<figure><img src="image_458.png" /></figure>

avoiding the detection of false HEs when using less
related progenitor species genomes.

S.197.2 Genomic and
phenotypic responses
to climate in European
grasslands

José Luis Blanco-Pastor¹, P. Barre², J.F.

Bourcier², A. Boutet², S. Delaunay², A.

Escobar-Gutiérrez², A.J. Muñoz-Pajares³, E.

Roy², F. Surault², J.P. Sampoux²

1 Departamento de Biología, Instituto de Investigación Vitivinícola y Agroalimentaria, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Agroalimentario, Universidad de Cádiz, Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain. 2. INRAE, Centre Nouvelle-Aquitaine-Poitiers, UR4 (URP3F), Le Chêne - RD, Lusignan, France. 3. Departamento de Genética, Universidad de Granada, Campus Fuen-tenueva, Granada, Spain.

In recent decades, there has been an increasing
number of studies on the genetic basis of adap-
tation in a variety of species of agricultural impor-
tance. These studies are based on the idea that we
can predict the optimal genetic component to cope
with climate change by identifying the current allelic
frequencies of adaptive genes in particular climates
or geographical regions. This approach assumes
that, in the absence of temporal data (future cli-
mate), these can be replaced by geographic data.

Here we present results on geographic genetic vari-
ability in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) but
also temporal genetic variability in meadow fescue
(Festuca pratensis Huds.). We identified the tempo-
ral genetic change in meadow fescue using popu-
lations sampled long enough to empirically analyze
allele frequency changes over evolutionary time. We
sampled three meadow fescue populations from
Switzerland that have evolved without artificial re-
seeding. We performed whole genome sequencing
of pooled samples (pool-Seq) on individuals derived
from seed samples of these populations, which were
sampled in the late 1970s and resampled in 2021,
and analyzed allele frequency differences across
the genome. We also grew these individuals in a
common garden and measured agronomic traits
associated with adaptation to climate. Analysis of
allele frequency and phenotypic changes in these
populations will provide information on the candi-
date genomic and physiological mechanisms of
adaptation to climate change in grassland species.

S.197.3 Adaptation in
unstable environments via
global gene losses - Small
but steady by the May-
Wigner theory

Shaohua Xu¹, Shao Shao², Suhua Shi²,
Ziwen He²

1 School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China. 2 School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

Although gene loss is common in evolution, it remains
unclear whether it is an adaptive process. In a survey
of six major mangrove clades that are woody plants
in the intertidal zones of daily environmental perturba-
tions, we noticed that they generally evolved reduced
gene numbers. We then focused on the largest clade
of Rhizophoreae and observed the continual gene set
reduction in each of the eight species. A great major-
ity of gene losses are concentrated on environmental
interaction processes, presumably to cope with the
constant fluctuations in the tidal environments. Genes
of the general processes for woody plants are largely
retained. In particular, fewer gene losses are found in
physiological traits such as viviparous seeds, high salin-
ity and high tannin content. Given the broad and con-
tinual genome reductions, we propose the May-Wign-
er theory (MWT) of system stability as the underlying
mechanism. In MWT, the most effective solution for
buffering continual perturbations is to reduce the size
of the system (or to weaken the total genic interac-
tions). Extending MWT to gene regulatory networks
(GRNs), computer simulations and transcriptome anal-
yses support the stabilizing effects of smaller gene sets
in mangroves vis-a-vis inland plants. In summary, we
show the adaptive significance of gene losses in man-
grove plants, including the specific role of promoting
phenotype innovation and a general role in stabilizing
GRNs in unstable environments as predicted by MWT.

S.197.4 Genomic suitability
of wild Robusta coffee to
local climate in Vietnam

Tram Vi¹,², Julie Orjuela¹, Philippe Cubry¹,
Ngan Giang Khong², Viet Ha Phan⁴, Pierre
Marraccini¹,³, Yves Vigouroux¹, Valerie
Poncet¹
<figure><img src="image_459.png" /></figure>

1 UMR DIADE, Univ Montpellier, IRD, CIRAD, Montpellier, France. 2 National Key Laboratory of Plant Cellular Biotechnology, Agricultural Genetics Institute, Hanoi, Vietnam. 3 UMR DIADE, CIRAD, Montpellier, France. 4 Western Highlands Agriculture & Forestry Science Institute, Buon Ma Thuot, Vietnam.

Crops are generally cultivated outside of their native range. Optimal climatic suitability for crop production is raising more concerns, especially in the context of climate change. Robusta coffee (Coffea canephora) is indigenous to west and central Africa, but is also widely grown on other continents. Vietnam has been the world's largest Robusta producer since the 2000s, but is currently facing the risk of yield loss due to climate change. Assessing the suitability of wild genetic material to local climate conditions in Vietnam is essential for sustainable improvement of Vietnamese Robusta coffee. We first compared climatic conditions between native environments in Africa and that in Vietnam, using bioclimatic variables. The wild populations were highly differentiated into five main genetic groups, but only one of these (group ER from DRC) was mainly found in cultivated elite varieties in Vietnam, with a minor proportion of group AG from Gabon and Angola. A negative relationship between climate distance to the native range of group ER and coffee yields at the planted areas was found, and used to predict future coffee yields. The climate distance suggested higher suitability of the minor group (AG) in Vietnam. Using a reference-free approach, more than 18M of k-mers (substrings of sequence reads at 31-bp length) were detected in association with bioclimatic variables. Functional annotation of these candidate k-mers identified putative proteins related to gene regulation. They were used to predict the genetic changes that the wild individuals would require to fit the local environment (genetic offset) in the present and future Genetic offsets revealed variation between the different groups, and also suggested that the most suited genotypes came from the group AG. The results would be useful for planning strategies to improve adaptability of Vietnamese Robusta coffee.

### S.197.5 Conservation genomics of the narrow endemic Zoysi's harebell (Favratia zoysii Feer)

Garima Singh¹, Marco Canella¹, Sara Natale¹, Nicoletta La Rocca¹, Alessandro Alboresi¹, Barbara Baldan¹, Špela Pungaršek², Francesco dal Grande¹

1 University of Padova, Padova, Italy. 2 The Slovenian Museum of Natural History, Slovenia

Alpine plants with small, disjunct populations are among the most vulnerable to extinction due to climate change. In fact, under the global change scenario, it is predicted that several alpine species may decline and be replaced by those from lower elevation through upward range extension. Such species therefore require immediate efforts for assessing their fitness and vulnerability to climate change to plan adequate biodiversity management and recovery. Here we studied *Favratia zoysii*, a narrow endemic chasmophyte plant of South-east Alps to evaluate its adaptive potential and conservation status. Briefly, after obtaining a high-quality reference genome, we implemented a low-coverage whole genome resequencing approach on 150 individuals from the entire distribution range. We found that the *F. zoysii* populations show signatures of genetic vulnerability and characteristics of declining populations. We propose a road map to management and recovery for this species that could be extended to alpine endemics having small population sizes.

### S.197.6 Determinate root growth in Cactaceae and exploring its genetic regulation

Gustavo Rodriguez-Alonso¹,², Kenia A. Galván Alcaraz¹, J. Pablo Villa Nuñez¹, Ramsés U. Albarrán Hernández¹, Sofía Esteban Hernández¹,², Julieta Olvera Berruecos¹,², Selene Napsucialy-Mendivil¹, Joseph G. Dubrovsky¹, Svetlana Shishkova¹

1 Departamento de Biología Molecular de Plantas, Instituto de Biotecnología - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cuernavaca, México. 2 Centro de Investigación en Dinámica Molecular, Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Básicas y Aplicadas - Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México

To thrive in deserts, Cactaceae plants possess numerous developmental adaptations. Determinate root growth, i.e., the root apical meristem (RAM) consumption, or exhaustion, and subsequent differentiation of all root-apex cells soon after germination, is one of these adaptations (Dubrovsky, 1997). Determinate growth of primary and lat-
eral roots of seedlings of many Cactaceae species from the Cactoideae subfamily (Shishkova et al., 2013) leads to the formation of a compact root system that might provide seedlings with an advantage for survival in arid and semiarid environments. We analyzed the primary-root growth pattern, determinate or indeterminate, for ca. 150 Cactoideae species and most species exhibited determinate growth. Notably, a few species that exhibit indeterminate primary root growth belong to the sole epiphytic tribe, Hylocereeae. In contrast, both Maihuenia species and few analysed Pereskia (and Leuenbergeria) species exhibit indeterminate primary root growth, while this character could be variable between and within Opuntioideae species. To explore the genetic regulation of the RAM exhaustion in Cactaceae, we performed RNA-seq of the primary-root apex

of *Pachycereus pringlei* (Rodriguez-Alonso et al., 2018) and *Carnegiea gigantea* (this work) on the developmental stages with active and exhausted RAM; and inferred a genetic regulatory network that operate in the root apex. The putative orthologs of the most important regulators of the RAM maintenance reported for *Arabidopsis thaliana* were also expressed in the root apex of the mentioned cacti species. These transcriptomes, as well as the improved *C. gigantea* genome (Copetti et al., 2023) and highly fragmented draft genomes of five more Cactoideae species (Copetti et al., 2017, Zhen et al., 2021) allowed us to start the exploration in Cactaceae of the PLT and WOX5 pathways of RAM maintenance described in *Arabidopsis thaliana*. Acknowledgements: This work was partially funded by PAPIIT-UNAM IN210221, IN208824 and CONACYT-CF304301.

## S.198 MOUNTAIN BIODIVERSITY AND EVOLUTION. SESSION 3

### S.198.1 Contrasting origins of two seemingly related mountain endemics: *Saxifraga wahlenbergii* (W Carpathians) and *S. styriaca* (E Alps)

Natalia Tkach¹, Martin Röser¹, Tomasz Suchan², Elżbieta Cieślak², Peter Schönswetter³, Michał Ronikier²

1 Department of Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Institute of Biology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany. 2 W. Szafier Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakow, Poland. 3 Department of Botany, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

The Carpathians and the Alps are the largest mountain ranges of the European Alpine System and important centers of endemism. Among the distinctive endemic species of this area is *Saxifraga wahlenbergii*, a Western Carpathians member of the specialise genus *Saxifraga*. It was frequently suggested a taxonomically isolated Tertiary paleopolyploid and paleoendemic. A recently described narrow endemic of the Eastern Alps, *S. styriaca*, was hypothe-

sized to be closely related to *S. wahlenbergii* due to the presence of pelicular glandular hairs. Clarifying the origin and phylogenetic relationships of both species could provide valuable insights into evolutionary and biogeographical history of the Carpathian and Alpine floras. To this end, their nuclear and plastid DNA were analyzed using Sanger and NGS (MiSeq) in a broad taxonomic context. Different evolutionary courses were found: *S. wahlenbergii* has a complicated hybrid origin. The maternal parent is a part of a West Eurasian lineage consisting of high mountain taxa within subsect. *Androsaceae* and could be widespread *S. androsacea* itself. The paternal lineage belongs to the distantly related subsect. *Tridactylites*, which also includes *S. adscendens*, the presumed second parent of *S. wahlenbergii*. The NGS screening revealed presence of sequences from both lineages. The second species *S. styriaca* was clearly assigned to subsect. *Androsaceae* and is not the sister of the first species. The similarity of the glandular hairs of both taxa is thus based on parallelism, and both species are not an example of a close evolutionary connection between the Western Carpathian and the Eastern Alpine floras. Since the origin of the paternal *S. adscendens*-like ITS DNA is estimated to be ca. 3.0 Ma, *S. wahlenbergii* cannot be relict of the mid-Tertiary climate optimum. Its hybrid origin is much younger and most likely took place in the Pleistocene.
<figure><img src="image_460.png" /></figure>

## S.198.2 Phylogeny, species boundaries, and morphological evolution in a Himalayan-Hengduan clade of honeysuckles (Isoxylosteum, Lonicera)

Mansa Srivastav¹, Amit Kumar², Gopal Singh Rawat², Michael J. Donoghue¹

1 Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, USA. 2 Department of Habitat Ecol- ogy, Wildlife Institute of India, India

The Himalayan-Tibetan-Hengduan region is one of the most important biodiversity hotspots for high-al- titude plants. However, owing to the trans-boundary nature of this region and its remote peaks and val- leys, many taxonomic problems remain unresolved. In turn, this has impeded our understanding of its evolutionary history. Here we resolve the phylog- eny and delimit species in an endemic lineage of honeysuckles - the *Isoxylosteum* clade of *Lonicera* - using restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (RADSeq) combined with morphological and eco- logical data. These plants occupy almost the entire length and breadth of the Himalayan-Hengduan system, as well as the Tien Shan and Pamiro-Alai mountains to the north of the Tibetan Plateau. They also span an altitudinal range from ~2000-5000 m and occupy several major biomes, from wet and dry temperate forests to cold deserts and alpine areas. Phylogenetic and population structure anal- yses support the recognition of five species. One of the previously recognized varieties - *L. rupicola* var. *minuta* - was found to form a clade that is sister to *L. spinosa*. This is surprising because the geographic range of *L. minuta* is contiguous with the other vari- eties of *L. rupicola* in the northern Hengduan region and it is widely separated from *L. spinosa* whose range is confined mainly to the west of the Tibet- an plateau. However, on close examination, sever- al morphological and ecological traits also favour a closer relation of *L. minuta* to *L. spinosa* than to *L. rupicola*. This finding raises the possibility of ring speciation around the Tibetan Plateau. Our analyses demonstrate contrasting patterns of diversification between the predominantly lower-elevation *L. angustifolia*-L. *tomentella* clade and the higher-eleva- tion *L. spinosa*-L. *minuta*-L. *rupicola* clade. We also found repeated parallel evolution into alpine habi- tats in *L. angustifolia*.

## S.198.3 Structure, diversity and regeneration of vulnerable Pseudotsuga forests in southwestern China

Cindy Q. Tang¹, Shi-Qian Yao¹, Jian-Ran Wen¹, Peng-Bin Han¹

1 Institute of Ecology and Geobotany, College of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan Uni- versity, Kunming, China

Our study sought to comprehensively understand *Pseudotsuga forestii* and *Pseudotsuga sinensis* for- ests, exploring forest structure, species diversity, and regeneration characteristics. The analysis of various indices, including species richness, Simpson diver- sity, Pielou evenness, Shannon-Wiener diversity, and phylogenetic diversity, consistently revealed com- parable values across different forest types, indi- cating consistent biodiversity patterns. Forests are multilayered, reaching a maximum height of 42 m and a maximum diameter at breast height (DBH) of 143 m, with an age of 570 years. The age frequen- cy distribution exhibited a multimodal pattern, with a distinct absence of individuals in the 0-20 years age range. Seedlings and saplings were predomi- nantly found in unstable micro-habitats. Forests un- dergoing moderate disturbance displayed a higher number of *P. sinensis* individuals younger than 30 years compared to areas with no, slight, or severe disturbance. Our findings highlight the significance of moderate disturbance in the regeneration of both *P. forrestii* and *P. sinensis*. This information provides valuable insights into the conservation strategies needed for these vulnerable coniferous species, emphasizing the importance of managing and pre- serving habitats with a focus on maintaining mod- erate disturbance levels to support their sustainable regeneration and long-term survival.

## S.198.4 Flower form and function in a speciose tropical mountain ecosystem

Dario C. Paiva¹, Adam B. Roddy¹

1 Institute of Environment, Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, USA
<figure><img src="image_461.png" /></figure>

Climate change is altering the costs and benefits of plant investments in reproduction. Knowing the costs of flowers and the mechanistic linkages between floral traits and floral performance is crucial to predicting how plants will respond to these changes in the future. Yet, the physiological costs of flowers and the traits influencing these costs of floral production and maintenance remain poorly studied. A few studies have addressed how water and carbon costs relate to flower longevity, but these have been restricted to only a few genera and mostly to cultivated plants that were not growing under natural conditions. To address this fundamental knowledge gap, we investigated how flower longevity and size – two traits associated with the likelihood of pollination – are related to traits influencing the water and carbon costs of flowers in naturally occurring montane plant communities. We sampled 19 species belonging to 15 families in the endangered Brazilian *campos rupestres*, a montane ecosystem known for its high diversity and endemism. We found that variation in traits related to carbon construction costs (petal mass per area and petal thickness) was explained by the longevity of individual flowers, while traits related to water maintenance costs (residual conductance and water residence time) were associated with flower size. Our results showcase how the physiological costs of flowers are related to pollinator attraction and thus play an important role in plant reproduction. Furthermore, our results highlight that shifts in the relative strengths of pollinator and non-pollinator selection may alter floral traits depending on the physiological costs of the flower. Therefore, our results can provide insight into how flower production and function may be affected by different components of climate change.

## S.198.5 Molecular phylogenetics in Andean Caryophyllaceae

D.B. Montesinos-Tubée¹, T. Borsch¹

1 Botanischer Garten Dahlem Berlin, Germany. 2 Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa

The family Caryophyllaceae has a Worldwide distribution. In the Andes, this family is represented by approximate 250 species. In the framework of this work, several tribes are treated at the phylogenetic level including morphology and their correspondent distribution. Results indicate that high radiations occurred in the Andes and spe-

ciation events derived in numerous unknown species that yet remain undescribed. Our conclusions corroborate the high diversity of species concentrated in the Central Andes (Peru, Bolivia).

## S.198.6 Mistletoes as key component of high-mountain temperate rainforests of southern South America

Francisco E. Fontúrbel¹,², José I. Orellana¹,², Gabriela S. Olivares³, Roberto F. Nespolo²,⁴

1 Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile. 2 Millennium Nucleus of Patagonia Limit-of-Life, Valdivia, Chile. 3 Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile. 4 Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile

Mistletoes are a key component of most forest habitats, as they offer valuable fruit resources for animals during scarcity times. Despite their parasitic habits, mistletoes exert many positive effects in forest communities via indirect interactions. While our knowledge about plant-animal interactions in which mistletoes are involved is reasonably good, our knowledge about the plant-plant interactions that take place with their hosts remains limited. The temperate rainforests of southern South America are considered a biodiversity hotspot due to its highly-endemic relic flora. There are two common mistletoe species at those forests: *Tristerix corymbosus*, a highly-abundant generalist mistletoe in the evergreen forests, and *Desmaria mutabilis*, a deciduous mistletoe that parasitizes only *Nothofagus* trees. Those mistletoes are almost exclusively dispersed by the relict arboreal marsupial *Dromiciops gliroides*. While both mistletoes are sympatric at mid-elevations, where we found *T. corymbosus* in *Nothofagus* spp. trees by parasitizing *D. mutabilis* (hyperparasitism), as *D. gliroides* feeds simultaneously on both species during the austral summer. However, above 1250 m of elevation only *D. mutabilis* is found as forest vegetation change from evergreen to deciduous. From 1250 m until the forest treeline (~1600 m) the deciduous tree *Nothofagus pumilio* becomes dominant, concentrating most of *D. mutabilis* plants. The presence of *D. mutabilis* represents a major food source for *D. gliroides* at those forests, where other fleshy-fruited plants are nearly absent. We
<figure><img src="image_462.png" /></figure>

recorded many *D. gliroides* visits to those mistletoes using camera traps, even at temperatures as low as -6°C, as mistletoes generate amenable microclimatic conditions. Besides *D. gliroides*, we recorded many other animal species associated with *D. mutabilis* (e.g., parrots). Whereas both mistletoes play a key role in southern South America temperate rainforests, *D. mutabilis* is particularly relevant in high-mountain forests where food is limiting, and environmental variations are broader than in the evergreen forests.
**S.199** SYSTEMATICS, EVOLUTION AND
DIVERSIFICATION OF MAGNOLIALES
(ANNONACEAE, EUPOMATIACEAE,
MAGNOLIACEAE, MYRISTICACEAE)

**S.199.1** Integrative species
delimitation, biogeography,
and conservation of Cuban
magnolias (Magnoliaceae)

Ernesto Testé¹,²,³, Majela Hernández-Rodríguez³, Eldis R. Bécquer³, Alejandro Palmarola⁵ & Luis R. González-Torres⁶

1 University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel. 2 Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Montpellier, France. 3 Jardín Botánico Nacional, Universidad de La Habana, La Habana, Cuba. 4 Facultad de Biología, Universidad de La Habana, La Habana, Cuba. 5 Jardín Quinta de los Molinos, La Habana, Cuba. 6 Douglas College, Vancouver, Canada

An accurate taxa delimitation, based on a complete understanding of evolutionary processes involved in taxon differentiation, can be gained from a combination of ecological, morphological, and molecular approaches. The taxonomy of Cuban magnolias has long been debated and exclusively based on a traditional morphological study of a limited number of individuals. Our goals are to delimit the Cuban species of Magnolia and to understand their biogeographic history in order to update their conservation status. Samples for the ecological, morphological, genetic, and phylogenetic analyses were collected throughout the entire distribution range. The variability of each group was analyzed through ecological niche models, multivariate and geometric morphometrics, genetic markers, and a fully sequenced plastome. The conservation status of each species was given based on the IUCN guidelines. Seven species of Magnolia are reported for Cuba, six of the endemics. Almost all the species showed a restricted distribution and evident differences in the ecological niche used. The

observed leaf morphological variability was different between groups and from that described by previous studies. The population genetic and phylogenetic results showed good limits for all the species except for Magnolia minor and Magnolia oblongifolia, in which a recent or still ongoing hybridization event was reported. The phylogeny showed three different colonization events in Cuban magnolias: from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean Islands. All the Cuban magnolia are included in one category of threatened, due mainly to mining, deforestation, and invasive species.

