CiteULike CiteULike
Delicious Delicious
Connotea Connotea

Citation for Study 10938

About Citation title: "Evolution and biogeography of Pleurophyllum (Astereae, Asteraceae), a small genus of megaherbs endemic to the subantarctic islands".
About Study name: "Evolution and biogeography of Pleurophyllum (Astereae, Asteraceae), a small genus of megaherbs endemic to the subantarctic islands".
About This study is part of submission 10928 (Status: Published).

Citation

Wagstaff S., Breitwieser I., & Ito M. 2011. Evolution and biogeography of Pleurophyllum (Astereae, Asteraceae), a small genus of megaherbs endemic to the subantarctic islands. American Journal of Botany, 98(1): 62-75.

Authors

  • Wagstaff S.
  • Breitwieser I.
  • Ito M.

Abstract

? Premise of the study The abundance of fossils in Antarctica suggests this continent was a center of diversification and corridor for migration for many austral plant groups until the late Tertiary and may have played a pivotal role in shaping plant distributions in the Southern Hemisphere. While the Antarctic flora was largely erased by glaciation during the Pleistocene, at least some of Antarctic plant species found refuge on the subantarctic islands. ? Methods We used independent and combined analysis of ITS, ETS, trnK and trnL DNA sequences to infer phylogenetic relationships in Pleurophyllum, a small genus of three species that are endemic to the subantarctic islands of Australia and New Zealand. The inferred phylogeny provided a framework to reconstruct the origin and patterns of diversification in the genus. ? Key results Here we summarize support for the hypothesis that Pleurophyllum survived episodes of Pleistocene glaciation in the subantarctic islands, and its sisters dispersed northward in response to glacial advance. ? Conclusions The distinctive flora of the subantarctic islands may harbor some of the last remnants of a once diverse flora and may still retain distinctive features of their Antarctic ancestors. Studies of endemic plants such as Pleurophyllum may be the key to resolving this puzzle.

Keywords

Antarctica; Astereae; divergence estimate; phylogenetic inference; megaherb; Pleurophyllum; subantarctic islands

External links

About this resource

  • Canonical resource URI: http://purl.org/phylo/treebase/phylows/study/TB2:S10938
  • Other versions: Download Reconstructed NEXUS File Nexus Download NeXML File NeXML
  • Show BibTeX reference
  • Show RIS reference