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An Update on Morphology and Distribution of Ruppia Filifolia (Philippi) Skottsberg in the Magellan Region, Southern Chile

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An Update on Morphology and Distribution of Ruppia Filifolia (Philippi) Skottsberg in the Magellan Region, Southern Chile Lat. Am. J. Aquat. Res., 46(1): 45-52, New2018 data on the macrophyte Ruppia filifolia in Magellan region 45 DOI: 10.3856/vol46-issue1-fulltext-6 Research Article An update on morphology and distribution of Ruppia filifolia (Philippi) Skottsberg in the Magellan region, southern Chile Silvia Murcia1, Jorge Terrados2, Pedro Ramírez-García3 & Andrés Mansilla1,4 1Department of Sciences and Natural Resources, University of Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile 2Mediterranean Institute of Advanced Studies (IMEDEA, CSIC–UIB), Mallorca, Spain 3Departament of Botany, Laboratory of Aquatic Vegetation, Institute of Biology University Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), México D.F., México 4Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity, Santiago, Chile Corresponding author: Silvia Murcia ([email protected]) ABSTRACT. Vegetative and reproductive morphology of Ruppia filifolia (Philippi) Skottsberg is updated and completed by examining natural specimens, reviewing the literature, comparing to specimens from different locations and generating new iconography of the species from waters across the Magellan region, Subantarctic Chile. We expand current knowledge on morphology (rhizome-root, branching, foliage, inflorescence, fruit, habits) and geographical distribution of R. filifolia in Austral South America, with the addition of six new localities for the taxon in Chile. Our results are used to identify this macrophyte and to distinguish it from R. maritima after some authors reported their co-occurrence in the southern tip of South America, leading to taxonomic confusion. Also, the new information on R. filifolia distribution in the Magellan region broadens the research on a neglected seagrass. In the Southern Hemisphere, contrary to global trends of seagrass ecosystems decline, new niche distributions are opening up in southernmost Chile, reflecting environmental changes. Keywords: seagrass, iconography, exsiccate, geographic allocation, Subantarctic waters, Magellan region. INTRODUCTION the Atacama Desert (Pell et al., 2013) to 55°S in the austral region (Ramírez et al., 1979). Brackish water The taxonomy of Ruppia species is not fully resolved coastal ponds, estuaries, lagoons, and fjords are also because of an inherent high plasticity in morphology habitats, where R. filifolia has been found from 44°S that results from the frequent occurrence of hybrids and down to Tierra del Fuego and Falkland Islands (Moore, polyploids (Mannino et al., 2015). Ruppia L., a 1973, 1983; Álvarez et al., 2010; San Martín et al., cosmopolitan genus of aquatic plants, is classified 2011). Recent studies show that biomass and either in the euryhaline family of Potamogetonaceae productivity of some R. filifolia perennial meadows in (Gamerro, 1968; Den Hartog, 1981; Jacobs & Brock, Chile´s Subantarctic region, are quite significant 1982) or in the monogeneric group of the Ruppiaceae (Murcia et al., 2015), suggesting this species might play (Cronquist, 1981; Les et al., 1997). Taxonomic ecosystem roles as relevant as those played by confusion is also driven by the morphological plasticity seagrasses in other coastal areas. Seagrass communities resulting from acclimation to local environmental worldwide are paramount to coastal, benthic ecosystem conditions (Mannino & Graziano, 2014) and by the function, owing to their contribution to biological prevalence of tradition when naming Ruppia plants in productivity, maintenance of biodiversity, nursery regional flora (Triest & Sierens, 2013), often without habitat, nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, produc- complete morphological descriptions and comparisons tion and export of organic carbon, shoreline protection, to specimens from other locations (Den Hartog, 1981). and as bio-engineers, sediment stabilizers and bioin- In Chile, Ruppia filifolia (Philippi) Skottsberg is dicators of environmental and coastal conditions distributed in freshwater ponds and rivers along the (Terrados & Duarte 2000; Orth et al., 2006). Their Andean mountain range, from 26°S in River Basins of distribution worldwide has rapidly declined in the last 60 years (Hemminga & Duarte, 2000; Orth et al., 2006), __________________ Corresponding editor: Loretto Contreras 46 Latin American Journal of Aquatic Research mainly due to anthropogenic developments (e.g., were also considered, as well as those archived in dredging, aquaculture, boat anchoring) deteriorating national and regional herbaria. water quality in coastal areas (Orth et al., 2006; Waycott et al., 2009; Abadie et al., 2016). Yet, in the MATERIALS AND METHODS Southern Hemisphere, seagrass distribution