Jacques 2015 (Conference Paper) Billbergia

Morphometric analysis of natural populations of the Billbergia amoena (Lodd.) Lindl. complex (Bromeliaceae, Bromelioideae)

Author(s):—S.S. Jacques & A. Costa in Benko-Iseppon, A.M.; Alves, M. & Louzada, R. (2015) An overview and abstracts of the First World Congress on Bromeliaceae Evolution. Rodriguésia 66(2): A1-A66.

Publication:— (2015).

Abstract:—Billbergia amoena (Lodd.) Lindl. belongs to B. subg. Billbergia Thunb.; this is a monophyletic group that includes many species of difficult delimitation. Featuring the broadest geographical distribution among all of the subgenera, and the consequent morphological variation and plasticity, this species has 16 synonyms and seven varieties. Herbarium collections have indicated wide morphological variation. The fact that there are other closely related taxa reinforces the importance of testing their delimitation. In this context, the study aimed to evaluate the existing variation between varieties through morphometric study in natural populations.We sampled 110 individuals from six natural populations, including the location of some types. 29 variables were used, four vegetative and 25 reproductive. Were performed the Kruskal-Wallis test (KW), Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and discriminant analysis (DA), with the software STATISTICA 8.0 and PAST v. 2.04. Normality and homoscedasticity data were tested respectively by the Shapiro-Wilk and Levene tests. The result of the comparison of the characters in the KW test showed significant differences among the naturalpopulations. In PCA, the first three components explained 62% of variation between individuals. Analyzing components 1 and 2, the samples form two groups, separating the population of Santa Teresa (ES2) from the others that overlapped. With DA performed, the samples form four groups, there is a clear separation of the ES2 population. The second group by the population of Praia das Neves (ES1), the third the population of Marica (RJ1), and the fourth by the other populations. The results of these analyses point out characteristics that were thought to be important for the separation of the populations of Espírito Santo from those of Rio de Janeiro. The ES2 population differs from the others both in vegetative characters as well as reproductive ones. The ES1 population is distinguished by reproductive characters. The populations of Rio de Janeiro are still together in the analysis. The populations sampled to date suggest the existence of two species and the maintenance of five varieties.

Keywords:—Bromeliaceae; Morphometric; Taxonomy.