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Reevaluating the species status of the Southern Ghost Pipe, Monotropa brittonii

Keesling, Ashley Rose
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1587574637151549

Abstract Details

2020, Master of Science, Ohio State University, Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology.
Relationships between members of Ericaceae subfamily Monotropoideae have been notoriously difficult to resolve due to convergent evolution in parasitic plants. Ghost pipes (Monotropa uniflora, L.) are fully mycoheterotrophic, meaning they obtain nutrients by parasitizing ectomycorrhizal fungi rather than through photosynthesis. The southern Ghost pipe (Monotropa brittonii, Small) was a species proposed to be distinct from the closely related and more widespread M. uniflora by John K. Small from his study of Florida flora. It has since largely been treated as a synonym of M. uniflora. Here we use several lines of evidence including genetics, morphology, host specificity, and habitat to investigate whether there is evidence to treat M. brittonii as its own species or if synonymization with M. uniflora is supported. Through morphological and molecular phylogenetic analysis of Monotropa collected throughout their range in the US, we determine there is evidence for two separate lineages in Florida, one of which corresponds morphologically to the description of M. brittonii put forth by Small. We also discovered a high degree of host specificity in M. brittonii, which almost exclusively parasitize fungi in Lactifluus subgenus Lactariopsis section Albati. While M. uniflora have been shown to parasitize many species of Russulaceae, most M. brittonii were found to parasitize a single species; Lactifluus deceptivus. Through principal component analysis we found support for several morphological characters that differ significantly between the two species. Additionally, M. brittonii were almost exclusively collected from Florida scrub habitats, which are dry, shrub-dominated environments that differ greatly from the typical moist woodland habitat where M. uniflora is primarily found. Our results suggest there is genetic, morphological, and ecological support to recognize M. brittonii as a separate species from M. uniflora.
John Freudenstein (Advisor)
Alison Bennett (Committee Member)
Andrea Wolfe (Committee Member)
76 p.
Biology; Botany; Ecology; Evolution and Development; Morphology; Plant Biology
Monotropa, species delimitation, mycoheterotrophy, host specificity

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Keesling, A. R. (2020). Reevaluating the species status of the Southern Ghost Pipe, Monotropa brittonii [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1587574637151549

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Keesling, Ashley. Reevaluating the species status of the Southern Ghost Pipe, Monotropa brittonii. 2020. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1587574637151549.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Keesling, Ashley. "Reevaluating the species status of the Southern Ghost Pipe, Monotropa brittonii." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1587574637151549

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1587574637151549
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