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Publications (65)
Solanum tavinuuyuku, of the Sierra Madre del Sur ecoregion of South-Central Mexico, is a viny, node-rooting species of the Potato clade, in the subclade Solanum sect. Anarrhichomenum. Solanum tavinuuyuku is distinguished from its relatives by possessing long and narrow, lanceolate, ovate to falcate, 1–3-foliate leaves with (5–)7–10 secondary veins;...
A comprehensive overview of volunteer-driven public programs focused on activities to enhance natural history collections (NHCs) is provided. The initiative revolves around the WeDigBio events and the Collections Club at the Field Museum, aiming to deepen the public’s connection with scientific collections, enhance participatory science, and improv...
For millennia, healing and psychoactive plants have been part of the medicinal and ceremonial fabric of elaborate rituals and everyday religious practices throughout Mesoamerica. Despite the essential nature of these ritual practices to the societal framework of past cultures, a clear understanding of the ceremonial life of the ancient Maya remains...
Declines in biodiversity generated by anthropogenic stressors at both species and population levels can alter emergent processes instrumental to ecosystem function and resilience. As such, understanding the role of biodiversity in ecosystem function and its response to climate perturbation is increasingly important, especially in tropical systems w...
Declines in biodiversity generated by anthropogenic stressors at both species and population levels can alter emergent processes instrumental to ecosystem function and resilience. As such, understanding the role of biodiversity in ecosystem function and its response to climate perturbation is increasingly important, especially in tropical systems w...
Insect herbivory can be an important selective pressure and contribute substantially to local plant richness. As herbivory is the result of numerous ecological and evolutionary processes, such as complex insect population dynamics and evolution of plant antiherbivore defenses, it has been difficult to predict variation in herbivory across meaningfu...
Declines in biodiversity generated by anthropogenic stressors at both species and population levels can alter emergent processes instrumental to ecosystem function and resilience. As such, understanding the role of biodiversity in ecosystem function and its response to climate perturbation is increasingly important, especially in tropical systems w...
Declines in biodiversity generated by anthropogenic stressors at both species and population levels can alter emergent processes instrumental to ecosystem function and resilience. As such, understanding the role of biodiversity in ecosystem function and its response to climate perturbation is increasingly important, especially in tropical systems w...
Insect herbivory can vary from an inconsequential biotic interaction to a factor that contributes substantially to the diversity of plants and animals and overall interaction diversity. As herbivory is the result of numerous ecological and evolutionary processes, including complex population dynamics and the evolution of plant defense, it has been...
Declines in biodiversity generated by anthropogenic stressors at both species and population levels can alter emergent processes instrumental to ecosystem function and resilience. As such, understanding the role of biodiversity in ecosystem function and its response to climate perturbation is increasingly important, especially in tropical systems w...
Solanum L. is one of the worlds largest and economically most important plant genera, including 1,245 currently accepted species and several major and minor crops (e.g., tomato, potato, brinjal eggplant, scarlet eggplant, Gboma eggplant, lulo, and pepino). Here we provide an overview of the evolution of 25 key morphological traits for the major and...
Insect herbivory is a critical top-down force structuring plant communities, and quantifying the factors that mediate damage caused by herbivores is fundamental to understanding biodiversity. As herbivory is the result of numerous ecological and evolutionary processes, including complex population dynamics and the evolution of plant defense, it has...
Species richness in tropical forests is correlated with other dimensions of diversity, including the diversity of plant–herbivore interactions and the phytochemical diversity that influences those interactions. Understanding the complexity of plant chemistry and the importance of phytochemical diversity for plant–insect interactions and overall for...
Yaxnohcah was a major city of the ancient Maya world, especially during the Preclassic period (1000 BCE–200 CE). Data from excavations provide important insights into the interactions between the ancient inhabitants and its surrounding Neotropical forests, a topic that, as a whole, remains largely enigmatic. This study aspired to fill that void in...
Creating robust datasets of plant–insect interactions is important for understanding ecosystem dynamics, and data on species interactions can be used to evaluate conservation interventions. In the present work, we collected plant–herbivore–parasitoid data on an understudied but critical ecosystem—gallery forests in the Brazilian cerrado. We collect...
Foundational hypotheses addressing plant–insect codiversification and plant defense theory typically assume a macroevolutionary pattern whereby closely related plants have similar chemical profiles. However, numerous studies have documented variation in the degree of phytochemical trait lability, raising the possibility that phytochemical evolution...
