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Rediscovery of Cystoathyrium chinense Ching (Cystopteridaceae): Phylogenetic placement of the critically endangered fern species endemic to China
Author(s) -
WEI Ran,
ZHANG XianChun
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of systematics and evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.249
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1759-6831
pISSN - 1674-4918
DOI - 10.1111/jse.12075
Subject(s) - critically endangered , fern , biology , phylogenetic tree , endangered species , disjunct distribution , botany , biological dispersal , chloroplast dna , endemism , disjunct , evolutionary biology , ecology , population , genetics , demography , sociology , habitat , gene
Cystoathyrium chinense Ching, the sole representative of Cystoathyrium , is a critically endangered species endemic to China with no more than 40 extant individuals. Until now, its systematic position and relationships among leptosporangiate ferns remained unknown. The present study assessed the phylogenetic relationships of Cystoathyrium chinense with potential relatives densely sampled using three chloroplast DNA markers ( matK , rbcL , and trnG‐R intergenic spacer). Our results support the inclusion of Cystoathyrium in Cystopteris . A hybrid origin hypothesis of Cystoathyrium chinense is neither supported nor rejected by the present study. According to our ancestral area reconstruction analysis, the disjunct distribution of Cystoathyrium and its closely related North American taxa may be attributed to the long‐distance dispersal by way of Beringia. Consequently, a new combination ( Cystopteris chinensis comb. nov.) is made, and the description is supplemented based on our new observations in the field.