1. Manuel Pimentel Pereira, PhD
Taxonomy and Phylogeography of
complex species groups. The case of the
European sweet vernal grasses
(Anthoxanthum L., Poaceae, Pooideae)
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2. Manuel Pimentel Pereira, PhD
Research experience:
- Numerical Taxonomy
(Multivariate analysis)
- Molecular Taxonomy
(RAPDs)
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3. Manuel Pimentel Pereira, PhD
Research experience:
-Ecological study of Galician peatlands
-Collaboration in fieldwork
-Ecological study of some Galician
-Vegetation inventory populations of Coenagrion
mercuriale. Valoration of anthropic
-Evaluation of the observed anthropic impacts
impacts
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4. Manuel Pimentel Pereira, PhD
Taxonomy and Phylogeography of
complex species groups. The case of the
European sweet vernal grasses
(Anthoxanthum L., Poaceae, Pooideae)
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5. Genus Anthoxanthum L in Europe.
Introduction
• Inflorescence a spiciform panicle
• Many laterally-compressed spikelets
• Glumes unequal, membranous, carinate and
mucronate
• Three flowers. The upper one fertile, the
lower ones reduced to aristate lemmae
• Bi-staminate fertile flower. Without lodicles
Drawing: D. Romero
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6. Genus Anthoxanthum L in Europe.
Introduction
80N
60N
40N
20N
0
20S
40S
60S
80S
160W 140W 120W 100W 80W 60W 40W 20W 0 20E 40E 60E 80E 100E 120E 140E 160E
Native distribution of genus Anthoxanthum L.s. str .
Invaded range of Genus Anthoxanthum L. s . str .
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7. Genus Anthoxanthum L in Europe.
Introduction
• Seven Anthoxanthum species are part of the European and
Macaronesian Flora:
• Anthoxanthum amarum Brot.
• Anthoxanthum maderense Teppner
•Anthoxanthum odoratum L. s. lat. complex
Anthoxanthum odoratum L.
Anthoxanthum alpinum Löve & Löve
• Anthoxanthum gracile Bivona
•Anthoxanthum aristatum/Anthoxanthum ovatum complex
Anthoxanthum aristatum Boiss.
Anthoxanthum ovatum Lag.
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8. Genus Anthoxanthum L in Europe.
Introduction
Genus Anthoxanthum presents a high Taxonomic and Phylogeographic
interest:
A. odoratum
1.- Unclear phylogenetic and taxonomic relationships with close genera
A. alpinum
2.- The taxonomical status of some of the European species has been
widely discussed and is still to be established. The great variety of
ploidy levels that can be found throughout the genus adds complexity
to the matter
A. alpinum A. odoratum
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9. Genus Anthoxanthum L in Europe.
Introduction
Genus Anthoxanthum presents a high Taxonomic and Phylogeographic
interest:
A. aristatum A. ovatum
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10. Genus Anthoxanthum L in Europe.
Introduction
Genus Anthoxanthum presents a high Taxonomic and Phylogeographic
interest:
1.- Unclear phylogenetic and taxonomic relationships with close genera
A. gracile
A. amarum
2.- The taxonomical status of some of the European species has been
widely discussed and is still to be established. The great variety of
ploidy levels that can be found throughout the genus adds complexity
to the matter
3.- Given the distribution of some of these species, genus Anthoxanthum
presents a high phylogeographical interest
A. maderense
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11. Genus Anthoxanthum L in Europe.
Introduction
Genus Anthoxanthum presents a high Taxonomic and Phylogeographic
interest:
The A. aristatum/A. ovatum complex
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12. Genus Anthoxanthum L in Europe.
Introduction
Genus Anthoxanthum presents a high Taxonomic and Phylogeographic
interest:
The A. odoratum s. lat. complex
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13. Genus Anthoxanthum L in Europe.
Research aims
1. To clarify, through morphological, anatomical and molecular methods, the
taxonomy of the European sweet vernal grasses. A special effort was made on
the A. odoratum/A. alpinum and the A. aristatum/A. ovatum complexes
2. To calibrate the usefulness and reliability of the traditionally used traits in the
differentiation of the European species of Genus Anthoxanthum L. Also, to
analyse the possible taxonomic consequences of ploidy differences among taxa
3. To analyse the influence of the environmental factors on the morphological
variation observed on some of the studied populations
4. To elaborate a taxonomic proposal for the European species of Anthoxanthum.
5. To unravel the evolutionary differentiation and the phylogeographic patterns of
some populations of the European sweet vernal grasses
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15. Genus Anthoxanthum L in Europe.
Morphometric study. Methodology
• Can we unambiguously characterize the Anthoxanthum species using
macromorphology and leaf anatomy?
•1787 plants from 60 European populations were
used
• Macromorphology: 1567 plants
• Leaf anatomy: 220 plants
• A. nivale K. Schum. and A. aethiopicum I.
Hedberg
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16. Genus Anthoxanthum L in Europe.
Morphometric study. Methodology
29 anatomical characters
30 macromorphological characters
13 quantitative traits 17 qualitative traits
7 quantitative traits 22 qualitative traits
Gower coefficient for mixed data
Cluster analysis
Principal coordinates analysis
Information radius. Cluster analysis
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17. Genus Anthoxanthum L in Europe.
Morphometric study. Methodology
30 macromorphological characters
13 quantitative traits 17 qualitative traits
Contingency tables. Lambda coefficient
Principal coordinates analysis
Cluster analysis
Exploratory analysis
Principal components analysis
Classification discriminant analysis
Multivariate analysis of variance
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18. Genus Anthoxanthum L in Europe.
Morphometric study. Results
1. Inflorescence lenght
2. Leaf length
3. Leaf width
• Only the Mediterranean diploid A. gracile
and the high Iberian polyploid A. amarum
can be easily distinguished based on
morphological characters
A. amarum is partially characterized by
vegetative traits
A. gracile is clearly characterized by floral
traits
1. Awn length
2. Sterile floret length
3. Sterile floret width
• Principal components analysis performed with macromorphological quantitative data. The two first
axis accounted for 35.4% of the variance
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19. Genus Anthoxanthum L in Europe.
Morphometric study. Results
The differentiation between annuals and
perennials is much clearer when we
consider the whole macromorphological
dataset
The MANOVA analysis indicated that
inflorescence and leaf length were
important to differentiate between
annuals and perennials
Morphological variation in A. odoratum
is, to some extent, geographically
structured. Pubescence characters are the
basis of such structure
•Principal coordinates analysis performed with macro-morphological data (Gower coefficient)
•Cluster analysis performed with qualitative macro-morphological data. IP, Iberian
Peninsula; SS, South of Scandinavia
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20. Genus Anthoxanthum L in Europe.
Morphometric study. Results
A. odoratum A. maderense others (7.4%)
A. alpinum (4.1%)
others (3.9%)
A. odoratum (26.6%)
A. maderense (66%)
A. odoratum (92%)
•Classification discriminant analysis performed with macromorphological quantitative data
A clear differentiation between A. odoratum and A. alpinum was detected
A. maderense characterization is not possible based on the selected characters
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