Tikal, a major city of the ancient Maya world, has been the focus of archaeological research for over a century, yet the interactions between the Maya and the surrounding Neotropical forests remain largely enigmatic. This study aimed to help fill that void by using a powerful new technology, environmental DNA analysis, that enabled us to characteri...
Natural history studies documenting spatial and temporal variation of species assemblages and their interactions are critical for understanding biodiversity and community ecology. We characterized caterpillar–parasitoid assemblages on shrubs in the genus Piper across remnants of semi‐evergreen forest in the Yucatán Península during the rainy and ra...
The city of Tikal, a major center of the ancient Maya world, has been the focus of archaeological research for over a century, yet the interactions between the Maya and the surrounding Neotropical forests remain largely enigmatic. To help fill that void, our study used a powerful new technology, environmental DNA analysis, which enabled us to chara...
![Figure 2. High resolution mass spectrum of anibine [M + H] + = 204.0649...](publication/347978827/figure/fig2/AS:986108032712706@1612117884840/High-resolution-mass-spectrum-of-anibine-M-H-2040649-and-its-fragmentation_Q320.jpg)
![Figure 3. High resolution mass spectrum of 6-styryl-2-pyrone [M + H] +...](publication/347978827/figure/fig3/AS:986108032737284@1612117884896/High-resolution-mass-spectrum-of-6-styryl-2-pyrone-M-H-1990773-and-its_Q320.jpg)
![Figure 4. High resolution mass spectrum of reticuline [M + H] + =...](publication/347978827/figure/fig4/AS:986108032716805@1612117884938/High-resolution-mass-spectrum-of-reticuline-M-H-3301700-and-its-fragmentation_Q320.jpg)
Aniba rosiodora has been exploited since the end of the nineteenth century for its essential oil, a valuable ingredient in the perfumery industry. This species occurs mainly in Northern South America, and the morphological similarity among different Aniba species often leads to misidentification, which impacts the consistency of products obtained f...
Over evolutionary timescales, shifts in plant secondary chemistry may be associated with patterns of diversification in associated arthropods. Although foundational hypotheses of plant-insect codiversification and plant defense theory posit closely related plants should have similar chemical profiles, numerous studies have documented variation in t...
Piper is one of two large genera in the Piperaceae, and with ca. 2600 species, is one of the largest plant genera in the world. Species delimitation and evaluation of genetic diversity among populations are important requisites for conservation and adequate exploitation of economically important species. DNA barcoding has been used as a powerful to...
Understanding civilizations of the past and how they emerge and eventually falter is a primary research focus of archaeological investigations because these provocative data sets offer critical insights into long-term human behavior patterns, especially in regard to land use practices and sustainable environmental interactions. The ancient Maya ser...
Kiwifruit, Actinidia chinensis var. deliciosa, has been discovered from a wild site in Ohio, the first report of this species outside of cultivation in the state. It was collected in Hamilton County, in the southwest corner of the state, along a creek bank ca. 10 km north of the Ohio River.
In 1777, Spain sent The Royal Expedition to Peru and Chile, commonly referred to as the “Ruiz and Pavón Expedition”, to document the flora of this richly diverse part of its colonies. The Expedition was active in the New World for 38 years and was led by Hipólito Ruiz and José Pavón, who collected in Peru and Chile for the first 11 years before ret...
The origins of evolutionary radiations are often traced to the colonization of novel adaptive zones, including unoccupied habitats or unutilized resources. For herbivorous insects, the predominant mechanism of diversification is typically assumed to be a shift onto a novel lineage of host plants. However, other drivers of diversification are import...
Fig. S1 A map illustrating the locations of P. kelleyi plant and caterpillar samples that were collected near Yanayacu Biological Station near Cosanga, Napo Province, Ecuador in the eastern Andes (00°36′S and 77°53′W).
Fig. S2 Partial correlation plots from the structural equation model (Fig. 2a) for paths II, III, IV, V, VI and IX.
Fig. S3 Princ...
Chemically mediated plant–herbivore interactions contribute to the diversity of terrestrial communities and the diversification of plants and insects. While our understanding of the processes affecting community structure and evolutionary diversification has grown, few studies have investigated how trait variation shapes genetic and species diversi...
