THE DYNAMICAL PROCESSES OF BIODIVERSITY – CASE STUDIES OF EVOLUTION AND SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION Edited by Oscar Grillo and Gianfranco Venora The Dynamical Processes of Biodiversity – Case Studies of Evolution and Spatial Distribution Edited by Oscar Grillo and Gianfranco Venora Published by InTech Janeza Trdine 9, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia Copyright © 2011 InTech All chapters are Open Access distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license, which allows users to download, copy and build upon published articles even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. After this work has been published by InTech, authors have the right to republish it, in whole or part, in any publication of which they are the author, and to make other personal use of the work. Any republication, referencing or personal use of the work must explicitly identify the original source. 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Used under license from Shutterstock.com First published November, 2011 Printed in Croatia A free online edition of this book is available at www.intechopen.com Additional hard copies can be obtained from orders@intechweb.org The Dynamical Processes of Biodiversity – Case Studies of Evolution and Spatial Distribution, Edited by Oscar Grillo and Gianfranco Venora p. cm. ISBN 978-953-307-772-7 free online editions of InTech Books and Journals can be found at www.intechopen.com Contents Preface IX Chapter 1 Biodiversity and Evolution in the Vanilla Genus 1 Gigant Rodolphe, Bory Séverine, Grisoni Michel and Besse Pascale Chapter 2 The Origin of Diversity in Begonia: Genome Dynamism, Population Processes and Phylogenetic Patterns 27 A. Dewitte, A.D. Twyford, D.C. Thomas, C.A. Kidner and J. Van Huylenbroeck Chapter 3 Olive (Olea Europaea L.): Southern-Italian Biodiversity Assessment and Traceability of Processed Products by Means of Molecular Markers 53 V. Alba, W. Sabetta, C. Summo, F. Caponio, R. Simeone, A. Blanco, A. Pasqualone and C. Montemurro Chapter 4 Systematic Diversity of the Family Poaceae (Gramineae) in Chile 71 Víctor L. Finot, Juan A. Barrera, Clodomiro Marticorena and Gloria Rojas Chapter 5 Arboreal Diversity of the Atlantic Forest of Southern Brazil: From the Beach Ridges to the Paraná River 109 Maurício Bergamini Scheer and Christopher Thomas Blum Chapter 6 Structure and Floristic Composition in a Successional Gradient in a Cloud Forest in Chiapas, Southern Mexico 135 Miguel Ángel Pérez-Farrera, César Tejeda-Cruz, Rubén Martínez-Camilo, Nayely Martínez-Meléndez, Sergio López, Eduardo Espinoza-Medinilla and Tamara Rioja-Paradela Chapter 7 Spatial Patterns of Phytodiversity - Assessing Vegetation Using (Dis) Similarity Measures 147 S. Babar, A. Giriraj, C. S. Reddy, G. Jurasinski, A. Jentsch and S. Sudhakar VI Contents Chapter 8 Marine Macrophytic Algae of the Western Sector of North Pacific (Russia) 187 Olga N. Selivanova Chapter 9 Fungal Diversity – An Overview 211 Sara Branco Chapter 10 Aquatic Fungi 227 Wurzbacher Christian, Kerr Janice and Grossart Hans-Peter Chapter 11 Mycoflora and Biodiversity of Black Aspergilli in Vineyard Eco-Systems 259 Cinzia Oliveri and Vittoria Catara Chapter 12 Biodiversity of Yeasts in the Gastrointestinal Ecosystem with Emphasis on Its Importance for the Host 277 Vladimir Urubschurov and Pawel Janczyk Chapter 13 Biodiversity of Trichoderma in Neotropics 303 Lilliana Hoyos-Carvajal and John Bissett Chapter 14 Genetic Diversity and Population Differentiation of Main Species of Dendrolimus (Lepidoptera) in China and Influence of Environmental Factors on Them 321 Gao Baojia, Nangong Ziyan and Gao Lijie Chapter 15 Biodiversity in a Rapidly Changing World: How to Manage and Use Information? 347 Tereza C. Giannini, Tiago M. Francoy, Antonio M. Saraiva and Vera L. Imperatriz-Fonseca Preface Discoveries of new species have always represented a demanding challenge for mankind, derived from the human wish to improve the quality of his own life. Each new specie has always been considered as a potential new food or medicine, as well as a possible source of fuel or clothes. But today, exploring new animal and plant species mainly derives from men's effort to try to understand the life on Earth in order to tackle some of the problems caused by his own species. The current world's biodiversity consists of an innumerable amount of dynamic species in constant pursuit of the best solutions to react and survive the natural and anthropic environmental changes, suggesting us innovative strategies to overcome human limits and live better. “Blind metaphysical necessity, which is certainly the same always and every where, could produce no variety of things. All that diversity of natural things which we find suited to different times and places could arise from nothing but the ideas and will of a Being necessarily existing.” (from Philosophiae naturalis principia matematica, Isaac Newton, 1687) Divided into 15 chapters written by internationally renowned contributors, this book offers a few case studies about the diversity of many life forms. It includes systematic overviews, biogeographic and phylogenic backgrounds, species composition and spatial distribution in more or less restricted areas of the world, offering to the reader an overall view of the present condition in which our planet is. Oscar Grillo Stazione Sperimentale di Granicoltura per la Sicilia, Caltagirone Biodiversity Conservation Centre, University of Cagliari Italy Gianfranco Venora Stazione Sperimentale di Granicoltura per la Sicilia, Caltagirone, Italy [...]