Abstract Detail

Biogeography

Rodiguez, Rosa [1], VanDeCarr, Morgan [2], WOLFE, ANDREA D [3].

Geographic variation in floral traits in three species of Penstemons.

Pollinators are one of the major selective agents in the evolution of flower morphology. Numerous studies have shown that changes in floral morphology are related to changes in pollinators. To test the Grant-Stebbins pollinator-driven divergence hypothesis we investigated the geographic variation of traits in three species of Penstemons. We used 1037 digital herbarium specimens to measure nine characters indicative of pollinator specificity (plant height, basal leaf length, mid leaf length, tip length, corolla length, corolla tube width, corolla throat width, corolla mouth width, and inflorescence length) in Penstemon albidus P. fruticosus and P. whippleanus. To assess the level of correlation for geographic distribution and morphological data, we used several R software packages (gstst, lattice,spatial,sp,rgdal). Corolla length was the most variables character in P. albidus while corolla tube width was the least variables. Only in P. albidus floral traits were as variables as vegetative traits; in the other two species vegetative traits were more variable. In P. whippleanus the most variables floral trait was corolla tube width. Even though corolla length is one of traits with the smaller variance, the size of the corolla in P. whippleanus ranges from 8 to 23 mm. We found similar trend in P. fruticosus. In this species corolla length has the smaller variance but the range was 22 mm wide. The results from the spatial analyses indicate that in P. albidus, corolla mouth width, tube width, and throat width sizes increase as individuals move from East to West and from South to North. In P. fruticosus, larger flowers are concentrated at the center of the distribution. As for P. whippleanus, the Rocky Mountains played an important role in the distribution of floral characters. In particular, west of the Rockies, individuals are larger than in the East for most characters. This trend is less obvious in the corolla length and tip leaf length. The three species investigated show strong correlation between spatial distribution and flora morphology. Further study will determine the role of pollinators on the geographic structure of this three species.

1 - The Ohio State University, Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology , Aronoff Laboratory 456, Columbus, Ohio, 43210, USA
2 - The Ohio State University, Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology , Columbus, Ohio, 43210, USA
3 - Ohio State University, Department Of Ecology, Evolution, And Organismal Biology, 318 W. 12th Avenue, COLUMBUS, OH, 43210-1293, USA

Keywords:
Penstemon
Floral traits
Morphology
spatial analysis
digital specimens.

Presentation Type: Poster
Session: P, Biogeography
Location: Exhibit Hall/Omni Hotel
Date: Monday, June 26th, 2017
Time: 5:30 PM This poster will be presented at 5:30 pm. The Poster Session runs from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. Posters with odd poster numbers are presented at 5:30 pm, and posters with even poster numbers are presented at 6:15 pm.
Number: PBG007
Abstract ID:454
Candidate for Awards:None