Abstract Detail

Molecular Ecology and Evolution

Cameron, Ken [1], Kriebel, Ricardo [2], Spalink, Daniel [3], Pace, Matthew Charles [4], Li, Pan [5], Drummond, Chloe [2], Rose, Jeffrey [2], Zaborsky, John [2], Alverson, Bil [2], Givnish, Thomas J [6], Waller, Don [7], Sytsma, Ken [6].

Relatedness among rare native species and invasive exotics quantified with a molecular community phylogeny of the Wisconsin flora: implications for plant conservation.

We reconstructed the community phylogeny of Wisconsin's flora using the universal plant DNA barcode (rbcL+matK) and explored its utility for assessing the role that phylogeny may play in documenting the threat to native species by exotics. The state harbors 2,640 species of vascular plants, of which 1,873 are native and 767 are introduced; there are at least 158 families and 779 genera represented. Among native species, the WI DNR considers 72 to be endangered, 58 threatened, and 206 of special concern (i.e., 336 are rare). Among the exotic species now part of the flora, 63 are regulated as restricted and 82 are prohibited invasive species. In addition to the phylogeny we have made use of >350,000 georeferenced herbarium specimens from WIS in order to explore the geographic distribution and association of categories across the state’s heterogenous landscape (e.g., across a well characterized Tension Zone). We determined that there is significant phylogenetic signal for some of these discrete categories, and calculated average pairwise distances among them. Our results reveal that, on average, rare native species are more closely related to other native species, followed by non-invasive exotics, then invasives. However, we identified 58 (22%) rare angiosperm species in our flora that are equally or more closely related to an exotic than they are to a native species, 16 of which are more closely related to a regulated invasive than to a native. These may be especially at risk of extirpation through hybridization or competition with their invasive cousin. Likewise, we found that 32 invasive species in the flora are most closely related to a native than to an exotic - three are most closely related to a native of special concern, one to a threatened native, and four to an endangered native species. On a positive note, there are also many rare taxa in the Wisconsin flora that are only distantly related to an invasive species. Although we recognize that many factors contribute to the decline of rare plants within a flora, and to the spread of invasives at the expense of native plants, this may be one of the first studies of its kind to consider the role of phylogenetic niche conservatism in the context of relatedness quantified objectively within the context of an entire floristic community phylogeny. We encourage conservation biologists to consider these results in establishing priorities for monitoring and the protection of rare species.

1 - University Of Wisconsin, Department Of Botany, 154 Birge Hall, 450 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
2 - University of Wisconsin-Madison, Botany
3 - University Of Wisconsin-Madison, Department Of Botany, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
4 - New York Botanical Garden, Herbarium, 2900 Southern Blvd, Bronx, NY, 10458, USA
5 - Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
6 - University Of Wisconsin, Department Of Botany, Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
7 - Univeristy of Wisconsin-Madison, Botany, Birge Hall, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

Keywords:
community phylogeny
flora
herbarium
Invasive
rare
Wisconsin
DNA barcoding.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 44, Molecular Ecology and Evolution II
Location: 102/Savannah International Trade and Convention Center
Date: Wednesday, August 3rd, 2016
Time: 2:45 PM
Number: 44006
Abstract ID:477
Candidate for Awards:None