Geographical structure of morphology and spectral diversity in Arumãs (Ischno- siphon Körn. Marantaceae)
Date
2019-07-31Author
http://lattes.cnpq.br/7256879024795768
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1703-3928
ARISTIZÁBAL, María Alejandra Buitrago
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Recognition and delimitation of taxonomic categories of biological organisms are
still challenging and full of controversies. Traditional categorization of species may
hamper the continuous variation of entities in nature. The assessment of
morphometric and spectral variation of individuals along geographical and
environmental gradients can be used to understand how homogeneous or grouped is
the variation and may underscore the delimitation of natural units. We used
Ischnosiphon (Marantaceae) as a model due to its great morphological variation and
broad distribution. Species of this genus are terrestrial rhizomatous herbs, occurring in
the understories of tropical forests from Nicaragua to southern Bolivia and Brazil.
Here we apply an individual-based approach to test how variation of 22 wide to
narrowly distributed species of Ischnosiphon is related to ecological factors and
geographical distribution, besides describing morphological and spectral variation
patterns. We demonstrate great diversity and morphological complexity among
Ischnosiphon, and propose a replicable and analytical framework to accommodate
individual variability in species diagnosis on morphologically diverse plant groups.
Additionally, we show that range size is not a good predictor of phenotypic variance
and that climatic distance is often more relevant to morphological and spectral
variation than geographic distance. These results provide evidence of how our
interpretation and recognition of species is prone to underestimation of the role of
individual variability, and how environmental gradients influence phenotypic
variation of widely distributed organisms. Finally, we discuss the relevance of
phenotypic variability explorations on systematics, evolutionary and ecological
studies.
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