Abstract Detail

Tropical Biology Section

Lagomarsino, Laura [1], Davis, Charles [2].

Of Bats, Birds, and Berries: Phylogeny and Evolution of the Species-Rich Neotropical Lobelioids (Campanulaceae).

The Lobelioideae is the largest subfamily of the cosmopolitan bell-flower family, Campanulaceae. Half of the Lobelioideae diversity is restricted to the montane Neotropics (particularly the Andean cordilleras), and the majority of these species are placed in the genera Centropogon (212 spp.), Burmeistera (102 spp.), and Siphocapmylus (231 spp.), collectively referred to here as the CBS clade. The CBS clade is a recent radiation into the cloud forests of the Andes and, to a certain extent, Central American mountains. They display tremendous variation in their habit and floral morphology. We improved on previous knowledge of the CBS phylogeny by greatly increasing taxon sampling from field and herbarium collections. Our results, which utilize quickly evolving molecular markers (four plastid, one nuclear ribosomal), help us to place many previously unsampled species and shed new light on evolution in the group. We briefly discuss the taxonomy of this group in light of these findings, including the appropriateness of traditionally important taxonomic characters. We then present a biogeographic reconstruction of this recent, rapid radiation, and discuss floral evolution, particularly in the context of shifts between hummingbird and bat pollinators which seem to have played an important role in the diversification of CBS species.

Broader Impacts:

1 - Harvard University, Organismic And Evolutionary Biology, 22 Divinity Ave., Enter Your Address Line 2 Here, Cambridge, MA, 02138-2625, USA
2 - Harvard University, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Ave, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

Keywords:
Campanulaceae
Lobelioideae
phylogeny
rapid radiation
pollinator shifts
Neotropical.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 25
Location: Rosedown/Riverside Hilton
Date: Tuesday, July 30th, 2013
Time: 10:45 AM
Number: 25003
Abstract ID:752
Candidate for Awards:None