Using morphometrics to distinguish the restinga and cerrado ecotypes of wild Anacardium occidentale (Anacardiaceae): a preliminary study in northeastern Brazil

The cashew tree Anacardium occidentale is a globally important food species and in Brazil is a natural component of cerrado and restinga vegetation and has an important role in local economies as a food and medicinal plant. Nevertheless, diversity studies of wild populations—the most important reservoir of natural variation—of this naturally widespread species are urgently needed for conservation strategies because of human impact on tropical American ecosystems where it occurs. Here, we sought to differentiate the previously recognized restinga and cerrado ecotypes using multivariate morphometrics of wild populations in a limited area of northeast Brazil (northern Piauí and northeastern Maranhão states). Thirty individuals were sampled for 47 vegetative and reproductive descriptors from six wild populations (three of each ecotype). Data analysis included principal component analysis and three classification methods (linear discriminant analysis, k-nearest neighbour analysis and classification and regression tree analysis); cross-validation tests were applied to classification results. Univariate statistics obtained for each population and ecotype were found to be consistent with the previously proposed distinction between the two ecotypes. Although principal component analysis showed extensive variation and overlap between populations, cross-validations of classification analyses showed strong differentiation between ecotypes and between most populations; vegetative and reproductive variables were equally important for discrimination. Cerrado populations were more variable and somewhat less distinct than restinga ones. New molecular genetic investigations of wild populations are needed to provide genetic support for the morphological differentiation of the ecotypes reported here.