Directionally biased habitat shifts and biogeographically informative cytonuclear discordance in the Hawaiian silversword alliance (Compositae)

PREMISE

Expanded phylogenetic analyses of the Hawaiian silversword alliance (Argyroxiphium, Dubautia, Wilkesia; Compositae) were undertaken to assess evolutionary and biogeographic informativeness of cytonuclear discordance and any biases in evolutionary directionality of ecological transitions within this prominent example of adaptive radiation.

METHODS

Samples spanning the geographic and ecological distributions of all recognized taxa were included in phylogenetic and biogeographic analyses of nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) and cpDNA sequences. Bayesian model testing approaches were used to model ecological evolution and the evolution of nuclear chromosomal arrangements while accounting for phylogenetic uncertainty.

RESULTS

Cytonuclear discordance detected previously appears to reflect chloroplast capture, at least in part, with nrDNA trees being largely congruent with nuclear chromosomal structural data and fine-scale taxonomy. Comparison of biogeographic histories estimated from the posterior distributions of nrDNA and cpDNA trees, including inferred chloroplast-capture events, provides additional resolution of dispersal history, including a back-dispersal to Maui Nui from Hawai'i. A newly resolved major nrDNA clade of endemic Kaua'i taxa that mostly were described as new-to-science since the 1980s strengthens the earlier hypothesis that diversification on Kaua'i has not waned since the island began to decline in area through subsidence and erosion. Bias in habitat shifts was estimated, with transitions from dry-to-mesic or -wet and from wet-to-mesic or -bog habitats dominating diversification of the silversword alliance from a dry-adapted tarweed ancestor.

CONCLUSIONS

The habitat-transition biases estimated here may indicate more limited pathways of ecological evolution than proposed previously for an adaptive radiation involving such major ecological shifts.

Strong genetic structure revealed by microsatellite variation in Callicarpa species endemic to the Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands

Adaptive radiation is the diversification of a founding population into multiple taxa that are differentially adapted to diverse ecological niches. The three Callicarpa (Lamiaceae) species endemic to the Bonin Islands are considered to represent an example of adaptive radiation on oceanic islands. All three species are distributed in the Chichijima Island Group and grow in different habitats, while only one species, C. subpubescens, is distributed among other island groups. Particularly, in the Hahajima and Mukojima Island Groups, C. subpubescens grows in various habitats and shows relatively high morphological variation. We investigated genotypes of the three Callicarpa species at 14 microsatellite markers to elucidate genetic differentiation within and between species or island groups and between different habitats or morphologies. We found that genetic differentiation within C. subpubescens in the Hahajima and Mukojima Island Groups was equally as high as that between the three species in the Chichijima Island Group, while differentiation within C. subpubescens in the Chichijima Island Group was much lower. Analyses such as a Bayesian clustering analysis showed that genetically distinct groups were associated with the three species in the Chichijima Island Group, whereas they showed strong genetic structure within C. subpubescens in the Hahajima and Mukojima Island Groups among different habitats and morphologies. These results indicated that ecological diversification occurred in the Hahajima and Mukojima Island Groups. Meanwhile, high genetic differentiation among different island groups was also observed, reflecting isolation by distance. It implies that non-ecological factors such as geographic isolation also played important roles in genetic differentiation in Callicarpa species in the Bonin Islands. These findings suggest that the Callicarpa species in the Bonin Islands are differentiated into multiple genetic groups by both ecological and non-ecological factors.

Phenotypic divergence but not genetic distance predicts assortative mating among species of a cichlid fish radiation

The hypothesis of ecological divergence giving rise to premating isolation in the face of gene flow is controversial. However, this may be an important mechanism to explain the rapid multiplication of species during adaptive radiation following the colonization of a new environment when geographical barriers to gene flow are largely absent but underutilized niche space is abundant. Using cichlid fish, we tested the prediction of ecological speciation that the strength of premating isolation among species is predicted by phenotypic rather than genetic distance. We conducted mate choice experiments between three closely related, sympatric species of a recent radiation in Lake Mweru (Zambia/DRC) that differ in habitat use and phenotype, and a distantly related population from Lake Bangweulu that resembles one of the species in Lake Mweru. We found significant assortative mating among all closely related, sympatric species that differed phenotypically, but none between the distantly related allopatric populations of more similar phenotype. Phenotypic distance between species was a good predictor of the strength of premating isolation, suggesting that assortative mating can evolve rapidly in association with ecological divergence during adaptive radiation. Our data also reveals that distantly related allopatric populations that have not diverged phenotypically, may hybridize when coming into secondary contact, e.g. upon river capture because of diversion of drainage systems.

Phylogeographic patterns and demographic history of Schiedea globosa (Caryophyllaceae) on the Hawaiian Islands

Geomorphological changes have been demonstrated to have had profound impacts on biodiversity, often leading to demographic expansions and contractions and allopatric divergence of taxa. We examined DNA sequence variation at two nuclear and one maternally inherited plastid locus among 10 populations of Schiedea globosa on the Hawaiian Islands to assess the primary factors shaping genetic structure, phylogeographic patterns, and the importance of geographic isolation to population divergence. Schiedea globosa has characteristics that may promote gene flow, including wind pollination and rafting of plants in ocean currents. However, we detected significant differentiation among populations on all islands except Hawaii, with the maternally inherited plastid locus having the greatest genetic structure (F(ST) = 0.81). Migration rates across all loci are less than one migrant per generation. We found evidence of growth in several populations and on the islands of Molokai and Maui, which supports population expansion associated with the formation of Maui Nui during the last glacial maximum. Similar to data for many other Hawaiian taxa, these data suggest S. globosa originated on Oahu and subsequently colonized Molokai, Maui, and Hawaii in progression. Given the high level of genetic structure, allopatric divergence will likely contribute to further divergence of populations.