**S.199.2** Mutualistic
interactions with seed-
dispersing vertebrates
determine global and
regional variation plant
dispersal trait syndromes

Andressa Cabral¹, Irene M.A. Bender²,
Thomas L.P. Couvreur³, Søren Faurby⁴,⁵,
Oskar Hagen¹, Isabell Hensen⁶, Ingolf
Kühn⁷, Hervé Sauquet⁸,⁹, Joseph Tobias¹⁰,
Renske E. Onstein¹,¹¹

1 German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Halle, Jena, Leipzig. 2 Instituto de Ecología Regional CONICET-UNT. 3 IRD, DIADE, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France. 4 Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 461, Göteborg, Sweden. 5 Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, Göteborg, Sweden. 3 6 Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Institute of Biology/Geobotany and Botanical Garden. 7 Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Department Community Ecology. 8
<figure><img src="image_463.png" /></figure>

Laboratoire Écologie, Systématique, Évolution, Université Paris-Sud, CNRS UMR 8079, Orsay, France. 9 National Herbarium of New South Wales, Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Sydney, Australia. 10 Imperial College London, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Life Sciences. 11 Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, the Netherlands

Tropical rainforests are the most diverse eco-
systems in the world, but the underlying driv-
ers of this diversity remain debated. Mutualistic
interactions between fruits and frugivores (i.e.,
fruit-eating and seed-dispersing animals) are
prominent in tropical rainforests, and may influ-
ence diversification and diversity. These interac-
tions are facilitated by the evolution of function-
al trait matching between plants and frugivores,
leading to the evolution of 'fruit dispersal syn-
dromes'. Here, we hypothesize that co-diversi-
fication and selection on co-evolving traits has
shaped plant-frugivore interactions and co-oc-
currence across broad-scale assemblages. We
integrated global occurrence and novel frugivo-
ry-related trait data for >2000 species of a pan-
tropical plant lineage (Annonaceae) with data
for all 5,159 frugivorous birds and mammals. We
applied functional diversity metrics, structural
equation models, and fourth corner analyses to
evaluate whether there is a match in the glob-
al distribution of plant and frugivore taxonom-
ic richness and dispersal syndromes. We show
that global variation in Annonaceae species
and functional diversity was strongly influenced
by the diversity and trait matching of co-occur-
ing frugivorous mammals, whereas frugivorous
birds affected Annonaceae diversity within par-
ticular regions: the Asia-Pacific and Afrotropics.
Additional direct and indirect effects of climate,
elevation, and net primary productivity on plant
and animal diversity were found. This suggests
that high diversity of fleshy-fruited plants across
tropical forests is at least partly shaped by diver-
sification-dependent co-evolutionary dynamics
and selection on co-evolving frugivory-relat-
ed traits - such as fruit length and growth form
with beak volume, hand wing index, body mass,
and colour vision. Our results also suggest that
biogeography and scale-dependence modulate
how mutualistic interactions promote diversi-
ty, with mammals shaping intercontinental and
birds primarily shaping intracontinental patterns.
Our work builds on studies of particular animal
groups or regions by providing a global view of
how frugivores have shaped pantropical varia-
tion in plant species richness and traits.

S.199.3 Phylogenomic
evidence sheds light on
phylogenetic relationships
and infrageneric
classification of Neotropical
magnolias

Fabián Augusto Aldaba Núñez¹, Salvador Guzmán-Díaz¹, Emily Veltjen², Pieter Asselman², Isabel Larridon³, Esteban Manuel Martínez Salas⁴, Marie-Stéphanie Samain¹,²

1 Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Pátzcuaro, Mexico. 2 Ghent University, Gent, Belgium. 3 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK. 4 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico

The genus Magnolia includes around 390 species
inhabiting the Nearctic (~10 spp.), Neotropical (~170
spp.) and Oriental and Palaearctic (~210 spp.) bio-
geographic regions. Although several studies have
been carried out to elucidate their phylogenetic re-
relationships, the Neotropical taxa have been under-
represented, whereas the number of Neotropical
species described has doubled in recent decades.
Hence, this research focused on determining the
phylogenetic relationships of Neotropical Magnolia
using phylogenomic procedures to understand the
infrageneric classification of Neotropical clades. The
study included 137 samples from 90 taxa: 75 Neotrop-
ical and 15 Nearctic and Asian, covering one-third of
all Neotropical species and including related clades
to maintain phylogenetic representativeness. A list
of 25 macromorphological characters for Magno-
lia, emphasizing Neotropical species was provided
to delimit lineages. Two primary clades were iden-
tified: the first grouped the Neotropical sections Ta-
lauma and Splendentes, as well as Gwillimia from
Asia, while the second was composed of the Neo-
tropical sections Macrophylla and Magnolia and the
four remaining Asian and Nearctic groups. These
two main clades corresponded to those found in
previous studies based on plastome data. The sec-
tion Talauma was divided into two geographically
patterned clades: one included species from Mex-
ico and Central America, and the other comprised
species from South America and the Caribbean. The
Splendentes section was also subdivided into two
subclades corresponding to the former sections
Cubenses and Dugandiodendron. The phyloge-
nomic evidence showed a species complex in the
Macrophylla section, where taxa intersected among
<figure><img src="image_464.png" /></figure>

lineages. Relationships within the *Magnolia* section were unclear due to inconsistent topologies. All recognized Neotropical clades can be diagnosed by a combination of macromorphological traits, and they were confirmed as monophyletic, while certain Nearctic or Asian groups were not. The infrageneric classification of Neotropical clades was updated based on the phylogenomic evidence and a taxonomic key is provided.

**S.199.4 A Taxonomic update of Brazilian magnolias**

Juliana Cruz Jardim Barbosa¹, Maria Beatriz Rossi Caruzo², Ana Rita G. Simões³, Marie-Stéphanie Samain⁴

1 Instituto de Pesquisas Ambientais, São Paulo, Brasil. 2 Instituto de Ciências Ambientais, São Paulo, Brasil. 3 Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, London, UK. 4 Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Pátzcuaro, Mexico. E-mail: juliana.cruz.jardim@gmail.com

The genus *Magnolia* (*Magnoliaceae*) has a wide and disjunct geographic distribution ranging from Eastern and South Asia to Malaysia, extending across the Neartics (Canada and USA) and reaching into the Neotropics, which is one of its two diversity hotspots. Regarding its infrageneric classification, the genus is divided into three subgenera: *Yulania*, *Gynopodium* and *Magnolia*, the latter including the section *Talauma* in which the native Brazilian taxa are classified. The species of *Magnolia* sect. *Talauma* can be recognized by two parallel longitudinal scars on the petiole formed by the shedding of the stipules, in addition to a woody syncarp that breaks into irregular plates at dehiscence. Currently, in Brazil, species delimitation within *Magnolia* is not clear on national platforms that are of great importance to the Brazilian botanical community (e.g., Flora do Brasil), with only two species of native *Magnolia* being recognized: *M. amazonica* and *M. ovata*. The lack of knowledge about the species and their distinguishing morphological characteristics has resulted in many identification errors in the main Brazilian herbaria, leading to the lack of knowledge about their current conservation status. We conducted a complete taxonomic revision based on extensive fieldwork, herbarium survey, and literature. In addition to the abovementioned species, we recognize three previously described species, which increases the number of recognized native Magnolias occurring in Brazil to five, namely: *M. amazonica*, *M. brasiliensis*, *M. irwiniana*, *M. ovata* and *M. sellowiana*. The results

of our work are highly relevant for future studies that aim to unravel the evolution of the genus in Brazil, such as those on population and landscape genetics, as well as its inclusion in a phylogenomic study in a Neotropical framework.

**S.199.5 Global map of taxonomical and functional diversity of Annonaceae and implications for tropical rain forest conservation**

Wei Xu¹, Carlos Rodrigues-Vaz¹,², Vincent R.C. Soulé¹, Francis J. Nge¹, Serafin Streif¹, Alix Lozinguez¹, Galilea Orellana³, Thomas L.P. Couvreur¹, Annonaceae Global Phylogenetics Consortium⁴

1 DIADE, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, IRD, Montpellier, France. 2 Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle-CNRS-SU-EPHE-UA, Paris, Cedex 05, France. 3 Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Quito. Apdo. postal: 17012184 4 http://www.couvreurlab.org/agpc.html

Protecting tropical rain forests (TRFs), home to half of the world's plant diversity, is essential for mitigating the global biodiversity crisis. TRFs not only exhibit an impressive taxonomical diversity (TD) but are also renowned for their diverse morphological traits, indicating high functional diversity (FD). However, our knowledge of the spatial patterns of their TD and FD remains incomplete, severely impeding our ability to implement effective conservation measures. In particular it remains unclear is both these dimensions of diversity overlap or not across global scales. To address this issue, we assembled the most comprehensive distribution and morphological traits datasets within Annonaceae, a diverse and ecologically important pantropical family. We examine spatial correlations between TD and FD, and overlap the hotspots of both to identify the hottest hotspots. We further assess the current protection and threat status of these hotspots by overlaying them with protected areas, global tree cover loss and regional land use datasets. The hotspots exhibiting high levels of both TD and FD, lack of protected areas, and high coverage of disturbed areas should be given utmost priority in tropical rain forest conservation efforts.
## S.199.6 Genomics sheds light on the diversification of the amazonian tree genus Duguetia (Annonaceae)

Federico Fabriani¹, Francis J. Nge², Vincent R.C. Soulé², Carlos Rodrigues-Vaz²,³, Thomas L.P. Couvreur², Lars W. Chatrou¹

1 Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. 2 DIADE, Univ. Montpellier, CIRAD, IRD, Montpellier, France. 3 Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France

The genus *Duguetia* (Annonaceae) is composed of 97 species of trees found mostly in tropical America with the Amazon basin representing the main centre of diversity for the genus. Some species occur in the Atlantic coastal forest, Central America and South American savannahs. Although the Amazon basin is the world largest tropical forest hosting an estimated tree flora between 9 and 16 thousand species, drivers and dynamics of tree species diversification are not yet fully understood. Previous studies have showed that *Duguetia* start-

ed diversifying during the Eocene, probably within the Amazon basin. Additionally, *Duguetia* species are present in virtually all vegetation types found in the Amazon. These characteristics make *Duguetia* an outstanding example to study the diversification and biogeography of Amazonian trees. We produced a genomic dataset with near-full taxon sampling, based on low copy nuclear genes, to infer species relationships. Consequently, we were able to infer a fully resolved and strongly supported species-level phylogenetic tree which we used in conjunction with a selection of morphological and biogeographical characters to reconstruct the historical biogeography and investigate possible drivers of diversification in *Duguetia*. Our results show that the genus *Duguetia* likely originated in Africa and diversified in the Amazon basin with a few independent range expansions into the Atlantic forest and Central America. We hypothesize that a combination of characters within a particular vegetation type, rather than single characters, has led to accelerated diversification rates. Our results contribute to an improved understanding of the origin and diversification dynamics of the Amazonian tree flora.

## S.200 TAXONOMY AND EVOLUTION OF BAMBOOS IN THE PHYLOGENOMIC ERA

### S.200.1 Phylogenomics of bamboos using reference genomes and deep genome skimming data

Meng-Yuan Zhou¹, Peng-Fei Ma¹, Jing-Xia Liu¹, Yun-Long Liu¹, Cen Guo¹,², De-Zhu Li¹*

1 Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China. 2 Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Yunnan, China. *dzl@mail.kib.ac.cn

Bambusoideae is a typical legacy of complex reticulation. It has diverse ploidy levels (herbaceous bamboos, temperate and neotropical woody bamboos, and paleotropical woody bamboos being diploid, allotetraploid, and allohexaploid, respectively) and cytonuclear discordance is manifest, making it a difficult plant group in which phylogenetic relationships

and taxonomy of some tribes, subtribes, genera and species remain controversial to varying degrees. Ancient hybridization, polyploidization, and complex reticulate evolution history have led to extensive cytonuclear discordance and difficulties in accurately identifying orthologous genes applicable to phylogenetic studies of allopolyploid plants. Also, great challenges have been encountered in elucidating the complex history of deep reticulation.

In order to recover the phylogenetic framework of bamboo and explore its evolutionary history, we sampled 43 representative species across the 19 bamboo subtribes with reference to traditional taxonomy and previous molecular phylogenies based on plastomes and ddRAD data whenever available. Of the sampled 43 ingroups, there are 12 reference-level genomes and 31 assemblies generated from deep genome skimming data. We compared four different analysis strategies (i.e., single-copy gene, perfect-copy syntenic gene, RT ortholog group, and syntelog group)
<figure><img src="image_465.png" /></figure>

for identifying orthologs, and finally selected a large number of syntelog groups to carry out phylogenomic analyses and to resolve relationships at deep nodes for reconstructing the subtribal-level phylogeny of bamboos. Moreover, the evolutionary history was de-ciphered by integrating published bamboo transcrip-tome data and multiple lines of evidence such as the detection of potential hybridizations and introgres-sions, divergence time estimation, etc. Ultimately, this study offers a robust phylogenomic framework for fur-ther taxonomic studies of subtribal delimitations from a molecular biology point of view and provides an ex-ample for tracing the origin and evolutionary history of deep reticulation in polyploid plants.

### S.200.2 Into the unknown: long-lost knowledge of bamboo diversity in Thailand

Watchara Arthan¹,², Atchara Teerawatananon¹,³, Sarawood Sungkaew¹,⁴

1 Center of Excellence for Bamboos, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand. 2 Department of Pharmaceutical Botany, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, Ratchathewi, Bangkok, Thailand. 3 Natural History Museum, National Science Museum, Technopolis, Pathum Thani, Thailand. 4 Department of Forest Biology, Faculty of Forestry, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand

Biased documentations of bamboo diversity are observed in species-rich Indochina region towards a few countries. Thailand is situated at the center of the region and shares floristic regions with neighboring countries China, Myanmar, and Malaysia and cover varieties of habitats favoring different bamboo species. However, robust and up-to-date references of bamboos from Thailand are absent. Approximately 100 bamboo species are enumerated by global databases. However, the number still reflects the underestimation of Thai bamboo species since discovery of new species and genera and species records points out unrecognized wild bamboos and long-utilized species by the locals. More than two decades of extensive fieldwork and specimen examinations proved unexpected high diversity of Thai bamboos, which not only encompass morphological diversity but also delivers biogeographic and evolutionary meanings. The majority of tropical woody genera belong to the evolutionary complex clade of Bambu-

sa, Dendrocalamus, and Gigantochloa (BDG clade) in which multiple cases and observations of natural hybridization, such as a hybrid species xThyrsocalamus liang and suspected Dendrocalamus hybrid contribute to the overall diversity. Schizostachyum exemplifies gaps in diversity knowledge that the recorded number of its species is underrepresented. Minor and other endemic genera such as temperate genus Chimonocalamus and tropical genera Holttu-mochloa, Maclurochloa, Phuphanochloa, and Temo-chloa are accounted for diversity and new unknown genera represent rare morphological characters distinct from other genera and require further data to delimit the genus. For the first time, we represent a compilation of bamboo diversity in Thailand in taxonomic and diversity perspectives. Morphological comparison and relationships of bamboos are discussed. We proposed future directions in studying evolution and ecology of bamboos in Thailand as foundation knowledge and how biodiversity knowledge of Thai bamboos can drive national Bio-Circular-Green economic model and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the global context.

### S.200.3 Macroecology of world bamboos

Sami Touafchia¹, Maria S. Vorontsova², De-Zhu Li³, Thomas Haevermans¹

1 Institut de systématique, évolution, biodiversité, Museum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris, CNRS, SU, UA, EPHE, France. 2 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, UK. 3 Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China

Occurring all over the world (being introduced or native), bamboos represent one of the most familiar group of plants worldwide. Serving as sources of shelter, sustenance, and economic livelihood for a substantial segment of the global population, these versatile plants also play a pivotal ecological role in their native biomes. Their influence extends to the structuring of ecosystems by offering cover and habitats for a diverse array of animal taxa, spanning from invertebrates to mammals, in addition to fostering symbiotic relationships with countless microorganisms. Despite their ecological significance, the systematic study of bamboos poses considerable challenges, leading to periodic reassessments of their classification. The factors underpinning the overarching patterns of diversity and distribution on a global scale remain inadequately understood. This knowledge gap encom-
<figure><img src="image_466.png" /></figure>

passes environmental parameters, historical contexts, dispersion events, and anthropic influences that can shape the distribution of the various bamboo clades. Understanding the correlation between these factors and the observed diversity and distribution patterns is crucial to decipher how environmental have shaped the diversity and distribution of bamboos as observed today. Especially focusing on extremes, like drought or freeze known to limit the ranges of several other plants groups. Such knowledge not only enriches our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary processes at play but also holds intrinsic value in addressing societal needs and exploring nature-based solutions. Our project with its particular emphasis on bamboo-centric approaches, will provide useful primary data that can be generalized to allow understanding the effects of global climate crisis and its consequences for other groups of plants.

## S.200.4 Evolution and diversity of Chusquea (Poaceae: Bambusoideae: Bambuseae)

Lynn G. Clark¹, Nancy F. Refulio-Rodriguez¹

1 Department of EEOB, Iowa State University, USA

Although bamboos (Bambusoideae) are typically associated with the Eastern Hemisphere, especially China, India and Japan, >600 bamboo species (of over 1700) are native to the Americas. Of these, 203 (one-third) belong to *Chusquea*, the most diverse genus of bamboo, and the description of new species in this genus continues unabated. *Chusquea* is the most widespread bamboo genus in the Americas, extending from 25°40′N in Mexico to 47°S in Chile and Argentina. Species of *Chusquea* grow primarily in montane forests and high elevation grasslands in Mesoamerica, the Greater Antilles, the Andes and eastern Brazil, and are often dominant elements in these habitats. *Chusquea* has the broadest elevational range of any bamboo genus, from sea level to over 4300 m, although few of its species occur below 1000 m. Morphologically, *Chusquea* has a uniform spikelet structure of four glumes and one fertile floret with no rachilla extension, but exhibits extreme vegetative diversity, from aerially unbranched culms bearing leaves to 4 m long and 30 cm wide to highly branched culms with 2-200 subsidiary branches per node, bearing leaves 1-40 cm long and 0.06-8.5 cm wide. Understanding of the complex evolutionary history of the woody bamboos, which involves ancient hybridization and poly-

ploidy, has been enhanced by recent genomic-level analyses, but no WGS resources for *Chusquea* are available. Elucidation of species-level diversification has been hampered by lack of resolution in plastid sequence data but also likely rapid and recent radiation in the Euchusquea clade and homoploid hybridization. We are exploring the utility of nuclear target capture data (Angiosperms353) to study the evolution of this diverse and ecologically important genus. Questions include revisiting the apparent paraphyly of *Neurolepis* relative to *Chusquea*, testing the monophyly and relationships of morphologically defined groups within *Chusquea*, and unraveling the biogeographic history of the genus.

