Fernández et al. 2012 (Conference Paper) Tillandsia

Phenotypic variation between and within wild populations of a Bromeliad Epiphyte: Tillandsia carlos-hankii.

Author(s):—C. Fernández R., J.L. Chávez S., P. Antonio L. & D.M. Chaparro

Publication:— (2012).

Abstract:—In the Bromeliaceae family, studies of phenotypic variation in reproductive and vegetative characters have been conducted just at inter-specific level. These studies have shown that the biotic (pollinators and predators) and abiotic factors such as, altitude, climate and forest fragmentation between others, strongly influence the phenotypic expression and population dynamics. However, there is no documented intra-specific phenotypic variation (among populations), or between individuals of a population, to help assess the environmental effects in epiphytic bromeliad. In order to estimate the phenotypic variation between- and withinpopulations of T. carlos-hankii (epiphytic bromeliad), eight sites or populations were valuate on base to reproductive and vegetative morphological characters during two growing seasons 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, in a pine-oak forest in Oaxaca, Mexico. The mean number of individuals in each population ranged from 8–16 and 30–40 in the first and second season, respectively. Combined analysis of variance identified significant differences between seasons, between populations and within populations. The results suggest that there is major variation among populations than among individual within populations in plant height, diameter of the rosette, number of bracts, number of spikes, length of calyx corolla, sepals, stamen and style. This indicates that the environment, endogenous properties, life history and ecological interactions are factors associated with variation in vegetative and reproductive characters of epiphytic bromeliad, causing phenotypic divergences among wild populations of T. carloshankii.