Phylogeography and conservation of two endemic palm trees of the Atlantic Forest: Syagrus botryophora Mart. and Syagrus pseudococos (Raddi) Glassman (Arecaceae)

• Grant number: 14/06444-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: July 01, 2014
• End date: April 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany - Phytogeography
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: José Rubens Pirani
• Grantee: Euder Glendes Andrade Martins
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 14/17656-9 - Phylogeographic analysis of neotropical palms: Syagrus botryophora Mart. and s. pseudococos (Raddi) Glassman, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

Phylogeografic studies have gained ground in many research fields related to systematics, evolution, biogeography and conservation biology mainly due to the application of their approaches as tools revealing the historical and evolutionary patterns of natural populations, the possible events of vicariance or dispersal, ecological and geological causes who acted in this process of detecting areas with high genetic diversity and endemism. Some species of palm genus Syagrus (Arecaceae) are strongly associated with Atlantic forests, being found forming patches of natural populations or individuals over fragments in this biome. These palm trees are interesting components for phylogeographic studies, the interesting distribution patterns documented in several species and the high frequency of populations, which can depict stories associated with the diversification mechanism suggested by various theories, such as forest refuge theory of the Plio-Pleistocene and other recent theories. This study aims to investigate the genetic structure and phylogeographic patterns in species Syagrus botryophora Mart. and S. pseudococos (Raddi) Glassman, an Atlantic Forest endemic species, disjunct occurring along the biome. To this end, the objective is to determine the genetic structure and phylogeographic patterns of natural populations of these species by sequence analysis of the chloroplast and nuclear genome, analyzing them in the light of the biogeographical hypotheses of the Atlantic Forest and the models and theories available, for example, to test hypotheses for species-specific models of forest refugia for the end of Quaternary proposed by Carnival & Moritz (2008). One hopes with these data contribute to the understanding of evolutionary processes involved in the generation of high species diversity of this biome, and thus provide strategies for conservation of forest areas with natural populations of the species studied. Its importance lies in the need for knowledge about one of the great importance of groups of neotropical flora, especially of flora, including the "hotspot" Atlantic forest, which has not received attention commensurate in terms of biogeographical studies of population genetic structure and phylogeographic. This makes this pioneering research of phylogeographic patterns in Brazilian palms study and especially of this genus. (AU)