## S.200.5 Advances in the knowledge on systematics and evolution of Neotropical herbaceous bamboos (Poaceae, Bambusoideae, Olyreae)

Reyjane P. Oliveira¹, Iasmin Laiane C. Oliveira¹, Maria Luiza S. Carvalho², Fabrício M. Ferreira³, Cassiano A.D. Welker³, João P. S. Vieira¹, Marcos C. Dórea¹, Alessandra S. Schnadelbach², Lynn G. Clark⁴

1 Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil. 2 Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, Brazil. 3 Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil. 4 Dept. of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University

The tribe Olyreae includes weakly lignified plants bearing unisexual dimorphic spikelets which inhabit the understory of tropical forests, almost exclusively in the Americas. Its monophyletic status is well supported, as are the relationships of its subtribes (Buergersiochloinae sister to the Olyrinae + Parianinae clade). However, in the past five years new information about this tribe has been gathered using integrative approaches. Molecular phylogenies based on plastid and nuclear sequences, as well as morphological and micromorphological data, were used to reveal novel relationships and identities within the group. Three genera (*Piresielia*, *Miniochloa* and *Ekmanochloa*) were recently transferred from Olyrinae to Buergersiochloinae, enlarging the circumscription of the group to four genera and five species. In Parianinae, another new genus is being described, also increasing its generic number to four. Most novelties, however, come from the Olyrinae, the
<figure><img src="image_467.png" /></figure>

largest subtribe, which has undergone in-depth inves-
tigations. One important result is the confirmation of
the paraphyly of *Olyra*, which will be resolved by trans-
ferring some of its species to *Arberella* and recogniz-
ing five new genera. Thus, the subtribe now encom-
passes 20 genera, increasing to 30 the total number of
genera of Olyreae. Most richness of this tribe is found in
Brazil (25 genera, six of them recently described) from
where several species are endemic and threatened. In
this sense, our efforts have focused on the recognition
of taxa the diversity of which was and continues to be
underestimated due to their complexity and rarity. We
are also developing genomic studies to better explore
the evolutionary history and biogeography of this in-
teresting bamboo group.

S.200.6 How can we use
the macro and micro
morphology for the bamboo
taxonomy in the era of
phylogenomics?

Yu-Xiao Zhang ¹, De-Zhu Li ²

1 College of Forestry, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China 2 Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650201, China

The bamboos are notorious for the difficulty in tax-
onomy. Morphological characteristics are the cor-

nerstones for classification. As in other plants, the
macro morphology including both reproductive
and vegetative features is used in traditional bam-
boo taxonomy, particularly that of inflorescences
and spikelets. Woody bamboos usually flower after
decades of vegetative growth, therefore, taxono-
mists rely much on their vegetative characters, such
as rhizome, culms, culm leaf, branch complement,
and foliage for classification. However, vegetative
characters are more plastic and variable in different
environment, which brings confusions for bamboo
taxonomy. On the other hand, some micromorphol-
ogy, such as foliage leaf blade anatomy, epidermis
characters, and phytolith (silica body) are exploited
as supplementary evidence for bamboo taxonomy.
With the development of molecular phylogenetics
and phylogenomics, the relationships within Bam-
busoideae have been changed incredibly, which
also render researchers to reassess the evolution-
ary significance of macro and micro morphology
of bamboos. Homoplasy or convergence of some
morphological features, including inflorescence has
been detected at different taxonomic levels. In ad-
dition, inconsistency in terminology for some char-
acters (e.g., inflorescence vs. synflorescence, sheath
scar vs. nodal line) exists in current floristic and/or
morphological accounts. Those terms should be
unified for taxonomic constancy and meaningful
evolutionary studies under the Bamboo Phylogeny
Group II, a joint international effort. We also propose
to establish an image database with an array of
morphological characters onto the BambooBase.

S.201 INTEGRATING FLORISTIC,
BIOGEOGRAPHIC AND ETHNOBOTANICAL
STUDIES FOR CONSERVATION

S.201.1 Local perceptions of
the benefits versus negative
impacts of weedy grasses in
Central Madagascar, focused
on the genus Digitaria

Noro F. H. Randrianarimanana¹,²,
Nantenaina H. Rakotomalala¹, Jean
A. Randriamampianina⁴, Mijoro

Rakotoarinivo², Helene Ralimanana¹,
Lorna MacKinnon³, Rafael F. de Almeida³,
Philippa Ryan³, Maria S. Vorontsova³

1 Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Antananarivo, Mad-
agascar. 2 Biology and Plant Ecology Mention,
University of Antananarivo, Madagascar. 3 Royal
Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond, UK. 4 National
Center for Applied Research on Rural Development
(FOFIFA), Antananarivo, Madagascar

Plants and agricultural practices are an inte-
gral part of human food systems and well-being.
In Madagascar, agricultural products are both
<figure><img src="image_468.png" /></figure>

self-consumed but also constitute the local economy basis. Beside climate change, weeds are one of the main problems that hinder production, and most of them are grasses belonging to the Poaceae family. Conversely, some Poaceae considered bad for crops are used for food, medicine, and ornamentation purposes. *Digitaria* species, commonly known as finger grasses, are typically found in Malagasy crop fields, interacting with cultivation. This work aims to identify the best-known Poaceae weeds and understand their roles in agricultural systems. To increase our understanding of the relationship between these plants and farming activities, information on their recognition and the farmers' perception of the Poaceae weed status in cropping systems was analysed. Our approach was based on field surveys and farmer interviews with plant voucher specimens and photographs in three areas of Madagascar central highlands. Additionally, we present detailed data on *Digitaria* species. 51 Poaceae, including 11 *Digitaria* species were mentioned. Farmers classify Poaceae weeds in three ways: their impacts on agricultural activities, use category, and vegetative growth patterns, the latter especially significant for *Digitaria*. Locally common grasses are perceived as weeds when they are abundant and cause yield loss. Overall, 67% of the species mentioned are judged useful. More than 40% of the farmers use Poaceae weeds in composting, more than 20% as fodder, and more than 8% as medicine. The diversity of useful species and the associated indigenous knowledge is important to the local communities, but weeds are still perceived as overall negative. The Poaceae are overall neglected in Malagasy ethnobotany. The data obtained will be useful for weed control as well as the conservation of agrobiodiversity, especially endemic species that are not widely known.

## S.201.2 Fern and palm species biogeographic patterns in Amazonia

Gabriela Zuquim¹, Hanna Tuomisto², Rajit Gupta¹

1 Department of Biology, University of Turku, Finland.

2 Biology Department, Aarhus University, Denmark

Species occurrences are strongly affected by environmental properties. To understand the interplay between historical, environmental, and

anthropogenic effects in shaping the current distribution of used and non-used plants in Amazonia, we developed species distribution using species records, top-notch remote sensing products, deforestation masks, soils and climatic variables. Applying several modelling approaches, we reveal the main drivers of human use, species distributions and biogeographic patterns of selected Amazonian plants. In nutrient-richer soils, palm species richness is lower, but, a higher proportion of the species are used and each species is more diversely used by humans. For ferns, the opposite was found: richer soils harbor a richer fern flora than poor soils. For both ferns and palms composition patterns, the primary floristic gradient was strongly related to soil nutrient concentration, and the secondary gradient, to climatic variables. Traditionally, the relative importance of soils as opposed to climate as drivers of species distribution has been considered a matter of scale. However, we conclude that the effects of soils are often underestimated and vary according to species characteristics.

## S.201.3 Tropical Important Plant Areas (TIPAs) in Bolivia: identification, documentation, and impact on the protection of plant ecosystems

Bente Klitgård¹, Maira T. Martinez-Ugarteche¹,², Daniel Villarroel²,³, Jack Plummer¹, Hannah Rotton¹, Rebecca Dicker¹, Nicola Biggs¹, Oriana Lino-Villalba³, Liliana Arroyo-Herbas³

1 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK. 2 Museo de Historia Natural Noel Kempff Mercado, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. 3 Fundación Amigos de la Naturaleza, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia

The concept "Important Plant Areas" (IPAs) was developed by PlantLife International in the early 2000th and initially implemented in Europe and the Mediterranean, identifying IPAs in 27 countries. Given the impact of the IPAs program, the "Tropical Important Plant Areas" (TIPAs) program was launched in 2015, with Bolivia as the first country in South America for its application. The three main objectives of TIPAs are to: 1) identify the most im-
portant areas and habitats for rare, threatened, endemic and useful plants or habitats; 2) designate priority TIPA sites for their conservation; and 3) promote the sustainable management and protection of TIPAs through the participation of government decision makers, local communities and conservation institutions. To date, the Bolivia TIPA program has identified 37 sites in two ecoregions of the country: the Chiquitano Dry Forest and the Inter-Andean Dry Valleys. In total, 319 species and eight habitats met the TIPA criteria for inclusion. In the process, we have also: a) identified six centres of richness of useful plants; b) evaluated the risk of habitat collapse following IUCN criteria in the highly threatened Chiquitano Dry Forest ecoregion; c) discovered 12 species new to science; and trained 28 Bolivian professionals and 65 undergraduate students in IUCN and TIPA methodology. The TIPA network of sites has been adopted by the subnational government of Santa Cruz along with the RAMSAR and IBA sites, and has informed 1) the revision of the Master Plan of protected areas in the Department of Santa Cruz, 2) the delimitation of two areas protected areas, 3) the Comprehensive Natural Resources Plan of the Department of Santa Cruz, and 4) the recent review of the Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in Bolivia.

## S.201.4 Promoting the integration of different plant disciplines for biocultural conservation in tropical regions

Manuel J. Macía¹,², Julia G. de Aledo¹, Laura Matas-Granados¹, Celina Ben Saadi¹, Luis Cayuela³

1Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain. 2Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Cambio Global (UAM), Madrid, Spain. 3 Departamento de Biología y Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain

Plant biodiversity studies in tropical regions are mainly based on field inventories. Despite the large networks of plots and plant data banks, there is still a need for further fieldwork to document the enormous richness existing in these areas at local and regional scales. In addition, tropical regions are populated by different human groups that have extensive traditional knowledge

on the use and management of plant species and communities. Studies of our research group are shown with the idea of promoting a greater integration of different data sets and disciplines: (1) Forest types and plant uses. The inventories show clear floristic differences between different habitats, although often the forests with the highest species richness are not necessarily those with the highest use value for human groups. (2) Elevation and uses. It is widely known that above 1500 m, the floristic richness in tropical areas decreases progressively, although this is not directly related to plant utilization patterns, since they vary according to the needs of local human populations. (3) Latitude and uses. Understanding the variation in plant communities along the latitudinal gradient is essential for comparing the use patterns across different human groups or different communities of the same ethnic group. (4) Traits and uses. There is a clear relationship between functional traits and the use of plants by different communities. Various traits can promote similar uses, however there are some use categories more dependent on a particular trait. (5) Dominance and uses. Plant species with higher abundances and frequencies are potentially more widely used than rare species and generally have uses in a greater number of ethnobotanical categories. (6) In studies with local communities, it is necessary to integrate gender studies, differences between generations and to understand the influence of socioeconomic variables on traditional knowledge.

## S.201.5 Understanding Cerrado plant biodiversity to boost conservation actions in a UNESCO World Heritage site

Gabriel R. Vedovello¹, Natashi L. Pilon¹, Rafael S. Oliveira¹

1 Department of Botany, Institute of Biology, Campinas State University, Campinas, Brazil

The Cerrado, a biodiversity hotspot, with only 1% of the total area legally protected, has its diverse flora at risk due to land conversion and facing local species extinctions. The Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park (CVNT), a UNESCO World Heritage site, appears as an iconic protected area, presenting a rich, heterogeneous and representative Cerrado flora. Hence, filling research gaps regarding pat-
<figure><img src="image_469.png" /></figure>

terns of diversity within the park, such as species
composition on small-scales, beta diversity pat-
terns and degree of threat. Here, the study goal
was to evaluate and categorize flora composi-
tion across different vegetation types, considering
vegetation coverage, species distribution and vul-
nerability. The study was conducted by analyzing
open databases and literature reviews. Consider-
ing CVNP legal perimeter and surrounding veg-
etation patches, it was found a coverage of open
environments of 65% (52% savannas), harboring
33% of unique species considering the total spe-
cies pool already cataloged in the park. In contrast
only 13% consists of forest vegetation, but exhibiting
similar species richness, and about 32,5% of unique
species. However, the bias of collection for woody
and forest species is well known, even in savanna
ecosystems, which might result in this similar per-
centage of species. Over 20% of the area is human
altered, underscoring the urgent need for conser-
vation and restoration actions. Threats such as bi-
ological invasion, tree planting, and unnatural fire
regimes endanger both open and forested land-
scapes. The park flora represents almost a third of
the total Cerrado species. Over 90% of the park spe-
cies cataloged lack vulnerability data, and those
with data are classified to some degree of threat.
Our results pointed out the need to increase the
taxonomic studies in critical biodiversity hotspots
and urge to better catalog non-woody vegetation.
This information is the basis for conservation ac-
tions in areas with global importance such as Cha-
pada dos Veadeiros.

S.201.6 The Madidi Project:
Monitoring tree diversity to
understand environmental
change and inform plant
conservation

J. Sebastián Tello¹, Leslie Cayola¹,², Carla Maldonado², Gabriel Arellano³,⁴, Manuel J. Macía⁵,⁶, Beatriz Nieto Ariza⁷,², Alfredo F. Fuentes¹,²

1 Latin America Department, Missouri Botanical Garden, St, Louis, MO, USA. 2 Herbario Nacional de Bolivia (LPB), La Paz, Bolivia. 3 Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. 4. Oikobit LLC, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. 5 Departamento de Biología, Área de Botánica, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Ma-

rid, Spain. 6 Centro de Investigación en Biodiver-
sidad y Cambio Global (UAM), Universidad Autono-
ma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain. 7 Karlsruher Institut
für Technologie, Karlsruhe, Germany.

The Madidi Project stands as a testament to the power of collaborative botanical research, particularly in tropical regions, where biodiversity remains largely undocumented despite centuries of study. Spearheaded by the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Herbario Nacional de Bolivia, along with a consortium of researchers and institutions, the Madidi Project represents a multifaceted approach to botanical exploration. Key elements of the project include floristic surveys, the establishment of an extensive network of forest plots, the collection of functional trait data, the gathering of information for population genetics and phylogenetics, and ethno-botanical research with several local communities. The data obtained from this project have been instrumental in studies aimed at understanding the dynamics of biodiversity. Notably, the project has shed light on the evolution of species in response to large-scale environmental changes in the geological past, as well as shifts in species distributions and the composition of forest communities in response to recent climate change. Increasingly, a significant application of the data from the Madidi Project lies in its contribution to conservation. It provides critical information that aids in identifying priority areas for conservation and informs the decision-making processes of policymakers in the regions affected by the project. Importantly, the project has served as a platform to train a large number of students, particularly in Bolivia, by addressing a major gap in local capacity for research and conservation. The Madidi Project, therefore, not only enhances our understanding of tropical biodiversity but also plays a significant role in guiding conservation strategies in Bolivia. Major conservation challenges remain in Bolivia – as in Latin America and the Tropics. The Madidi Project – as well as other major scientific initiatives – should simultaneously contribute to efforts to understand and preserve natural places for the benefit of biodiversity and people.
<figure><img src="image_470.png" /></figure>

**S.202 BENEFICIAL PLANT-MICROBE INTERACTIONS. SESSION 2**

**S.202.1 How plant-microorganisms interactions can help reveal insights about coevolutionary processes?**

Yanis Bouchenak-Khelladi¹

1 UMR Agroécologie, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France

As early as the 19th century, Darwin and Wallace considered the importance of plant-biotic interactions in promoting diversity and the intensity of selection. The extent to which coevolution may drive natural selection and shape angiosperm diversity is still debated, particularly because no unequivocal evidence has been provided regarding reciprocal evolutionary changes. For instance, the use of phylogenetic trees for the study of coevolutionary processes turns out to be inconclusive because phylogenetic patterns of coevolution exclusively reflect codivergence phenomena. The concept of coevolution is still subject to multiple debates and, apart from semantic questions, reflects the need to develop experimental approaches which take into account the complexity of biotic interactions. Experimental approaches under controlled conditions have been able to highlight selection pressures exerted by organisms connected in food networks generating changes in allelic frequencies. However, when species are integrated into complex and diverse interaction networks under natural conditions, reciprocal selection pressures can vary in time and space and depend on the ecosystem under study. Despite the known benefits of plant microbiota on growth and nutrition, the mechanisms of association and their degree of heritability remain largely unknown whereas they do constitute the basis and requirements for coevolution to occur. Here, I highlight the suitability of studying plant-microorganisms' interactions to disentangle the mechanisms and dynamics of biotic associations in light of coevolutionary processes. Studying genetic variability, gene expressions and functional responses of plant-microorganisms associations would provide exceptional insights on the mechanistic processes of coevolution.

**S.202.2 Induction of stress tolerance genes and plant protection by endophytic bacteria**

Surendra K. Gond¹, Rusi Lata¹, James F. White²

1 Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. 2 Rutgers University, New Brunswick NJ, USA

The microorganisms which survive within healthy tissues of plants without causing any overt negative effect to the host are defined as endophytic microbes. These microbes develop a mutualistic relationship with their host and promote plant growth under different biotic and abiotic stresses. The endophytic bacteria were isolated and molecularly identified from different maize varieties including ancestral Teosinte and Chlorella grass. Plant protection and stress tolerance was observed by treating endophytic bacteria to non-host plant. The over expression of stress tolerance genes of plants was analysed by qPCR (quantitative PCR). The plant salt stress tolerance was observed by up-regulation of the aquaporin gene family in maize plant treated with endophytic bacterium *Pantoea agglomerans*. The plasma membrane integral protein type 2 (PIP2-1) gene in tropical corn seedlings was highly up-regulated by *P. agglomerans* treatment under salt stress conditions. The species of endophytic *Bacillus* showed up-regulation of several defense genes of maize plant against biotic stress also. The induction of expression of pathogenesis-related genes, including PR-1, PR-4 and PR-10 was observed against fungal pathogen in maize seedlings treated with endophytic *Bacillus*. Plant protection was also observed in maize seedlings and *Arabidopsis thaliana* treated with endophytic *Bacillus* against fungal pathogen *Fusarium moniliforme*. The study suggests that endophytic bacteria may be further formulated and applied for the plant stress tolerance and disease protection.
<figure><img src="image_471.png" /></figure>

### S.202.3 Microbial effects on holm oak (Quercus ilex L.) germination

Francisco I. Pugnaire¹, Christian Kindler¹, Esteban Manrique²

1 Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Almería, Spain. 2 Real Jardín Botánico, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, Spain

Seed germination is a critical step in plant establishment and is influenced by both abiotic and biotic factors. Humidity, radiation, and temperature generally determine germination onset, which is also influenced by the microbiota. Germination rate depends therefore on the interaction between microbes hosted by the seed, soil microbes and environmental clues. Over time, plants selected specific sets of microbes and evolved together in response to local conditions. We looked at the role of soil microorganisms on holm oak (Quercus ilex L.) germination, and specifically whether soil microbes from its own habitat enhanced germination more than soil microbes from other habitats, testing whether the home-field advantage hypothesis (HFA) reported for litter decomposition applies to seed germination. We used Q. ilex seeds from different provenances sowed with a factorial design on sterilised soil from different habitats, and added soil extracts with the microbiome from the same soils. The objective was to tell apart effects from soil and microorganisms. We recorded seed germination daily for about 2 months. Overall, germination rate of Q. ilex seeds from Somiedo (N Spain) was higher than seeds from Ronda (S Spain). Soil extracts from Somiedo enhanced seed germination more than other extracts, pointing to the soil microbial community as the factor controlling seed germination. There was a significant difference in HFA between the two localities, being positive in Ronda and negative in Somiedo, suggesting stronger coevolution between plants and soil microbes under harsh than under mild environmental conditions. Our results evidence that soil community structure and diversity critically contribute to Q. ilex germination, all else being equal.

