Why is population information crucial for taxonomy? A case study involving a hybrid swarm and related varieties
| Autor: | Yongpeng Ma, Weibang Sun, Tobias Marczewski, Xue-Mei Zhang, A. Jane Marczewski |
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| Rok vydání: | 2015 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
China education.field_of_study Rhododendron Post hoc Ecology morphological characters Population Plant Science Biology 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences taxonomy Taxon Herbarium population variance Taxonomy (biology) Hybrid swarm education hybridization Research Article 010606 plant biology & botany Population variance Hybrid |
| Zdroj: | AoB Plants |
| ISSN: | 2041-2851 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/aobpla/plw070 |
| Popis: | Despite acceptance in the scientific community that population information and suites of characters are crucial for circumscription of taxonomic groups, new taxa continue to be published on the basis of few herbarium specimens. Given that there is increasing evidence that hybridisation plays an integral part in evolution, it is desirable to identify groups in which it occurs. In this study, we showcase how population variation can be used to identify distinguishing characters and why closely related species that are growing in sympatry should be considered when describing new taxonomic entities. Hybridization has become a focal topic in evolutionary biology, and many taxonomists are aware that the process occurs more frequently than previously assumed. Nonetheless many species and varieties are still described without explicitly considering the possibility of hybridization, especially in countries that have relatively short scientific histories, but which often possess the highest species diversities. Furthermore, new taxa are often described based only on herbarium specimens, not taking into account information from wild populations, significantly decreasing the potential to detect morphologies arising from hybridization at this crucial descriptive stage. We used morphological data from a hybrid swarm involving two Rhododendron species to showcase possible character combinations in intermediates. Certain characters used to distinguish taxa were more variable within the same individual than between species, emphasizing the importance of population information for an adequate choice of characters. Most described varieties of the two species fell within the spectrum of hybrid morphology, suggesting that these taxa would be unlikely to have merited formal description if contemporary standards had been employed. In all investigated cases the hybrid nature of described varieties seems to have been detectable with adequate morphological data alone, if populations had been assessed. A post hoc assessment of taxa is often complicated, especially if certain types of information are not provided. To avoid accumulation of such invalid taxa, careful scrutiny should be employed for new descriptions. Hybrids (not hybrid species) described as taxa obscure valuable information about natural processes and impact negatively on further research that depends on taxonomic data. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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