Phylogenetic structure analysis in the semiarid Caatinga Phytogeographical Domain

• Grant number: 13/15280-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: October 01, 2013
• End date: July 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany - Phytogeography
• Principal Investigator: Fernando Roberto Martini
• Grantee: Marcelo Freire Moro
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Studies on phylogenetic structure of communities are leading to a deeper understanding of biogeography, macroecology and evolution of ecosystems and, in Brazil, this new approach has been applied to scientific enquiries relating the Cerrado and Atlantic Forest phytogeographic domains. Caatinga has been historically one of the least studied phytogeographic areas of Brazil. Nevertheless, in the last decade an increasing number of floristic and phytosociological studies were produced in Caatinga. These data have recently been grouped in a botanical and biogeographical synthesis, which produced biogeographical comparisons of Caatinga's flora and a catalogue of species for different environments within the domain. We intend now to use the database we have made on Caatinga's plants to evaluate the phylogenetic structure of this phytogeographical domain. To do so we selected from the botanical surveys represented on our database 74 areas, which have 5480 occurrence records for 1590 species. Each area was mapped in GIS environment and classified to one of the types of environment within Caatinga. We intend to compare the phylogenetic structure of communities located on terrains of crystalline and sedimentary origin, as well as compare the potential differences on phylogenetic structure presented by the woody (trees and shrubs) and non-woody (herbs and subshrubs) components of the vegetation. Our study will be one of the first analyzes on phylogenetic structure made in a subcontinental scale held in Brazil and will allow a better understanding of community structure for Caatinga and will add a new dimension to evolutionary biogeographic patterns studied so far.

Scientific publications

(8)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

QUEIROZ, RUBENS TEIXEIRA; MORO, MARCELO FREIRE; BEZERRA LOIOLA, MARIA IRACEMA. Evaluating the relative importance of woody versus non-woody plants for alpha-diversity in a semiarid ecosystem in Brazil. PLANT ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, v. 148, n. 3, p. 361-376, 2015. (13/15280-9)

MARCELO FREIRE MORO; MARIANA BEZERRA MACEDO; MARCELO MARTINS DE MOURA-FÉ; ANTÔNIO SÉRGIO FARIAS CASTRO; RAFAEL CARVALHO DA COSTA. Vegetação, unidades fitoecológicas e diversidade paisagística do estado do Ceará. Rodriguésia, v. 66, n. 3, p. 717-743, 2015-09-00. (13/15280-9)

ZAPPI, DANIELA C.; MORO, MARCELO F.; MEAGHER, THOMAS R.; LUGHADHA, EIMEAR NIC. Plant Biodiversity Drivers in Brazilian Campos Rupestres: Insights from Phylogenetic Structure. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE, v. 8, DEC 19 2017. (13/15280-9)

DE MENESES COSTA, ANA CLAUDIA; MORO, MARCELO FREIRE; MARTINS, FERNANDO ROBERTO. Raunkiaerian life-forms in the Atlantic forest and comparisons of life-form spectra among Brazilian main biomes. BRAZILIAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY, v. 39, n. 3, p. 833-844, SEP 2016. (13/15280-9)

MORO, MARCELO FREIRE; LIMA DE SOUSA, DANILO JOSE; MATIAS, LIGIA QUEIROZ. Rarefaction, richness estimation and extrapolation methods in the evaluation of unseen plant diversity in aquatic ecosystems. Aquatic Botany, v. 117, p. 48-55, JUL 2014. (13/15280-9)

MORO, MARCELO FREIRE; LUGHADHA, EIMEAR NIC; DE ARAUJO, FRANCISCA SOARES; MARTINS, FERNANDO ROBERTO. A Phytogeographical Metaanalysis of the Semiarid Caatinga Domain in Brazil. BOTANICAL REVIEW, v. 82, n. 2, p. 91-148, JUN 2016. (09/14266-7, 11/22498-5, 13/15280-9)

MORO, MARCELO FREIRE; SILVA, IGOR AURELIO; DE ARAUJO, FRANCISCA SOARES; LUGHADHA, EIMEAR NIC; MEAGHER, THOMAS R.; MARTINS, FERNANDO ROBERTO. The Role of Edaphic Environment and Climate in Structuring Phylogenetic Pattern in Seasonally Dry Tropical Plant Communities. PLoS One, v. 10, n. 3, MAR 23 2015. (13/15280-9)

DE MENESES COSTA, ANA CLAUDIA; MORO, MARCELO FREIRE; MARTINS, FERNANDO ROBERTO. Raunkiaerian life-forms in the Atlantic forest and comparisons of life-form spectra among Brazilian main biomes. Rev. bras. Bot., v. 39, n. 3, p. 12-pg., 2016-09-01. (13/15280-9)