Abstract Detail

Floristics & Taxonomy

Burwell, Remington N. [1], Ballard Jr, Harvey [2].

The Murky Species Delimitation of Decaploid Coastal Plain Violets.

Some species in the acaulescent blue violets in subsect. Boreali-Americanae W. Becker of Viola has historically been difficult to delineate due to apparent similarities in morphology and subtle differences in ecological (microhabitat) specificity. The Affinis and Edulis species groups belong to one of the largest high-polyploid lineages in the world, all decaploids with five diploid genomes. Both groups are composed of taxa found in streams, swamps, bayous, and rivers with periodic flooding along the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains. They are often hard to discern in the early flowering period when leaf morphology is similar. However, as the season progresses, leaf morphology changes, particularly so in the Edulis group, in which larger leaf blades become divided or lobed. These groups are now under taxonomic reevaluation, utilizing a modern integrative taxonomic approach that includes morphometrics and common garden observations, examination of microhabitat differentiation based on soil characteristics, and tests of genetic differentiation using genotyping-by-sequencing data. Previous experts believed that the Affinis and Edulis species together consist of 5 or fewer taxa, while our current studies provide strong evidence that the two groups are comprised of 10 or more species. Multiple lines of evidence will be filtered through a modified Unified Species Concept to delimit distinct species and tease apart their evolutionary relationships.

1 - Ohio University, Department of Environmental and Plant Biology, Ohio University, Porter Hall Room 315, Athens , Ohio, 45701, USA
2 - Ohio University, Environmental & Plant Biology, 315 Porter Hall, Athens, OH, 45701, United States

Keywords:
microhabitat
polyploid
common garden
genotyping-by-sequencing.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Number: F&T II005
Abstract ID:829
Candidate for Awards:None