### S.202.4 Molecular mechanisms involved in rhizobacteria-plant interaction in Solanum lycopersicum

Giulia Ghirardello¹,², Nicole Zerbetto¹,², Rosalba Cipriani¹,², Sebastiano Nigris¹,², Barbara Baldan¹,²

1 University of Padua, Padua, Italy. 2 Botanical Garden of Padua, Padua, Italy

Plants cohabit and interact with diverse soil microorganisms, that are archaea, bacteria, fungi, and protists, which form the root microbiota. These communities play a pivotal role in enhancing plant growth through improved nutrient uptake, immunity, and stress tolerance. Here, we examine the role of bacterial species of a commercial compost on Solanum lycopersicum (tomato) growth and health. Firstly, we identified six main bacterial species from the culturable microbiota of the compost, belonging to *Bacillus*, *Kocuria*, *Glutamicibacter* and *Microbacterium* genera. Tests for their plant growth-promoting traits revealed their capacity to solubilize phosphorus, produce siderophores and synthesise auxin. To investigate the plant responses to the colonization, the tomato seedlings were grown in soil enriched with the inoculum of the single bacterial species. RTqPCR highlighted a specificity in the expression profile of genes representing pathways involved in plant-microbe interplays, such as flavonoid biosynthesis and ethylene production, in response to the different bacterial strains. RNAseq analysis of the host transcriptome will provide a wider overview of the plant response to the rhizobacteria, hence pointing out other pathways influenced by the interaction. Moreover, some of the isolated bacterial strains were transformed to express fluorescent-tag proteins. This will enable the tracking of rhizobacteria accommodation on the tomato root and the description of their spatial distribution from different plant root surfaces to inner tissues by confocal microscopy. This study aims to contribute to the decipherment of the molecular signalling behind the interactions between plants and bacteria in the context of the promotion of sustainable agriculture practices proposed by the European Union within the EU Sustainable Goals 2030.
<figure><img src="image_472.png" /></figure>

## S.202.5 Nitrogen-fixing bacteria boost floral attractiveness in a tropical legume species

Anselmo Nogueira¹, Caroline Souza¹, Isadora Schulze-Albuquerque², Pedro J. Bergamo³, Douglas D. Souza¹, Lorena B. Valadão-Mendes⁴

1 Universidade Federal do ABC, São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil. 2 Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil. 3 Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Rio Claro, Brazil. 4 Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Legumes establish mutualistic relationships with nitrogen-fixing bacteria and pollinators critical for plant reproduction and ecosystem services. However, we know little about how nitrogen-fixing bacteria and soil nutrient availability affect the plant's attractiveness to pollinators. We conducted a two-factorial greenhouse experiment to investigate the impact of nitrogen-fixing bacteria (rhizobia) and soil types on flower traits in *Chamaecrisita latistipula* (Fabaceae): rhizobia-inoculated (R+) and non-inoculated (R-) plants in organic-rich matter (OM) and sandy soils. We monitored bud and flower production and analyzed leaf, petal, and anther reflectance curves with a spectrophotometer. Using the bee hexagon model, we estimated chromatic contrasts, a crucial visual descriptor for attracting bees up close and from a distance. We partially corroborate our hypotheses, in which only plants R+ and under sandy soils had a high floral display and color contrasts. On the other hand, the absence of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the root system or plants growing under OM soil severely reduced flower display and color contrasts, decreasing flower attractiveness to bee pollinators. Our findings indicate that rhizobia positively impacts pollination, particularly in nutrient-limited conditions. This study provides insights into the dynamics of plant-pollinator interactions and underscores the significant role of rhizobia bacteria in influencing key floral traits within tropical ecosystems. These results contribute to understanding the mechanisms governing mutualistic relationships and their consequences for plant fitness and ecological dynamics.

## S.202.6 Holobionts comprised of grass Festuca species and their fungal Epichloë endophytes exhibit diverse coevolutionary mechanisms

Alba Sotomayor-Alge¹,², Luis Ángel Inda¹,², María Fernanda Moreno-Aguilar¹,², Íñigo Zabalgogeazcoa³, Pilar Catalán¹,²

1 Escuela Politécnica Superior de Huesca, Universidad de Zaragoza, Huesca. 2 Grupo de Bioquímica, Biofísica y Biología Computacional (UNIZAR, CSIC). 3 IRNASA-CSIC

Epichloë endophytes (Clavicipitaceae, Ascomycota) are known to colonize the aerial part of temperate pooid grasses and the nature of their antagonistic or synergistic interactions with their host depends on the ability of the endophyte to reproduce sexually or asexually. Most of these endophytes can only be transmitted vertically and asexually through plant seeds, establishing mutualistic symbiotic interactions with their hosts. We are investigating the potential co-evolution of holobionts comprised of Epichloë taxa and species complexes of the worldwide distributed grass genus Festuca (Loliinae, Poaceae). This genus encompasses ~500 accepted species, most of which had never been surveyed for their interactions with these endophytes before. To assess this matter, we are conducting a worldwide scale research collecting information about all the reported symbioses between these two genera and studying material from ~200 Festuca species through both genome sequencing and bioinformatic pipelines. So far, we can affirm that at least 14% of the Festuca species interact with Epichloë endophytes. Additionally, we unraveled the existence of natural symbioses between 15 Festuca species and 13 Epichloë taxa and we were able to detect 20 lineage-specific relationships for temperate and tropical mountain fescues and their endophytes, a fifth of which presumably correspond to new Epichloë endophytes. We have applied a multidisciplinary approach that included morphoanatomical, histological, cytogenetic and phylogenomic studies to analyze holobionts formed by the Festuca Rothmaleri polyploid complex and their endophytes. This study suggests a hybridogenic adaptive co-evolutionary scenario where the increasing ploidy-level of the grass host (tetra, hexa and octoploid individuals) might be correlated
with the ploidy-levels of their respective symbi-
onts. This scenario offers an opportunity to better

understand the co-evolutionary mechanisms in-
volved in the establishment of these relationships.

# S.203 FILLING THE GAPS IN THE CATALOGUING OF ALIEN FLORAS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN BASIN

## S.203.1 The alien flora of Greece: taxonomy, chorology, life traits and habitats preferences

Margarita Arianoutsou¹, Ioannis Bazos¹,
Anastasia Christopoulou¹, Alexandros
Galanidis², Yannis Kokkoris¹, Andreas Zikos¹

1 Department of Ecology and Systematics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. 2 Department of Environment, University of the Aegean, Mytilene, Greece

Biological invasions represent one of the most im-
portant threats to biodiversity, with invasive alien
species (IAS) having severe negative consequences
for the invaded environment. This contribution re-
ports on the alien flora of Greece as well as on the
worst invasive alien plant taxa in it. A compilation of
the alien plants occurring in Greece has been per-
formed resulting in 448 taxa (including 58 archae-
ophytes). For this task, various literature sources
have been screened. Of those 448 taxa 270 are es-
tablished, 171 are casual and 7 are of unknown es-
tablishment status. The richest families in number
of taxa are Poaceae, Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Sola-
naceae and Amaranthaceae. Chorology of the es-
tablished taxa indicates that 47,8% are of American
origin followed by those of Asian (16,7%) and African
origin (10,4%). Regarding their life form, therophytes
prevail with 47% followed by hemicryptophytes and
phanerophytes with 20% and 15% respectively. Arti-
ficial (man-made) habitats are the most invaded
with 69% of the plant taxa found there followed by
freshwater habitats and rocky habitats both with
12%. Taxa consisting the total alien flora of Greece
as well as others that were added after a horizon
scanning process were screened for their degree or
potential of invasion. In total, 32 were considered as
the most invasive ones and they were proposed to
be included in the National Catalogue of Alien Inva-
sive Species. The majority of these taxa have their
native geographical distribution in the Americas.

The most common introduction pathway is their use
as ornamental and in horticulture. Risk assessments
have been performed for all 32 plant species, to de-
tect those presenting the highest risk to the local
biodiversity and ecosystem services. Fifteen plants
were found to have major impacts, with 80% of them
being recorded in the wild, while 40% of them are
already established in Greece.

## S.203.2 Towards a complete and updated knowledge of exotic flora in Sardinia: diversity, ecology and activities for their control

Gianluigi Bacchetta¹, Alba Cuena
Lombraña¹, Mauro Fois¹, Lina Podda¹,
Marco Porceddu¹

1 Centro Conservazione Biodiversità, Dipartimento
di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università de-
gli Studi di Cagliari, Cagliari, Italia

Since the appearance of *Homo sapiens*, humans
have increasingly become a global force capa-
ble of altering the functioning of the entire plane-
tary ecosystem. Among human-induced pressures,
plant invasions are considered one of the most im-
pactful processes on biodiversity, due to, among
others, their negative influence on food webs, veg-
etation structure and ecosystem services. This is
particularly true in the Mediterranean Basin, which
has long been a crossroads for human populations,
and especially on islands, where human pressures
can be more impactful due to their inherent small
size and wider fragmentation. Here we present a
largely replicable regional approach from Sardinia
(Italy), which starts from the presence and distribu-
tion of invasive plants and improves knowledge by
investigating the ecology of the species of great-
est interest. A dynamic checklist of exotic vascular
plants was continuously updated by monitoring and
reporting new introductions and changes in status,
<figure><img src="image_473.png" /></figure>

focusing in particular on those environments that are particularly sensitive, such as most coastal habitats highly threatened by humans' impacts. In parallel, the investigation of the ecophysiology of seed germination of some invasive species has made it possible to predict their potential invasion trend and future risk, providing further insights into their control. This information was put into practice by controlling the invasion of some introduced species in different contexts, such as small islands, wetlands and coastal sand dunes. These activities were evaluated not only on the basis of control success, but also on economic costs and feasibility. These experiences highlighted the importance of constantly monitoring the changing local status of exotic species and of sharing and recording all research and practical activities. From a bottom-up perspective, such local experiences provide crucial information to improve the effectiveness of efforts to halt the increasing environmental depletion of native resources.

### S.203.3 Alien plants in Sardinian wetlands, their effects to the native biodiversity and ecosystems

Alba Cuena Lombraña¹, Mauro Fois¹, Lina Podda¹, Gianluigi Bacchetta¹

1 Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.

Biodiversity is declining globally and invasion by alien plants is regarded as one of the most significant threats to ecosystems worldwide. Despite their great value in biodiversity conservation, wetlands are one of the most vulnerable environments to Invasive Alien Species (IAS). This is attributed to the anthropogenic pressure, especially eutrophication, which favours new invaders and variations of flooding pulses. IAS plants can cause radical changes in aquatic ecosystems with severe consequences, either through competition for resources with the native plants or by physically altering the habitat.

Here are presented analyses on invasion by alien plants and how these affect the native flora. We monitored 500 wetlands around Sardinia (Italy), including different types. The field information was gathered following a rapid assessment protocol to provide a general overview of a maximum number of sites. Most of the wetlands investigated are threatened by biological invasion, a total of 128 alien

plant species were found (ca. 1300 records), accounting for 8,5% of the total plant species.

Furthermore, invasive plants were found in the 50.41% of the wetlands, while the naturalized in 30.89% and the casual ones in 18.70% sites. Asteraceae species had the highest frequency, followed by Poaceae, and Fabaceae. Among invasive hydrophytes, we recorded *Lemna minuta*, *Hydrocotyle ranunculoides*, *Pontederia crassipes* and *Azolla filiculoides*. Higher concentration of IAS was detected in coastal wetlands than in inland or human-made wetlands. These wetland types include lagoons, estuaries and salt marshes of different surface and catchment size, human population and touristic pressure. We detected that multiple activities around coastal wetlands and their catchments directly and indirectly promote IAS proliferation, especially in the most easily accessible areas. These results lead us to enhance multidisciplinary research on the ecology and functioning of wetlands, to plan more effective conservation actions based on plant communities' knowledge.

### S.203.4 Neophytes and archaeophytes in the segetal flora of artichoke fields in the Mediterranean island of Sardinia

Vanessa Lozano¹,², Maria Teresa Tiloca¹, Giuseppe Brundu¹,², Luigi Ledda³

1 Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy. 2 National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo, Italy. 3 Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy

Segetal flora refers to the set of spontaneous plant species, almost exclusively annual, that grow in agroecosystems, within crops, and whose composition and biomass depend on habitat conditions and management adopted. Plant communities in conventional intensive cropping systems often include a limited number of species, with dense covering, which may represent a limiting factor as their presence affects crop yield. On the contrary, a more diverse segetal flora considerably increases the whole biodiversity of agroecosystems, supporting pollinators and other beneficial insects. The study was carried out in Sardinia (Italy) during 2019-2021 to assess the dynamics of species richness of the
segetal flora in globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus L. s.l.) cropping system. The data was collected in Sardinian fields of globe artichoke through random located georeferenced plots (1×1 m). Two different cropping systems were analyzed: conventional and organic. Based on floristic surveys, it was possible to make an inventory of 115 plant species classified as native or non-native (neophytes and archaeophytes). The most frequent and often also the most abundant species were three natives (Calendula arvensis (Vaill.) L., Convolvulus arvensis L., Lolium rigidum Gaudin), one archaeophyte (Avena fatua L. s.l.), and three neophytes (Glebionis coronaria (L.) Spach, Oxalis pes-caprae L., Veronica persica Poir). Our results showed that organic farming often has positive effects on species richness, improving the diversity of plant communities, reconciling the sustainability of agricultural systems and the provision of ecosystem services. However, a higher coverage of plant species was observed in the conventional systems compared to the organic. In the conventional systems the composition of the segetal flora is shaped by high nutrient availability, herbicide resistance and biogeographic origin. Such traits are often linked to species that are highly competitive and difficult to control.

## S.203.5 Biological invasions in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs): trends in non-indigenous macrophytes in Italian MPAs

Anna M. Mannino¹,², Donatella Serio³

1 University of Palermo, Italy. 2 NBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo, Italy. 3 University of Catania, Italy

Non-indigenous species (NIS), widely recognized as one of the main drivers of global change, may in time become invasive, determining significant environmental impacts, such as biodiversity loss and ecosystem services degradation. The impact of NIS on marine habitats within Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), whose major aim is biodiversity conservation, can be significant even highly detrimental. Therefore, monitoring NIS distribution is crucial in these areas for planning effective conservation strategies. Currently, in Italy have been established 29 MPAs that protect about 700 kilometres of coastline and are mainly concentrated in the two great islands, Sicily (7) and Sardinia (6). Of them, 11 are Spe-

cially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMI). In Italy, 73 alien macrophytes (10 Chlorophyta, 16 Ochrophyta, 46 Rhodophyta, 1 Tracheophyta) is currently reported. Our research revealed differences among the MPAs with respect to the number of marine alien macrophytes, which could be linked to different reasons such as differences in the number of conducted studies or differences in geographical position. For instance, 12 marine alien macrophytes have been reported for the MPA Egadi Islands, 6 for the MPA Capo Carbonara, 2 for the MPA Miramare and 8 for the MPA Portofino. The research has also shown that data on fauna and terrestrial flora are more numerous than those on marine flora and that the last ones are not often updated. Despite their fundamental role in the conservation of marine biodiversity, MPAs are not immune to biological invasions, evidencing that protection does not hinder the introduction and spreading of NIS. Management actions within MPAs should include the planning of regular monitoring activities which will allow early detections and to follow the spread of species already present. This work represents an important starting point for the creation of a regularly updated list of alien macrophytes within the Italian MPAs.

## S.203.6 Towards an updated catalog of the alien vascular flora of Spain

Carlos Gómez-Bellver¹, Jordi López-Pujol¹,
Felipe Martínez-García², Ana Novoa³,⁴,
Neus Nualart¹ Jairo Patiño⁴, Llorenç Sáez⁵

1 Botanic Institute of Barcelona (CSIC-Ajuntament de Barcelona), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. 2 Departamento de Sistemas y Recursos Naturales, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería de Montes, Forestal y del Medio Natural, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain. 3 Department of Invasion Ecology, Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Průhonice, Czech Republic. 4 Island Ecology and Evolution Research Group, Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Tenerife, Spain. 5 Systematics and Evolution of Vascular Plants—Associated Unit to CSIC, Departament de Biologia Animal, Biologia Vegetal i Ecologia, Facultat de Biociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Invasive alien species poses one of the main threats to biodiversity conservation, ranking as the second leading cause of native species extinction worldwide. The Mediterranean Basin, particularly Spain, has emerged as one of the most impacted regions
<figure><img src="image_474.png" /></figure>

by biological invasions. Several factors contribute to this vulnerability, including: (1) the profound human-mediated modification of natural habitats (habitat loss and fragmentation, contamination); (2) complex and varied topographic, lithological, and climatic gradients; (3) its key role as a global commercial and transportation hub; (4) its condition as one of the world's main touristic destinations; and (5) its recurrent identification as one of the biodiversity hotspots more susceptible to climate change. Biological invasions have profound impacts on the Spanish flora, since Spain is very rich in plant diversity, with plenty of narrow-range endemics; the latter being inherently vulnerable to human activities due to low effective population size but exhibiting taxa of high genetic distinctiveness. Knowledge on the status of alien species in a given area is essential for

effective management and prevention of their further spread. Within this context, the Introduced Plant Working Group of the Spanish Botanical Society (SEBOT) is currently developing a comprehensive list of alien vascular plants found in Spain, aiming at: (objective 1) updating and completing the existing catalog of introduced plants in Spain, which was last published over two decades ago and excluded casual plants; and (objective 2) identifying alien taxa that are not currently included in the Spanish Catalog of Invasive Exotic Species, which legally regulates the possession, transport, movement, and trade of alien species. In this communication, we provide a summary of the progress achieved in this ongoing initiative that already agglutinates an important network of researchers working on invasive biology in Spain.

**S.204 ADVANCES IN MICROCLIMATE RESEARCH FOR CRYPTOGAM ECOLOGY. SESSION 2**

**S.204.1 A new autonomous and low-cost electronic system based on Arduino for measuring the microclimatic conditions of lichens and their hydration**

Francisco Gasulla¹, Miguel Blázquez², Sergio Pérez-Ortega².

1 Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, Campus Externo, Alcalá de Henares, Spain. 2 Department of Mycology, Real Jardín Botánico (CSIC), Madrid, Spain

The influence of climate on lichen physiology is directly shaped by its poikilohydric nature. While lichens exhibit high tolerance to extreme environmental conditions when dry, their sensitivity significantly increases when hydrated. Consequently, the primary impacts of climate on lichen physiology are confined to periods when the thallus is wet and actively metabolizing. Numerous ecophysiological studies on lichens have tackled the challenge of distinguishing microclimatic conditions during periods of thallus activity or inactivity, often employing

measurements of thallus electrical conductivity. In response to this challenge, we have developed an autonomous and low-cost electronic system designed to measure the microclimatic conditions of lichen habitats and those of the thallus itself. Additionally, the device utilizes electrical resistance measurements to estimate the thallus' hydration level. Built on the open-source Arduino platform and complemented by readily available and affordable hardware components, the system is powered by lithium-ion batteries, which are recharged with solar energy, ensuring indefinite operation. Data is stored on an SD card and concurrently transmitted to a cloud server through the GSM network. The devices were tested with thalli of *Ramalina farinacea* growing in a mixed oak forest (Guadalajara, Spain). Over the course of a year, continuous data collection revealed that irradiance and temperature levels were lower when the lichens were in a hydrated state than when they were dry. Notably, the environmental conditions during the active phases of the thalli fell within the tolerance limits previously established for *R. farinacea* photobionts. In summary, this system enables the extended measurement of environmental conditions for both physiologically active and inactive lichens. This data is crucial for comprehending the dynamics of lichen communities.
<figure><img src="image_475.png" /></figure>

## S.204.2 Beach or mountain? Ecophysiological and microclimatic comparative study of the lichen Usnea aurantiaco-atra in maritime Antarctica

Ana Aramburu¹, José Raggio¹, David S. Pescador¹, Núria Beltrán-Sanz¹, Ana Pintado¹, Leopoldo G. Sancho¹

1 Section of Botany, Faculty of Pharmacy, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Understanding the environmental responses of the polar cryptogamic flora and determining its ecological boundaries is a useful tool to evaluate the impact of ongoing global change on Antarctic regions. In maritime Antarctica, ice-free rocks on coastal areas and on nunataks within mountain systems offer suitable niches for cryptogams, particularly for lichens able to survive in severe environmental conditions. Due to their poikylohydric nature, these photosynthetic lithobionts are strongly tied to the local climatic conditions. The present study focuses on the fruticulose lichen *Usnea aurantiaco-atra* (Jacq.) Bory, an Antarctic endemism vastly spread throughout maritime Antarctica. The aim of the research is to assess the ecophysiological optimums and ranges of tolerance of *U. aurantiaco-atra* to environmental change. Two sites were chosen across an altitudinal gradient within the South Bay on Livingston Island (South Shetland Islands) with intent to cover an environmental-pressure range of the subject species: Punta Polaca (50 m a.s.l.) and El Castillo Nunatak (449 m a.s.l.). The photosynthetic and respiratory rates of thalli collected from each site were measured in relation to key drivers such as water content, temperature, and light under controlled laboratory conditions. Metabolic performance was analysed in situ for both locations through continuous chlorophyll a fluorescence monitoring paired with simultaneous recording of microclimatic conditions. To further understand potential acclimation or adaptation mechanisms adopted by the photobionts of *U. aurantiaco-atra*, induction-recovery curves were conducted. Additionally, an extensive network of temperature and relative humidity microsensors was deployed throughout multiple lithic niches at both sites and kept recording for over a year. Preliminary results suggest that the coastal population achieves significantly greater photosyn-

thetic activity at higher temperatures. No dissimilarities have been found in the performance of coastal and mountainous individuals at lower temperatures. There seems to be strong environmental filtering in the nunatak, which points to greater ambient stress.

