Incipient radiation within the dominant Hawaiian tree Metrosideros polymorpha.

ABSTRACT: Although trees comprise a primary component of terrestrial species richness, the drivers and temporal scale of divergence in trees remain poorly understood. We examined the landscape-dominant tree, Metrosideros polymorpha, for variation at nine microsatellite loci across 23 populations on young Hawai'i Island, sampling each of the island's five varieties throughout its full geographic range. For four varieties, principal coordinate analysis revealed strong clustering of populations by variety across the 10 430 km(2) island, indicating partitioning of the species into multiple evolutionarily significant units. The single island-endemic form, riparian var. newellii, showed especially strong differentiation from other varieties despite occurring in sympatry with other varieties and likely evo

SUBMITTER: Stacy EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4181069 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature