Giulia Mameli

Università degli Studi di Sassari | UNISS

The Mediterranean Basin is a biodiversity hotspot, where islands play a key role because of their high biological diversity, degree of endemicity and human pressure. One of these islands, Sardinia, is a good evolutionary laboratory, especially for the study of complex genera, such as Centaurea. In particular, endemic species of Centaurea sect. Cent...

The research conducted including its rationale All known populations of the Sardinian endemic Centaurea filiformis Viv. (Asteraceae) were studied in order to understand the impact of both geographical and ecological factors on the genetic structuring of this species. Central methods applied Fourteen populations and 234 individuals were sampled. Th...

Molecular approaches have greatly increased the number of confirmed homoploid hybrids, which suggests that the frequency of this phenomenon was underestimated in the past because it was much more difficult to detect than allopolyploidy. Centaurea is a suitable model group for studying homoploid speciation, as hybridization events have been commonly...

Studies over the last two decades demonstrate that hybridization has played an integral role in the evolution of several sections of the genus Centaurea. Nevertheless, natural hybridization between narrow Mediterranean endemic Centaurea species has not been documented as yet. A population of fertile Centaurea individuals exhibiting intermediate mor...

It is not only historical reasons that influence the spatial distribution and performance of endemic species but also the local ecological conditions. We estimated the spatial variability of life-history traits of the narrow endemic Mediterranean species Centaurea horrida Badarò (Asteraceae), endemic of Northern Sardinia (Italy). The current conser...

Background and Aims: The Mediterranean region is of prime importance to biodiversity at a global level, mainly due to the abundance of endemic plant species. However, information about these species is still scarce, especially at the genetic level. In this paper the first assessment is reported of the genetic structure of Centaurea horrida (Asterac...

Il Bacino del Mediterraneo è uno degli hotspots di biodiversità a livello globale (Myers et al. , 2000), infatti risulta terzo al mondo per l’abbondante presenza di piante endemiche (circa 13.000 specie esclusive che corrispondono al 4,3% di tutte le piante del mondo). All’interno dell’area mediterranea sono state individuate 10 aree cruciali per l...

Tyrrhenian Islands are one of Mediterranean hotspots. Within the Mediterranean basin the Sardinian-Corsican system shows one of the highest densities of endemic plant species, therefore it is so original in terms of vegetation cover. Limited information is available on the genetic structure of endemic Mediterranean plant species. Several species ar...