Integrative Taxonomy of Armeria arenaria (Plumbaginaceae), with a Special Focus on the Putative Subspecies Endemic to the Apennines

Abstract

Three subspecies of Armeria arenaria are reported from Italy, two of which are considered endemic to the Apennines. The taxonomic value of these two taxa (A. arenaria subsp. marginata and A. arenaria subsp. apennina) is unclear. Moreover, the relationships between A. arenaria subsp. praecox and Northern Italian populations—currently ascribed to A. arenaria subsp. arenaria—have never been addressed. Accordingly, we used an integrated taxonomic approach, including morphometry, seed morpho–colorimetry, karyology, molecular systematics (psbA–trnH, trnQ–rps16, trnF–trnL, trnL–rpl32, and ITS region), and comparative niche analysis. According to our results, French–Northern Italian populations are clearly distinct from Apennine populations. In the first group, there is evidence which allows the recognition of A. arenaria s.str. (not occurring in Italy) and A. arenaria subsp. praecox. In the second group, the two putative taxa endemic to the Northern Apennines cannot be separated, so a single subspecies is here recognized: A. arenaria subsp. marginata.

An integrative taxonomic study of Santolina (Asteraceae) from southern France and north‐eastern Spain reveals new endemic taxa

“…This approach is based on image analysis and its aim is to detect differences in the external size and shape of diaspores of different populations/groups of populations. It was successfully used in several studies to detect differences among taxonomically critical species groups, providing data useful for taxa delimitation (Sarigu et al, 2019; De Giorgi et al, 2022; Tiburtini et al, 2022). A set of 100 cypselae for each population was acquired with a flatbed scanner (Epson Perfection V550) with a digital resolution of 1200 dpi.…”

“…For each cypsela, to extract and analyze 20 colorimetric and 26 morphometric features and 78 variables of the Elliptic Fourier Descriptors (EFDs), the same procedure as that described in De Giorgi et al (2022) and in Tiburtini et al (2022) was used. In this study, only the morphometric variables were used, since the colorimetric variables and elliptic Fourier descriptors were found to be scarcely discriminant among populations.…”

“…To overcome the limits of a taxonomic approach based on a single method, Dayrat (2005) defined the “integrative taxonomy” as “the science that aims to delimit the units of life′s diversity from multiple and complementary perspectives”. Since then, an integrative approach has been successfully used in plenty of studies to untangle the complex relationships within several groups of plants (e.g., Herrando‐Moraira et al, 2017; Andriamihaja et al, 2022; Liu et al, 2022, Tiburtini et al, 2022) and animals (e.g., Vacher et al, 2017; Venkatraman et al, 2019; Sakaguchi et al, 2020).…”

A guide to plant morphometrics using Gaussian Mixture Models

“…For example, Bateman & Rudall (2023) largely used PCoA using Gower distance while carrying out a genus-wide revision of Ophrys. A similar approach was followed by Tiburtini et al (2022), while studying the Armeria arenaria complex.…”

Advances in Plant Taxonomy and Systematics

“…Verni (Iridaceae, Asparagales, monocots) [ 30 ], and Leucanthemum (Asteraceae, Asterales, eudicots) [ 31 ]. Integrated taxonomic approaches were followed for the characterization of the Asian palm genus Bentinckia (Arecaceae, Arecales, monocots) [ 32 ], for addressing infraspecific variability in the European Armeria arenaria (Plumbaginaceae, Caryophyllales, eudicots) [ 33 ], and for describing a new species endemic to Italy in Adonis sect. Adonanthe (Rancunculaceae) [ 34 ].…”