Possibilities of Speciation in the Central Sandy Steppe, Woody Steppe Area of the Carpathian Basin through the Example of Festuca Taxa

Károly Penksza,Kristina Varga,Dénes Saláta,Gergely Pápay,Csaba Lantos,Anna Fruzsina Filep,Zsuzsa Lisztes-Szabó,Attila Csík,László Kovács,János Pauk

doi:10.3390/f11121325

Abstract

Research Highlights: We examined the vegetation appearing in forest-steppes in the Pannon region. In the present survey taxonomical relations of the dominant Festuca species were examined. Background and Objectives: After deforestation and shrubcutting bare soil patches exposed to anthropogenous effects provided an opportunity for new vegetation to form. Materials and Methods: Inflorescence parameters and micromorphological characters of the leaves were examined in a new taxon and compared with two, presumably closely related, species of the genus Festuca L. Festuca tomanii Korneck & T.Gregor, with silvery leaf surface, Festuca vaginata W. K. and Festuca pseudovaginata Penksza were compared based on 24 traits of the inflorescence and their leaf anatomy studied on leaf cross-sections. Moreover, leaf micromorphological features were compared using a stereomicroscope, a scanning electron microscope completed with Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy measurements and phytolith analysis method to establish the taxonomic applications of the micromorphological characters of the epidermis. Results: The awns of the lemma of Festuca tomanii were shown to be longer than those of the two other species. Festuca vaginata and Festuca pseudovaginata specimen showed low variability in inflorescence parameters but inflorescence characters were not uniform because the panicle of Festuca tomanii individuals was found to be bigger in the northern part than the panicles originating from the southern part of the sampled area. The phytolith assemblages of the Festuca pseudovaginata and Festuca tomanii differ from the Festuca vaginata in the abundance of ELONGATE SINUATE phytolith morphotype. Conclusions: we confirmed the appearance of F. vaginata in natural grasslands and discovered new occurrences of F. pseudovaginata and F. tomanii. F. pseudovaginata inhabits only the Pannon region, we found endemic and natural stands of it, but in its secondary habitats it was confirmed as a completely new species. Furthermore, taxa of disturbed vegetations are currently being examined. These habitats are potential hotspots of speciation.

Highlights

These Festuca taxa from the Carpathian Basin which have bowed narrow leaves were mentioned by several authors as part of Festuca ovina agg. [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14]
The spikelets of F. vaginata consisted of 4–5 flowers and those of F. tomanii comprised 5–6 flowers at (Figures 1 and 2)
Awns of the F. vaginata lemma were between 0.2–0.4 mm and those of

Summary

Introduction

These Festuca taxa from the Carpathian Basin which have bowed narrow leaves were mentioned by several authors as part of Festuca ovina agg. [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14]. The study in [15] arrived at the same conclusion. Those species which have continuous sclerenchyma are classified into the eu-ovina aggregate. These taxa can be identified based on their characteristic tissue structure and molecular genetic analyses [16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27]. The study in [28] separated a new series within the Festuca genus. One example is the psammophila series, which includes F. polesica Zapal, F. vaginata W.

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Conclusion