... presented these bands with MspI CR0340 was 16 The Dynamical Processes of Biodiversity – Case Studies of Evolution and Spatial Distribution hypomethylated at locus Eco-AG/Hpa-AAC/98bp and CR0341 at locus Eco-AC/HpaATT/426bp Accessions CR0632 and CR0711 were hypermethylated, they presented some bands in their MspI profiles whereas the other accessions presented these bands in both their HpaII and MspI profiles... molecular 12 The Dynamical Processes of Biodiversity – Case Studies of Evolution and Spatial Distribution population genetic estimates, will be essential (Escuderoa et al., 2003) to provide new insights in the understanding of the mechanisms of maintenance and dynamics of Vanilla populations and to provide guidelines for their preservation 4 Vanilla biodiversity in cultivated conditions Vanilla is the only... Vanilla species and recorded natural fruit sets More precise observations are available for some of these species V guianensis is supposedly self-pollinated at early anthesis, as it was observed that the stigma and the 6 The Dynamical Processes of Biodiversity – Case Studies of Evolution and Spatial Distribution anther grew to contact one another; and no pollinators were observed despite the high fruit... Island (from 1848) and later from a cartel of Indian Ocean Island producers (Madagascar, Reunion, Comoros and Seychelles) The true origin of cultivated vanilla outside of Mexico was unclear until AFLP and microsatellite markers were used to elucidate the patterns of introduction of V planifolia These studies showed that most of the accessions cultivated today in the islands of the Indian Ocean and. .. to provide conservation guidelines for the many endangered species of the genus 20 The Dynamical Processes of Biodiversity – Case Studies of Evolution and Spatial Distribution 7 References Ackerman, J.D (1983) Specificity and mutual dependency of the orchid-euglossine interaction Biol J Linn Soc., Vol.20, pp.301-314 Ackerman, J.D (1986) Mechanisms and evolution of food-deceptive pollination systems... 1995) There are to date more than 200 Vanilla species described (Bory et al., 2008b; Cameron, 2011b), but numerous synonymies remain and there is therefore an urgent need to thoroughly revise the taxonomic classification of the Vanilla species We recently reviewed (Bory et al., 2010) the complexity of the processes involved in the evolution and diversification 4 The Dynamical Processes of Biodiversity –. .. questions the hypothesis of a vicariate evolution of the Vanilla genus (Bouetard et al., 2010) Transoceanic dispersion appears more credible and would have been implied at least three times in the evolution of the Vanilla genus (figure 1) This was demonstrated by dating a Vanilla molecular phylogeny, testing these two extreme evolutionary scenarios (vicariate 2 The Dynamical Processes of Biodiversity – Case. .. et al., 2011b) 5.1 Somatic aneuploidy Most data in the literature give a basic number n=16 for V planifolia with 2n= 32 (Chardard, 1963; Heim, 1954; Hoffmann, 1929, 1930; Martin, 1963) Hurel-Py (1938) was the first to show 18 The Dynamical Processes of Biodiversity – Case Studies of Evolution and Spatial Distribution the existence of a variable number of chromosomes in differentiated cells (13 to 32... Reproductive success might also be related to the fragrance attractiveness of flowers, even in a deceptive system Further insights on this matter could be obtained by characterising Vanilla species floral fragrance and colour as well as identifying their respective pollinators and behaviour 10 The Dynamical Processes of Biodiversity – Case Studies of Evolution and Spatial Distribution Partial information... (1994) Somatic association of chromosomes and other mitotic abnormalities in Vanilla planifolia (Andrews) Caryologia, Vol.47, pp.65-73 24 The Dynamical Processes of Biodiversity – Case Studies of Evolution and Spatial Distribution Nielsen, R.L (2000) Natural hybridization between Vanilla claviculata (W.Wright) Sw and V barbellata Rchb.f (Orchidaceae): genetic, morphological, and pollination experimental . stigma and the The Dynamical Processes of Biodiversity – Case Studies of Evolution and Spatial Distribution 6 anther grew to contact one another; and no pollinators were observed despite the. THE DYNAMICAL PROCESSES OF BIODIVERSITY – CASE STUDIES OF EVOLUTION AND SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION Edited by Oscar Grillo and Gianfranco Venora The Dynamical Processes of. OCEAN GONDWANA TETHYS OCEANPACIFIC OCEAN LAURASIA The Dynamical Processes of Biodiversity – Case Studies of Evolution and Spatial Distribution 4 of the Vanilla genus and concluded that Vanilla must be considered