| Abstract Detail
Biogeography Gagnon, Edeline [1], Moonlight, Peter [2], Hughes, Mark [3], Lehmann, Caroline [4], Sarkinen, Tiina [5]. Evolutionary and ecological perspective on the role of geophytic organs and annual growth form in escaping frost, drought, and fire in Solanum and Begonia. The evolution of annuals and geophytes (plants with underground organs) are hypothesized to be a response to environmental stressors such as frost, dought and fire, but whether these different growth forms are convergent in ecological space across different clades and geographic areas has remained untested. We compare the evolution of rhizomes, tubers and annual growth form in two large independent clades, the genus Solanum (1233 sp.) and the Begoniaceae (c. 1935 sp.), using a total of more than 98,000 occurrence records from expert-curated databases, SolanaceaeSource (90% of species in the clade) and the Begonia Resource Center (68% of species in clade), various ecological and phylogenetic comparative methods are used to test niche overlap of rhizomes, tubers and annual growth forms. We examine the evolutionary lability of these growth forms, and examine whether they allow plants to colonize new environment. Our results suggest that rhizomatous, tuberous as well as annual species occupy distinct geographic and ecological spaces, with some ecological convergence for tuberous growth forms between Begonia and Solanum. Our research highlights the importance of taking a clade-based approach to understanding and comparing groups in evolutionary and ecological studies.
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1 - Royal Botanic Garden Of Edinburgh, Tropical Science, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, EDH, EH3 5LR, United Kingdom
2 - Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, Tropical Biodiversity, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, EH5 1EU, UK
3 - Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, Tropical Biodiversity, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH3 5LR, United Kingdom
4 - Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH3 5LR, United Kingdom
5 - Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Tropical Diversity, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, EH3 5LR, UK
Keywords:
Geophyte
Solanaceae
Begoniaceae
adaptation
abiotic stress
occurrence data.
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: BIOGIII, BIOGEOGRAPHY III
Location: Virtual/Virtual
Date: Wednesday, July 21st, 2021
Time: 4:30 PM(EDT)
Number: BIOGIII007
Abstract ID:1108
Candidate for Awards:None |
