The taxonomic status of a putative endemic taxon of Prunus, of which individuals are kept in the UCONN rainforest (i.e., greenhouse) was investigated. The specimens are also deposited in the CONN herbarium.

Klooster M.R., B.A. Connolly, E.M. Benedict, L.C. Gruisha & G.J. Anderson. 2018. Resolving the taxonomic identity of Prunus maritime var. gravesii (Rosaceae) through genotyping analyses using micro satellite loci. Rhodora 120: 187–201. pdf

Abstract reads: Graves’ Beach Plum (Prunus maritima var. gravesii) has been notable for its unique morphological form since a single individual was first discovered on Esker Point in Groton, Connecticut and formally described in 1897. This original clone is now extinct in the wild and is presently kept in cultivation on the University of Connecticut campus, with no additional wild plants discovered in 120 years. It was distinguished morphologically based primarily on its distinctive orbicular leaves, which differ from the ovate leaves found in P. maritima var. maritima. Prior studies have shown few morphological differences between P. maritima var. gravesii and P. maritima var. maritima and full reproductive compatibility has been experimentally observed between the two taxa. However, the few unique characteristics of P. maritima var. gravesii merit further investigation to determine if it has unique molecular differences relative to var. maritima that might lead to the prioritization of conservation and possible reintroduction efforts. Twelve polymorphic microsatellite markers were used to evaluate the genetic composition of 40 P. maritima var. maritima plants from three regional populations (Milford, Connecticut, Waterford, Connecticut, and Weekapaug, Rhode Island) and one additional individual from the type locality of P. maritima var. gravesii. High levels of allelic diversity and heterozygosity were observed among the forty-one samples. Additionally, low levels of genetic differentiation were observed among populations sampled, suggesting regular gene flow occurs among populations. Of the 12 loci studied, P. maritima var. gravesii possessed only one private allele existing in the heterozygotic condition, sharing all other alleles across loci with the P. maritima var. maritima samples. Further evaluations of genetic structure, including principal coordinates analysis and population assignment analysis, revealed the genotypic identity of P. maritima var. gravesii placed it within populations of P. maritima var. maritima and not as a discrete taxon. Therefore, we propose that the current variety classification be changed, and P. maritima var. gravesii should now be considered a naturally occurring but exceptionally rare morphological variant of the widespread P. maritima var. maritima, as P. maritima forma graves.

Tim Moore, a graduate student in the Schlichting lab, led a study now published in the New Phytologist: Moore T.E., C.D. Shlichting, M.E. Aiello-Lammens, K. Mocko& C.S. Jones. 2018. Divergent trait and environment relationships among parallel radiations in Pelargonium (Geraniaceae): a role for evolutionary legacy? New Phytologist 219: 794-807. pdf

The vouchers of the South African plants studied are deposited in the CONN herbarium.

 

 

The abstract reads:

• Functional traits in closely related lineages are expected to vary similarly along common environmental gradients as a result of shared evolutionary and biogeographic history, or legacy effects, and as a result of biophysical tradeoffs in construction. We test these predictions in Pelargonium, a relatively recent evolutionary radiation.
• Bayesian phylogenetic mixed effects models assessed, at the subclade level, associations between plant height, leaf area, leaf nitrogen content and leaf mass per area (LMA), and five environmental variables capturing temperature and rainfall gradients across the Greater Cape Floristic Region of South Africa. Trait–trait integration was assessed via pairwise correlations within subclades.
• Of 20 trait–environment associations, 17 differed among subclades. Signs of regression coefficients diverged for height, leaf area and leaf nitrogen content, but not for LMA. Subclades also differed in trait–trait relationships and these differences were modulated by rainfall seasonality. Leave‐one‐out cross‐validation revealed that whether trait variation was better predicted by environmental predictors or trait–trait integration depended on the clade and trait in question.
• Legacy signals in trait–environment and trait–trait relationships were apparently lost during the earliest diversification of Pelargonium, but then retained during subsequent subclade evolution. Overall, we demonstrate that global‐scale patterns are poor predictors of patterns of trait variation at finer geographic and taxonomic scales.

