Analysis of Phenotypic Variability in Natural Populations of <i>Cereus fernambucensis</i> Lem. (Cactaceae).

ABSTRACT: Genetic diversity is essential for species adaptation, evolution, and conservation and is a determining factor in plants of ecological and agronomic interest, such as Cereus fernambucensis (Cactaceae). This study evaluated phenotypic variability and the relative importance of morphophysiological traits in two natural populations of the species located in restinga areas in Paraíba, Brazil. Twenty subpopulations were analyzed in a completely randomized design with four replicates and 15 traits. Genetic divergence was estimated by the Mahalanobis distance and grouped via the Tocher method, whereas the relative contribution of the characters was determined via the Singh method, which is associated with a selection index to identify promising genotypes. The results indicated the f

SUBMITTER: Silva JHCS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12730033 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature