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Abstract. Effects of grazing and environment on vegetation structure have been widely acknowledged, but few studies have related both factors. We made 57 floristic samples in a highly variable landscape of mountain grasslands in central Argentina; 26 sample were in fence‐lines with contrasting vegetation. For each sample, we recorded topographic and edaphic parameters, as well as grazing intensity indicators. Floristic gradients were analysed with DCA and relations with abiotic and grazing‐related variables were detected with DCCA. Floristic axis 1 was explained by edaphic parameters associated to topography, ranging from communities in well drained soils on upper topographic positions to hydromorphic vegetation in poorly drained soils on lower topographic positions. Species richness decreased as soil moisture increased. Floristic axis 2 was associated with present and long‐term grazing indicators, and reflected shifts in vegetation physiognomy and species evenness. Tall tussock grasslands, with low species evenness and evidences of low or null grazing intensity were located at one extreme. Tussocks were gradually replaced by short graminoids and forbs towards the centre of the gradient, as grazing increased, and evenness reached a maximum. In degraded sites with heavy long‐term grazing intensities, short perennial species were replaced by an annual species, and evenness decreased. The magnitude of changes in floristic composition produced by grazing decreased with increasing soil moisture, and vegetation‐environment relationships were stronger in moderate to highly grazed situations than in lightly or non grazed situations.

Knowledge of the chromosome variation in wild populations is essential to understand the pathways and restrictions of karyotype evolution in plants. The aim of this study is to conduct an intraspecific analysis of the karyotypes by fluorochrome banding and ribosomal DNA (rDNA) loci detection by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and of the meiotic behaviour in natural populations of Lathyrus nervosus, sect. Notolathyrus. Chromosome banding showed that, despite the high constancy in the karyotype formula and in the rDNA loci among populations, there is intraspecific variation in the amount and distribution pattern of 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI ? ) heterochromatin. However, those changes were not related to the total chromosome length of the haploid complements. This fact demonstrates that structural chromosome changes may be one of the most important mechanisms for karyotype variation among natural populations of L. nervosus. The chromosome number surveyed at the population level revealed the first case of polyploidy in South American species and the first case of uneven polyploidy of the genus. All the chromosome markers analysed indicated that the polyploids found originated by autopolyploidy. The meiotic analysis showed different chromosome abnormalities that may be generating numerical and structural changes in the sporads. The finding of unreduced gametes that are alive at anthesis suggests sexual polyploidization as the most probable mechanism involved in the origin of these 3x and 4x autopolyploid cytotypes in L. nervosus.

The genome size was surveyed in 13 Notolathyrus species endemic to South America by flow cytometry and analyzed in an evolutionary and biogeographic context. A DNA content variation of 1.7-fold was registered, and four groups of species with different DNA content were determined. Although, the 2C values were correlated with the total chromosome length and intrachromosomal asymmetry index (A1), the karyotype formula remained almost constant. The conservation of the karyotype formula is in agreement with proportional changes of DNA in the chromosome arms. Species with annual life cycle and shorter generation time had the lowest DNA content and the data suggest that changes in DNA content involved reductions of genome size in the perennial to annual transitions. The variation of 2C values was correlated with precipitation of the coldest quarter and, to some extent, with altitude. Additional correlations with other variables were observed when the species were analyzed separately according to the biogeographic regions. In general, the species with higher DNA content were found in more stable environments. The bulk of evidence suggests that changes on genome size would have been one of the most important mechanisms that drove or accompanied the diversification of Notolathyrus species.

Notolathyrus is a section of South American endemic species of the genus Lathyrus. The origin, phylogenetic relationship and delimitation of some species are still controversial. The present study provides an exhaustive analysis of the karyotypes of approximately half (10) of the species recognized for section Notolathyrus and four outgroups (sections Lathyrus and Orobus) by cytogenetic mapping of heterochromatic bands and 45S and 5S rDNA loci. The bulk of the parameters analyzed here generated markers to identify most of the chromosomes in the complements of the analyzed species. Chromosome banding showed interspecific variation in the amount and distribution of heterochromatin, and together with the distribution of rDNA loci, allowed the characterization of all the species studied here. Additionally, some of the chromosome parameters described (st chromosomes and the 45S rDNA loci) constitute the first diagnostic characters for the Notolathyrus section. Evolutionary, chromosome data revealed that the South American species are a homogeneous group supporting the monophyly of the section. Variation in the amount of heterochromatin was not directly related to the variation in DNA content of the Notolathyrus species. However, the correlation observed between the amount of heterochromatin and some geographical and bioclimatic variables suggest that the variation in the heterochromatic fraction should have an adaptive value.

Studies of patterns of genetic diversity, genetic structure and ecological data across geographical ranges of species allow us to test hypotheses about the evolutionary responses of organisms to fluctuations in habitat connectivity and availability. Here we present a study aiming to assess genetic diversity, population structure and breeding system across the geographical distribution of a subtropical epiphyte, Tillandsia aeranthos (Bromeliaceae), endemic to the Plata River basin (Pampa biome). Seven nuclear microsatellite markers were genotyped in 203 individuals from 13 localities across Brazil and Argentina and 14 plastid regions were sequenced for a subset of the individuals. Additionally, we performed controlled pollination experiments to discuss correlations between breeding system, genetic diversity and structure in the species. Nuclear diversity levels were high (HE = 0.806, HO = 0.745, allelic richness = 5.860) with no haplotype differentiation detected (c. 9 kpb sequenced). Bayesian assignment analysis, supported by principal coordinate analysis and analysis of molecular variance, show low genetic structure across the studied area (FST = 0.031, P < 0.001). Controlled pollination experiments indicated complete self-incompatibility in all localities analysed. Our results show effective gene flow maintaining low genetic structure between localities for T. aeranthos across an extensive area in the Pampa.

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