Abstract Detail

Systematics

Rose, Jeff [1], Kriebel, Ricardo [1], Sytsma, Ken [2].

Biogeography and Biome Shifts of Blueberries (Ericaceae).

The blueberry family (Ericaceae) is cosmopolitan in distribution. Its ca. 4000 species are most diverse in East Asia, Austrasia, and South America. The family contains some of the largest genera of plants including Rhododendron (ca. 1000 species) and Erica (ca. 800 species). The family is also ecologically diverse and includes tropical epiphytes, fire-adapted trees of Mediterranean habitats, alpine subshrubs, and mycoheterotrophs. Although no analysis of the biogeography of the entire family has been conducted, a North Temperate origin for the family has been proposed. Utilizing a large, well-calibrated phylogeny encompassing over 40% of the family, we reconstructed ancestral areas using BioGeoBears and compared shifts in ancestral areas to shifts in diversification, biome type, and fruit type (fleshy vs. dry). Despite poor sampling of paleotropical Vaccinioideae, our results support a North Temperate origin for the family ca. 90 MY. North America became the predominant player in the early diversification of the family following the divergence of the Enkianthoideae. Though ambiguous, our results suggest that largely Australasian Styphelioideae arrived there from a jump dispersal event from North America ca. 65 MY. This divergence, in addition to extensive cladogenesis within the Ericoideae during the late Cretaceous, adds to the body of evidence implicating the K-T extinction as important in shaping extant angiosperm diversity. In more recent times, South American/Eurasian as well as South American/Australasian disjunctions are more likely to be explained by long-distance dispersal than vicariance.

1 - The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Botany, 430 Lincoln Dr., Madison, WI, 53706, USA
2 - University Of Wisconsin, Department Of Botany, Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

Keywords:
BioGeoBears
Ericaceae
Ericales
biomes
diversification.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 31, Cooley Awards II
Location: 201/Savannah International Trade and Convention Center
Date: Tuesday, August 2nd, 2016
Time: 2:00 PM
Number: 31003
Abstract ID:684
Candidate for Awards:George R. Cooley Award