appears to be expanding southward with newly identified More than 100 samples of Ruppia filifolia were communities of Ruppiaceae in Subantarctic waters (this study). collected over the years in several sites in the north and south shores of Skyring Sound (52°32’S, 71º56’W; Fig. The name Ruppia filifolia was proposed by 1), a brackish (18) water body (Kilian et al., 2007) from Skottsberg (1916) and is the combination commonly the Magellan region, where this taxon is abundant used to refer to Ruppia-like plants in the Patagonian according to ancient (Hagstrom, 1911; Skottsberg, Fjords Ecosystem of southernmost Chile. Older 1916) and recent reports (Mazzella & Gambi, 1993, synonyms are Potamogeton filifolius (Philippi, 1860), Mansilla et al., 2013, Murcia et al., 2015). These Ruppia andina (Philippi, 1896 in Skottsberg, 1916) and collections of R. filifolia include also 20 plants sampled Ruppia obtusa (Hagström, 1911). The ancient in Tierra del Fuego areas reported by Moore (1983), as morphological descriptions by Philippi (1860) and well as non-systematic collections of 31 plants in total Hagström (1911) did not include an iconography of the from different shallow water bodies throughout the taxon. Later morphological descriptions (Moore, 1973, archipelago (see Results). Water salinity of the 1983) provided an illus-tration of plant habits only with surveyed sites was recorded in situ using a digital details of the inflorescence and the fruit. The available refractometer (Hannah Instruments Inc., HI 96822). information did not prevent the use of the name Ruppia Meadow location was registered in a handheld GPS maritima for plants found near Punta Arenas, southern (Garmin GPSMAP 64st). Chile (Dusén, 1900) and only the genus name for plants in the nearby Skyring Sound (Mazzella & Gambi, Samples were carefully collected by hand to obtain 1993), surprisingly the locality studied by Hagström complete plants (i.e., with all plant organs: rhizome, (1911), and Skottsberg (1916). roots, vertical stem, leaves, flowers, fruits), most Short et al. (2007) identify “Ruppia maritima” as obtained by SCUBA diving, or walking into shallow the seagrass with the world’s southernmost distribution. areas with neoprene waders. The collected material was Tierra del Fuego Island had plants with a mixture of placed in plastic bags for examination and measurements characters from R. maritima and R. cirrhosa according and maintained fresh, at ambient air temperature, to Gamerro´s (1968) descriptions and suggested R. within the following <24 h. Direct observation and filifolia as a separate taxon until further studies would measurements, of vegetative and reproductive structures, clarify its status. Molecular phylogenetic studies of were performed with dissecting and optical micros- Ruppia, including material from Falkland Islands copes equipped with micrometers to examine the identified as R. filifolia, separate this entity from other morphological characters of the collected specimens Ruppia species but within the “R. maritima complex,” and to compare them with the morphological and suggest that R. filifolia might result from descriptions of the taxon in the literature and in hybridization among yet unknown entities of the herbarium collections. Fernald & Wigand (1914), complex (Ito et al., 2010, 2013). Hence, the available Gamerro (1968), Haynes (1978), Novelo & Lot (1994) evidence supports the status of R. filifolia as a distinct and Ramírez-García (2013) were used for the general taxon, but additional knowledge on the morphology description of the genus Ruppia in the American and distribution of the taxon in the Subantarctic tip of continent. Philippi (1860), Hagström (1911), South America is needed. In fact, there is a large Skottsberg (1916) and Moore (1973, 1983) were used knowledge gap on this species, which is classified as for the description of R. filifolia. “data deficient” by the IUCN (2014). More than fifty specimens of R. filifolia were The objective of this study was to update and pressed and dried into exsiccates, and five samples of complete the morphological description of Ruppia flowers and fruits were preserved in 70% ethanol. Ten filifolia in the Subantarctic tip of South America by exsiccates were added to the collection in the Herbarium providing new iconography of key morphological of the Institute de la Patagonia (HIP #15065(4), characters that would facilitate the identification of the 15066(3), 15067(3)) at the University of Magallanes taxon. We used material collected in Skyring Sound (UMAG), five were sent to the Herbarium of the (Hagström, 1911; Skottsberg, 1916) for this purpose. University of Concepción (CONC #184295-184297 Additional collections of plant material from new two duplicates), Concepción; five were taken to the localities where the taxon was unknown to be present National Herbarium at the National Museum of Natural New data on the macrophyte Ruppia filifolia in Magellan region
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