 

Three talented, motivated undergraduates worked in the BRC invertebrate collections for 8 weeks this summer, on various tasks associated with the NSF-sponsored project to rehouse and digitize the Rettenmeyer Army Ant Guest Collection. Andrew Doucette, an MCB major with an EEB minor, Mia Nahom, a rising sophomore with an as-yet undecided major, and Rebecca Trouern-Trend, a rising senior Illustration major.

Mia and Andrew interpreted and entered field card records, transferred and labeled vialed specimens, and ran the “Find the Mite” game for our very successful AntU day. Beck continued the work started by intern Sam Stine, and mounted examples of several hundred army ant colonies to be imaged for the AAGC database. She also is establishing an imaging protocol and taking images.

Mia Nahom was an integral part of the AAGC team this summer. Although she had finished only a year of college, Mia proved exceptionally capable at a variety of tasks associated with NSF-sponsored project to rehouse and digitize the Rettenmeyer Army Ant Guest Collection. She mastered interpreting hand-written field cards and entering pertinent data from them; she learned how to scan microscope slides and edit the images for web access. Mia also tracked down taxonomic changes and organized specimens.

For more stories about the students’ work during this summer visit our   page.

As part of AntU activities held July 26, during BugWeek, visitors were invited to escape to the UCONN rainforest, and participate in a pollination scavenger hunt. Close to 300 visitors explored the diverse collection of about 3000 plant species in search of plants developing flowers pollinated by insects. The warm, rainy and humid weather enhanced the experience of a tropical rainforest! Visitors would leave with a free potted plant such as coffee, Cuban oregano or sugar cane! Great day for all involved.

Special thanks to Lauren Stanley, Henry Frye and visiting high school senior from Chicago, Alexandra Kwiecien, for inspiring visitors during their discovery of our local and highly diverse rainforest.

As in 2017, the Biodiversity Research Collections will host activities organized by the AntU team during Bug Week on campus on July 26. between 12:00 and 4:00 PM.

 

The BRC endowment sponsored curation by Rebecca Colby and Melinda Gosselin of Paraguayan bats, rodents and marsupials recently returned to the BRC from the University of Michigan.

Ioana Onuţ‐Brännström and colleagues from Uppsala published two studies focusing on the widespread worm-lichen genus Thamnolia,  including the description of a new species, integrating specimens from the Cape Horn region held in the CONN herbarium. Based on these studies, the identifications of our holdings were revised and updated.

1. Onuţ‐Brännström, I., L. Tibell & H. Johannesson. 2017. A worldwide phylogeography of the whiteworm lichens Thamnolia reveals three lineages with distinct habitats and evolutionary histories. Ecology and Evolution 7: 3602–3615. pdf

Abstract reads: Thamnolia is a lichenized fungus with an extremely wide distribution, being encountered in arctic and alpine environments in most continents. In this study, we used molecular markers to investigate the population structure of the fungal symbiont and the associated photosynthetic partner of Thamnolia. By analyzing molecular, morphological, and chemical variation among 253 specimens covering the species distribution range, we revealed the existence of three mycobiont lineages. One lineage (Lineage A) is confined to the tundra region of Siberia and the Aleutian Islands, a second (Lineage B) is found in the high alpine region of the Alps and the Carpathians Mountains, and a third (Lineage C) has a worldwide distribution and covers both the aforementioned ecosystems. Molecular dating analysis indicated that the split of the three lineages is older than the last glacial maximum, but the distribution ranges and the population genetic analyses suggest an influence of last glacial period on the present‐day population structure of each lineage. We found a very low diversity of Lineage B, but a higher and similar one in Lineages A and C. Demographic analyses suggested that Lineage C has its origin in the Northern Hemisphere, possibly Scandinavia, and that it has passed through a bottleneck followed by a recent population expansion. While all three lineages reproduce clonally, recombination tests suggest rare or past recombination in both Lineages A and C. Moreover, our data showed that Lineage C has a comparatively low photobiont specificity, being found associated with four widespread Trebouxia lineages (three of them also shared with other lichens), while Lineages A and B exclusively harbor T. simplexs. lat. Finally, we did not find support for the recognition of taxa in Thamnolia based on either morphological or chemical characters.

