title: Does actually mean chromosome number increase with latitude in vascular plants? An answer from the comparison of Italian, Slovak and Polish floras.
abstract: WE COMPARED CHROMOSOME NUMBER (CN) VARIATION AMONG VASCULAR FLORAS OF THREE DIFFERENT COUNTRIES WITH INCREASING LATITUDE IN THE BOREAL HEMISPHERE: Italy, Slovakia, Poland. Aim of the study was to verify whether the patterns of CN variation parallel the differences in latitudinal ranges. The three datasets comprised 3426 (Italy), 3493 (Slovakia) and 1870 (Poland) distinct cytotypes. Standard statistics (ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis tests) evidenced significant differences among the three countries, mean CN increasing together with latitude. On the contrary, an inverse relation (r = -1) was evidenced among the frequency of odd CNs and latitude. Our results show that the hypothesis of a polyploid increase proportional with distance from the Equator seems to be confirmed, when territories from the same hemisphere are compared.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Botany Unit, University of Pisa, via L. Ghini 5, 56126, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Peruzzi
authors.forename: Grzegorz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Góralski
authors.forename: Andrzej J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Joachimiak
authors.forename: Gianni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bedini
keywords: Biogeography; Europe; chromosome number; cytogeography; cytotaxonomy; polyploidy