Abstract Detail

Tropical Biology

Valderrama, Eugenio [1], Skinner, David [2], Maas, Paul [3], Maas, Hiltje [3], Andre, Thiago [4], Landis, Jacob [5], Sass, Chodon [6], Pinilla Vargas, Maria [7], Guan, Clarice [8], Grunder, Nikolaus [9], Almeida, Ana [9], Specht, Chelsea [10].

Toggling between bird and insect pollination syndromes in the radiation of Neotropical Costus L.

The idea of the importance of interactions with pollinators for the diversification of flowering plants traces back to Darwin. Selection can act to mold the characteristics of flowers driven by their predominant or most effective pollinators. The possibility of both specialized pollination and frequent shifts in pollination syndromes has been associated with increased opportunities for reproductive isolation and higher diversification rates. The radiation of spiral gingers (family Costaceae Nakai) of the genus Costus in the Neotropics includes hummingbird and bee pollinated flowers that have evolved multiple times toggling between pollination morphologies. Neotropical Costus species constitute almost half of the species of the family (c.57 of c.125 spp) and represent an appropriate model to improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying Neotropical diversity. Here we combine a robust phylogeny estimated with a targeted enrichment approach (956 loci) and morphological characters obtained for a taxonomic revision of the family for the Neotropics to address both the contribution of the more specialized bird pollination syndrome and the frequent shifts in pollination syndromes to diversification rates in the radiation of Costus.

1 - Cornell University, Plant Biology, CALS, 510 Mann Library, Ithaca, NY, 14853, United States
2 - Le Jardin Ombragé, Tallahassee, FL, USA
3 - Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Section Botany, Leiden, Netherlands
4 - Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará, Instituto de Biodiversidade e Florestas, Santarém, PA, Brazil
5 - Cornell University, School of Integrative Plant Science, Section of Plant Biology and the L.H. Bailey Hortorium, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 14850, USA
6 - 77A Tamalpais Rd, Berkeley, CA, 94708, United States
7 - Cornell University, School of Integrative Plant Science, Section of Plant Biology and the L.H. Bailey Hortorium, Ithaca, NY, USA
8 - Cornell University, 237 Mann Drive, Ithaca, NY, 14853, United States
9 - California State University East Bay, Department of Biological Sciences, Hayward, CA, USA
10 - Cornell University, Section of Plant Biology & the L.H. Bailey Hortorium, 502 Mann Library, Ithaca, NY, 14853, United States

Keywords:
Pollination syndromes
Costaceae
Zingiberales
radiation
Costus  L.
Neotropical.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: TB, Tropical Biology
Location: Virtual/Virtual
Date: Monday, July 19th, 2021
Time: 12:45 PM(EDT)
Number: TB002
Abstract ID:716
Candidate for Awards:None