Ar(BOL)-Can

Project leader: JBCVCSIC (PI: Juli Caujapé-Castells)
Funding agency: Agencia Canaria de Investigación, Innovación y Sociedad de la Información (Canarian Government)
Time span: 2010-2012

Summary: We use the two currently accepted Angiosperm “barcode” cpDNA sequences (rbcL and matK) to assess their usefulness to identify any Canarian endemic tree species, and to detect eventual cases of cryptic species, with a special focus on Myrsine-Pleiomeris (Myrsinaceae). We also use the rbcL sequences to (i) assess the genetic diversity of endemic trees relative to non-tree endemics in the Canarian Flora, (ii) build a preliminary tree of life for the Canarian endemic trees (including available outgroups from other geographical regions), and (iii) estimate Phylogenetic Diversity (PD, an essential parameter to define in situ conservation strategies and priorities) for the Canarian endemic trees; critically, trees in general are perhaps the organisms with a lower capacity of adaptation to the current global changes, due to their long generation times.

Two important collaborating teams in this project are Dr. Alain Franc's at the INRA-UMR "Biodiversité, Gènes et communautés" in Arcachon (France); and Dr. José María Fernández-Palacios', at the Universidad de La Laguna (Tenerife).