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Abstract Detail



Ecology

Gaynor, Michelle [1], Ng, Julienne [2], Laport, Robert [2].

The Influence of Genome Duplication on Brassicaceae and Rosaceae Communities Across the United States. .

Genome duplication is often associated with changes in traits like flower structure, reproductive factors, and fruit size. This may in turn affect patterns of species co-occurrence within communities, yet the role of genome duplication in structuring plant communities has been largely ignored. We used a phylogenetic framework to examine plant communities from the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) to test the importance of ploidy in structuring communities of Brassicaceae and Rosaceae families across the United States. Specifically, we tested (i) if species within these communities exhibit similar chromosome number, (ii) are species with higher ploidy levels more abundant within and across sites, and (iii) is there a correlation between non-native status and ploidy within communities? Within select communities, we found that chromosome number is more similar than expected by chance, which may be due to species being closely related at these sites having similar chromosome numbers. We identified that there is no significant association between ploidy level and relative abundance within both families, suggesting that species with higher ploidy may not outcompete diploid community members. When investigating native status, abundance, and ploidy level we found that in the Rosaceae community, there are significantly more native polyploids than non-native polyploids. Additionally, from instances of closely related, co-occurring species of the same ploidy exhibiting significant phylogenetic clustering, we can infer that these species may have similar traits allowing them to exploit similar habitat. Overall, our results suggest that genome duplication may contribute to, but is not the only factor influencing, co-occurrence within Brassicaceae and Rosaceae communities.


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1 - University of Central Florida, Department of Biology , 4110 Libra Drive, Orlando, Fl, 32816, USA
2 - University of Colorado Boulder, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Campus Box 334, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA

Keywords:
Community Phylogenetic
Polyploidy.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 3, Ecology Section - Community Processes and Delineation
Location: Sundance 5/Omni Hotel
Date: Monday, June 26th, 2017
Time: 9:00 AM
Number: 3004
Abstract ID:81
Candidate for Awards:Ecological Section Best Graduate Student Paper,Ecological Section Best Undergraduate Presentation Award


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