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Taxonomic Complexity (taxonomic + complexity)
Selected AbstractsTaxonomic sufficiency in two case studies: where does it work better?MARINE ECOLOGY, Issue 2009Tiziano Bacci Abstract In marine macrobenthos studies the identification of organisms at species level is the best entry to ecological and biological information about the animals. An accurate identification requires excellent conservation of the organisms, reliable fauna description, experts and lengthy work in the laboratory. The aim of this work is to test taxonomic sufficiency (TS) in two deliberately selected different case studies to understand whether and how the taxonomic complexity of a benthic assemblage influences the results of TS and where it works better. The first benthic settlement was collected in an area characterized by homogeneous depth and grain size composition (case study A) around an off-shore gas platform, while the second one was collected along a coast-wide transect in an area with human pressure limited to fishing activities (case study B). Univariate and multivariate statistical analysis was used to assess differences in the taxonomic structure of benthic assemblages and to test TS on the two different datasets. TS seems to work in both sites, from species to higher taxonomic levels, and the family taxonomic level appears the best compromise for taxonomic resolution when an accurate identification is not achievable. The application of TS does not indicate a significant difference between the two datasets and appears therefore to be a valid instrument to analyse and describe the structure of benthic settlements in the case of taxonomically complex communities. [source] History and evolution of the arctic flora: in the footsteps of Eric HulténMOLECULAR ECOLOGY, Issue 2 2003Richard J. Abbott Abstract A major contribution to our initial understanding of the origin, history and biogeography of the present-day arctic flora was made by Eric Hultén in his landmark book Outline of the History of Arctic and Boreal Biota during the Quarternary Period, published in 1937. Here we review recent molecular and fossil evidence that has tested some of Hultén's proposals. There is now excellent fossil, molecular and phytogeographical evidence to support Hultén's proposal that Beringia was a major northern refugium for arctic plants throughout the Quaternary. In contrast, most molecular evidence fails to support his proposal that contemporary east and west Atlantic populations of circumarctic and amphi-Atlantic species have been separated throughout the Quaternary. In fact, populations of these species from opposite sides of the Atlantic are normally genetically very similar, thus the North Atlantic does not appear to have been a strong barrier to their dispersal during the Quaternary. Hultén made no detailed proposals on mechanisms of speciation in the Arctic; however, molecular studies have confirmed that many arctic plants are allopolyploid, and some of them most probably originated during the Holocene. Recurrent formation of polyploids from differentiated diploid or more low-ploid populations provides one explanation for the intriguing taxonomic complexity of the arctic flora, also noted by Hultén. In addition, population fragmentation during glacial periods may have lead to the formation of new sibling species at the diploid level. Despite the progress made since Hultén wrote his book, there remain large gaps in our knowledge of the history of the arctic flora, especially about the origins of the founding stocks of this flora which first appeared in the Arctic at the end of the Pliocene (approximately 3 Ma). Comprehensive analyses of the molecular phylogeography of arctic taxa and their relatives together with detailed fossil studies are required to fill these gaps. [source] Disentangling the bindweeds: hybridization and taxonomic diversity in British Calystegia (Convolvulaceae)BOTANICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 4 2009JACQUELINE M. BROWN Calystegia is taxonomically complex. More than 65 taxa are currently recognized, but species circumscription is problematic, geographical intergradation between taxa is common and hybridization between species is known to occur. In this study, the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 1 region (ITS1) was used to investigate the extent to which interspecific hybridization has contributed to the generation of taxonomic diversity in the C. sepium complex of the genus. Focusing principally on taxa that occur in Britain and their putative relatives, patterns of infra-individual ITS1 variation were examined by direct sequencing and cloning. Direct sequencing of the ITS region of 58 accessions representing 11 taxa and one hybrid revealed 22 variable positions that collectively defined 14 ribotypes. Diagnostic and invariant ribotypes lacking polymorphisms were found in C. sepium ssp. sepium, C. sepium ssp. limnophila, C. silvatica ssp. silvatica, C. pellita, C. pubescens and C. soldanella. Three ribotypes were recovered in C. sepium ssp. americana, two of which lacked polymorphisms, whereas the third exhibited two polymorphic sites. Calystegia sepium ssp. roseata, C. sepium ssp. spectabilis, C. silvatica ssp. disjuncta, C. pulchra and C. × howittiorum were each characterized by taxon-specific polymorphisms in the ITS1 region. In each case, the polymorphisms observed were consistent with the co-occurrence in the genome of nonpolymorphic ribotypes that were observed in other taxa. This observation is supported by cloning of the ITS region and is consistent with a hybrid origin for the taxa in which they occur. The hypotheses of hybridity proposed are further shown to be congruent with other data, notably morphology. This study suggests that taxonomic diversity within the C. sepium complex may have been promoted by hybridization. For at least some of the taxa investigated, it is at least possible that sympatry may have been achieved anthropogenically, through the introduction of taxa into cultivation. The processes revealed in this study may help to explain some of the taxonomic complexity observed in the genus more widely, although this remains to be tested. © 2009 The Natural History Museum, London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 160, 388,401. [source] Application of RAPDs to the critical taxonomy of the English endemic elm Ulmus plotii DaceBOTANICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 3 2000MAX COLEMAN The taxonomy of the British elms is notoriously complicated and a satisfactory consensus classification remains elusive. This taxonomic complexity appears to be attributable to the reproductive biology of the species. Ulmus glabra Huds. reproduces sexually and its taxonomic status is widely (albeit not universally) accepted. In contrast, the suckering elms of the U. minor complex (U. minor Mill. emend. Richens sensu latissimo) rarely reproduce by seed in Britain. Instead they perpetuate predominantly by vegetative reproduction; arguments regarding their taxonomy are legion. We have used molecular markers (RAPDs) to investigate the amounts and partitioning of clonal diversity and taxon inter-relationships in the British elms, focusing on a particularly enigmatic suckering elm, U. plotii Druce. Our molecular data suggest that all samples of U. plotii that precisely match the type description are ramets of a single genet, the distribution of which is attributable to human planting. Morphologically similar samples, which have many but not all of the U. plotii diagnostic characters, do not cluster with U. plotii when the RAPD data are analysed using principal coordinates analysis (PCO). Instead, they are scattered on the PCO plots throughout the broader range of variability of the U. minor complex. The implications of these results for the taxonomy of the British elms are discussed, and the need to combine knowledge of population structure with taxonomic pragmatism is emphasized. [source] | ||||||||||