The Influence of Environmental Features on the Morphometric Variation in Mauritia flexuosa L.f. Fruits and Seeds

Abstract

The environmental heterogeneity may reflect the different morphological and phenotypic traits of individuals belonging to a single species. We used 14 morphological traits of Mauritia flexuosa L.f. to understanding the relation between environment and phenotypic traits. Twenty-five fruits were collected from each of the 10 individuals sampled in each study site: Chapada dos Guimarães (CG), Vila Bela da Santíssima Trindade (VB), and Alta Floresta (AF). We analyzed the genetic divergence, using the standardized Euclidean distance, the sequential method of Tocher, unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA), and the projection of the distances onto 2D plane, and calculated the relative importance of the traits evaluated. The analysis showed the partition of individuals into three main groups: Two groups comprising the majority of individuals. Fresh fruit weight, pulp rate, fresh pulp weight, and moisture rate were the traits that most helped explaining the difference between materials. The results shown in the current study evidenced the influence of these three different environments on the biometric traits of M. flexuosa. Such influence has led to the formation of Alta Floresta and Vila Bela da Santíssima Trindade individuals in different groups, whereas the Chapada dos Guimarães individuals were able to permeate the two other groups, although they showed stronger tendency to group with individuals from Vila Bela da Santíssima Trindade.

Morphological and Chemical Diversity and Antioxidant Capacity of the Service Tree (Sorbus domestica L.) Fruits from Two Eco-Geographical Regions

“…Overall, our results suggest that populations from the continental and Mediterranean eco-geographical regions, despite their admixture in some cases, are isolated by the environment. It is well known that environmental heterogeneity can have a fundamental impact on phenotypic diversity [ 91 , 92 , 93 ]. In particular, different environments can result in spatially variable selection pressures, thereby contributing to phenotypic divergence among populations via phenotypic plasticity or local adaptation [ 92 , 94 ].…”

Harvest Season and Morphological Variation of Canistel (Pouteria campechiana) Fruit and Leaves Collected in Different Zones of Mexico

“…Additionally, there is a positive correlation between the area and the minor diameter of a leaf. There are various factors that cause morphological changes in plants (temperature, humidity, altitude, light) [29,30], resulting in variability in shape and size even within the same species. Temperature is one of these factors [31].…”

Object-Based Classification of the veredas wetland macrohabitat using multispectral imagery from a Remotely Piloted Aircraft System.

“…According to the new system for classi cation of the main types of Brazilian wetlands, the veredas are considered a macrohabitat contained in the interior wetlands system, and their hierarchy is presented in Table 7: The following other classes listed represented less than 6%: exposed soil, which mainly represents the access roads around the vereda; the classes of Dicranopteris exuosa in three vegetative stages (photosynthetically active (FA), in senescence (IS), and photosynthetically inactive (FI)), consisting of clusters of the Pteridophyte; and the class Mauritia exuosa L. f., representing the individuals and clusters of the buriti palm. M. exuosa is a palm species popularly known as buriti and characteristic of veredas (Sander et al 2020). The highway is the paved access road MT-251 and the water blade class discriminated the small areas where the gallery forest did not form the canopy closure and it was possible to visualize the watercourse.…”