María Luisa Alarcón
Spanish National Research Council
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Featured researches published by María Luisa Alarcón.
Biology Letters | 2010
Isabel Sanmartín; Cajsa Lisa Anderson; María Luisa Alarcón; Fredrik Ronquist; Juan José Aldasoro
We here explore the use of a Bayesian approach to island biogeography for disentangling the evolutionary origins of a continental-scale floristic pattern, the enigmatic ‘Rand Flora’. The existence of disjunct distributions across many plant lineages between Macaronesia–northwest Africa, Horn of Africa–southern Arabia and east–south Africa has long intrigued botanists, but only now can we start analysing it within a statistical framework. Phylogenetic and distributional data from 13 plant lineages exhibiting this disjunct distribution were analysed to estimate area carrying capacities and historical rates of biotic exchange between areas. The results indicate that there has been little exchange between southern Africa and the northern African region, and that this exchange occurred via east Africa. Northwest Africa–Macaronesia shows the smallest carrying capacity but highest dispersal rate with other regions, suggesting that its flora was built up by immigration of lineages, probably from the Mediterranean region and western Asia. In contrast, southern Africa shows the highest carrying capacity and lowest dispersal rate, suggesting a flora formed by in situ diversification. We discuss further improvements of the method for addressing more complex hypotheses, such as asymmetric dispersal between regions or repeated cyclical events.
Molecular Ecology | 2015
Mario Mairal; Isabel Sanmartín; Juan José Aldasoro; V. Culshaw; I. Manolopoulou; María Luisa Alarcón
Geographical isolation by oceanic barriers and climatic stability has been postulated as some of the main factors driving diversification within volcanic archipelagos. However, few studies have focused on the effect that catastrophic volcanic events have had on patterns of within‐island differentiation in geological time. This study employed data from the chloroplast (cpDNA haplotypes) and the nuclear (AFLPs) genomes to examine the patterns of genetic variation in Canarina canariensis, an iconic plant species associated with the endemic laurel forest of the Canary Islands. We found a strong geographical population structure, with a first divergence around 0.8 Ma that has Tenerife as its central axis and divides Canarian populations into eastern and western clades. Genetic diversity was greatest in the geologically stable ‘palaeo‐islands’ of Anaga, Teno and Roque del Conde; these areas were also inferred as the ancestral location of migrant alleles towards other disturbed areas within Tenerife or the nearby islands using a Bayesian approach to phylogeographical clustering. Oceanic barriers, in contrast, appear to have played a lesser role in structuring genetic variation, with intra‐island levels of genetic diversity larger than those between‐islands. We argue that volcanic eruptions and landslides after the merging of the palaeo‐islands 3.5 Ma played key roles in generating genetic boundaries within Tenerife, with the palaeo‐islands acting as refugia against extinction, and as cradles and sources of genetic diversity to other areas within the archipelago.
Systematic Botany | 2006
Omar Fiz; Pablo Vargas; María Luisa Alarcón; Juan José Aldasoro
Abstract Phylogenetic reconstructions in the Mediterranean genus Erodium are for the first time performed using two matrices: one with 96 trnL-trnF sequences from Erodium (90 accessions plus four outgroups) and the other with 72 trnL-trnF sequences plus 23 morphological characters (66 species of a total of 74), using Maximum Parsimony (MP) and Bayesian Inference (BI). An association between reproductive properties (high selfing rates, flower asymmetry, insect-attraction structures), life form, and breeding system distributed in different lineages suggests multiple shifts from allogamy to autogamy in the course of evolution, whereas dioecy has occurred only once. The phylogenetic analyses revealed a remarkable capability for dispersal in Erodium because closely related species occur in different continents. Major lineages containing sublineages of species also from several continents lead us to interpret ancient dispersal activity. Establishment of Mediterranean-like climates in most continents may have been crucial in the evolution of Erodium, as manifested by occurrence of species of the Mediterranean floristic region in the four major lineages. The body of knowledge accumulated from molecular phylogenetics and morphology lead us to conclude that the Mediterranean region harbors the major center of diversity of Erodium, where active radiation in dry, disturbed environments, is still operating.
Systematic Botany | 2011
María Luisa Alarcón; Cristina Roquet; Juan José Aldasoro
Abstract Most perennial species of Erodium have medium to high pollen/ovule (P/O) ratios and are dichogamous mixed-mating species endemic to the mountain ranges of the Mediterranean. In contrast, the annual species of this genus, which are often adapted to disturbed sites, are adichogamous selfers with low P/O ratios and wide distributions. According to the present reconstruction of the evolution of Erodium, recurrent perennial to annual shifts occurred from a time earlier than the establishment of the Mediterranean climate during the Pleistocene. The diversification of the terminal clades containing annuals and perennials is dated to 6.4–2 Mya, between the onset of the Messinian (Miocene) and the end of the Pliocene. By adapting to several types of breeding systems (mixed-mating and selfing), many species of Erodium were able to meet the challenges of climatic deterioration and the changes in pollinators that took place at the end of the Tertiary. High selfing and an annual lifespan seem to have evolved multiple times together, but reversions may also have occurred. Within-plant variation of herkogamy and dichogamy may represent adaptations to variation in the pollinator community during dry or cold periods.
