| Abstract Detail
Biogeography Harbaugh, Danica T. [1], Wagner, Warren L. [1], Allan, Gery [2], Zimmer, Elizabeth [3]. The Hawaiian Archipelago is a stepping-stone for dispersal in the Pacific: an example from the genus Melicope (Rutaceae). Pacific biogeographic patterns in the widespread plant genus Melicope (Rutaceae) were examined by generating phylogenetic hypotheses based on chloroplast and nuclear ribosomal sequence data. The aims of the study were to identify the number of colonization events of Melicope (47 spp.) to the Hawaiian Islands and reveal the relationship of Hawaiian Melicope to the Hawaiian endemic genus Platydesma (4 spp.). The ultimate goal was to determine if the Hawaiian Islands served as a source area for colonization of Polynesia, in order support an emerging trend that the Hawaiian Islands are not a sink for dispersal, but may also act as a stepping-stone for dispersal throughout the Pacific. Phylogenetic analyses were performed on DNA sequences from one nuclear ribosomal (ITS) and three chloroplast (trnL-F, trnE-T, trnH-psbA) gene regions. Results revealed that that Platydesma is nested within Melicope and sister to the Hawaiian members of Melicope. Additionally, Hawaiian Melicope + Platydesma is a result of one colonization event, likely from the Austral region. Lastly, Marquesan Melicope is descendent from at least one, and possibly two, colonization events from the Hawaiian Islands.
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1 - National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Botany, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 166, Washington, DC, 20013-7012, USA
2 - Northern Arizona University, Biological Sciences Department and Environmental Genetics and Genomics Laboratory, Flagstaff, AZ, USA, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
3 - National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Museum Support Center, 4210 Silver Hill Road, Suitland, MD, 20746, USA
Keywords:
Rutaceae
molecular phylogeny
Pacific biogeography
Hawaiian Islands
long-distance dispersal
island biogeography
Melicope.
Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Topics
Session: 54
Location: 201/Law
Date: Wednesday, July 30th, 2008
Time: 8:00 AM
Number: 54001
Abstract ID:175 |
