Variability of Pediastrum duplex var. gracillimum West & G.S. West (Chlorophyta) in mountain lakelets of Mt. Asog and Mt. Malinao, Bicol Region, Philippines
Abstract
Morphological features, in particular the shapes and sizes, of organisms reflect inherent environmental conditions where these organisms live. In this study, marginal cells of P. duplex coenobia found in the mountain lakelets (Maydanao and Manapao) of Mount Asog and Mount Malinao, respectively, were investigated. Forty coenobia of Pediastrum samples were collected from each lakelet and photographed for analysis. One marginal cell was randomly selected from each coenobium for measurements and geometric morphometric analysis. Elliptical Fourier analysis was employed to extract shape descriptors of the marginal cells.
Marginal cells of Pediastrum from lakelet Maydanao were relatively complex as supported by a high number of components that accounted for 85% variance. As indicated by the Fourier descriptor, variability of coenobial marginal cells in Pediastrum in the two lakelets, however, did not significantly differ in terms of their shapes (PERMANOVA: P = 0.503). On the other hand, discriminant analysis showed significant differences in morphometrics of Pediastrum in the two lakelets with 100% classification success (Hotelling’s t2: P = 0.001). Hence, cell dimensions in this Pediastrum species is an intrinsic character of its particular locality, in this case, for its particular lakelet.
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