TY - JOUR
T1 - New Proposal of Epiphytic Bromeliaceae Functional Groups to Include Nebulophytes and Shallow Tanks
AU - Reyes-García, Casandra
AU - Zaldívar, Narcy Anai Pereira
AU - Espadas-Manrique, Celene
AU - Chim, Manuela de Jesús Tamayo
AU - Chilpa-Galván, Nahlleli
AU - Cach-Pérez, Manuel Jesus
AU - Ramírez-Medina, Marypaz
AU - Duque, Ana Maria Benavides
AU - Hietz, Peter
AU - Zotz, Gerhard
AU - JOSE, LUIS ANDRADE
AU - Cardelús, Catherine
AU - Oliveira, Rodolfo de Paula
AU - Einzmann, Helena
AU - Jacob, Valeria Guzmán
AU - Krömer, Thorsten
AU - Pinzón, Juan P.
AU - Cabral, Juliano Sarmento
AU - Wanek, Wolfgang
AU - Woods, Carrie
PY - 2022/11/17
Y1 - 2022/11/17
N2 - The Bromeliaceae family has been used as a model to study adaptive radiation due to its terrestrial, epilithic, and epiphytic habits with wide morpho-physiological variation. Functional groups described by Pittendrigh in 1948 have been an integral part of ecophysiological studies. In the current study, we revisited the functional groups of epiphytic bromeliads using a 204 species trait database sampled throughout the Americas. Our objective was to define epiphytic functional groups within bromeliads based on unsupervised classification, including species from the dry to the wet end of the Neotropics. We performed a hierarchical cluster analysis with 16 functional traits and a discriminant analysis, to test for the separation between these groups. Herbarium records were used to map species distributions and to analyze the climate and ecosystems inhabited. The clustering supported five groups, C3 tank and CAM tank bromeliads with deep tanks, while the atmospheric group (according to Pittendrigh) was divided into nebulophytes, bromeliads with shallow tanks, and bromeliads with pseudobulbs. The two former groups showed distinct traits related to resource (water) acquisition, such as fog (nebulophytes) and dew (shallow tanks). We discuss how the functional traits relate to the ecosystems inhabited and the relevance of acknowledging the new functional groups.
AB - The Bromeliaceae family has been used as a model to study adaptive radiation due to its terrestrial, epilithic, and epiphytic habits with wide morpho-physiological variation. Functional groups described by Pittendrigh in 1948 have been an integral part of ecophysiological studies. In the current study, we revisited the functional groups of epiphytic bromeliads using a 204 species trait database sampled throughout the Americas. Our objective was to define epiphytic functional groups within bromeliads based on unsupervised classification, including species from the dry to the wet end of the Neotropics. We performed a hierarchical cluster analysis with 16 functional traits and a discriminant analysis, to test for the separation between these groups. Herbarium records were used to map species distributions and to analyze the climate and ecosystems inhabited. The clustering supported five groups, C3 tank and CAM tank bromeliads with deep tanks, while the atmospheric group (according to Pittendrigh) was divided into nebulophytes, bromeliads with shallow tanks, and bromeliads with pseudobulbs. The two former groups showed distinct traits related to resource (water) acquisition, such as fog (nebulophytes) and dew (shallow tanks). We discuss how the functional traits relate to the ecosystems inhabited and the relevance of acknowledging the new functional groups.
KW - bromeliads
KW - Tillandsia
KW - epiphytes
KW - photosynthetic pathway
KW - CAM
KW - ecosystems
KW - functional traits
KW - fog
U2 - 10.3390/plants11223151
DO - 10.3390/plants11223151
M3 - Article
SN - 2223-7747
VL - 11
JO - Plants
JF - Plants
IS - 22
M1 - 3151
ER -