there is evidence for repeated colonization of the restingas from forest populations even though the steep environmental gradient between habitats is a stronger barrier to gene flow than geographic distance.</p><p>In chapter two I use data on 2800 individual plants finely mapped in a restinga plot and on first-year survival of 500 seedlings to understand the roles of phylogeny, functional traits and abiotic conditions in the spatial structuring of that community. I demonstrate that phylogeny is a poor predictor of functional traits in and that convergence in these traits is pervasive. In general, the community is not phylogenetically structured, with at best 14% of the plots deviating significantly from the null model. The functional traits SLA, leaf dry matter content (LDMC), and maximum height also showed no clear pattern of spatial structuring. On the other hand, leaf area is strongly overdispersed across all spatial scales. Although leaf area overdispersion would be generally taken as evidence of competition, I argue that interpretation is probably misleading. Finally, I show that seedling survival is dramatically increased when they grow shaded by an adult individual, suggesting that seedlings are being facilitated. Phylogenetic distance to their adult neighbor has no influence on rates of survival though. Taken together, these results indicate that phylogeny has very limited influence on the fine scale assembly of restinga communities.</p>Dissertatio

A taxonomic revision and phylogeny of Poecilanthe s.l. (Leguminosae, Papilionoideae, Brongniartieae)

Orientador: Ana Maria Goulart de Azevedo TozziDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de BiologiaResumo: Poecilanthe (Leguminosae, Papilionoideae, Brongniartieae) é em gênero sul-americano que inclui atualmente dez espécies. A heterogeneidade morfológica e química encontrada em Poecilanthe dificulta sua circunscrição e coloca em dúvida sua monofilia. Além disso, limites interespecíficos imprecisos e falta de chave de identificação dificultam o reconhecimento das espécies. Este trabalho tem como objetivos testar a monofilia de Poecilanthe e estabelecer as relações entre suas espécies, bem como revisar a taxonomia do gênero. Para tanto, uma análise filogenética de máxima parcimônia baseada em caracteres morfológicos e seqüências de ITS/5.8S (nrDNA) foi realizada. Como subsídio para a análise cladística, foi feito um estudo sobre a morfologia das sementes e embriões de Poecilanthe, que resultou no reconhecimento de quatro padrões distintos de morfologia. Os resultados da filogenia mostram que Poecilanthe não é um gênero monofilético, sendo composto por três clados parafiléticos em relação à tribo. Estes três clados foram caracterizados morfologicamente e considerados como gêneros distintos. Poecilanthe é recircunscrito para incluir apenas as espécies extra-amazônicas (Poecilanthe s.s.), compreendendo então seis espécies. O gênero Amphiodon é restabelecido, e P. ovalifolia combinada neste. Um gênero novo é descrito para incluir P. amazonica e P. hostmannii. Cada um destes gêneros foi tratado taxonomicamente, constando em cada tratamento descrições, ilustrações e chave para a identificação das espéciesAbstract: The genus Poecilanthe (Leguminosae, Papilionoideae, Brongniartieae) currently comprises ten South-American species. The morphological and chemical diversity that is found within this genus renders its circumscription imprecise and brings Poecilanthe¿s monophyly into question. This work aims to test the monophyly of Poecilanthe and to revise the taxonomy of the genus. A parsimony analysis based on both morphological and ITS/5.8S data was carried out. In order to provide characters to the cladistic analysis, the morphology of the seeds and embryos of Poecilanthe was analyzed, and resulted in the identification of four different morphological patterns. The phylogeny does not support Poecilanthe as monophyletic, but resolves three different well-supported lineages that are paraphyletic with respect to the tribe. These clades are morphologically characterized and ranked at the generic level. Poecilanthe is recircumscribed to include the six extra-Amazonian species only. The genus Amphiodon is reinstated and P. ovalifolia is combined. Poecilante amazonica and P. hostmannii are segregated into a new genus. Each genus was revised and descriptions, illustrations and identification key for the species are presented.MestradoBiologia VegetalMestre em Biologia Vegeta

Limadendron: A New Genus Of Leguminosae (papilionoideae, Brongniartieae) From South America

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)A new genus Limadendron (Leguminosae, Papilionoideae, Brongniartieae) from northern South America is described and illustrated. The new genus is segregated from Poecilanthe based on a previous phylogenetic analysis. Limadendron is sister to Cyclolobium and differs from it mainly by its woody dehiscent legumes contrasting with the winged samaroid fruits of the latter. Two new combinations, Limadendron amazonicum (Ducke) Meireles & A. M. G. Azevedo and Limadendron hostmannii (Benth.) Meireles & A. M. G. Azevedo, are proposed. A distribution map and an identification key for the species are also provided.3012701707Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)FAPESP [06/50154-0

Limadendron: a new genus of leguminosae (papilionoideae, brongniartieae) from South America

A new genus Limadendron (Leguminosae, Papilionoideae, Brongniartieae) from northern South America is described and illustrated. The new genus is segregated from Poecilanthe based on a previous phylogenetic analysis. Limadendron is sister to Cyclolobium and differs from it mainly by its woody dehiscent legumes contrasting with the winged samaroid fruits of the latter. Two new combinations, Limadendron amazonicum (Ducke) Meireles & A. M. G. Azevedo and Limadendron hostmannii (Benth.) Meireles & A. M. G. Azevedo, are proposed. A distribution map and an identification key for the species are also provided3012701707CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESPSem informação06/50154-

Applying remote sensing to biodiversity science

Biodiversity is organized hierarchically from individuals to populations to major lineages in the tree of life. This hierarchical structure has consequences for remote sensing of plant phenotypes and leads to the expectation that more distantly related plants will be more spectrally distinct. Applying remote sensing to understand ecological processes from biodiversity patterns builds on prior efforts that integrate functional and phylogenetic information of organisms with their environmental distributions to discern assembly processes and the rules that govern species distributions. Spectral diversity metrics critical to detecting biodiversity patterns expand on the many metrics for quantifying multiple dimensions of biodiversity—taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional—and can be applied at local (alpha diversity) to regional (gamma diversity) scales to examine variation among communities (beta diversity). Remote-sensing technologies stand to illuminate the nature of biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships and ecosystem service trade-offs over large spatial extents and to estimate their uncertainties. Such advances will improve our capacity to manage natural resources in the Anthropocene

Balancing selection maintains diversity in a cold tolerance gene in broadly distributed Live Oaks

Cold poses major physiological challenges to plants, especially long lived trees. In trees occurring along variable temperature clines, the expected direction and consequences of selection on cold acclimation ability and freezing tolerance are not straightforward. Here we estimated selection in cold acclimation genes at two evolutionary timescales in all seven species of the American live oaks (Quercus subsection Virentes). Two cold response candidate genes were chosen: ICE1, a key gene in the cold acclimation pathway, and HOS1, which modulates cold response by negatively regulating ICE1. Two housekeeping genes, GAPDB and CHR11, were also analyzed. At the shallow evolution- ary timescale, we demonstrate that HOS1 experienced recent balancing selection in the two most broadly distributed species, Q. virginiana and Q. oleoides. At a deeper evolutionary scale, a codon based model of evolution revealed the signature of negative selection in ICE1. In contrast, three positively selected codons have been identified in HOS1, possibly a signature of the diversification of Virentes into warmer climates from a freezing adapted lineage of oaks. Our findings indicate that evolution has favored diversity in cold tolerance modulation through balancing selection in HOS1 while maintaining core cold acclimation ability, as evidenced by purifying selection in ICE1.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author