A network of morpho-environmental strategies: an approach to the knowledge of the genus Dianthus L

This paper discusses the morpho-environmental complexity of Dianthus L. (Caryophyllaceae) in the Iberian Peninsula, and applies a morphogroups (GrMor) analytical approach. For this purpose, 633 different specimens, previously collected and preserved in 14 herbaria, were analysed. A network of GrMor was conducted by comparing Iberian individuals with others from regions surrounding the Iberian Peninsula. The results obtained show a morphological gradient between two extremes, as well as highly diverse and redundant intermediate combinations across wide altitudinal and thermopluviometric ranges. A marked redundancy displayed a notable randomness, resulting in a lack of biogeographic correlations for those GrMor. Accordingly, high environmental variability, both altitudinal and thermopluviometric, was correlated to explain the observed morphological variability and its redundancy, and no significant correlation was detected. In this context, the identification of two extremes separated by three intermediate GrMor illustrated the resilience of the morphological network for the analysed specimens. The taxonomic approach for this morphological range identified six taxonomic groups (GrTax), with most GrMor again showing no morpho-environmental correlation. In order to describe these results, the resilience of the morphological network reflected the robustness of the genus in the analysed area.