Abstract Detail

Systematics Section

Summers, Carly F. [1], Margenthaler, Elaina [1], Clark, John R. [1].

On the origin and diversification of the monophyletic Pacific clade in the genus Cyrtandra (Gesneriacaeae): recent insights from sampling along the southeast Asia-Pacific interface.

With approximately 600 species, Cyrtandra J.R. & G.Forster (Gesneriaceae) is the largest genus of gesneriad and occupies the greatest range for any genus in the family, extending throughout southeast Asia and into the Pacific. Cyrtandra is also the only genus in the family to colonize the remote Pacific Islands. The monophyletic Pacific clade represents approximately half of all known species in this genus, but its origins and relationship to more mainland lineages of Cyrtandra remain largely unclear. Recent research points to a greater Fiji-Samoa region as a potential center of origin for the Pacific clade, but several gaps in species sampling remain, particularly along the southeast Asia-Pacific interface, a region centered on Fiji and extending north to the Philippines and southeast to Samoa. This study builds on previous work on Cyrtandra and includes increased sampling from a recent expedition to the Solomon Islands in addition to other samples acquired through international collaborations. We use maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic methods to analyze plastid and nuclear ribosomal sequence data for these samples. To further evaluate the Fiji-Samoa center of origin hypothesis for the Pacific clade, we analyze these data using the dispersal-extinction-cladogenesis model for ancestral range reconstruction. Results from this study are evaluated in the context of Pacific-wide lineage radiations and parallels with other Pacific plant lineage radiations are discussed.

Broader Impacts:

1 - Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Gesneriad Research Center, 811 S. Palm Ave., Sarasota, Florida, 34236, USA

Keywords:
Gesneriaceae
Cyrtandra
ancestral range reconstruction
phylogenetics
island biogeography
systematics
modeling.

Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Sections
Session: P
Location: Hall A/Convention Center
Date: Monday, August 2nd, 2010
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PSY016
Abstract ID:584