The Evolution and Diversification of Epiphytic Ferns
Date
2007-05-03
Author
Advisors
Pryer, Kathleen M.
Lutzoni, Francois
Manos, Paul S.
Roth, V. Louise
Schneider, Harald
Thorne, Jeffrey L.
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Abstract
Leptosporangiate ferns, with more than 9000 extant species, are truly exceptional
among the non-flowering lineages of vascular plants. However, this rather remarkable
diversity was not simply a consequence of being able to "hold on" as flowering plants
rose to dominance. Instead, it appears to be the result of an ecological opportunistic
response to the establishment of more complex, angiosperm-dominated ecosystems. The
proliferation of flowering plants across the landscape undoubtedly resulted in the
formation of a plethora of new niches into which leptosporangiate ferns could diversify.
Many of these were evidently on shady forest floors, but many others were actually
within the new angiosperm-dominated canopies. Today, almost one third of leptosporangiate
species grow as epiphytes on angiosperm trees. My dissertation aims to demystify the
evolution and diversification of epiphytic ferns in order to more fully understand
the leptosporangiate success story. By assembling and analyzing the most inclusive
molecular dataset for leptosporangiate ferns to date, I provide unprecedented insight
into overall fern relationships and a solid and balanced phylogenetic framework within
which the evolution of epiphytism can be examined. By employing this phylogeny and
numerous constraints from the fern fossil record, I uncover the timing of epiphytic
fern diversification and examine the origin of the modern tropical rain forest biome
in which these ferns reside.
Type
DissertationDepartment
BiologyPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/181Citation
Schuettpelz, Eric (2007). The Evolution and Diversification of Epiphytic Ferns. Dissertation, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/181.Collections
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