Oral Paper

         Pteridology

Finding the hidden quillwort: identifying cryptic species in Isoëtes using an integrative systematic approach.

Presenting Author
Forrest Freund
Description
One of the greatest puzzles in taxonomy and conservation is the question of cryptic species. A cryptic species is one that is difficult to differentiate from others, be they close or distantly related. The genus Isoëtes has a high potential for crypsis: it is morphologically simple, difficult to find in the field, and generally not very well known. When studying the Californian members of the genus, I found indications that there were cryptic taxa treated under the widespread species I. nuttallii and I. orcuttii. To test my hypothesis that both species harbored cryptic taxa, I used a combination of molecular phylogenetics, population genetics, and morphological observations to test if all of the individuals identified as either specicies formed natural, monophyletic clades that matched the described species. As a result, I found that there were not two, but six species represented by the collections identified as I. nuttallii and I. orcuttii. My results show that not only is there potentially greater taxonomic diversity in Isoëtes than previously recognized, but the use of integrated phylogenetic, population genetic, and morphological evaluation, while time consuming, is capable of parsing out cryptic species.