Sources of morphological variation in populations of Gracilaria chilensis Bird, McLachlan & Oliveira of Chile
Abstract
Gracilaria chilensis Bird, McLachlan & Oliveira is generally recognized as a variable species whose morphological changes are the result of the environmental conditions under which it grows. However, no experimental evaluation has ever been done and few descriptive studies have focused on matching particular morphologies with distinct populations. Five localities with G. chilensis populations along Chilean coasts were sampled. The posterior analysis of vegetative characters indicated that populations from Lenga are easily segregated from other localities. Meanwhile, localities such as Maullin, Coquimbo and Niebla can be grouped apparently due to their similar growth habit, i.e. plants originated from spores, and not due to characteristics of their habitat. Results also showed that variability of most characters within populations, originated through vegetative propagation, is not significantly different from that of populations of sporic origin where higher genetic variability is expected. Finally, other variables such as reproductive stage and life history phase of the plants exhibited differences in few characters.
Description
Keywords
vegetative propagation, sporic origin, genetic variability