Introduction: World Health Organization data for Madagascar reveal that the nation's under age five mortality rate is 56/1000, and that its maternal mortality rate is 440/100,000. Malaria, leprosy, plague, and tuberculosis remain significant communicable disease threats. Malnutrition rates are improving but continue to impact negatively on the general health of the Malagasy population, especially in the southern region with its 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBased on a worldwide phylogenetic framework filling the taxonomic gap of Madagascar and surrounding islands of the Western Indian Ocean (WIO), we revisited the systematics of grammitid fern species (Polypodiaceae). We also investigated the biogeographic origin of the extant diversity in Madagascar and estimated the relative influence of vicariance, long-distance dispersals (LDD) and in situ diversification. Phylogenetic inferences were based on five plastid DNA regions (atpB, rbcL, rps4-trnS, trnG-trnR, trnL-trnF) and the most comprehensive taxonomic sampling ever assembled (224 species belonging to 31 out of 33 recognized grammitids genera).
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