## S.204.3 Ecophysiological response between populations of epiphytic macrolichens of Araucaria araucana (Mol.) K. Koch in Chile

Johana Villagra¹, David Alors¹, Leopoldo G. Sancho², Claudio Inostroza-Blancheteau¹

1 Catholic University of Temuco, Temuco, Chile. 2 Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain

The *Araucaria araucana* forest is one ecosystem highly affected by climate change, global warming and fire. This conifer specie is endemic to southern South America at the Chilean and Argentinian mountain ranges, distributed from ~37°24' to ~40°03' S. The epiphytic lichens inhabiting this forest shows a close relationship with his phorophyte and are an important biological group increasing the biodiversity of the habitat. Some lichen functional traits like thickness of the thallus layer or state of the photosystems can vary in response to changes in light, humidity and temperature that can occur in the environment. However, it is unclear how in the scenario of global climate change (GCC) with a decrease in precipitation and an increase in temperature will affects the epiphytic lichens of *A. araucana* forest. Lichens are especially vulnerable to environmental conditions since they need availability of water to maintain their active metabolism. In this work we aimed to understand how lichens are adapted to the expected GCC we are studying the tolerance to desiccation of epiphytic lichens. Macrolichens collected on *A. araucana* bark from two different populations where compared, one located at Conguillío National Park (Andes Mountains) and the other at Nahuelbuta National Park (Coastal Mountains). We measured the photosynthetic performance of lichens after maintaining in dry atmosphere for a time period of 72 days. We found significant differences in the response of the maximum efficiency of PSII (Fv/Fm) to desiccation over time and in the anatomy of the thallus between species. The physiological response of the species compared to the
<figure><img src="image_476.png" /></figure>

anatomical responses and macroclimatic and mi-
croclimatic records are discussed.

floras of putative ice age refugia and is placed in the
context of North American ice age refugia.

S.204.4 The Immensity
of Minutiae: Utilizing
Bryophytes to Detect
an Ice Age Refugium in
the Northern Cascade
Mountains

Miles Berkey¹

1 Department of Biology, Western Washington University, Bellingham, USA

Ice age refugia were ecologically stable areas that remained ice-free during the Pleistocene glaciations. As a result, they offered a level of suitable conditions to host arctic species associated with the climate of that time. About 16,400 years ago, the climate began to warm, the ice sheets in western North America began to recede, and these vestiges of the late Pleistocene became surrounded by the temperate ecosystems of today leaving disjunct and isolated species of a previous climate. A unique balance of microclimatic and topographical factors has allowed for these remnant species to exist today. Throughout the Pleistocene, ice age refugia were drivers of speciation, and currently are retainers of relictual species. Therefore, these places are biodiversity hotspots providing key insights into evolutionary histories of northern taxa. However, complete biological inventories of these places are lacking and many ice age refugia remain undetected. Tragically, due to climate change, these ecologically novel places are at risk due to the projected changes in moisture and temperature regimes for western North America. This study takes a comparative bryophyte floristics approach to detect an ice age refugium in an area of the northern Cascade Mountains of Washington state - Barlow pass. The results of two years of field work yields numerous disjunct northern taxa such as *Cyrtomnium hymenophylloides*, *Psilopilum laevigatum* and *Macrodiplophyllum imbricatum* found within a microclimatically significant area of Barlow Pass while absent from similar areas in the glaciated North Cascades. The maximum extent of the Cordilleran ice sheet is paired with reconstructions of the local paleo-alpine glaciers, suggesting that these species are relicts of an ice-free corridor during the last glacial maximum. Finally, the bryoflora of Barlow Pass is compared with

S.204.5 What role have
changes in climatic
conditions and atmospheric
pollution played in the
spatio-temporal variation of
epiphytic bryop

Virginie Hutsemékers¹, Lea Mouton²,
Hannah Westenbohm², Flavien Collart³,
Alain Vanderpoorten²

1 Belgian Interregional Environment Agency, Brussels, Belgium. 2 University of Liège, Institute of Botany, Liège, Belgium. 3 Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

Because of their ecophysiological characteristics and their position at the interface between the atmosphere and vegetation, epiphytic bryophytes have long been used as indicators of air quality. The spectacular recolonization of these organisms over the last twenty years has paralleled the drastic reduction in SO2 concentrations. However, the concomitant variation in the concentration of other major pollutants (NOx, NHx, O3, fine particles) as well as climatic conditions complicates the interpretation of the factors responsible for the observed floristic changes. We carried out a diachronic analysis since 1980 to separate the impact of climatic conditions and concentrations of major atmospheric pollutants on the historical variation in floristic composition. This analysis was complemented by an assessment of the contribution of major pollutants and pesticides on the spatial variation of flora observed today. The results show that temporal changes in floristic composition within the same community are more than twice as great as spatial changes in composition between communities at present. This temporal variation in flora is largely explained by the decrease in SO2 and NO2 concentrations, but not by variations in climatic conditions. The absence of a relationship between historical concentrations of major pollutants and contemporary variation in flora at regional scale suggests that epiphytes have sufficient dispersal capacity to recolonize the areas that are favorable to them within a few decades. Our analyses have shown that the drastic reduction in major atmospheric pollutants has enabled the emergence of a contemporary segregation of
floras based on regional variation in climatic conditions, even though other pollutants, particularly fine particles, are playing an increasing role.

## S.204.6 Long-term effect of elevated CO₂ on desiccation-rehydration cycles of bryophytes

José Ángel Morales Sánchez¹, Kristiina Mark¹, Ülo Niinemets¹,²

1 Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia.

2 Estonian Academy of Sciences, Tallinn, Estonia

The concentration of atmospheric CO₂ has been constantly increasing since the industrial revolution and it is projected to rise even further, surpassing 1000 ppm at the end of this century in the worst-case scenario. In vascular plants, influences of rising CO₂ have been studied extensively, but there are much fewer studies for bryophytes. This is a significant omission as these organisms are major contributors to biodiversity in high latitudes and play key roles in ecosystem functioning. We conducted a long-term in vitro CO₂ elevation experiment with four bryophyte species to assess the effect of elevated CO₂ (1000 ppm) on bryophyte desiccation tolerance and desiccation-rehydration cycles. Real-time kinetics of gas-exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence were monitored throughout a year, with measurements taken every four months. The results show a reduction of photosynthetic activity under elevated CO₂ in the four species studied. Long-term exposure to elevated CO₂ negatively affected the photosynthetic recovery and carbon balance after desiccation-rehydration, however interspecific differences were observed in the responses to elevated CO₂. These results highlight the importance of studying species-specific responses to climatic disturbances that might affect their photosynthetic characteristics in distinct ways. This study provides insight into the variable responses of bryophytes to environmental change that can potentially affect their fitness and role in the ecosystems under the current global change.

## S.205 ORCHID PHYLOGENOMICS: DIVERSIFICATION, TRAIT EVOLUTION AND BIOGEOGRAPHY. SESSION 2

### S.205.1 Australasian orchid diversification: phylogenomic insights from tribe Diurideae (Orchidoideae)

Katharina Nargar¹,², Natascha Wagner¹,³,

Consolata Nanjala¹,⁴, James Perkins¹,⁴,

Stephen J. Bent⁶, Lars Nauheimer¹, Heidi

Zimmer⁷, Stephanie Goedderz¹, James

A. Nicholls⁸, Vidushi S. Patel⁸, Vanessa

Neale¹,², Vera Zizka¹,⁹, Claire Micheneau¹,¹⁰,

Janani Jayanthan¹, Stephanie Lyon¹¹,

Darren M. Crayn¹, Lalita Simpson¹, Mark

Clements⁷

1 Australian Tropical Herbarium, James Cook University, Cairns, Australia. 2 National Research Collections Australia, Commonwealth Industrial and Scientific Research Organisation, Canberra, Australia. 3 Department of Systematics, Biodiversity and Evolution of Plants, Georg August University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany. 4 College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland, Australia. 5 Division of Ecology and Evolution, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. 6 National Biodiversity DNA Library, Commonwealth Industrial and Scientific Research Organisation, Brisbane, Australia. 7 Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (Joint Venture between Parks Australia and CSIRO), Canberra, Australia. 8 Australian National Insect Collection, Commonwealth Industrial and Scientific Research Organisation, Canberra, Australia. 9 Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Zoological Research Museum A. Koenig, Bonn, Germany. 10 Ctr Int Rech Agronorn Dev, Université La Reunion, La Reunion, France. 11 University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Wisconsin, USA
<figure><img src="image_477.png" /></figure>

Australia harbours a rich and highly endemic orchid flora with over 1,600 species of which over 90 % occur nowhere else. The terrestrial orchid tribe Diurideae is a morphologically diverse and characteristic element of the Australasian orchid flora and comprises nine subgenera and over 1,000 species. The tribe exhibits greatest diversity in Australia where it encompasses ca. 60% of native orchid species, extending into New Zealand, New Caledonia, New Guinea, tropical Asia and the Pacific. Previous phylogenetic studies provided only limited insights into the origins and spatio-temporal evolution of Diurideae lineages due to limited resolution and/or sampling. Here we present a thoroughly sampled phylogenomic study of Diurideae, encompassing all nine subtribes, all recognised genera and the vast majority of species of the tribe. Genome skimming data for over 1,350 Diurideae samples as well as for a broad outgroup sampling across Orchidaceae was generated and assembled either de novo or via reference-guided assemblies. Maximum likelihood analyses were carried out based on concatenated alignments of 62 plastid coding genes and divergence time estimations conducted based on secondary calibrations using BEAST. Biogeographic areas were delineated based on botanical continents and regions following Brummit (2001) and within Australia based on the terrestrial phytoregionalisation sensu Ebach et al. (2015). Range evolutionary scenarios were reconstructed using model-based inference methods as implemented in BioGeoBEARS. This study provides new insights into the diversification and range evolution of tribe Diurideae during the Cenozoic with its profound climatic and vegetational changes and constitutes an unprecedented phylogenomic framework for macroevolutionary studies in Australasian Orchidaceae.

## S.205.2 Phylogenomics and the evolution of floral traits in the species-rich Pleurothallidinae subtribe

Diego Bogarín¹,², Oscar A. Pérez-Escobar³,

1 Jardín Botánico Lankester, Universidad de Costa Rica, P. O. Box 302-7050 Cartago, Costa Rica. 2 Naturalis Biodiversity Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands. 3 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, UK.

Pleurothallidinae, with over 5500 species, stands as the most species-rich subtribe within the Orchidaceae, providing an ideal model for studying Neotropical diversity and its evolution. Recent estimates suggest that

most groups within the subtribe have recently originated due to rapid diversification. This remarkable diversity is associated with significant morphological variation and pronounced homoplasy, posing a challenge in establishing robust phylogenetic frameworks. Previous studies relying on limited markers, such as nrITS and matK, have proven insufficient in resolving relationships within specific clades. To deepen our understanding of the relationships among Pleurothallidinae groups and the role played by critical morphological traits in their evolution, we present a comprehensive phylogenomic framework sourced from the Angiosperm353 kit. This dataset comprises 127 samples from 33 genera, representing 73% of the subtribe's genera. Our study includes an expanded analysis encompassing 1765 nrITS samples, 900 matK samples, and plastomes from 44 selected species. Utilizing these extensive phylogenetic datasets, we have explored the evolution of floral traits, such as anther position and pollinarium structures, employing cutting-edge phylogenetic comparative methods. Our findings establish a well-resolved backbone for most Pleurothallidinae clades, enabling the exploration of critical floral trait evolution. We have identified potential correlations between apical anthers and pollinaria featuring sticky viscidia in groups associated with high diversification rates, such as Lepanthes, Pleurothallis, and Stelis. By incorporating phylogenomic data derived from the Angiosperm353 kit, we have significantly advanced the understanding of the relationships among Pleurothallidinae groups, and their evolutionary patterns related to critical floral traits. However, a compelling need remains to increase species sampling to ensure more comprehensive conclusions and include a broader range of morphological characteristics. As phylogenomic and species sampling efforts continue to expand, our objective is to trace the origins and dispersal routes of Pleurothallidinae and elucidate the connections between assessed morphological traits and intriguing pollination mechanisms.

## S.205.3 Phylogeny and diversification of Aeridinae (Orchidaceae: Epidendroideae), with a focus on Vanda s.l.

Ai-Qun Hu¹,², Jungle K. Liang²,³, Tian-Chuan Hsu⁴,⁵

1 Singapore Botanic Gardens, 1 Cluny Road, Singapore, Singapore. 2 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, UK. 3 Institute for Biodiversity and
<figure><img src="image_478.png" /></figure>

Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 4 Forest Ecology Division, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, Taipei, Taiwan. 5 Department of Life Sciences, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan

The subtribe Aeridinae, consisting of approximately 90 genera and 1550 species, is recognised as one of the most diverse and taxonomically challenging groups within Orchidaceae. In this study, we reconstructed the most data-rich intergeneric phylogeny of Aeridinae by sequencing around 400 species from 60 genera with samples obtained from herbarium specimens and living collections that span its geographic ranges, from tropical Asia to the Pacific region. Our comprehensive analyses integrated data from Angiosperms353 target-captured and off-target nuclear sequences, complemented by plastid genome sequences retrieved from genome skimming. The preliminary results showed that increasing the size of data sets enhanced the congruence between analysis methods but did not alleviate gene tree conflicts. To address incongruence observed between nuclear and plastid phylogenies, we conducted further analyses to explore potential factors contributing to this disparity. Hypothesised historical hybridization events, conceivably linked to regional speciation and diversification were tested and discussed. A specific focus was directed towards the genus Vanda s.l., aiming to resolve its ambiguous phylogenetic relationship with allied genera, namely Aerides, Ascocentrum, Holcosum, Neofinetia, Seidenfadenia, and Rhynchostylis. We further employed BAMM, GeoSSE, and niche analyses to infer patterns of species richness and diversification of Vanda s.l., providing valuable insights into the evolutionary dynamics within these linages. This study, with its comprehensive exploration of Aeridinae and the detailed investigation of the genus Vanda s.l., is poised to serve as a reference for future endeavors in the taxonomic, systematic and integrative phylogenetic studies within these groups.

## S.205.4 First Phylogenomic exploration of Angraecinae with target capture: evolutionary history of Angraecum

Simon Verlynde¹,²*, Gregory M. Plunkett¹, Tariq Stévart³,⁴,⁵

1 Cullman Program for Molecular Systematics, New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York, U.S.A. 2 PhD

Program in Biology, Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, U.S.A. 3 Herbarium et Bibliothèque de Botanique africaine, Université Libre de Bruxelles, campus de la Plaine, Brussels, Belgium. 4 Missouri Botanical Garden, Africa & Madagascar Department, St. Louis, MO, U.S.A. 5 Botanic Garden Meise, Domein van Bouchout, Meise, Belgium.
*sverlynde@nybg.org

Recent attempts to classify Angraecum, the largest genus of Angraecinae (Epidendroideae, Vandae), have fallen short due to a lack of molecular sampling and of molecular characters as well as the paucity of available voucher material. Without a robust natural classification, however, the reconstruction of the evolutionary history of Angraecum is impaired. Using a new multi-locus dataset collected with the Angiosperm353 bait set, augmented by a comprehensive sampling now available through the orchid shade house network of the Missouri Botanical Garden in Madagascar, in parallel to extensive field work conducted on the Mascarene islands and East Africa, we aimed to revise the genus Angraecum, improving its classification and testing phylogenetic hypotheses. Using resulting data from Hyb-Seq, our analyses consistently retrieved a strongly supported clade grouping most Angraecum species from Madagascar and the Western Indian Ocean, but interestingly including species from three other Malagasy genera, Lemurorchis, Oeoniella and Sobennikoffia. Moreover, the resulting phylogenies allowed us to re-circumscribe sections and better understand intersectional relationships. Finally, a group of fifteen species were found to be polyphyletic and were described as a new genus, Vavavoloina.

## S.205.5 Holocene climate change promoted allopatric divergence and disjunct geographic distribution in the bee orchid species Ophyrs aveyronensis

J.A.M Bertrand¹, Anaïs Gibert¹, Bertrand Schatz², Roselyne Buscail³, Michel Baguette⁴,⁵, Christelle Fraïsse⁶, Camille Roux⁶

1 Laboratoire Génome et Développement des Planites, Université de Perpignan Via Domitia, Perpignan, France. 2 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Lille, Lille, France. 3 Centre de Formation et de Recherche sur les Environnements Méditerranéens, Université de Perpignan Via Domitia, Perpignan, France. 4 Institut Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité, Museum National d'Histoire Na-
<figure><img src="image_479.png" /></figure>

turelle, Paris, France. 5 Station d'Écologie Théorique et Expérimentale, Moulis, France. 6 Centre d'Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Montpellier, France.

Species with disjunct geographic distributions provide natural opportunities to investigate recent or incipient allopatric divergence. Although not rare, many of the cases observed result from successful colonization from a historical to a new range through dispersal or human-induced introduction which make the underlying eco-evolutionary processes sometimes difficult to decipher. The bee orchid species *Ophrys aveyronensis* presents a disjunct geographic distribution with two ranges currently separated by 600 km on both sides of the Pyrenees Mountains. To uncover the causes of such intriguing biogeographic pattern, we combined population genomics and Ecological Niche Modelling approaches. Population genomic data show that all the populations studied display similar patterns of genetic diversity and dramatic decrease in effective size. We found significant genetic differentiation between the two ranges of *O. aveyronensis*. Our results support a very recent divergence (i.e., ca. 1500 generations ago). Ecological Niche Modelling results further indicate that the disjunct geographic distribution of the *O. aveyronensis* species complex is consistent with a range split of a broad ancestral range, contraction and shifts in opposite directions in response to climate warming during the Holocene. The congruence of both the results of population genomics and ENM approaches demonstrates that continental allopatric divergence is involved in the *Ophrys* adaptive radiation. *O. aveyronensis* is a promising candidate to study the onset of reproductive isolation immediately following an initial stage of geographic separation.

S.205.6 Geitonogamy blurs
the distinction between
autogamy and allogamy:
a case study in Epipactis
(Orchidaceae)

Richard M. Bateman¹*

1 Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond, UK.
*rt.bateman@kew.org

The North Temperate orchid clade *Epipactis* has
become a model system for the study of specia-
tion through transitions supposedly passing from
allogamy through facultative to obligate autoga-

my. Structural modifications said to encourage this
transition include: (1) reduction in the size and/or
hydration of the adhesive viscidial disc responsi-
ble for attaching the pollinaria to pollinating wasps
and bees, such that pollinaria are less likely to be
removed; (2) ontogenetic extension of the anther
such that the gynostemium apex curves down-
ward, bringing the pollinaria into closer proximity
with the stigma; (3) decreased cohesion of the vis-
cid threads that link the permanent tetrads of pollen
within the pollinaria, allowing the formerly cohesive
mass of tens of thousands of pollen grains to dis-
sociate for abiotic dispersal, and; (4) reduction in
the size and prominence of the rostellum that sepa-
rates the pollinaria from the stigma, thus permitting
pollinium fragments to reach the subjacent stigma
through the effects of wind, rain-splash or gravity.
Sramkó et al. (2019) used RADseq data to reconstruct
the phylogenetic relationships of 108 plants repre-
senting 27 named ingroup taxa recognised by tra-
ditional taxonomy, which consequently were recir-
cumscribed to 11 species that collectively spanned
the full range of supposed reproductive categories.
However, all species yielded *F* statistics consistent
with dominant (but not obligate) autogamy; only
the widespread, ecologically tolerant *E. helleborine*
s.s. had a somewhat lower mean *F* value than the
more ecologically specialised species, the majority
of which evolved relatively recently from within the
consequently paraphyletic *E. helleborine*. This con-
sistently high level of self-fertilisation is attributed to
extensive geitonogamy, facilitated by the upward
movement of nectar-seeking pollinators within the
many-flowered inflorescence combined with the
absence of reorientation mechanisms in pollinar-
ia once attached to the insect. Thus, reproductive
strategies traditionally presented as alternatives
driving speciation have proven considerably less
distinct than previously believed.
# S.206 LET PEOPLE COME TO BOTANY: NEW METHODS TO ENGAGE PEOPLE WITH PLANT DIVERSITY. SESSION 1

## S.206.1 Lichens want you! Communication, dissemination and engagement strategies in lichenology

Silvana Munzi¹

¹Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

Traditionally, scientific knowledge reached the public through passive mediums like television programs and museums. In the last decades, we've witnessed a paradigm shift, where museums and botanic gardens have transformed into interactive platforms, offering immersive experiences through multidisciplinary approaches. Technology is democratizing access to information, widening age range and user typology, and fueling collaborative efforts among people with common interests thanks to various online arenas for source searching, content sharing, and discussion. In the dynamic landscape of knowledge dissemination, the shift to virtual events, driven by health-security concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic, has proven to be a game-changer. Similarly, citizen science activities have emerged as a powerful tool in science, extending educational outreach beyond traditional boundaries. This paper analyzes the strategies adopted in the last years by two scientific entities - the International Association for Lichenology (IAL) and the Italian Lichen Society (SLI) - for their communication, dissemination, and public engagement, showing the global reach and inclusivity achievable through online platforms. In the field of lichenology, virtual experiences and citizen science activities enhance scientific literacy and training, contributing to environmental conservation by fostering familiarity and appreciation for lichens.

