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JournalISSN: 2032-3913

Plant Ecology and Evolution 

Meise Botanic Garden
About: Plant Ecology and Evolution is an academic journal published by Meise Botanic Garden. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Genus & Herbarium. It has an ISSN identifier of 2032-3913. Over the lifetime, 459 publications have been published receiving 4411 citations. The journal is also known as: Pl. Ecol. Evol..
Topics: Genus, Herbarium, Species richness, Biology, Endemism


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper aims to demonstrate the efforts towards in-situ applicability of EMMARM, which aims to provide real-time information about the response of the immune system to EMTs.
Abstract: 1Texas Natural Science Center, 2400 Trinity Street, University of Texas, Austin TX 78619, U.S.A. 2Section of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station (A6700), Austin, TX 78712, U.S.A. 3Plant Biology Graduate Program, The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station (A6700), Austin, TX 78712, U.S.A. 4Institute of Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station (A6700), Austin, TX 78712, U.S.A. *Author for correspondence: etheriot@austin.utexas.edu

149 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Madagascar project aims to evaluate and enumerate the native and naturalized vascular plant flora of Madagascar as mentioned in this paper, which is a collection of more than 4,100 species of vascular plants.
Abstract: Background and aims - The Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Madagascar project aims to evaluate and enumerate the native and naturalized vascular plant flora of Madagascar. In light of the past two decades of intensive collecting and taxonomic work, all relevant published literature and available specimens are being reassessed in order to evaluate the taxonomic status and distribution of the native and naturalized taxa of vascular plants. Here we provide current figures for the total numbers of vascular plants and levels of endemism at the order, family, genus and species levels, comparing them to previous historical counts and analyzing the distribution of the non-endemic element of the flora. Key Results - At the time of writing (April 2010), more than a century after Baron first counted 4,100 species of vascular plants in Madagascar, the Madagascar Catalogue database had registered a total of 14,883 accepted names at all taxonomic levels (64 orders, 243 families, 1,730 genera, 11,220 species and 1,626 infraspecific taxa). Of the 11,220 species of vascular plants in Madagascar, 10,650 (95%) are angiosperms, of which 331 are naturalized introduced species. The remaining accepted indigenous angiosperm species total 10,319, of which 8,621 (84%) are endemic to Madagascar (82% endemism for all indigenous vascular plants). Among the 1,698 non-endemic species of indigenous angiosperms, a total of 1,372 (81%) also occur in Africa, of these 654 (39%) are present only in Africa and Madagascar.

89 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The relationships of Xanthoceras are clarified based on phylogenetic analyses using a dataset encompassing nearly 3/4 of sapindaceous genera, comparing the results with information from morphology and biogeography, and support earlier suggestions that Harpullieae are polyphyletic.
Abstract: Background and aims Recent studies have adopted a broad definition of Sapindaceae that includes taxa traditionally placed in Aceraceae and Hippocastanaceae, achieving monophyly but yielding a family difficult to characterize and for which no obvious morphological synapomorphy exists. This expanded circumscription was necessitated by the finding that the monotypic, temperate Asian genus Xanthoceras, historically placed in Sapindaceae tribe Harpullieae, is basal within the group. Here we seek to clarify the relationships of Xanthoceras based on phylogenetic analyses using a dataset encompassing nearly 3/4 of sapindaceous genera, comparing the results with information from morphology and biogeography, in particular with respect to the other taxa placed in Harpullieae. We then re-examine the appropriateness of maintaining the current broad, morphologically heterogeneous definition of Sapindaceae and explore the advantages of an alternative family circumscription. Methods Using 243 samples representing 104 of the 142 currently recognized genera of Sapindaceae s. lat. (including all in Harpullieae), sequence data were analyzed for nuclear (ITS) and plastid (matK, rpoB, trnD-trnT, trnK-matK, trnL-trnF and trnS-trnG) markers, adopting the methodology of a recent family-wide study, performing single-gene and total evidence analyses based on maximum likelihood (ML) and maximum parsimony (MP) criteria, and applying heuristic searches developed for large datasets, viz, a new strategy implemented in RAxML (for ML) and the parsimony ratchet (for MP). Bootstrap analyses were performed for each method to test for congruence between markers. Key results Our findings support earlier suggestions that Harpullieae are polyphyletic: Xanthoceras is confirmed as sister to all other sampled taxa of Sapindaceae s. lat.; the remaining members belong to three other clades within Sapindaceae s. lat., two of which correspond respectively to the groups traditionally treated as Aceraceae and Hippocastanaceae, together forming a clade sister to the largely tropical Sapindaceae s. str., which is monophyletic and morphologically coherent provided Xanthoceras is excluded. Conclusion To overcome the difficulties of a broadly circumscribed Sapindaceae, we resurrect the historically recognized temperate families Aceraceae and Hippocastanaceae, and describe a new family, Xanthoceraceae, thus adopting a monophyletic and easily characterized circumscription of Sapindaceae nearly identical to that used for over a century.

84 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A review of the taxonomic, phytogeographic and conservational status of a number of plant species proposed as possibly endemic to natural outcrops of copper-rich rocks in Katanga emphasizes the high conservation value of the flora of Curich soil inKatanga and should help prioritise future conservation efforts.
Abstract: Background and aims - The occurrence of natural plant communities on Cuenriched substrates over significant areas of the earth's surface is exceptional. In Katanga (D.R.Congo), natural outcrops of copper-rich rocks are colonised by highly original plant communities. A number of plant species have been proposed as possibly endemic to those sites. Here we revise the taxonomic, phytogeographic and conservational status of these plants. Methods - Almost all the herbarium materials of supposed Cuendemics available in BR and BRLU have been revised and all relevant taxonomic revisions have been consulted. Literature and herbarium data have been supplemented by original observations in the field. Conservational status was established using IUCN criteria based on current and projected variation of population size and number. Key results - Thirty-two taxa are identified as strict endemics of Curich soil in Katanga, i.e. absolute metallophytes. Twenty-four of these are known from one to five localities only. Twenty-three other taxa are identified as broad endemics, i.e. with > 75% of occurrence on Curich soil. Fifty-seven other names formerly used for supposed endemics are rejected either for nomenclatural or phytogeographic reasons. A number of species formerly regarded as endemics have been discovered off copperenriched substrates due to progress in the botanical exploration of Katanga. The taxonomic value of a number of proposed endemics is still uncertain and requires further research. For a number of taxa, local geographic distribution still remains insufficiently known. The low proportion of endemics (c. 5%) in the flora of Curich soil in Katanga possibly indicates a recent origin of much of this flora. Arguments in favour of neoendemism and relictual endemism, respectively, are discussed briefly. Ten percent of strict endemics are extinct and 65% are critically endangered, due to actual or projected habitat destruction by copper mining. Endemics restricted to primary habitats may be the most difficult to conserve. Several species, mostly annuals, are able to thrive on secondary metalliferous habitats created by the mining industry and may thus be at lower risk. Conclusions - This review emphasizes the high conservation value of the flora of Curich soil in Katanga and should help prioritise future conservation efforts. © 2010 National Botanic Garden of Belgium and Royal Botanical Society of Belgium.

60 citations

Performance
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No. of papers from the Journal in previous years
YearPapers
202315
202230
202123
202042
201941
201831