2. Ioana, O.B., H. Johannesson & L. Tibell. 2018. Thamnolia tundrae sp. nov., a cryptic species and putative glacial relict. The Lichenologist 50: 59–75. pdf

Abstract reads: The lichen species of the genus Thamnolia, with their striking wormlike thalli and frequent occurrence in arctic and tundra environments, have often been debated with regard to the use of chemistry in lichen taxonomy. Phylogenetic studies have arrived at different conclusions as to the recognition of species in the genus, but in a recent study based on the analyses of six nuclear markers (genes or noncoding regions) of a worldwide sample of Thamnolia, we showed the existence of three well-supported lineages with two different chemistries and geographical distributions. Here, we present two analyses based on ITS and three markers, respectively, which were extended from the study mentioned above to include type specimens and additional Thamnolia strains and taxa. In these analyses the same three clades were retrieved. A putative DEAD-box helicase is used here for the first time as an informative phylogenetic marker to provide taxonomic resolution at species level. The distribution of morphological and chemical characters across the phylogeny was analyzed and it was concluded that three morphologically cryptic, but genetically well supported, species occur: T. vermicularis s. str., T. subuliformis s. str. and T. tundrae sp. nov. Thamnolia vermicularis s. str. contains individuals with uniform secondary chemistry (producing thamnolic acid) and a rather limited distribution in the European Alps, Tatra Mts and the Western Carpathians, a distribution which might result from glacial survival in an adjacent refugium/refugia. Thamnolia subuliformis s. str. is widely distributed in all hemispheres and the samples contain two chemotypes (either with thamnolic or squamatic acids). Thamnolia tundrae is described as new; it produces baeomycesic and squamatic acids, and has a distribution limited to the arctic tundra of Eurasia extending to the Aleutian Islands in North America. It may have survived the latest glaciation in coastal refugia near its present distribution. Thus, secondary chemistry alone is not suitable for characterizing species in Thamnolia, secondary chemistry and geographical origin are informative, and the ITS region can be confidently used for species recognition. Nomenclatural notes are given on several other names that have been used in Thamnolia.

Simon A., J. Di Meglio, T. Goward, K. Dillman, T. Spribille & B. Goffinet. 2018. Sticta torii sp. nov., a remarkable lichen of high conservation priority from northwestern North America. Graphis Scripta 30: 105–114. pdf

Abstract reads: Sticta torii Simon & Goward sp. nov. is an isidiate lichen on Alnus, Malus and Picea branches in hypermaritime regions of northwestern North America. It is a rare species, currently known from only a few localities along a narrow longitudinal range in Southeast Alaska, British Columbia and Oregon. It differs from S. fuliginosa and S. sylvatica in its smaller, more irregular lobes and generally well-developed fringe of marginal isidia, and from S. beauvoisii in its smaller size, less elongate lobes and distinctly arbuscular to penicillate marginal isidia. Also diagnostic are the cyphellae, the basal portions of which bear cells with numerous papillae – a feature shared with a small group of closely allied neotropical species including the recently described S. arbuscula and S. arbusculotomentosa. These latter species, however, bear tomentum over the upper surface, unlike S. torii, which is glabrous.

The holotype is deposited in the CONN herbarium.

The Botanic Gardens Conservation International released “Orchids: 2017 Global Ex situ Collections Assessment”, aimed at promoting the ex-situ conservation of 59% of orchids species considered threatened in the wild.

The collection of living plants of UCONN’s Biodiversity Research Collection, is one of 37 institutions that provided detailed accessions data to this study.  In particular, given its diverse species holdings, our collection contributed to the depth of this report.  10% of the orchid species grown here at UConn are represented in 5 or fewer collections worldwide and a handful are only in cultivation here in Storrs at the present time.