Biology subjects

Attorre, F.

Publications and source records attributed to Attorre, F..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Genetic diversity and conservation insights for the baobab Adansonia suarezensis in northern Madagascar: a whole genome SNP analysis

Madagascar is home to seven unique baobab species in the genus Adansonia, all threatened by climate change, habitat destruction, and deforestation. Previous studies have highlighted the vulnerability of baobabs, particularly A. suarezensis, without delving into the specific genetic structure of its populations. In this paper we examine the genetic structure, diversity, and connectivity of seven populations of A. suarezensis, using genome-wide Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) data. The results revealed significant genetic differentiation between inland and coastal populations, with the Mahory population forming a distinct genetic cluster characterized by high heterozygosity but low polymorphism, indicative of historical bottlenecks. In contrast, northern populations showed greater admixture and gene flow but higher inbreeding coefficients in coastal regions, such as Ambilo and Cap dAmbre, suggesting localized inbreeding depression. Additionally, historical climatic shifts and potential anthropogenic dispersal are explored as contributing factors to the current genetic patterns. This study highlights the importance of understanding genetic dynamics for conservation, emphasizing habitat restoration and targeted management strategies to preserve the evolutionary potential of A. suarezensis and ensure its long-term survival.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2023

Climate, host and geography shape insect and fungal communities of trees

Non-native pests, climate change, and their interactions are likely to alter relationships between trees and tree-associated organisms with consequences for forest health. To understand and predict such changes, factors structuring tree-associated communities need to be determined. Here, we analysed the data consisting of records of insects and fungi collected from dormant twigs from 155 tree species at 51 botanical gardens or arboreta in 32 countries. Generalized dissimilarity models revealed similar relative importance of studied climatic, host-related and geographic factors on differences in tree-associated communities. Mean annual temperature, phylogenetic distance between hosts and geographic distance between locations were the major drivers of dissimilarities. The increasing importance of high temperatures on differences in studied communities indicate that climate change could affect tree-associated organisms directly and indirectly through host range shifts. Insect and fungal communities were more similar between closely related vs. distant hosts suggesting that host range shifts may facilitate the emergence of new pests. Moreover, dissimilarities among tree-associated communities increased with geographic distance suggesting that human-mediated transport may facilitate the introductions of new pests. The results of this study highlight the need to limit the establishment of tree pests and increase the resilience of forest ecosystems to changes in climate.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2021

Distance decay 2.0 - a global synthesis of taxonomic and functional turnover in ecological communities.

Understanding the variation in community composition and species abundances, i.e., {beta}-diversity, is at the heart of community ecology. A common approach to examine {beta}-diversity is to evaluate directional turnover in community composition by measuring the decay in the similarity among pairs of communities along spatial or environmental distances. We provide the first global synthesis of taxonomic and functional distance decay along spatial and environmental distance by analysing 149 datasets comprising different types of organisms and environments. We modelled an exponential distance decay for each dataset using generalized linear models and extracted r2 and slope to analyse the strength and the rate of the decay. We studied whether taxonomic or functional similarity has stronger decay across the spatial and environmental distances. We also unveiled the factors driving the rate of decay across the datasets, including latitude, spatial extent, realm, and organismal features. Taxonomic distance decay was stronger along spatial and environmental distances compared with functional distance decay. The rate of taxonomic spatial distance decay was the fastest in the datasets from mid-latitudes while the rate of functional decay increased with latitude. Overall, datasets covering larger spatial extents showed a lower rate of decay along spatial distances but a higher rate of decay along environmental distances. Marine ecosystems had the slowest rate of decay. This synthesis is an important step towards a more holistic understanding of patterns and drivers of taxonomic and functional {beta}-diversity.

ecology↗