## S.206.2 Experiences of using citizen participation as a teaching tool for botany

Mario Mairal, Juan Manuel Rubiales, Guillermo Santos, Santiago Martín-Bravo, Sonia Molino, Ángela Aguado-Lara, David Sánchez Pescador, Elena Carrió González, Estrella Alfaro-Saiz, Joana Cursach, Joshua Borràs, Lucía DeSoto, Mario Fernández-Mazuecos, Miquel Capó, Neus Nualart, Rafael Medina, Sara Martín. Teresa Garnatje, Ignacio Ramos-Gutiérrez, Pedro Jiménez-Mejías, José Ignacio Márquez-Corro, Sergio Chozas.

Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla, Spain.
Universidad Europea de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
Universidad de León, León, Spain.
Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma, Spain.
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
Institut Botànic de Barcelona (CSIC-Ajuntament de Barcelona), Barcelona, Spain.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, UK.
Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal

In a society increasingly affected by plant blindness, the need for botanical literacy is undeniable and urgent. In this context, we explore the transformative potential of citizen participation as a dynamic teaching tool in botany courses. The latest advancements in citizen science platforms provide now the opportunity to integrate classical botanical guides and taxonomic keys with the judicious use of cutting-edge technologies —notably artificial intelligence. These tools can be used to strengthen innate heuristic processes, such as the recognition of the General Impression of shape and size (GISS), sharpening participants’ analytical observational skills. Simultaneously, these platforms foster a culture of collaborative learning, stimulating active engagement, promoting greater student participation, and facilitating the exchange of knowledge. In this way, this approach not only serves as an invaluable
tool for biodiversity study but also immerses partic-
ipants in a dynamic learning experience, enabling
continuous growth and reinforcing the learning pro-
cess. To illustrate the use of citizen participation as
an educational instrument, several examples will be
showcased, ranging from local projects in a univer-
sity campus, spanning an entire botany course, to
a national-scale flora bioblitz. Through the imple-
mentation of this educational method, people will
develop a stronger interest in botany and students
may even consider careers in the field due to their
deeper connection and appreciation of plant diver-
sity. Ultimately, this method accelerates the learning
curve, propelling botanical education into a new era
of plant knowledge accessibility and enthusiasm,
that will contribute to the acceleration of taxonomy
and the prevention of biodiversity loss.

S.206.3 Blossoming
awareness: empowering
communities through
citizen science platforms to
combat plant blindness

Patrícia Tiago¹,²

1 Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE - Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal. 2 - BioDiversity4All - Portugal

Citizen science is increasingly becoming a meth-
odology used in biodiversity monitoring due to the
massive amount of data it allows to collect, greatly
benefiting scientific work. In this way, it gains a vast
array of allies, the citizen scientists, spread across the
entire territory, enabling unprecedented sampling.
Indeed, this is not the only advantage. The increase
in environmental literacy and the shift of these cit-
izens from a passive role to being considered key
elements in the scientific process give them an im-
portance they did not have before. Is crucial to un-
derstand how to achieve a wide diversity of citizens,
making citizen science not only democratic, as it al-
ready is, but also inclusive. How can we ensure that
everyone feels they can contribute? What strategies
can be employed to reach social groups less en-
gaged with these topics? Should we strive to reach
everyone? How can citizen scientists be encour-
aged to explore taxonomic groups that may seem
less appealing? How do we tackle "plant blindness"
that affects so many? Can citizen science help citi-

zens become less disconnected from nature? These
questions will set the tone for this symposium, aim-
ing for it to be dynamic and participatory.

S.206.4 The Flora-On portal:
leveraging the potential of
biodiversity data to provide
new insights into species
natural histories

Miguel Porto¹,²,³,⁴,⁵

1 CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal. 2 CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal. 3 BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal. 4 EBM, Estação Biológica de Mértola, Mértola, Portugal. 5 Sociedade Portuguesa de Botânica, Alverca, Portugal

The Flora-On.pt platform was conceived with the
mission of sharing botanical knowledge to the wid-
est audience possible, on the distribution, ecology,
threats, phenology, morphology, biotic interactions
and bioclimatic niches of the plants of a given ter-
ritory. It is built upon curated crowd-sourced and
scientific data of different types and sources, in-
cluding distribution data from project collabora-
tors and iNaturalist. The primary focus is to deliver
intuitive tools for exploring and relating the data in
useful or unexpected ways, allowing users to quick-
ly find the answers to their specific needs, or just
satisfy their curiosity. This is achieved by offering a
rich set of query possibilities: textual queries with
partial matching (taxonomy, common name and
ecologies); morphological queries (e.g. flower color,
shape, leaf characters, etc.); phenological queries
(search by exact flowering date or period, based
on continuous dates); geographical queries (prox-
imity to point coordinates and occurrence within
boundaries or regions - UTM grid squares, municip-
ipalities, protected areas, etc.); bioclimatic queries
(search by multivariate bioclimatic envelopes); rar-
ity queries (search by area of occurrence); ecolog-
ical similarity to other species (search using biocli-
matic envelope similarity); biotic interactions (e.g.
search species that parasite, or are parasitized by,
other species). One of the innovative features is that
the queries based on continuous numerical data
(flowering dates, location, bioclimatic data) work
<figure><img src="image_480.png" /></figure>

in a probabilistic workflow, delivering results tuned and sorted according to probability, thanks to internal numerical processing algorithms. To empower these possibilities, query results can be displayed in a variety of views, for example point clouds in bioclimatic spaces, aggregated abundance distributions in a GIS viewer, multiway identificatoin key, in addition to the usual photo album. The software is on its way to be publicly accessible in an open source repository, therefore enabling anyone to implement the Flora-On system in other countries, or to other biological groups.

## S.206.5 The Taylor Swift's Method: music videos as advance organizers for meaningful learning in Botany

Glaucia Silva¹, Vitória Souza², Aline Mattos³, Leonardo Versieux⁴

1 Department of Botany and Zoology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, RN, Brazil. 2 Department of Physiology and Behavior, Federal University of Grande do Norte, RN, Brazil. 3 Department of Educational Practices and Curriculum, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, RN, Brazil. 4 Department of Botany and Zoology, Herbarium UFRN, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, RN, Brazil

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the structure of classes in Brazil, teachers had the task of creating new strategies to make remote learning fluid. In Botany, this challenge was intensified, because, even though plants are essential for life, their study is considered unnecessary and uninteresting. Students' complaints are related to the nomenclatural complexity, traditional classes, lack of attractive teaching resources, also, teachers with a lack of enthusiasm, and they see no connection with plants in their lives. This negative image of Botany that society, students, and a few teachers of sciences carry, is called "Plant awareness disparity": the general public largely does not notice plants in nature and is not able to recognize how important they are to the biosphere and society. Therefore, the aim of this study was to use four music videos of the singer Taylor Swift, one per week, as advance organizers to introduce four different lessons to a second-year class (high school) in Natal, Brazil: 1. Plant awareness disparity and its consequences (week one: Blank Space – 1989); 2. Bryophytes and pteridophytes (week two: Cardigan

- Folklore); 3. Gymnosperms (week three: Out of The Woods – 1989); 4. Angiosperms (week four: Willow – Evermore). One week before each remote lesson, they received the YouTube link to the video in their school system and watched it. In the first 20 minutes of the remote lesson, we discussed what kind of botanical elements they saw in Taylor Swift's music videos, this dynamic led them to identify vegetables, plants, moss, fruits, flowers, trees, roots, and even ecological traits, increasing their optical perception of plants. Our results showed that art can be an ally for meaningful learning in botany: classes were fun, students spoke botanical terms naturally, and, consequently, began to pay more attention to plants in the environment.

## S.206.6 An Illustrated Flora of the Caribbean: from early botanical illustrations to a modern electronic flora

Santiago Madriñán¹,²

1 Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia. 2 Jardín Botánico de Cartagena, Colombia

The Caribbean region boasts a rich botanical diversity, encompassing a myriad of plant species with unique ecological and cultural significance. This conference presentation explores the evolutionary journey of Caribbean botanical documentation, tracing the transition from early botanical illustrations to the development of a contemporary electronic flora. The Caribbean has been a focal point for botanical exploration since the Age of Discovery, with early naturalists and artists meticulously capturing the region's flora through intricate illustrations. This presentation begins by delving into the historical context of these early botanical artworks, shedding light on the scientific and cultural contributions made by early explorers. From the vivid depictions of exotic plant life to the discovery of new species, these illustrations serve as invaluable snapshots of the Caribbean's botanical heritage. As technology advanced, so did the methods of botanical documentation. The transition from traditional illustrations to modern electronic formats marks a significant milestone in the representation and accessibility of Caribbean flora. This presentation explores the challenges and innovations associated with digitizing botanical information, emphasizing the advantages of electronic floras in promoting conservation, education, and research. The elec-
<figure><img src="image_481.png" /></figure>

tronic flora under discussion is a comprehensive
and interactive resource that integrates tradition-
al taxonomic knowledge with modern technology.
This platform aims to provide users with a dynamic
and user-friendly interface for exploring the diverse
plant life of the Caribbean. Features include de-
tailed species profiles, distribution maps, and mul-
timedia content, enhancing the overall accessibility
and educational value of the flora. The presentation

concludes by highlighting the collaborative efforts
involved in creating this electronic flora, emphasizing the importance of interdisciplinary partnerships
between botanists, illustrators, and technologists. By
bridging the past and present, this project not only
preserves the botanical legacy of the Caribbean but
also facilitates ongoing research, conservation, and
public engagement with the region's unique and
threatened plant species.

# S.207 ECOPHYSIOLOGICAL CHALLENGES IN THE ANTHROPOCENE. SESSION 1.

## S.207.1 CLEANFOREST COST Action: helping forests to face the Anthropocene

Guerrieri Rossella¹, Vanguelova Elena², Munzi Silvana³

1 Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy. 2 Forest Research, Farnham, UK. 3 Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

Forests are at the forefront of our efforts to mitigate climate change and achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, to ensure a sustainable life on Earth. However, forest ecosystems are particularly threatened by global change components, such as increasing frequency and severity of climate extreme events, increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide and pollutants concentrations. Different global change drivers could play a synergistic, antagonistic or predisposing role in affecting forest ecosystem functioning and health. All these drivers, however, are generally considered in isolation, and their effects on key processes (at tree, soil and ecosystem levels) are investigated separately in natural, periurban and urban forests, thus leading to uneven, uncoordinated and scattered information among different research communities. CLEANFOREST is establishing an inclusive and multidisciplinary pan-European network, which capitalizes on existing expertise and infrastructures (monitoring networks, manipulation experiments) to i) coordinate research efforts (e.g. data collection), ii) compare approaches and define common protocols to standardize measurements and methods used in global change studies, and iii) foster collaboration among different research groups to exchange and synthesize data, thus con-

tributing to advancing scientific knowledge, identif-
fying research gaps and providing suggestions for
the next generation manipulation experiments and
monitoring networks. This includes summarizing
main results on the effects of treatments applied
(experiments) or observed deposition level (mon-
itoring) on eco-physiological parameters, health,
growth and diversity of forests, assessing the effects
of atmospheric deposition and climate extremes on
trees' nitrogen storage and cycling, and evaluating
the role of aboveground biodiversity (tree diversity
and identity) response to N depositions and climate
extremes, as potential mitigation measures.

Acknowledgments: This article/publication is based
upon work from CLEANFOREST COST Action CA21138,
supported by COST (European Cooperation in Sci-
ence and Technology).

## S.207.2 Temperature shifts dynamically influenced reproductive development and fruit yield of apple (Malus x domestica Borkh.)

Bong M. Salazar¹,², Colin P. Osborne²

1 University of the Philippines Los Baños, Philippines.
2 University of Sheffield, UK.

Temperature plays a pivotal role in climate change, significantly impacting both natural and agroecosystems. While extensive research has elucidated temperature influence on bud dormancy and flowering in deciduous species, a notable gap exists in understanding its effects on fruit tree yield, particularly apples. Hence, this research aimed to explore
<figure><img src="image_482.png" /></figure>

the relationship between temperature, reproductive
development, and fruit yield in 'Red Windsor' apple
trees under controlled environments during the 2020
and 2021 seasons. Specifically, apple trees were sub-
jected to ambient temperatures and fixed devia-
tions (-4°C, +2°C, or +4°C) from these levels for eight
months, spanning from budbreak to fruit maturation,
with the treatments following the daily and seasonal
temperature fluctuations. Results revealed that phe-
nological shifts induced by temperature treatments
altered the growth patterns of reproductive structures,
subsequently impacting the developmental overlap
between reproductive and vegetative organs. While
flowering duration remained unaffected, fruit setting,
trunk/branch wood volumes, thermal time require-
ments, and bud development displayed a magnitude
change ranging from 11% to 31% per 1°C shift in tempera-
ture. Interestingly, manipulating temperatures by ±4°C
from ambient levels did not significantly influence final
fruit yield due to source limitations. Significant treat-
ment effects were evident on fruit yield components,
with the warmer temperatures prompting an earlier
harvest with fewer but larger fruits. Sub-ambient tem-
peratures remarkably enhanced fruit set but result-
ed in a considerable fruit drop incidence due to low
assimilation rates. Moreover, warmer temperatures
supported early fruit development by increasing pho-
tosynthetic pigment levels and assimilation rates but
subsequent stimulation of vegetative growth intensi-
fied sink competition at the expense of fruit develop-
ment. This research provides crucial insights into the
complex physiological dynamics of temperature and
their profound implications on apple fruit productivi-
ty. Further exploration of these relationships can con-
tribute to the development of practical, resilient, and
sustainable strategies to maximise apple yield under
shifting climatic conditions.

S.207.3 From sea to farm: Rhizodesigning crop rhizospheres with marine bacteria synthetic communities to enhance plant tolerance to stress

Bernardo Duarte¹,², João Carreiras¹,
Ana Cruz-Silva³, Bruno Fonseca¹,³,
Ricardo C. Carvalho¹, Enrique Mateos
Naranjo⁴, Ignacio D. Rodríguez-Llorente⁵,
Eloísa Pajuelo⁵, Susana Redondo-

Gómez⁴, Isabel Caçador, Ana Rita Matos²,³, Jennifer Mesa Marin⁴, Andreia Figueiredo²,³

1 MARE—Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre & Aquatic Research Network Associated Laboratory, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, Lisbon. 2 Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, Lisbon, Portugal. 3 Biosystems and Integrative Sciences Institute, Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, Lisboa, Portugal. 4 Departamento de Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain. 6 Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Seville, Seville, Spain.

The world population is expected to reach 9.1 billion
by 2050, thus raising the need for increasing glob-
al food production by 70% to match the growing
demand. Alongside, the impacts of global climate
change tend to reduce land fertility at a rate higher
than the adaptation capacity of agricultural prac-
tices, imposing new challenges to agriculture, in-
creasing physiological constrain factors (high at-
mospheric CO2 drought, salinization, thermal stress).
Thus, the need to search for alternative cash crops
and nature-based solutions and practices towards
sustainable and regenerative cultivation schemes
arises. Recently several bacterial isolates have
been identified from marine ecosystems with plant
growth-promoting abilities displaying highly prom-
ising results upon application in crop cultivation, al-
lowing plants to fight back physiological constraints.
Plant rhizosphere bioaugmentation with marine
plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) appears
as a reliable, low-cost nature-based solution to
improve agriculture production under disadvanta-
geous conditions. Among the available PGPB hosts,
halophyte plants with recognized nutritional and
agroecological value but also a high degree of tol-
erance to several physiological constraints such as
soil salinization, drought, CO2 rising, and disadvan-
tageous thermal conditions. Nevertheless, despite
this high tolerance degree to adverse environments,
in common garden experiments, these species still
suffer some biomass production decrease under
extreme conditions. Thus, these species' thriving
ability in natural ecosystems indicates that this is not
only boosted by their intrinsic tolerance but also by
the presence of key microorganisms that improve
these tolerance and resistance traits, becoming an
attractive environment for PGPB bioprospection. In
the present work, we present and discuss the ap-
plication of marine PGPB isolated in different classi-
<figure><img src="image_483.png" /></figure>

cal and novel crop systems as biotools to improve plants' resistance and tolerance mechanisms to adverse cultivation conditions (for e.g. heat, drought and saline stress) as well as potential tools to study the underlying physiological mechanisms improved by this rhizosphere bioengineering.

### S.207.4 The photosynthetic efficiency of Thalassia testudinum and abiotic factors associated with the photosynthetic efficiency

Sergio Armando Fuentes Agueda¹, Margarita Elizabeth Gallegos Martínez¹, José Alfredo Arévalo Ramírez², Jordan Kyril Golubov Figueroa², María del Carmen Mandujano Sánchez³.

1 Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, Mexico City, Mexico. 2 Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Xochimilco, Mexico City, Mexico. 3 Instituto de Ecología, UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico

Seagrasses are angiosperms that live mostly in the ocean. Also, they have ecological and economic importance, like having a highly primary production (500 - 4000g carbon m⁻² year⁻¹) and giving nourishment to fish and other important invertebrates. One of the strategies for evaluating the health of seagrasses is the evaluation of their photosynthetic efficiency. The objective of the study was to obtain the *Fv/Fm* of *Thalassia testudinum* and to analyze the abiotic factors associated with photosynthetic efficiency in seagrasses. In 7 areas of The Gulf of México and Yucatán, environmental parameters (temperature pH, depth, dissolved oxygen, salinity, nutrients in the water column, interstitial water nutrients, type of sediment, and organic carbon) were registered at each site. Plants of *T. testudinum* were collected in 7 areas along the coasts of The Gulf of México and Yucatán during the years 2016 and 2019. They were in dark conditions for less than 24 hours, and with a Pulse-amplitude modulated (PAM) chlorophyll fluorometer, it was possible to register the *Fv/Fm* of the youngest leaves. A PCA analysis was used to establish relations with the photosynthetic efficiency of *T. testudinum*. *T. testudinum* has an average of 0.72 *Fv/Fm* ratio. Also, there were significant differences in the areas; Area 5 (San Felipe, Yucatán) presented the lowest *Fv/Fm* ratio (0.61). The most important factors in the PCA were, the *Fv/Fm* ratio of *T. testudinum*, depth, silicates, and dissolved inorganic

nitrogen (DIN). Higher values of photosynthetic efficiency are related to a high amount of nutrients and low depths; areas that are low in these parameters will have low photosynthetic efficiency and be vulnerable to seagrasses meadows.

### S.207.5 To tree or not to tree? Integrating LCA and ecosystem services to evaluate the sustainability of phytoremediation

Lidia Favaretto¹,², Werther Guidi Nissim¹,², Massimo Labra¹,²

1 Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy. 2 National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo, Italy

Over the past 30-40 years, urban areas have experienced a considerable shift in their economic activity. Many industrial sites that were once part of the urban centre are abandoned (brownfields), stimulating active discussion on challenges and opportunities for their reclamation and redevelopment. One of the main reasons for the lack of intervention are the high costs for conventional remediation techniques which are also associated with some important environmental disservices (i.e., SOx, NOx and VOC emission). Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), including phytoremediation for urban brownfields, may promote urban renewal, while reducing pressure on surrounding greenfield areas. Despite the high ecological and economical potential, due to some evident constraints (e.g., long operational time frame, plant tolerance to pollution) phytoremediation is still rarely applied on a large-scale. However, phytoremediation may provide multiple benefits in the form of ecosystem services (ES), such as soil and air quality regulation, biomass supply, biodiversity, aesthetics, and human health. Unfortunately, the assessment of ES related to phytoremediation is still incomplete and further research is needed in this regard. The assessment of ES is only partially covered by tools like Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), which provide data about the potential impacts of productions and services. The primary objective of the project is to assess different phytoremediation techniques and their related ES using an LCA approach. This analysis will highlight the most adequate phytoremediation approach providing the most suited ES for a specific area, with a particular emphasis on soil remediation and biodiversity conservation.
In addition, objective tools will be developed to support the fulfilment and validation of guidelines on the use of phytoremediation in urban areas, highlighting benefits and drawbacks of each possible applicable technique to the stakeholders involved. The final aim would be the efficient redevelopment of brownfields, endorsing policies for a sustainable management of these abandoned areas.