With ca. 200 species, the informally named Potato clade represents one of the larger subgroups of the estimated 1500 species of Solanum. Because its members include the potato (S. tuberosum), tomato (S. lycopersicum), and pepino (S. muricatum), it is the most economically important clade in the genus. These crop species and their close relatives ha...
Two new Antillean endemic species, Piper abajoense from Puerto Rico, and Piper claseanum from the Dominican Republic, are described and illustrated. The former species resembles the widely distributed Piper hispidum, including the somewhat scabrous leaf surfaces, typically asymmetric leaf bases, and the bracts, flowers, and fruits forming distinct...
AbstractWe describe Piper kelleyi
sp. nov., a new species from the eastern Andes of Ecuador and Peru, named in honor of Dr. Walter Almond Kelley. Piper kelleyi is a member of the Macrostachys clade of the genus Piper and supports a rich community of generalist and specialist herbivores, their predators and parasitoids, as well as commensalistic ear...
Host-parasite systems have been models for understanding the connection between shifts in resource use and diversification. Despite theoretical expectations, ambiguity remains regarding the frequency and importance of host switches as drivers of speciation in herbivorous insects and their parasitoids. We examine phylogenetic patterns with multiple...
We describe Solanum baretiaesp. nov., a new species of Solanum section Anarrhichomenum, named in honor of Jeanne Baret, who sailed as the assistant to botanist Philibert Commerson on Louis Antoine de Bougainville's global circumnavigation (1766-1769). The species is similar to Solanum chimborazense, but differs in having larger flowers, more flower...
Abstract—Solanum section Herpystichum includes 10 species of ground-trailing and climbing vines that root adventitiously at the nodes. Molecular data support section Herpystichum as a member of the Potato clade of Solanum. All of the species inhabit primary and secondary rainforests and occur from southern Mexico to northern Peru. The group is defi...
The cox1 gene alignment. Nucleotide alignment of the cox1 gene (including its intron sequence) for all taxa included in the phylogenetic analysis shown in Figure 4. Sites of predicted RNA editing are in red in the reference sequence, while the putative endonuclease ORF is in green.
Taxonomic information and GenBank accession numbers. Taxonomic information and GenBank accession numbers of all taxa included in the analyses shown in Figures 3 and 4.
List of taxa from the family Solanaceae examined in this study. Taxonomic information, geographic origin or source (if known), collection number (voucher herbarium), and GenBank accession numbers of taxa from the family Solanaceae examined in this study.
Phylogenetic tree of Brunfelsia spp. based on chloroplast data. Maximum likelihood phylogeny of 7 species of Brunfelsia based on analysis of chloroplast ndhF and trnLF. Numbers above branches are bootstrap support values > 50%. GenBank numbers for sequences generated here are shown in boldface. Primers used for sequence amplification are from Olmst...
The most frequent case of horizontal transfer in plants involves a group I intron in the mitochondrial gene cox1, which has been acquired via some 80 separate plant-to-plant transfer events among 833 diverse angiosperms examined. This homing intron encodes an endonuclease thought to promote the intron's promiscuous behavior. A promising experimenta...
Solanum section Herpystichum is a lineage that comprises both widespread and very narrowly distributed species. This study investigates the phylogenetic relationships of sect. Herpystichum and evaluates several phylogenetic methods for analysis of multiple sequences.
Sequence data from seven nuclear (ITS, GBSSI, and five COSII) and three plastid (p...
The diversity of mutualistic interactions influences many ecological components of community structure, including biodiversity and ecosystem stability. However, mutualistic interactions are not well resolved because of a historical bias toward examining antagonistic interactions. Here we examine both antagonistic and facilitative interactions betwe...
Robinsonia is a genus of eight species and is endemic to the Juan Fernandez Islands. Previous studies based on ITS phylogenies place Robinsonia deeply nested within Senecio, however its monophyly remains uncertain. In this paper, we use phylogenies reconstructed from plastid, ITS-ETS, and combined data to test its monophyly. Plastid phylogenies sup...
Solanum sect. Pteroidea is a lineage of ten species of neotropical herbs and vines with a center of distribution in the eastern Andean slopes. It is a member of the Potato clade of Solanum, a group that includes the potato (S. tuberosum) and tomato (S. lycopersicum). Members of S. sect. Pteroidea are characterized by inflorescences that emerge from...
