Ecological, morphological, micromorphological and molecular analyses of the species in the hexastylis heterophylla complex.

Details

• Creators:
  Murrell, Zack E. ; Padgett, James E. ; Gillespie, Emily L. ; Williams, Falina
• Corporate Creators:
  Appalachian State University. Dept. of Biology
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Classes Of Living Things Conservation Environmental Impacts Habitat (Ecology) Habitat Conservation--North Carolina Plants Plants, Protection Of--North Carolina Plants--North Carolina
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA/NC/2004-01
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  North Carolina
• Edition:
  Final report; July 2001-June 2003.
• Corporate Publisher:
  North Carolina. Department of Transportation. Research and Analysis Group
• Abstract:
  Both Blomquist and Gaddy recognized a group of eight Hexastylis (commonly known as “Wild Gingers” or “Little Brown
  
  Jugs”) that are referred to as the Virginica Group. This group was further subdivided into the three Subgroups: Virginica,
  
  Shuttleworthii, and Heterophylla. Three species have been recognized in the Heterophylla complex. Field biologists have
  
  generally recognized considerable morphological overlap occurs in this group. The three species that are placed in the
  
  Heterophylla complex are Hexastylis naniflora, H. heterophylla and H. minor. Hexastylis naniflora is a federally threatened
  
  species that is found in the rapidly growing area of the western Piedmont of North and South Carolina. The range of H. naniflora
  
  is restricted by soil type, biogeography, and ecology. Herbarium specimens were borrowed from 17 herbaria and these 693
  
  specimens were used to generate distribution maps for the three species in the H. heterophylla complex. Elemental occurrence
  
  data were obtained from the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program and the South Carolina Heritage Trust Program to augment
  
  the distribution map for H. naniflora. Based upon these maps, field investigations were conducted across the range of the three
  
  species in the complex. We conducted ecological, morphological, micromorphological, soil, pollen, and molecular analyses of the
  
  H. heterophylla complex. Using ecological and biogeographical information obtained from our study, we located 31 new
  
  populations of H. naniflora; one of the new populations was found to be unique to the Yadkin River drainage. This effort brings
  
  the total known populations of H. naniflora to 143. Eighty-five populations of the three species in the H. heterophylla complex
  
  were subjected to field investigations. Using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), we found pollen characters that distinguish
  
  H. naniflora from other members within the subgroup. In a comparative analysis using Inter Simple Sequence Repeats, we were
  
  unable to find banding patterns that could be used to separate H. naniflora from the other members within the complex. Based
  
  upon biogeographical, ecological, molecular, morphological, as well as micromorphological work, our results show that H.
  
  naniflora Blomquist is a well-defined species, however, Hexastylis minor (Ashe) Blomquist and Hexastylis heterophylla (Ashe)
  
  Small exhibit considerable overlap that make species circumscription difficult. Our intraspecific analysis of Hexastylis naniflora
  
  was based on analysis of soil, ecology, molecular characters and morphology, where we compared populations in the Broad-
  
  Pacolet, Catawba, and Yadkin River drainages. This analysis provides information that can be used in future conservation and
  
  management efforts for H. naniflora.
  
  
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:3f0f769772d3d68b73f0266a2f81f2eb50a23fdc2062ef4c9c0fd799aa752234
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/17170/dot_17170_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.59 MB ]