New Proposal of Epiphytic Bromeliaceae Functional Groups to Include Nebulophytes and Shallow Tanks.

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.

Arbuscular mycorrhizas and dark septate endophytes associated with grasses from the Argentine Puna.

The Andean Puna is an arid, high-elevation plateau in which plants such as grasses experience high abiotic stress and distinctive environmental conditions. We assessed colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and dark septate endophytes (DSE) in the roots of 20 native grass species and examined the relationship between root-associated fungi (AMF and DSE) as a function of the elevation of study sites, the photosynthetic pathways of the grass hosts, and the hosts' life cycles. In general, grasses were co-colonized by AMF and DSE and the colonization by AMF and DSE was not extensive. The extension of colonization of AMF and that of DSE were positively correlated, as were number of arbuscules and DSE colonization extension. The extension of AMF colonization differed among sites with different elevations, but DSE colonization was similar across sites. Overall, AMF and DSE patterns shifted as a function of elevation in most grass species, with no general trends observed with respect to host photosynthetic pathway or life cycle. In general, our observations differ from previous studies in the Northern Hemisphere. Variation among sites in AMF and DSE colonization was greater than variation that could be explained by the other factors considered here, suggesting a strong influence of environmental factors. We predict that both AMF and DSE may have established synergistic and beneficial associations with grasses in these distinctive and harsh ecosystems.