Abstract Detail

Tropical Biology

Veldhuisen, Leah Nesbit [1], Jabaily, Rachel [2].

Evolution of Life History in Three High Elevation Puya (Bromeliaceae).

The Andes are known as a hotspot for biodiversity and high species endemism for both plants and animals. Two important tropical, high-elevation ecosystems in the Andes are the puna in Peru, Bolivia and Chile between 7° and 27° South, and the pa´ramo in Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador between 11° North and 8° South; both are found at elevations above 3500 meters. The genus Puya (Bromeliaceae) is found throughout the puna and the pa´ramo, and is relatively under-studied. Life history of Puya is largely unknown, other than that Puya raimondii is entirely semelparous, as it only flowers once right before dying and does not reproduce clonally. Other species in the genus do reproduce clonally to varying degrees; their life history strategies have not been defined. These species exhibit convergent evolution with other plants that inhabit high-elevation, tropical ecosystems. We studied three species of Puya (P. raimondii, P. cryptantha and P. goudotiana) across the two ecosystems in Bolivia and Colombia, and collected data on size at flowering and clonal reproduction for all three. These data were used to determine a threshold size at flowering and clonal reproduction. Data were also analyzed in conjunction with life history theory to hypothesize each species' life history strategy. All three species were found to have a consistent and predictable minimum size at flowering, while P. cryptantha was found to also have a minimum size for clonal reproduction. No such evidence was found for P. goudotiana. Our data supported that P. raimondii is fully semelparous, and indicated that P. goudotiana and P. cryptantha may be semi-semelparous.

1 - Colorado College, Organismal Biology & Ecology , 14 E Cache La Poudre , Colorado Springs , CO, 80903, USA
2 - Colorado College, 14 E Cache La Poudre St, Colorado Spgs, CO, 80903-3243, United States

Keywords:
Bromeliaceae
evolution
Bolivia
Colombia
life history.

Presentation Type: Poster
Session: P, Tropical Biology Posters
Location: Arizona Ballroom/Starr Pass
Date: Monday, July 29th, 2019
Time: 5:30 PM This poster will be presented at 6:15 pm. The Poster Session runs from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. Posters with odd poster numbers are presented at 5:30 pm, and posters with even poster numbers are presented at 6:15 pm.
Number: PTB002
Abstract ID:252
Candidate for Awards:None