Shedding light on the evolution of wood anatomical traits in some Myrtaceae species from subtropical Brazil

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5902/2358198092790

Keywords:

brownian motion, ecological anatomy, ecophysiology, niche analysis, phylogenetic signal

Abstract

We aimed to investigate some historical and evolutionary parameters of wood anatomical traits for 31 Myrtaceae species from subtropical Brazil, as this group is the richest in this climatic region. We selected the following traits: diameter, frequency and length of vessels, intervessel pit diameter and fiber length, because of the abundant material available in articles and public databases. We reconstructed a time-calibrated phylogeny and a climate envelope of each selected species and performed statistical tests to: elucidate which climate variables best explained the variation in the wood characters; disentangle the influence between ancestry and adaptation; find the best evolutionary model explaining the data variation; and infer the way in which evolution may have occurred. Our results showed that features related to precipitation had the greatest influence on most of the wood characters of the selected Myrtaceae species. We also demonstrated that most of the anatomical traits respond less to environmental demands than to common ancestry. In addition, evolutionary analyses showed that almost all wood variables are able to adapt rapidly, although they are confined to a narrow range of possible values. Hypotheses to explain these results are discussed and considered throughout the text.

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Author Biography

Danieli Graciela Schallemberger, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria

Graduanda em Engenharia Florestal pela Universidade Federal de Santa Maria.

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Published

2025-12-13

How to Cite

Bordignon Ceolin, G., & Schallemberger, D. G. (2025). Shedding light on the evolution of wood anatomical traits in some Myrtaceae species from subtropical Brazil. Balduinia, (75), 31–42. https://doi.org/10.5902/2358198092790

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No. 75 (2025)

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Artigos

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