Systematic Botany | 2007
Carlos Aedo; Miguel Angel Garcia; María Luisa Alarcón; Juan José Aldasoro; Carmen Navarro
Abstract Geranium subsect. Mediterranea (Geraniaceae) consists of ten species. The highest diversity of the group is located in the Caucasus and neighbouring areas of Turkey and Iran, with five endemic species. Other species reach western Europe and northwestern Africa. In contrast to the current literature, we consider G. montanum and G. ibericum subsp. jubatum to be synonyms of G. ibericum. A univariate morphometric study revealed some valuable quantitative characters useful for the identification of these species. Micromorphological features of pollen, stigmas, seeds, and mericarps were investigated by SEM. A new key is provided, as well as new and detailed descriptions. Geranium kurdicum is here illustrated for the first time. Eleven lectotypes are designated, and distribution maps are presented. Maximum parsimony and Bayesian analyses of chloroplastic trnL-trnF and ribosomal nuclear ITS regions suggest that sect. Mediterranea is monophyletic. Two clades are recovered, one including the annual species and other with the perennials, in which G. tuberosum (subsect. Tuberosa) emerges within a paraphyletic subsect. Mediterranea.
Systematic Botany | 2005
Carlos Aedo; Omar Fiz; María Luisa Alarcón; Carmen Navarro; Juan José Aldasoro
Abstract Geranium section Dissecta (Geraniaceae) consists of four species centered in Eurasia, between the Mediterranean region and the Himalaya Mountains. In contrast to the current literature, we consider G. chelikii, and G. davisianum to be synonyms of G. sintenisii, and G. pallens to be a synonym of G. asphodeloides. We also accept G. dissectum and G. crenophilum, the latter sometimes considered as subspecies of G. asphodeloides. A multivariate morphometric study showed that some quantitative characters such as deeply divided leaves, shorter and narrower petals, and shorter filaments clearly distinguished the annual G. dissectum. The characters contributing most to separation of the three remaining perennial species were petal width and the length of glandular hairs of stem and pedicels. In G. asphodeloides and G. dissectum the rootstock and stem base has a very starch-rich parenchyma in the cortex, while in G. sintenisii and G. crenophilum the starch-rich parenchyma is mainly developed in the pith. A new key is provided, as well as new and detailed descriptions. Geranium crenophilum and G. sintenisii are here illustrated for the first time. Nine lectotypes and a neotype are designated, and distribution maps are presented. Analyses of the plastid trnL-trnF spacer, nuclear ITS sequences, and morphological data reveal that sect. Dissecta is strongly supported as monophyletic. In these analyses G. dissectum appeared as sister group to the rest of the species.
The Mediterranean Diet#R##N#An Evidence-Based Approach | 2015
María Luisa Alarcón; Juan José Aldasoro
Abstract Many Mediterranean crop plants contain a large fraction of the genetic diversity possessed by their wild relatives. Bottlenecks during domestication commonly cause the loss of genetic variation in these species, and reductions in diversity are much greater in annuals than in perennials, for which the loss of variation may be moderate or even null. The process of domestication likely occurred in a multilocal fashion over a wide area stretching from the Fertile Crescent to the Mediterranean and central Asia. However, gene flow may also have occurred among these crops and their relatives as a result of human migration, and such genetic crossing has allowed many crops to maintain the diversity seen in their wild relatives. Unfortunately, modern agriculture tends to use elite, high-yielding varieties, and many wild ancestors, landraces, and other valuable varieties have become progressively forgotten and even abandoned. Thus, the future viability of modern crops requires the production of more germplasm collections of landraces and crop relatives, as well as the cultivation of these forms within Mediterranean agro-ecosystems.
Archive | 2014
María Luisa Alarcón; Juan José Aldasoro; Cristina Roquet; Jens M. Olesen
Oceanic islands provide a good model for the study of species dispersal and evolution. We focus here on the evolution of pollination modes of oceanic island bellflowers (Campanulaceae), examining the degree of parallel evolution in different lineages of this family. Plants colonizing islands might either have experienced selective pressures on floral traits from vertebrate pollinators such as birds and lizards or have been pre-adapted to pollination by vertebrates prior to their colonization. The reconstruction of the ancestral pollination biology of Campanulaceae suggests that pollinators of the ancestors of bird-/lizard-pollinated bellflowers were insects. Moreover, in four island Campanulaceae lineages, only one was pre-adapted on the continent, and three made de novo shifts on the islands. Evolution towards bird pollination from insect-pollinated ancestors is also common in other island-groups, possibly because opportunistic birds are more efficient than insects. We review to what extent related species converge in their pollination ecology in related habitats on oceanic islands.
Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society | 2005
Carlos Aedo; Carmen Navarro; María Luisa Alarcón
Anales Del Jardin Botanico De Madrid | 2002
María Luisa Alarcón; Carlos Aedo