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Conserving the Genetic Diversity of Plants in Austral and Neotropical America (ANA): A Metanalysis of Published Studies Using Samples of the Region

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Abstract

Current scientific capacities in Austral and Neotropical America (ANA) for plant conservation genetics (PGC) were assessed. Publications (1980–2010) were analyzed, considering the taxa and geographical origin of samples, geographical origin of the institutional affiliation of the authors (first, corresponding and co-authors), the threat category of the taxa studied, focus of the genetic analysis (phylogeny, phylogeography, populations and/or individuals), and focus of the conservation actions. Of the 656 publications in conservation genetics, 46 % were about plants, of which 83 % studied Magnoliophyta. Fourty two percent of publications concerned five plant families. Twenty seven percent of taxa are threatened and 15 % are included in the CITES Appendices. Sixty three percent of the publications were focused on population genetics and 32.6 % on diagnosing threats to the gene pool. The samples analyzed mainly originated from Brazil and Mexico. Publications are primarily led by researchers from institutions based in ANA. Over time, PGC scientific production and proportion of authors from ANA increased.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Omar Cornejo, who provided many suggestions to the article and was a great help in revising the text. To Ana María Kelly and Dominique Noome for helping us to revise the English text. To Angelica Cibrian for the invitation to the Symposium on Conservation Genetics held in Chile and to be part of this initiative. To the friends who helped us get access to the papers we were unable to obtain either in Venezuela or Chile. This work was done within the framework of the activities of the Latin American Network for Conservation Genetics (ReGeneC).

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  1. Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Departamento de Estudios Ambientales, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas, 1081A, Venezuela

    M. A. Oliveira-Miranda, R. M. De Oliveira-Miranda & M. Aguilera

  2. Centro de Investigaciones en Ecología y Zonas Áridas, Universidad Nacional Experimental Francisco de Miranda, Coro, 4101, Venezuela

    A. M. Martino

  3. Instituto de Biología Vegetal y Biotecnología, Universidad de Talca, Talca, 3465548, Chile

    K. Balboa

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  1. M. A. Oliveira-Miranda
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Correspondence to M. A. Oliveira-Miranda.

Appendix

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Table 4 Number of papers published in plant conservation genetics from six ANA countries, discriminated by regional origin of the first author, corresponding author, and coauthor teams, through the period 1991–2010
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Oliveira-Miranda, M.A., Martino, A.M., De Oliveira-Miranda, R.M. et al. Conserving the Genetic Diversity of Plants in Austral and Neotropical America (ANA): A Metanalysis of Published Studies Using Samples of the Region. Bot. Rev. 79, 449–468 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12229-013-9128-5

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