title: Morphological and physiological divergences within Quercus ilex support the existence of different ecotypes depending on climatic dryness.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Several studies show apparently contradictory findings about the functional convergence within the Mediterranean woody flora. In this context, this study evaluates the variability of functional traits within holm oak (Quercus ilex) to elucidate whether provenances corresponding to different morphotypes represent different ecotypes locally adapted to the prevaling stress levels.
  
  
  METHODS
  Several morphological and physiological traits were measured at leaf and shoot levels in 9-year-old seedlings of seven Q. ilex provenances including all recognized morphotypes. Plants were grown in a common garden for 9 years under the same environmental conditions to avoid possible biases due to site-specific characteristics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Leaf morphometry clearly separates holm oak provenances into 'ilex' (more elongated leaves with low vein density) and 'rotundifolia' (short and rounded leaves with high vein density) morphotypes. Moreover, these morphotypes represent two consistent and very contrasting functional types in response to dry climates, mainly in terms of leaf area, major vein density, leaf specific conductivity, resistance to drought-induced cavitation and turgor loss point.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The 'ilex' and 'rotundifolia' morphotypes correspond to different ecotypes as inferred from their contrasting functional traits. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that the combined use of morphological and physiological traits has provided support for the concept of these two holm oak morphotypes being regarded as two different species.
authors.affiliation: Departament de Biologia, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Carretera de Valldemossa km. 7.5, 07071 Palma de Mallorca, Spain Unidad de Recursos Forestales, Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria, Gobierno de Aragón, 50059 Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: José Javier
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Peguero-Pina
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Recursos Forestales, Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria, Gobierno de Aragón, 50059 Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: Domingo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sancho-Knapik
authors.affiliation: Museo Geominero, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (IGME), Ríos Rosas 23, 28003 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Barrón
authors.affiliation: ARAID, Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología (IPE-CSIC), Avda. Montañana 1005, Apdo. 202, 50192 Zaragoza, Spain Departament d'Ecologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Avda. Diagonal 643, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Julio Jesús
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Camarero
authors.affiliation: Fundación Centro de Estudios Ambientales del Mediterráneo (CEAM), Joint Research Unit University of Alicante-CEAM, PO Box 99, 03080 Alicante, Spain.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vilagrosa
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Recursos Forestales, Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria, Gobierno de Aragón, 50059 Zaragoza, Spain egilp@aragon.es.
authors.forename: Eustaquio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gil-Pelegrín
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D002980:Climate; D055864:Droughts; D060146:Ecotype; D005843:Geography; D019083:Mediterranean Region; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D011312:Pressure; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D019655:Quantitative Trait, Heritable; D029963:Quercus / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Mediterranean vegetation; Quercus ilex; ecotype; functional traits; holm oak; palaeobotany; ‘ilex’ morphotype; ‘rotundifolia’ morphotype