Morphology, Architecture and Growth of a Clonal Palm, Acoelorrhaphe Wrightii Sara M
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Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 3-22-2017 Morphology, Architecture and Growth of a Clonal Palm, Acoelorrhaphe wrightii Sara M. Edelman Florida International University, [email protected] DOI: 10.25148/etd.FIDC001769 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Part of the Biology Commons, Botany Commons, and the Plant Biology Commons Recommended Citation Edelman, Sara M., "Morphology, Architecture and Growth of a Clonal Palm, Acoelorrhaphe wrightii" (2017). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3201. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3201 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida MORPHOLOGY, ARCHITECTURE AND GROWTH OF A CLONAL PALM, ACOELORRHAPHE WRIGHTII A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in BIOLOGY by Sara Melissa Edelman 2017 To: Dean Michael R. Heithaus College of Arts, Sciences and Education This dissertation, written by Sara Melissa Edelman, and entitled Morphology, Architecture and Growth of a Clonal Palm, Acoelorrhaphe wrightii, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this dissertation and recommend that it be approved. _______________________________________ Kenneth Feeley _______________________________________ Javier Francisco-Ortega _______________________________________ Michael Ross _______________________________________ Scott Zona _______________________________________ Jennifer H. Richards, Major Professor Date of Defense: March 22, 2017 The dissertation of Sara Melissa Edelman is approved. _______________________________________ Dean Michael R. Heithaus College of Arts, Sciences and Education _______________________________________ Andrés G. Gil Vice President for Research and Economic Development and Dean of the University Graduate School Florida International University, 2017 ii © Copyright 2017 by Sara Melissa Edelman All rights reserved. iii DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to my two biggest inspirations and mentors: Dr. Richard Campbell and Pamela Schlactman. You both sparked my passion of plants and gave me the courage to follow my dream to study them. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my major professor, Dr. Jennifer Richards, for her guidance, terrific editing, and endless support. I am sincerely grateful to my committee: Dr. Kenneth Feeley, Dr. Javier Fransisco-Ortega, Dr. Michael Ross, and Dr. Scott Zona for their intellectual input, editing of this dissertation, and overall support and guidance. I would like to thank my many mentors. First, I would like to thank Dr. Richard Campbell for his endless support and encouragement. I would also like to thank him for reminding me to work efficiently and effectively almost daily; I would not be defending at this date had it not been for his constant encouragement. I would like to thank Dr. P. Barry Tomlinson for sitting with me whenever I needed and teaching me about palm growth and literature. I would like to thank Dr. Jack Fisher for helping me with anatomy and branching literature and for showing me proper techniques for dissecting A. wrightii suckers. I would like to thank Dr. F. Jack Putz for talking with me about palm demography and proper technique, recommending pertinent articles, and offering to read my chapters. I would like to acknowledge Dr. Walter Judd for working with me for two summers on tropical plant taxonomy. I would like to thank Florida International Universtiy for awarding me the Dissertation Year Fellowship funding that allowed me to complete my dissertation. I would also like to thank the International Palm Society for funding my trip to Belize. I would like to thank the International Center for Tropical Botany for funding a semester so I could work on completing my chapters and prepare for publication. I would like to thank Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden for funding the first three years of my graduate school work. I would like to thank the Kelly Botanical Scholarship for funding my mesocosm study. v I would like to thank my dear friends Judy DuPlooy, Marc Ellenby, Brian and Jenny Hew, and Pericles and Christina Maillis for housing and supporting me during my field excursions in Belize and the Bahamas. I would like to thank Dr. Carl Lewis, Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, and staff for their support and use of their collections. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. M. Patrick Griffith, Montgomery Botanical Center, and staff for their support and allowing me to use their collections. Working with both gardens was a pleasure. I would like to thank my lab mates, Nicole Sebesta and Kristie Wendelberger, for their support, knowledge and general understanding. I would like to thank my field assistants: Brianna Almeida, Sean Brown, Philis Edelman, Sara Estes, Julia Gehring, Jonathan Hernandez, Oliver Ljustina, Dale Stein, and James Stroud for trekking through the swamp with me in search of paurotis, setting up my mesocosm study, and monitoring growth of paurotis. I would like to thank my family, Philis Edelman, David Edelman, Leah Edelman and Martin Strauch for their endless love and support. vi ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION MORPHOLOGY, ARCHITECTURE AND GROWTH OF A CLONAL PALM, ACOELORRHAPHE WRIGHTII by Sara Melissa Edelman Florida International University, 2017 Miami, Florida Professor Jennifer H. Richards, Major Professor Palms provide valuable commercial resources in the tropics and are dominant species in tropical lowland forests. While general biology of palms is well studied, there are gaps in the literature on palm growth through life stages and in response to environmental conditions. Literature gaps on palm growth could be caused by the slow growth of palms; it is difficult to monitor morphology and architecture for the periods of time necessary to capture changes. Acoelorrhaphe wrightii is a threatened palm native to southern Florida with an unusual adult architecture. The purpose of this dissertation was to study growth A. wrightii throughout its life stages and in response to changes in environmental conditions. In order to do study growth, I first had to understand the evolutionary history and types of vegetative branching in palms to identify vegetative branching possibilities in A. wrightii. I described branching types for 1903 species from all 181 genera using literature reviews and hands-on analysis. I then studied adult morphology and architecture in a common garden setting by monitoring leaf morphology, ramet growth and architecture of A. wrightii in two gardens in Miami, FL, over a two year period. I tested the effects of water and light on germination and growth of juvenile plants vii in a mesocosm where water and light were manipulated, following growth for a year. Finally, I compared leaf morphology and architecture of adult individuals in four populations in Belize and Florida. I found five branching types were present in the palms: lateral axillary branching, shoot apical division, false vivipary, abaxial branching and leaf- opposed branching. In the garden, Acoelorrhaphe wrightii displayed two types of lateral axillary branching: basal suckering and rhizomatous branching. The two branching types produced tiers in adult clones, which were used to model architecture. Ramets had an establishment period and growth varied seasonally in establishing and established phases. Low water levels and full sun yielded greater germination of A. wrighti and produced juveniles with a greater number of leaves, more root mass and more branches. Variability between populations and environmental conditions was observed in adult individuals in the field but differences were minimal. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 1 LIST OF REFERENCES ......................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER I: DISTRIBUTION OF VEGETATIVE BRANCHING IN THE PALMS (ARECACEAE) ................................................................................................................... 7 ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. 8 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 9 MATERIALS AND METHODS .............................................................................. 11 RESULTS .............................................................................................................. 14 DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................ 23 TABLES ................................................................................................................ 31 FIGURES .............................................................................................................. 36 APPENDICES ....................................................................................................... 47 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......................................................................................