**S.207.6 The effect of early light and water conditions for the seedlings of chamomille (Matricaria chamomilla L.)**

Erika Pénzesné Kónya¹

1 Department of Botany and Plant Physiology Eszterházy Károly Catholic University, Eger, Hungary

It is evident that the environmental conditions during the first weeks of germination has effect for all the life span of several annual plant species.

The examined species is chamomille (Matricaria chamomilla L), an important and valuable wild medicinal plant species growing in the plain protected areas of Hungary. This annual medicinal plant is known in connection with the medicinal compounds and the traditional use of it. Our aim with the experiment was to simulate different light conditions and a water flooding which occasionally occur in plain areas after winter or in autumn. The climatic chamber treatment of seeds was divided into the treatments under two different light spectra and colour temperature of LED lights with permanent light exposures of seeds using two different temperatures. After the treatment the results show different growing features of the plants comparing with control individuals. The results of the experiments show the adaptability of the species to different light and water conditions of the area. It can help understanding the different productability of the species during the extreme weather conditions of last decades. The research is supported by the support of OTKA 143376 application of Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

**S.208 UNDERSTANDING FLORAL EVOLUTION ALONG MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS: EMERGING PATTERNS OF MORPHOLOGICAL, SCENT, AND COLOR VARIATION. SESSION 1**

**S.208.1 Patterns of fine-scale, tissue-specific floral scent in the yucca-yucca moth mutualism.**

Gwen M. Bode¹

1 University of Georgia Syracuse University

Flowers are incredibly diverse, varying across a suite of macro-traits including size, shape, color and scent that are used to advertise rewards to pollinators. However, insect pollinators are usually much smaller than the flowers they visit, meaning fine-scale, or intra-floral, traits are likely significant to pollinator behavior and thus, floral reproduction. Floral scent is predominantly known for its important role in long-

range pollinator attraction, with the majority of floral scent analysis conducted at the whole flower or inflorescence level. Getting the pollinator to the plant is of crucial importance to plant reproduction and is the first step in the pollination process, however successful pollination relies heavily upon pollinator behavior once within the flower and is likely highly impacted by fine-scale intra-floral differences in scent chemistry. The existence of floral tissue-specific scent variation has been shown to be present in 14 plant families and the patterns observed thus far are highly variable and species-specific. Intra-floral scent patterns might act as a chemosensory map that guides insects to floral rewards or improves pollination efficiency, but the ecological implications of intra-floral scent variation remain poorly understood. Brood pollination mutualisms, such as the yucca-yucca moth system often involve com-
<figure><img src="image_484.png" /></figure>

plex behaviors and a need for the pollinator to distinguish among floral parts, providing an excellent system to elucidate the ecological and behavioral impacts of intra-floral scent variation. Here I analyze the floral scent of tepals versus pistils of five species of *Yucca* that share a common pollinator (*Tegeticula yuccasella*). I describe within-species patterns of intra-floral scent variation, how patterns of intra-floral scent differ among *Yucca* species, and potential implications for pollinator behavior [13].

## S.208.2 Testing the sensory drive theory in flower colors and bees: light environment and background are more important than floral color

Melissa León-Osper¹, Mª Luisa Buide¹, Montserrat Arista², Pedro L. Ortiz-Ballesteros², Justen B. Whittall, José C. del Valle², Eduardo Narbona¹.

1Pablo de Olavide University, Seville, Spain. 2 University of Seville, Seville, Spain. 3 Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, USA.

The evolution of flower color is commonly shaped by selective pressures exerted by pollinators. The sensory drive theory posits that the evolution of communication signals is determined by the sensory systems of the animals and the habitat conditions in which the signals are received. When applied to pollinators, this theory would imply that some floral colors may have divergently evolved in certain light environments, for example by becoming more conspicuous. Using the Mediterranean vegetation of south Spain, we compared flower color of coastal dune vegetation with open light environment and sandy background with those of closed cork-oak forest with shaded light environment and green leafy background. We hypothesized that, in the visual system of bees, each vegetation should be highly conspicuous in its own light environment and background. Irradiance of each community, reflectance spectra of flowered species and sandy dunes' background were collected. We modelled these data in the visual system of bees to assess conspicuousness differences of each flower community under different light environments. We found that the irradiance of coastal dune with open light environment was four orders higher than light reaching the cork-oak understory and showed differences in the spec-

tral shape. Furthermore, sandy background nearly doubles the reflectance compared to leafy backgrounds, also showing spectral shape differences. In each vegetation type, we categorized flower color as UV⁺ yellow, UV⁻ yellow, pink and white. In both communities, all flower colors but UV⁻ yellow showed significantly higher chromatic contrast in the dunes environment that in the corn oak understory. However, UV⁻ yellow flowers showed lower in these conditions. Taken together, our findings indicate that open sandy environments favor the conspicuousness of most flower colors and suggests that other selective forces may play a role in the evolution of flower color at the community level.

## S.208.3 Integration among phytochemicals cannot explain among-population variation in floral scent in Arabis alpina

Hanna Thosteman¹, Katherine Eisen¹,², Hampus Petrén¹,³, Sotiria Boutsi¹,⁴, Loretta Pace⁵, John M. Halley⁶, Consuelo de Moraes⁷, Mark C. Mescher⁸, James Buckley⁷,⁹, Magne Friberg¹

1Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 37, Lund, Sweden. 2 Department of Biology, Loyola Marymount University, California, United States of America. 3 Department of Biology, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany. 4 Department of Agriculture and Environment Harper Adams University, Newport, UK. 5 Medicina Sanità Pubblica Scienze della Vita e dell' Ambiente, Università degli Studi dell'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy. 6 Department of Biological Applications, University of Ioannina, Greece. 7 Biocommunication group, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zürich, Switzerland. 8 Plant Ecology group, Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, Switzerland. 9 School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, UK.

One recent discovery is the presence of variation in floral scent among conspecific populations of plants involved in generalized pollination systems. Often, such variation is taken as evidence suggesting that the floral scent of different populations is moulded in different directions by pollinator mediated selection, due to e.g. variation in local pollinator communities. Pollinators are believed to drive the evolution of floral scent in several systems, and this theory can also be tested for Arabis alpina. However, one possibility is that floral scent may not be the target of se-
<figure><img src="image_485.png" /></figure>

lection and that pollinators are not the only agents shaping the evolution of the floral scent chemistry in this system. Many floral scent compounds share biosynthetic pathways with defence compounds. Thus, selection pressures that affect defence compounds could result in indirect selection on the floral scent compounds. Therefore, to determine if floral scent is free to evolve unrelated to other plant compounds it is important to investigate to what degree floral scent compounds are correlated to other plant compounds, especially those involved in plant defence. We extracted floral scent, constitutive foliar volatiles and glucosinolates from 23 populations of the perennial herb Arabis alpina. Thereby, we could assess the magnitude of interdependence among these compounds produced and emitted by different plant tissues. By comparing integration indices, we found that floral scent was largely non-correlated with plant defence compounds in this species, and the geographically variable floral scent variation is thus likely the target of locally divergent selection pressures.

### S.208.4 Exploring polyploidy-induced floral scent divergence and its impact on pollination shifts in a Mediterranean carnation complex

Francisco Balao¹, Jesús Picazo-Aragonés¹, Alba Rodríguez Parra¹, Javier López Jurado¹, Claudia Moreno Portillo¹, Stefan Dötterl², Anass Terrab¹

1 Department of Plant Biology & Ecology, University of Seville, Seville, Spain. 2 Department of Environment & Biodiversity, Paris Lodron University Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria

Polyploidy is a significant driver of plant speciation. However, the establishment of neo-polyploids requires a process of ecological divergence to alleviate inter-cytotypic competition. This divergence often encompasses quantitative and qualitative alterations in floral phenotype, potentially affecting pollination assemblage. This phenomenon holds notable significance within the intricate ecological context of the Mediterranean region, marked by its unique climatic nuances and a diverse array of ecological niches. Our objective is to elucidate the fundamental mechanisms driving ecological divergence

post-polyploidization, using the Mediterranean autopolyploid *Dianthus broteri* complex as a study system. This complex comprises four distinct ploidy levels (2x, 4x, 6x, and 12x) and parapatric monocytoptic populations along an arid gradient in the Iberian Peninsula. Through a multidisciplinary approach involving Reproductive Biology and Chemical Ecology, we identified alterations in the pollinator spectrum and analyzed changes in floral volatilome and transcriptome among cytotypes. Our investigation identified varying floral scent profiles and distinct pollinator assemblages among cytotypes. The 12x cytotype, primarily pollinated by hawkmoths, exhibited floral scents rich in ketones, whereas the 2x and 4x cytotypes displayed high visitation rates by bees and floral scent composed by benzenoids, monoterpenoids and sesquiterpenoids. The 6x cytotype showed a floral scent enriched in sequiterpenoids and a generalist pollination by bees, butterflies, and moths. However, experimental sympatry of cytotypes suggested that complete isolation of cytotypes is not automatically conferred by pollinator shifts and may have required further evolutionary adaptations, such as habitat isolation, to diminish the immediate spatial overlap of the neo-polyploids. This comprehensive approach shed light on the mechanisms shaping evolutionary trajectories within the *Dianthus broteri* complex, providing valuable insights into the impact of autopolyploidy on plant speciation and adaptation.

### S.208.5 Fragrant Gingers: Ecological and taxonomic insights from floral scents in the genus Hedychium from India and Thailand

Anupama Sekhar¹, Ratchuporn Suksathan², Piyakaset Suksathan², Vinita Gowda¹

1 *Tropical Ecology and Evolution* lab, Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal, India. 2 Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden, Botanic Garden Organisation, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Floral scents play a dual role in a plant's fitness, that is as both an attractant as well as a deterrent. In a community, when congeneric species are in sympatry, competition drives interspecific variations in floral scents. Like any other morphological floral trait, floral scent profiles both qualitatively and
<figure><img src="image_486.png" /></figure>

quantitatively can be used as a taxonomic char-
acter, as they are key traits in many plant-animal
interactions. These ecological interactions are often
isolating mechanisms driving speciation in many
mixed-floral communities. The chemical signa-
tures from floral volatiles can also be used to dif-
ferentiate taxa within species complexes. These are
taxa where the members are not morphologically
distinguishable. Here, we first explore the interspe-
cific variations in floral scents among sympatric
taxa and secondly, we explore chemicals that may
act as signature molecules for taxonomic identifi-
cations. To address the above questions, we used
the taxonomically complex, fragrant ginger genus
Hedychium (Zingiberaceae) which is endemic to
the Asian paleotropics. A total of 22 species and 12
intermediate forms were sampled from the North-
East of India, Western Ghats, and Northern Thailand
during two peak flowering seasons. The floral scents
were extracted via dynamic headspace sampling
and analyzed using Gas chromatography-mass
spectrometry (GC-MS). The chemical analysis re-
sults revealed that most of the sampled sympatric
taxa had their unique chemo space. The intermedi-
ates showed a shared profile from both the putative
parents suggesting a congruence with what we had
known from ecological and morphological data.
Our work emphasizes the use of chemical data as
critical and complementing to the morphological,
ecological, and genetic data in drawing taxonomic
boundaries. It also allows us to understand the eco-
logical and evolutionary implications of floral scents
among sympatric taxa.

S.208.6 Diversity in
reproductive strategies and
floral sex allocation in the
genus Aeschynanthus Jack
(Gesneriaceae)

Sanika Goray¹, Vinita Gowda¹

1 Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal, India

Intrafloral protandry is a type of dichogamy where
bisexual flowers exhibit male function at the begin-
ning of anthesis and transition to the female phase
later. This phenomenon is present in the genus
Aeschynanthus Jack (Gesneriaceae). Though horti-
culturally popular, empirical studies on the ecology
of the genus are scarce. Here, we investigate the di-

versity of sexual systems that are present in several
species of the Indian *Aeschynanthus*. Our field ob-
servations revealed the presence of andromonoecy
and variations in forms of andromonoecy among
the Indian species of *Aeschynanthus*. Since andro-
monoecy has been reported in *Aeschynanthus* we
explored its nature and efficiency among different
species from the North East of India from an eco-
logical perspective. We focused on achieving the
following objectives during our study: 1) To investi-
gate the presence of andromonoecy in the genus.
2) To comprehend how the allocation of floral re-
sources (such as floral sex ratio, rewards, and dis-
play) is impacted by andromonoecy. 3) To analyze
the differences in fitness (such as pollinator visita-
tion and fruit set) among species while considering
their reproductive strategies. Out of the four species
studied, three were found to be andromonoecious
and one was non-andromonoecious. Among the
andromonoecious species, taxa with the highest
nectar quality (percent sucrose) had the highest
male-biased sex ratio and displayed significantly
higher fitness. Interestingly, the non-andromonoe-
cious species had similar fitness to this andromon-
oecious taxa and also had some of the highest nec-
tar quality. Our findings suggest that andromonoecy
enables species to improve pollen export without
compromising on pollinator attraction, as there is a
tradeoff between the proportion of bisexual flowers
and nectar quality between species. In this sexual
system of protandry and andromonoecy (protan-
dromonoecy), protandry promotes outcrossing
while andromonoecy may facilitate better pollen
export and efficient resource allocation.
# S.209 TROPICAL PLANT EVOLUTION ACROSS SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL SCALES. SESSION 1.

## S.209.1 The evolution and distribution of defense traits are shaped by megaherbivores and climate

Rachel Souza Ferreira¹, Colin Hughes², Eduardo Alé³, Jens Ringelberg⁴, Renske Onstein¹,⁵

1 German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Halle - Jena - Leipzig. 2 Institut für Systematische Botanik, University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland. 3 Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. 4 School of GeoSciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. 5 Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, the Netherlands

The evolutionary arms race between plants and herbivores has led to many adaptations and counter-adaptations in both groups. Plants possess numerous analogous defense structures, such as thorns and spines, that deter predation from large-bodied herbivorous mammals. However, whether herbivory shaped the evolution and distribution of such traits remains unclear. Here, we use a macroecological approach and hypothesize that the evolution and distribution of plant defense traits (spinescence hereafter) is convergent and was shaped by the interaction with medium- to large-sized (i.e., more than 10kg) mammalian herbivores. We focus on the pantropical mimosoid (Mimosoideae, Fabaceae) lineage, including 2338 species (69% of total). We compiled a database of functional traits on growth form, spinescence, leaves, and fruits for all mimosoids. We integrated the mimosoid data with morphological, phylogenetic, and geographical data for 235 extant and 185 extinct species of medium- to large-sized mammalian herbivores, fire regimes, and climate, and applied phylogenetic and structural equation models to identify direct and indirect drivers of spinescence at global and continental scales. Results illustrate the repeated evolution of spinescence across mimosoids, and we show that the global proportion of spinescent species across broad-scale assemblages is strongly associated with species richness of extant and extinct mammalian herbivores and extended periods of drought, whereas fire affected spinescence indirectly, via effects on herbivore richness. Furthermore,

we detected biogeographical differences in drivers of spinescence: Extinct herbivore richness was the most important driver in Africa, whereas extant herbivores explained most of the variation in the Americas. Our findings suggest that the environmental correlates of plant defense traits are scale-dependent and that current ecosystems cannot be properly understood without considering past interactions with megaherbivores. We argue that the complex interaction between climate, fire, and the evolution of mammalian herbivores has influenced the evolution and distribution of plant defense adaptations across tropical realms.

## S.209.2 Revisiting the patterns of African flora biodiversity using spatial phylogenetics

Israel Borokini¹, Brent D. Mishler², Shawn Laffan³

1 Montana State University, Bozeman, USA. 2 University of California, Berkeley, USA. 3 University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

The African continent is the second most biologically diverse continent on earth, after South America, harboring a vast richness of animals and over 70,000 known plant species. The African savanna is the richest grassland on earth and the Guineo-Congolian Forest biome is the world's second largest tropical rainforest and carbon sink (after the Amazon Basin). Also, eight of the world's 36 biodiversity hotspots are found on the continent. The unprecedented levels of floristic diversity on the continent indicates that several factors, including ecological, biogeographical, and evolutionary drivers, play important roles. Because of these important historical factors, diversity assessments based on species counts alone cannot reliably describe biodiversity patterns and mechanisms responsible for generating and maintaining them. We conducted spatial phylogenetic analysis of the African vascular plants, leveraging recently accessible georeferenced occurrences and a corresponding time-calibrated phylogeny, using *Biodiverse* software (https://
<figure><img src="image_487.png" /></figure>

shawnlaffan.github.io/biodiverse/), to identify areas of significant concentrations of phylogenetic diversity (PD), relative phylogenetic diversity (RPD), phylogenetic endemism (PE), and phylogenetic turnover. We also conducted a categorical analysis of neo- and paleo-endemism (CANAPE). Spatial data for native African vascular flora and a corresponding phylogeny were accessed from open-source databases and published papers. Areas of significant phylodiversity in PD, PE, and RPD were identified using a spatial randomization test. The resulting patterns were compared with climate data to infer biodiversity drivers. We also looked at floristic regions of the continent using a range-weighted version of phylo-turnover to evaluate previously published regionalizations. Maps of significant phylodiversity were overlaid on a map of Africa's protected areas to evaluate the congruence of habitat protection and biodiversity patterns. Conservation priorities are given based on these results.

## S.209.3 The decline of megathermal forests and fate of tropical forest lineages through the Cenozoic: Insights from palms

Jun Ying Lim¹, Huasheng Huang², Carina Hoorn³

1 Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore. 2 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy. 3 Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Tropical rain forests and mangroves are much smaller in extent today than in the early Cenozoic, primarily owing to global cooling and drying trends since the Eocene-Oligocene transition. The general reduction of these biomes is hypothesized to shape the diversity and biogeographical history of tropical plant clades. However, this has rarely been examined owing to a paucity of good fossil records of tropical taxa and the difficulty in assigning them to modern clades. Here, we evaluate the role that Cenozoic climate change might have played in shaping the diversity and biogeography of tropical plants through time, by examining the exquisite fossil pollen record for an iconic and ubiquitous component of tropical forests globally: the palms.

## S.209.4 Deciphering the complex interactions that shape the genetic diversity of a tropical montane ginger using a genomic approach.

Aleena Xavier¹, Vinita Gowda¹

1 Tropical Ecology and Evolution Lab, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.

Widely distributed species often harbour high levels of genetic and phenotypic variations due to their interactions with diverse environmental conditions. This makes them an ideal study group to understand the microevolutionary processes that can lead to speciation. Their wide distribution allows us to investigate the genetic and physical barriers to gene flow across both spatial and temporal scales. Our study focuses on *Hedychium spicatum*, a morphologically variable, widespread ginger found in the understory of tropical montane forests. It is distributed across high-elevational regions of India, Southern China, and Northern Thailand and is found in sympatry with congeners. Ecological studies have shown that *H. spicatum* can interbreed with congeneric, sympatric taxa. This led us to hypothesize that the morphological variation seen in this species could be due to hybridization events. We aim to investigate putative barriers to gene flow in *H. spicatum* across its geographical range. We sampled 12 *H. spicatum* populations and sympatric congeneric species across their distributional range. We used dd-RAD sequencing and SSR markers to investigate the genetic structure of this species using model-based and model-free clustering approaches. We also checked for different genetic isolation models, migration models, demographic history, mating dynamics, and ploidy variations to understand the determinants of the genetic diversity of this species. Our results showed migrations between different geographical regions, and we found evidence of genetic admixtures between *H. spicatum* and its sympatric taxa. We propose that the structure of *H. spicatum* is affected by a combination of factors such as migrations, historical demographic processes, hybridization events, and ploidy variations. Understanding the complex interaction of these factors could be critical in understanding plant speciation mechanisms in the tropics, an area where we still have limited knowledge.
<figure><img src="image_488.png" /></figure>

## S.209.5 Fossil floras show early diversification in the evolution of Neotropical Rainforests

Mónica R. Carvalho¹, Fabiany Herrera², L. Alejandro Giraldo³, Brielle Canares¹, Laura M. Puente⁴, Carlos Jaramillo⁵

¹Museum of Paleontology and Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA. ²Negaunee Integrative Research Center, Field Museum, Chicago, USA. ³Department of Geosciences, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, USA. ⁴Departamento de Biología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia. ⁵Center for Tropical Paleoecology and Archeology, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panamá

Neotropical plant communities are exceptionally diverse and are the result of dynamic processes that include diversification, dispersal, and local/regional extinctions driven by climatic fluctuations and tec-

tonics over the past 66 million years. Two Paleocene floras from northern South America show the earliest evidence of angiosperm-dominated, closed-canopy forests that document the early stages in the evolution of Neotropical rainforests. The Cerrejón and Bogotá paleofloras (58–60 Ma) represent coastal and fluvial environments, respectively, and share similar climatic characteristics and family-level composition seen in living rainforests. Despite overall similarities and shared patterns of low plant richness, these fossil assemblages show contrasting ecologies and composition at sub-familial levels that reflect floristic heterogeneity at a regional scale by the Late Paleocene. Fossil species within dominant and species-rich plant families such as Fabaceae and Annonaceae are typically restricted to each flora, showcasing patterns of diversification in northern South America. This talk revises recent findings within Paleocene floras of Colombia and evaluate the extent to which environmental gradients contributed to the early diversification of Neotropical rainforests.

