Molecular phylogeny, character evolution and historical biogeography of Cryptanthus Otto & A. Dietr. (Bromeliaceae)

Abstract

Cryptanthus comprises 72 species endemic to eastern Brazil with a center of diversity in the Atlantic Forest. The majority of the species are threatened due to habitat loss. We reconstructed phylogenetic relationships in Cryptanthus based on amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP) including 48 species and 109 accessions. The Bayesian phylogenetic analysis revealed four major lineages in Cryptanthus and provided further evidence for the paraphyly of subgen. Hoplocryptanthus, while subgenus Cryptanthus was resolved as monophyletic. Monophyly of previously recognized morphological species groups at sectional level could not be confirmed. Based on the phylogenetic reconstruction we inferred the evolution of the sex system in Cryptanthus via maximum likelihood (ML) ancestral character reconstruction. Homoecy, the possession of hermaphrodite flowers only, was reconstructed as the ancestral state in the genus and characterizes three of the four main lineages within Cryptanthus. Andromonoecy, the possession of male and hermaphrodite flowers on the same plant, evolved only once and represents a synapomorphy of the fourth main lineage, C. subgen. Cryptanthus. The ancestral biome analysis reconstructed Cerrado (semiarid scrublands and forests) and campos rupestres (rock fields) as the most likely ancestral biomes for the genus. A shift to the Atlantic Forest biome was reconstructed to have occurred twice, in the ancestor of the first diverging lineage within the genus and in the ancestor of the C. subgen. Cryptanthus clade. A shift to the Caatinga (tropical dryland savanna) and one reversal to Cerrado (campos rupestres - rock fields) was reconstructed to have occurred once, in C. bahianus and C. arelii, respectively. The ancestral biome reconstruction indicates a high degree of niche conservatism within Cryptanthus with rare biome shifts throughout the evolution of the genus. Further, our results imply that the current infrageneric taxonomy of Cryptanthus is problematic and requires revision.

Diversification is decoupled from biome fidelity: Acacia – a case study

“…Our results show that the majority (>80% for WWF Biomes, >95% for Functional Biomes, 71% for Crisp Biomes and 75% for González–Orozco Biomes) of Acacia species occupy a broad range (3 or more) biomes. This generalist biome strategy and the absence similar biome preferences across clades contrasts to the previous work indicating that biome shifts are infrequent (Crisp et al, ; Cruz et al, ; Holstein & Renner, ). The multitude of Acacia species occupying a range of biomes was unexpected, considering the environmental disparity between biomes commonly occupied by single species, for example Temperate forest and Desert (WWF Biomes) or TMN (tall, medium productivity, non‐seasonal) and SLD (short, low productivity, moisture limited; Functional Biomes).…”

“…Our results show that the majority (>80% for WWF Biomes, >95% for Functional Biomes, 71% for Crisp Biomes and 75% for González-Orozco Biomes) of Acacia species occupy a broad range (3 or more) biomes. This generalist biome strategy and the absence similar biome preferences across clades contrasts to the previous work indicating that biome shifts are infrequent (Crisp et al, 2009;Cruz et al, 2017;Holstein & Renner, 2011 It was also surprising given the time available for species specialization and accumulation in these particular environments. Acacia has been present in Australia since at least the Late Oligocene-Early…”

“…Previous work indicates biome conservatism, in which species and lineages tend to diversify primarily within biomes, is common (Crisp et al, ; Crisp, Burrows, Cook, Thornhill, & Bowman, ; Cruz et al, ). Speciation events associated with biome shifts are apparently rare, but when they occur it tends to be between similar biomes (Crisp et al, ).…”

Hydraulics link leaf shape and environmental niche in terrestrial bromeliads

“…() for relationships within Bromelia , and Cruz et al . () for relationships within Cryptanthus . It included 111 terminal taxa including a tip for the Core Bromelioideae.…”

“…For Pitcairnia, the tree used here was based on the morphological phylogeny of Saraiva et al (2015) and included 56 terminal taxa. For the terrestrial Bromelioideae, a composite tree was produced based on molecular phylogenetic analyses, using information from Givnish et al (2011) and Silvestro et al (2014) for intergeneric relationships, from Louzada et al (2014) for relationships within Orthophytum, Monteiro et al (2015) for relationships within Bromelia, and Cruz et al (2017) for relationships within Cryptanthus. It included 111 terminal taxa including a tip for the Core Bromelioideae.…”