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Abstract Detail



Bryological and Lichenological Section/ABLS

Mishler, Brent [1], Dalton, Patrick [2], Bell, Neil [3], Nosratinia, Sonia [4], Miller, Joe [5].

Systematics and ecology of Rhabdodontium buftonii, a paleoendemic Tasmanian moss newly placed in the Ptychomniaceae.

Rhabdodontium is a monotypic, endemic Tasmanian moss genus typically assigned to Pteryobryaceae. Rhabdodontium buftonii (Broth. & Geh.) Broth. was first described from specimens collected in 1893 and 1895; no details on locality or habitat were provided. Its status was considered rare until Norris rediscovered and described a sterile collection from rapids in the Mackenzie river in western Tasmania in 1981. That locality was unfortunately inundated following the development of a major hydro-electric scheme in 1986. In 2000, Dalton undertook a major survey, which revealed that the moss was widely distributed in western Tasmania. These new populations provided conclusive evidence that the taxon was a true rheophyte occurring in fast flowing streams at low elevation only in western Tasmania, and allowed the determination of its ecological niche and reproductive biology. We sequenced DNA from 5 geographically separated populations, and incorporated these into a large alignment of potentially related mosses. Rhabdodontium is strongly supported as a deep branch within the Ptychomniales, and Orthorrhynchium is confirmed as the deepest diverging clade in the Ptychomniales, which has the topology: (Orthorrhynchium (Rhabdodontium (Hampeella (core Ptychominiales)))). We have investigated the peristome of Rhabdodontium using SEM and light microscopy and will present the morphological, ecological, and systematic implications of the combined molecular and morphological data. While further work may justify it being treated as a monotypic family, the current best placement of Rhabdodontium is in the Ptychomniaceae.

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1 - University of California, Berkeley, University & Jepson Herbaria, and Dept. of Integrative Biology, Berkeley, CA, 94720-2465, USA
2 - UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA, AUSTRALIA, School of Plant Science, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, Australia
3 - Botanical Museum, PO Box 7, 00014 University Of Helsinki, Helsinki, N/A, FI-00014, Finland
4 - University of California, Berkeley, University and Jepson Herbaria, Berkeley, CA, 94720-2465, USA
5 - Centre For Australian National Biodiversity Research, GPO Box 1600, Canberra, N/A, 2601, Australia

Keywords:
conservation
paleoendemism
rheophyte.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 23
Location: Ascot/Riverside Hilton
Date: Tuesday, July 30th, 2013
Time: 11:00 AM
Number: 23008
Abstract ID:938
Candidate for Awards:None


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