Assessing the taxonomic status of closely related taxa is crucial in plant systematics and can have important implications for conservation and human plant use. Cabezudo & Rivera is a metallophyte endemic species from highly metal-polluted soils of SW Iberian Peninsula, an area with a mining history going back more than 5,000 years. is closely related to Bab.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCryptic diversity is common among marine macroalgae, with molecular tools leading to the discovery of many new species. To assign names to these morphologically similar species, the type and synonyms have to be examined, and if appropriate, new species must be described. The turf-forming red alga Polysiphonia scopulorum was originally described from Rottnest Island, Australia, and subsequently widely reported in tropical and temperate coasts based on morphological identifications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aims: Kelps are the primary foundation species in temperate subtidal rocky shores worldwide. However, global change is causing their decline with consequences for the organisms that rely on them. An accurate assessment of these consequences may depend on which attributes of the associated community are considered.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParasitic red algae are an interesting system for investigating the genetic changes that occur in parasites. These parasites have evolved independently multiple times within the red algae. The functional loss of plastid genomes can be investigated in these multiple independent examples, and fine-scale patterns may be discerned.
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