## S.210 SYNANTHEROLOGY RELOADED: RECENT ADVANCES AND THE FUTURE OF EVOLUTIONARY STUDIES IN COMPOSITAE. SESSION 2

### S.210.1 Phylogenetic insights into the endemic species of the genus Senecio L. (Asteraceae) in India

Akanksha S. Jeswani¹, Siddharthan Surveswaran², Manoj M. Lekhak¹

¹Shivaji University, Kolhapur, India. ²University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India

Senecio L. (Senecioneae: Asteraceae) is one of the most speciose genera globally, comprising approximately 1250 species primarily concentrated in southern Africa and South America. The genus is characterized by its remarkable adaptability to varied habitats which is probably the reason for its widespread distribution and high species numbers.

The sheer magnitude of species and huge variation has hindered comprehensive phylogenetic reconstruction. For a long period of time phylogenetic studies have revealed the paraphyletic or polyphyletic nature of the genus prompting the need for better sampling as well more sequence markers. However, despite extensive molecular studies on Senecio worldwide, the Indian species have remained largely unexplored. In India, the genus is represented by about 53 taxa (47 species and 6 varieties), exhibiting high species diversity in the Himalayas and the Western Ghats. Of the 21 endemic species identified in India, 80% are confined to the Western Ghats. We sampled six species and two putative new species from the northern Western Ghats to study their phylogenetic status. Based on different nuclear ITS and plastid markers (trnT-L, trnL, trnK, psbA-trnH), the analysis reveals that these taxa are closely related to Senecio saxatilis Wall. placed within Austrosy-
*notis-Cineraria* clade, as identified in Pelser et al. (2007). Furthermore, the study strongly supports the placement of these species under Section *Madaractis* (DC.) Hook.f. represented with species occurring in central Asia.

## S.210.2 Biogeography of the Mexico-eastern U.S disjunction in Symphyotrichum

Sushil Dahal¹, Carolina M. Siniscalchi², Ryan A. Folk¹

1 Department of Biological Sciences, Mississippi State, USA. 2 Mississippi State University Libraries, Mississippi State, USA.

Biotic disjunctions, the occurrences of related organisms in disconnected areas of the Earth, have attracted scientific attention for past 200 years. Despite being represented in many familiar plants such as bald cypress, flowering dogwood, sweetgum, partridgeberry, etc., the eastern North American (ENA)-Mexican (M) disjunction remains poorly understood. Major outstanding questions include the divergence times of taxa exhibiting the disjunction and environmental/geological processes that may underlie the disjunction. *Symphyotrichum*, one of the most diverse genera in the eastern US, extends across the Americas, the Caribbean, and Eurasia, with several examples of disjunct ENA-M taxa. We performed molecular work using herbarium specimens to sequence accessions representing most of the species-level diversity of broader *Symphyotrichum*. We performed a sequence capture approach on DNA libraries using the Angiosperms353 baitset and used HybPiper to assemble the sequence data. Our phylogenetic analyses used both concatenation in RAxML-NG and coalescence in ASTRAL-III. We used MCMCTREE to perform divergence time estimation and R package BioGeoBEARS to infer ancestral regions and biogeographic transitions between North America and Mexico. Finally, we used an ancestral niche reconstruction approach in Utremi to test for a role of historical aridification in generating the disjunction. Our molecular data suggest a recent radiation of *Symphyotrichum* at the Plio-Pleistocene boundary (~2.5 mya), with early connections to Mexico in ancestral lineages that closed off shortly after. Several subsequent dispersals to Mexico in the mid-Pleistocene were followed by vicariance across this region. Except for some

present-day broadly distributed species, there is a complete lack of movement between ENA and M after 1 mya. A reconstructed disjunct distribution of suitable habitat in Pleistocene climatic models corroborate results from biogeographic modeling and confirm a role for aridification in the North American interior in creating the ENA-M disjunction.

## S.210.3 Four or more? Integrative species delimitation of the African daisy complex Dimorphotheca pluvialis-sinuata

Thaabiet Parker¹,², Geoge A. Verboom¹, Nicola G. Bergh², John C. Manning², Allan G. Ellis³

1 University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. 2 South African National Biodiversity Institute Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Cape Town, South Africa. 3 University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Evolutionary relationships in the South African daisy genus *Dimorphotheca* Vaill ex. Moench. have long been problematic, with historical taxonomy often being based on potentially labile morphological traits. Here we investigate the *Dimorphotheca pluvialis-sinuata* species complex which have historically been separated based on white vs orange ray colour alone; but show widespread variation in ray colour patterns, disc floret sculpturing and fruit characters. We present an integrated taxonomic approach utilising next-generation sequencing genetic data in conjunction with several additional lines of evidence. Plants from 191 populations were sampled from 20 a priori morphotypes which encompassed the range of morphological variation in the complex. DNA of 301 individuals were extracted for genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) and concatenation and coalescent phylogenetic species delimitation approaches were used to assign individuals to hypothesised genetic species. Support for genetic species was further assessed using surveys of phenotypic trait variation as well as cross-pollination experiments. Results showed strong support for at least four species within the complex; with the previous use of ray colour ineffective in delimiting species. While three putative genetic species can be clearly identified and grouped based on morpho-
<figure><img src="image_489.png" /></figure>

logical characters, the remaining species encompasses a wide range of diverse morphotypes which exhibit variation on a geographic cline. Phylogenetic patterns suggest this may be due to repeated range expansion and subsequent serial founder effects, and we further assess this using a clinal genomic analysis which incorporated pollinator observations as a potential selective regime. This study provides a framework for untangling complex taxonomic questions and emphasises understanding of evolutionary process in reclassification.

### S.210.4 Phylogenomic insights into the Marguerite daisy tribe (Anthemideae, Astearaceae)

David Criado-Ruiz¹,², Joan Vallès³, Randall J. Bayer⁴, Luis Palazzesi⁵, Jaume Pellicer⁶,⁷, Iván Pérez Lorenzo³,⁶, Olivier Maurin⁷, Elaine Françoso⁷, Shyamali Roy⁷, Ilia J. Leitch⁷, Félix Forest⁷, William J. Baker⁷, Lisa Pokorny¹,⁷, Oriane Hidalgo⁶,⁷, Gonzalo Nieto Feliner¹

1 Real Jardín Botánico, CSIC, Madrid, Spain. 2 Facultad de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain. 3 Laboratori de Botànica, Facultat de Farmàcia i Ciències de l'Alimentació, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. 4 Department of Biological Sciences, Center for Biodiversity, University of Memphis, Memphis, USA. 5 Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, CONICET, División Paleobotánica, Buenos Aires, Argentina. 6 Institut Botànic de Barcelona, CSIC-Ajuntament de Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. 7 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, UK.

Using targeted high-throughput sequencing of 244 low-copy nuclear genes and capture of 66 plastid genes and including 61 out of 111 genera and all but four of the 19 currently recognized subtribes (Inulantherinae, Lapidophorinae, Lonadinae, and Vogtiinae), our study takes a step further into the intricate evolutionary history of Anthemideae, a remarkably diverse tribe within the Asteraceae family. Our results are largely consistent with previous research but clarify the placement and circumscription of several taxa and reveal compelling incongruences. Some of these clarifications involve longstanding issues affecting some of the 19 currently recognized subtribes, such as

the placement of Osmitopsis, the monophyly of Cotulinae, the affinities of Glebionidinae and Santolinae, and the paraphyly of two subtribe pairs, proposed here to be merged: Athanasiinae with Phymasperminae and Matricariinae with Anthemidinae. Among the incongruences, those between nuclear and plastid trees are particularly noteworthy since they challenge subtribal taxonomy and hint at ancient hybridization events. Disparities were also observed between the multispecies pseudo-coalescent (MSC) and maximum likelihood (ML) nuclear trees. Furthermore, our research introduces novel perspectives on the tribe's historical biogeography, supporting three groupings: a Southern African Grade, an Asian Clade, and a Circum-Mediterranean Clade, which shed light on the historical expansion of Anthemideae lineages across different regions. Divergence time analyses underscore the role of Plio-Pleistocene climatic shifts as drivers of rapid radiations within the tribe. By refining the phylogenetic relationships among and within subtribes and by pointing out potential ancient hybridization events, our research highlights episodes that require further investigations, paving the way for a deeper understanding of Anthemideae systematics and evolution.

### S.210.5 Palynology of Vernonieae from Madagascar (Compositae)

Higor Antonio-Domingues¹, Benoit Loeuille¹, Isabel Larridon¹, Morgan Gostel², Ana Rita G. Simões¹

1 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, UK.
2 Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Texas, USA

One of the largest tribes in Asteraceae, Vernonieae, has proven intractable for taxonomic revision, with more than 1,000 of the ca. 1,500 species being recognised in the genus Vernonia. This genus has recently been re-circumscribed to include just 21 accepted species in the Americas, prompting the reclassification of ca. 1,000 species out of Vernonia. Much of this work has been completed in the Neotropics, but few studies have been undertaken for the more than 700 species of Vernonieae in the Paleotropics. At least 200 African species remain in Vernonia, but due to poor generic delimitation in this tribe, it is unclear to which genus they belong. We have performed the most complete palyn taxonomy study of Malagasy representatives of
<figure><img src="image_490.png" /></figure>

the tribe Vernonieae to date, which is represented by 90 species, including 39 still placed in *Vernonia*. Pollen grains and micromorphological reproductive characters were analysed under light microscopy and SEM. Our results the eurypalynous status of tribe Vernonieae tribe based on variations in pollen grain size, aperture and ultrasculpture types. Further study that includes more comprehensive molecular sampling of species in Vernonieae is in progress and will be elemental for further understanding the diversity and evolution of pollen within this tribe.

## S.210.6 Hyperdiverse but still under-explored: recent and future evolutionary studies in the Compositae of Southern Africa

Nicola G. Bergh¹,⁵, Zaynab Shaik²,⁴, Thaabiet Parker¹,³, Lauren M. C. James³, Allan G. Ellis², Robert Sadler³, Bengt Oxelman⁴, G. Anthony Verboom³,⁴

¹ The Compton Herbarium, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Kirstenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa. ² Department of Botany and Zoology, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa. ³ Department of Biology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa. ⁴ Department of

*Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden. ⁵ Gothenburg Botanical Garden, Gothenburg, Sweden.*

The Cape Flora has very high concentrations of species diversity and extremely high levels of endemism in a relatively small geographic area. As for most temperate regional floras, Compositae is the most species-rich family. A number of endemic composite lineages have radiated within (and in many cases, subsequently dispersed out of) the region, after adaptation to the unique edaphic and climatic conditions that characterise the island-like Cape habitats. Most of the taxonomic work on Cape Compositae occurred more than thirty years ago, before the advent of modern methods and resources, and there has been very little evolutionary work on these systems. Here, I present advances in species discovery and in the understanding of speciation processes in the Cape Flora, based largely on our research in two Cape-centred tribes, the Gnaphalieae (everlasting daisies) and the Calenduleae (the African marigolds). These studies make use of herbarium specimens, online databases, and citizen-science platforms; extensive fieldwork; and a range of morphological and molecular techniques, including genomic data, to reconstruct evolutionary relationships, discover new species, and examine the context of diversification. We extrapolate from these results to explore possible implications for future species discovery in other members of the Compositae of this hyperdiverse region.

## S.211 EVOLUTION AND DIVERSITY OF CARBON CONCENTRATING MECHANISMS (CCM) IN LAND PLANTS. SESSION 2

### S.211.1 Defining the C2 photosynthesis phenotype across diverse plant lineages

H.R. Roberts¹, G. Rumble¹, D. Worall¹, T. Hernandez-Verdeja¹, M.R. Lundgren¹

¹ Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Bailrigg, Lancaster, UK.

Most plants use only C₃ photosynthesis, which endures high rates of metabolically costly photorespi-

ration under elevated temperatures and dry conditions. However, several plant lineages convergently evolved carbon concentrating mechanisms (CCM; e.g., C₄) to help avoid these photorespiratory costs and consequently boost photosynthetic efficiency under these stressful environments. During the repeated evolutionary transitions from the ancestral C₃ to complex C₄ CCM, evolutionary intermediate C₃-C₄ states arose, many of which use a rare physiology called C₂ photosynthesis. The C₂ CCM is a natural CO₂ recycling mechanism that shuttles the photorespiratory product glycine from mesophyll into bundle sheath cells, where it releases,
<figure><img src="image_491.png" /></figure>

concentrates, and reassimilates the CO₂ released from photorespiration. Engineering the C₂ CCM into C₃ crops shows promise to increase crop yields, especially under climate change, but achieving this requires a detailed understanding of the complete C₂ phenotype across scales, from the sub-cellular to whole-plant. To comprehensively characterise the C₂ phenotype across diverse plant lineages, we quantified ultrastructure, organelle content, and biochemistry of mesophyll vs bundle sheath cells, leaf structure, relative growth rate, whole plant resource allocation, root characteristics, drought responses, leaf gas exchange in C₂ plants compared with their close C₃ relatives from six plant lineages. C₂ species showed several clear benefits compared to their C₃ relatives under the experimental conditions, including greater biomass, leaf area, and intrinsic water use efficiency, as well as many other phenotypic differences compared to their C₃ counterparts. Our findings clarify the phenotypic changes that accompanied the repeated evolution of C₂ phenotypes in diverse plant lineages, providing critical information needed engineering the C₂ photosynthetic pathway into C₃ crops to achieve food security now and into the future.

strategic to achieve this objective. Like tropical Andean ecosystems with soils that are mostly derived from volcanic ash and important carbon storage and stabilizers, due to their high content of organic matter, these ecosystems present high biological, cultural and agricultural diversity. These ecosystems are altered by the high concentration of human settlements and changes in land use; Given this situation, research questions formulated in the review were raised, a gap in knowledge of SOC sequestration in tropical Andean ecosystems has been identified and the methods and approaches for its study must be clarified, understanding that there are various techniques for determining C, but little is addressed from socio-ecological systems and there is diversity of information regarding C models, this research suggests addressing the sequestration of SOC within an interdisciplinary and systemic approach. This implies the development of methodological, sociological, ecological, and technological processes that allow us to understand the problem from a holistic and integrative perspective, which allows us to understand the dynamics of communities in the territories surrounding the conservation of ecosystem services.

## S.211.2 Soil organic carbon in tropical Andean ecosystems study methods and approaches: a systematic review

Víctor Alfonso Mondragón Valencia¹,², Carolina Bambagüe Caicedo³, Apolinar Figueroa Casas¹

1 Doctorado en Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad del Cauca, Colombia. 2 Grupo de estudios sobre diversidad vegetal, Universidad del Cauca, Colombia. 3 Institución Educativa Belén, Colombia

Soil is the most important carbon (C) reserve in the terrestrial biosphere, soil organic C (SOC) is the result of the balance between the contributions of organic matter to soils and the loss of C through decomposition, leaching and erosion of organic matter, the main source of organic matter is dead plant material from both surface and underground tissues. The potential of soils as carbon sinks has attracted considerable scientific attention in recent years, as an alternative to mitigate warming and which is a key factor for soil health, there are areas that can be

## S.211.3 Pyrenoid formation and carbon concentrating mechanisms in hornworts: contrasting dynamics but parallel molecular underpinnings

Stephanie Ruaud¹, Svenja Nötzold², James Barrett³, Manuel Waller¹, Anna Neubauer¹, Luke Mackinder³, Susann Wicke², Péter Szövényi¹

1 Dept. of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Zurich, Switzerland. 2 Plant Systematics and Biodiversity, Humboldt-University Berlin, Germany. 3 Department of Biology, University of York, UK

Biophysical carbon concentrating mechanisms (CCMs) operating at the single-cell level have evolved independently in various lineages of eukaryotic algae and a single land plant lineage, the hornworts. An essential component for an efficient eukaryotic CCM is a pyrenoid, a specialized compartment inside the chloroplast that mainly comprises the CO₂-fixing enzyme RuBisCO. Information
<figure><img src="image_492.png" /></figure>

on pyrenoid biology and CCM is primarily available for the unicellular green alga, *Chlamydomonas reinhardtii*, suggesting that both pyrenoid formation and CCM is highly dynamic and inducible by low CO₂ concentrations.

In contrast to *C. reinhardtii*, molecular underpinnings, inducibility and dynamics of the hornwort CCM and the pyrenoids are poorly understood. To start investigating molecular underpinnings of the CCM in hornworts we used a combination of methods including (1) protein co-IP of pyrenoid components, (2) localization of candidates homologous to CCM genes in *Chlamydomonas*, and (3) CO₂ assimilation measurements in pyrenoid-bearing and pyrenoid-free species. While we provide evidence that the scaffolding candidate and the RuBisCO co-localize in hornworts like in *Chlamydomonas*, they appear to be less dynamic. We further found that the carbon anhydrase homolog (CAH3) of hornworts is localized to the pyrenoid, while the LCIB homolog is less intimately linked to the pyrenoid than in *Chlamydomonas*. Surprisingly, we observed that pyrenoid formation and subcellular localization of CAH3 and LCIB do not react to changing CO₂ concentrations, darkness or H₂O₂ as it is described in *C. reinhardtii*. Our results imply that the pyrenoid-based CCM of hornworts is characterized by a mixture of *Chlamydomonas*-like as well as hornwort-specific features which is line with their independent evolutionary origin. Furthermore, our study suggests that hornwort CCM may be less dynamic than that of *C. reinhardtii*.

### S.211.4 Tree demography driving species composition and carbon stock changes in European forests

Miriam Bravo-Hernández<fnref n="1" />, Julen Astigarraga<fnref n="1" />, Susanne Suvanto², Albert Vilà-Cabrera<fnref n="1" />, Thomas A.M. Pugh³,⁴, Miguel A. Zavala<fnref n="1" />, Adriane Esquivel-Muelbert³, André Thibaut⁵, Andrzej Talarczyk⁶, Anja Leyman⁷, Emil Cienciala⁸, Georges Kunstler⁹, Jonas Fridman¹⁰, Julien Barrere⁹, Leen Govaere⁷, Marta Rodríguez-Rey<fnref n="1" />, Mart-Jan Schelhaas¹¹, Sara Villén-Pérez<fnref n="1" />, Paloma Ruiz-Benito<fnref n="1" />

3 University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK. 4 Lund University, Lund, Sweden. 5 Service Public de Wallonie, Jambes, Belgium. 6 Forest and Natural Resources Research Centre Foundation, Warsaw, Poland. 7 Agency for Nature and Forests (ANB), Brussels, Belgium. 8 Institute of Forest Ecosystem Research, Jilove u Prahy, Czech Republic. 9 Université Grenoble Alpes (INRAE), UR LESSEM, Saint-Martin-d'Hères, France. 10 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden. 11 Wageningen Environmental Research, Wageningen, Netherlands

Forest ecosystems play a crucial role in climate change mitigation due to their extensive carbon sequestration and reservoir capacity. Tree species distributions and abundance largely vary across environmental gradients and are expected to change in response to climate change and management. The expected spatio-temporal changes of coexisting species depend on different demographic processes, where tree growth and mortality may follow the same or opposite directions, largely contingent on species strategies to cope with climate change. However, changes in species demographic processes across large environmental gradients remain unexplored. In this study, we aim to investigate changes in species abundance and forest composition considering biomass gains and losses for the main tree species in Europe. We used National Forest Inventories (NFIs) to build species-specific models of biomass gains and losses, considering climate, forest structure, and recent management. Then, we integrated these models' predictions to determine changes in composition and carbon storage under climate change scenarios. We observed that biomass gains and losses generally follow similar patterns, with a high importance of forest structure, climate and recent management driving observed changes. The predicted changes in species and functional composition across Europe under climate change varied across the covered environmental gradient, which is directly linked with the predicted carbon stored. Future work should further explore the potential implications of increased biomass gains and losses under climate change and the potential role of forest management in modifying these trends.

<footnote n="1">1 Universidad de Alcalá, Madrid, Spain. 2 Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Helsinki, Finland.</footnote>