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Benavides, RaquelAuthor

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February 2, 2025
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First Results of a Geometric Morphometric Analysis of the Leaf Size and Shape Variation in Quercus petraea Across a Wide European Area

Publicated to: Forests. 16 (1): 70- - 2025-01-01 16(1), DOI: 10.3390/f16010070

Authors:

Fortini, P; Proietti, E; Stojnic, S; Di Marzio, P; Aravanopoulos, FA; Benavides, R; Loy, A; Di Pietro, R
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Affiliations

Aristotle Univ Thessaloniki, Fac Agr Forestry & Nat Environm, Thessaloniki 51124, Greece - Author
Ctr Conservac Biodivers & Desarrollo Sostenible CB, C-Jose Antonio Novais 10, Madrid 28040, Spain - Author
Natl Biodivers Future Ctr, NBFC, I-90133 Palermo, Italy - Author
Univ Molise, Dept Biosci & Terr, I-86090 Pesche, Italy - Author
Univ Novi Sad, Inst Lowland Forestry & Environm, Antona Cehova 13, Novi Sad 21000, Serbia - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid UPM, Escuela Tecn Super Ingn Montes Forestal & Medio Na, Dept Nat Syst & Resources, C-Jose Antonio Novais 10, Madrid 28040, Spain - Author
Univ Rome Sapienza, Dept Planning Design & Technol Architecture, I-00196 Rome, Italy - Author
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Abstract

The high leaf morphological variability of European white oaks is largely documented in the botanical literature, and several papers have been published in the last two decades focusing on inter- and intraspecific leaf phenotypic plasticity. Studies involving landmark-based geometric morphometrics proved to be useful in highlighting relationships between leaf size and shape variation and environmental factors, phylogenetic patterns, or hybridization events. In this paper, the leaf size and shape variations of 18 populations of Quercus petraea distributed throughout a wide geographical area were analyzed by means of geometric morphometric methods (GMMs). This study involved 10 European countries and investigated the intraspecific leaf variability of Q. petraea within a wide latitudinal and longitudinal gradient. Analyses of variance for shape and centroid size were performed through Procrustes ANOVA. Multivariate analysis procedures, partial least squares method, and regression analyses were used to highlight possible patterns of covariation between leaf shape and size and geographical/environmental variables. The results revealed that the Q. petraea populations analyzed mainly differed in their leaf size, where a decrease was observed according to a north to south geographical gradient. Both leaf size and shape were found to be significantly related to latitude, and, to a lesser extent, to mean annual temperature and the leaf isotopic signature of 15N. All the other variables considered did not provide significant results. Unexpected differences observed comparing the leaf traits of geographically strictly adjacent populations suggest the involvement of local hybridization/introgression events. However, with a few exceptions, Q. petraea turned out to be quite conservative in its leaf shape and size at both the local and continental scale.
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Keywords

AbioticAnalysis of variance (anova)BiogeographyBioticClimatDifferentiationDiversityFunctional traitsGenetic-structureGeometric morphometricGeometric morphometric (gmm)Global patternsGradientHybridizationLatitudinal gradientLatitudinal gradientsLeaf traitsMatt. liebl.PatternsPlantPlant diseasesQuercus albaQuercus petraeaRegression analysisRobur l.ShapeShape variationsSize and shapeSize variationVariablesWhite oakWhite oaks

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Forests due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2025, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Forestry.

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2026-04-27:

  • WoS: 1
  • Scopus: 2
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-27:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 11.

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 1.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 2 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: https://oa.upm.es/88909/

As a result of the publication of the work in the institutional repository, statistical usage data has been obtained that reflects its impact. In terms of dissemination, we can state that, as of

  • Views: 147
  • Downloads: 44
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Greece; Italy; Macedonia; Serbia.

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Awards linked to the item

This study was partially supported by: (a) MUR PRIN 2022, project code: 2022B3HA72 (PI. R. Di Pietro, UO P. Fortini) CUP B53D23011890006. (b) the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2: Investment 1.4, Call for tender No. 3138 of 16 December 2021, rectified by Decree n.3175 of 18 December 2021 of the Italian Ministry of University and Research; Award Number: project code CN_00000033, Concession Decree No. 1034 of 17 June 2022 adopted by the Italian Ministry of University and Research, Project funded by the European Union "NextGenerationEU NBFC"; R. Di Pietro: CUP B83C22002950007; P. Fortini and P. Di Marzio CUP H73C22000300001; project title "National Biodiversity Future Center". This study was also partially supported by: (c) the General Secretariat of Research and Innovation, Greece, through the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Project No. 74167, PI: F.A. Aravanopoulos). (d) the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation with project 'FORTRESS' (PID2021-127241OB-I00, PI: R. Benavides). (e) the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia (Contract No. 451-03-66/2024-03/200197) and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 676876 (GenTree).
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