Solanum sect. Pteroidea is a lineage of ten species of neotropical herbs and vines with a center of distribution in the eastern Andean slopes. It is a member of the Potato clade of Solanum, a group that includes the potato (S. tuberosum) and tomato (S. lycopersicum). Members of S. sect. Pteroidea are characterized by inflorescences that emerge from...
One of the longstanding questions in phylogenetic systematics is how to address incongruence among phylogenies obtained from multiple markers and how to determine the causes. This study presents a detailed analysis of incongruent patterns between plastid and ITS/ETS phylogenies of Tribe Senecioneae (Asteraceae). This approach revealed widespread an...
new species, Browallia sandrae S. Leiva, Farruggia and Tepe (Solanaceae) is described and illustrated here from Cajamarca Department, Peru. Browallia sandrae is from the area known as “El Balconcito”, along the road between El Algarrobal and San Benito, Contumaza Province, Cajamarca Department, Peru; between 800 and 1000 m elevation. The species is...
Three new species of Solanum sect. Herpystichum from Ecuador are described and illustrated: S. limoncochaense, endemic to the lowlands of eastern Ecuador, S. pacificum, endemic to the Pacific lowlands, and S. crassinervium, from northwestern Ecuador and southwestern Colombia. Solanum limoncochaense resembles the Colombian species S. dalibardiforme,...
Background/Question/Methods
Tropical plant-ant interactions represent important model systems for ecological studies. In this study we examined what determines the distribution of Piper immutatum Trel. (Piperaceae) and its mutualistic ant species: Pheidole sp nov. (Myrmicinae). We observed how the interactions between these plants and its ants va...
The stems of some myrmecophytes in Piper are used as domatia by resident ant colonies. Hollow, ant-occupied stems were previously known only in four species of southern Central American Piper, all members of Section Macrostachys. Here we present two additional, unrelated, hollow-stemmed myrmecophytes from Ecuador: P. immutatum and P. pterocladum (m...
Nearly all of the species diversity in Piperaceae is encompassed within Piper and Peperomia. Both genera are pan-tropical with areas of diversification in the Neotropics and Southeast Asia. Piperaceae are less diverse
in Africa with only two native species of Piper. This study examines the distribution of both Piper and Peperomia with representativ...
Piper is one of the largest genera of flowering plants. The uniformity of its small flowers and the vast number of species in the genus has hindered the development of a stable infrageneric classification. We sampled 575 accessions corresponding to 332 species of Piper for the ITS region and 181 accessions for the psbJ-petA chloroplast intron to fu...
Several Central American species of Piper sect. Macrostachys have obligate associations with ants, in which the ant partner derives food and shelter from modified plant structures and, in turn, protects the plant against fungal infection and herbivory. In addition to these obligate ant-plants (i.e. myrmecophytes), several other species in Piper hav...
Plants possess a variety of structures that harbor ant nests, and the morphology of these domatia determines the nature of ant-plant mutualisms in a given plant species. In this study, we report on the differences in anatomy between myrmecophytes of Piper, which are regularly excavated by an obligate ant mutualist (Pheidole bicornis) and nonmyrmeco...
In Flora Costaricensis, William Burger of the Field Museum in Chicago considered eight of the Piper species that occur in Costa Rica to make up the P. obliquum complex, and six additional species to be closely allied to it (Fig. 9.1; Burger 1971). Piper calcariformis, an additional species assignable to the P. obliquum complex, was later described...
The level and apportionment of allozyme diversity were determined for 29 endemic (and 1 native) species from the Juan Fernández Islands, Chile. Mean diversities at the species level (H(es) = 0.065) are low but comparable to those measured for other insular endemics in the Pacific. A high mean proportion (0.338) of species-level diversity resides am...
Allozyme electrophoresis was carried out to estimate genetic diversity within and assess divergence between the 10 recognized species in three sections of the aquatic angiosperm genus Wolffiella. Eleven presumptive loci were used in the calculations. Highest variation was found in W. lingulata and W. oblonga, two common species with widespread dist...
The north-central area of Peru is one of the most biodiverse regions of the Neotropics. The low mountain ranges that make up this area create a mosaic of habitats which, combined with the convergence of species from the Northern and Southern Andes, as well as from the Pacific and Amazonian regions creates a hotspot for biodiversity. We present a ch...
