Department of Botany & the U.S. National Herbarium The Plant Press New Series - Vol. 14 - No. 3 July-September 2011 Island Explorations and Evolutionary Investigations By Vinita Gowda or over a century the Caribbean eastward after the Aves Ridge was formed On joining the graduate program region, held between North and to the West. Although the Lesser Antilles at The George Washington University FSouth America, has been an active is commonly referred to as a volcani- in Washington, D.C., in the Fall of area of research for people with interests cally active chain of islands, not all of the 2002, I decided to investigate adapta- in island biogeography, character evolu- Lesser Antilles is volcanic. Based on geo- tion in plant-pollinator interactions tion, speciation, as well as geology. Most logical origin and elevation all the islands using a ‘multi-island’ comparative research have invoked both dispersal and of the Lesser Antilles can be divided into approach using the Caribbean Heliconia- vicariance processes to explain the distri- two groups: a) Limestone Caribbees (outer hummingbird interactions as the study bution of the local flora and fauna, while arc: calcareous islands with a low relief, system. Since I was interested in under- ecological interactions such as niche dating to middle Eocene to Pleistocene), standing factors that could influence partitioning and ecological adaptations and b) Volcanic Caribbees (inner arc: plant-pollinator mutualistic interactions have been used to explain the diversity young volcanic islands with strong relief, between the geographically distinct within the Caribbean region. One of dating back to late Miocene). islands, I chose three strategic islands of the biggest challenges in understanding the Lesser Antilles: St. Kitts in the north, island colonization in the Caribbean, or over more than a decade John Dominica in the center, and St. Vin- however, has been its complex, dynamic Kress, Ethan Temeles (Amherst cent to the south of the Lesser Antilles, and variable geological history, which FCollege) and their team of research- respectively. varies both along a North-South and an ers have been investigating mutualistic On all three islands only two native East-West axis. interactions between heliconias (Heli- species of Heliconia occur in varying The Caribbean region is divided into conia: Heliconiaceae) and their sexually abundance: Heliconia bihai (L.) L. the Greater Antilles (northern islands) dimorphic hummingbird pollinators the and H. caribaea Lam. However, floral and the Lesser Antilles (southern Purple-throated Caribs (Trochilidae: polymorphism and abundance of these islands). The Lesser Antilles archipelago, Eulampis jugularis) throughout the two species are completely reversed on the focus of my research interests, is 850 Eastern Caribbean Islands. Based on these islands. On St. Kitts, H. caribaea kilometers long with a radius of curva- their studies they proposed the Caribbean is common and H. bihai is rare; on ture of 450 kilometers, and consists of Heliconia-hummingbird system as a case Dominica, both the species are common, 19 islands. The Lesser Antilles stretches for adaptive evolution between the beak but are mostly allopatrically distributed from South American continental margin morphology of the Purple-throated Caribs (commonly H. bihai can be found above (eastern Venezuela) to the Anegada and the floral morphology of the two 800 meters and H. caribaea below 800 Passage, which marks its boundary with native heliconias (Temeles et al. 2000 Sci- meters with a small overlapping zone the Greater Antilles (Puerto Rico-Virgin ence; Temeles and Kress 2003 Science). around 800 meters); and a reversed Islands platform). My involvement in this project started in distribution is observed on St. Vincent Geologically, the Caribbean region is September 2002, or more appropriately where H. bihai is common and H. car- estimated to have formed in the Cenozoic from July 2002 when I first met Kress at ibaea is rare. Both species have distinct era (65 million years ago), following the the Association of Tropical Biology and color polymorphisms that vary among separation of North and South America Conservation (ATBC) meeting in Banga- islands and serve as the primary nectar during the Mesozoic era. The volcanic lore, India. At the time, I was investigating source for the Purple-throated Caribs. islands, today’s Lesser Antilles, are a Mussaenda frondosa-insect interaction The Purple-throated Caribs are sexu- proposed to have emerged from the in the Western Ghats, India, and I was ally dimorphic birds that vary in their tectonically active Aves Arc after a series ready for new and bigger research chal- of subsiding volcanic islands migrated lenges. Continued on page 8 Travel Walter Adey traveled to Woods Hole, – 6/6) to attend a meeting on the Evolution Robert Soreng traveled to western Massachusetts (4/16 – 4/19) to present of Life on Pacific Islands and Reefs. Turkey (6/13 – 7/2) to collect grasses for several papers at the North East Algal Carlos Garcia-Robledo traveled collaborative research on the taxonomy of Society meeting; to Charlottesville, to Costa Rica (6/25 – 7/29) to collect Alopecurinae, Phleinae, and Poinae, with Virginia (5/12 – 5/13) to meet with col- Zingiberales and Cephaloleia beetles for Lynn Gillespie (CAN) and Musa Doğan leagues at the University of Virginia; and his postdoctoral fellowship project, and to and Evren Çabi (Middle East Technical to Steuben, Maine (6/17 – 9/15) to collect teach the graduate level coarse “Tropical University, Ankara). an ecological array of the coralline alga Biology: An Ecological Approach” for the Alice Tangerini traveled to Pittsburgh, Clathromorphum compactum from the Organization for Tropical Studies. Pennsylvania (5/19 – 5/21) to meet with northern Labrador Coast and the Quebec Linda Hollenberg traveled to San colleagues at the Hunt Institute. shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Francisco, California (5/22 – 5/30) to Alain Touwaide and Emanuela Barrett Brooks traveled to Curacao attend the annual conference of the Soci- Appetiti traveled to Oxford, Mississippi (6/24 – 7/6) to collect marine algae by ety for the Preservation of Natural History (4/11 – 4/14) to deliver a paper on the snorkeling, scuba diving and submarine Collections and the Natural Science Col- history of medicinal plants at the 10th for the Smithsonian’s Deep Reef Observa- lections Alliance. Annual International Conference on the tion Project (DROP). Carol Kelloff traveled to Georgetown, Science of Botanicals (ICSB); to Rome Laurence Dorr traveled to Philadel- Guyana (4/25 – 5/3) to help set up the and Piombino, Italy (5/6 – 5/19) to present phia, Pennsylvania (4/29) to attend a doc- new library at the Centre for the Study of their research on the DNA analysis of the toral defense exam at Drexel University. Biodiversity, University of Guyana; and to ancient medicines found in a shipwreck Vicki Funk traveled to Durham, North Honolulu, Hawaii (5/25 – 6/3) to partici- off the coast of Tuscany, and to take new Carolina (5/17 – 5/20) to participate in a pate at the conference Evolution of Life on samples from the discoids to continue cyber-infrastructure meeting held at the Pacific Islands and Reefs. the analysis; and Touwaide traveled to National Evolutionary Synthesis Center Nancy Kahn traveled to Honolulu, Irvine, California (5/14 – 5/16) to deliver (NESCent); and to Honolulu, Hawaii (5/24 Hawaii (5/24 – 6/3) to participate at the a lecture on Greek and Roman gardens conference Evolution of Life on Pacific at the Orange County Great Park, and to The Plant Press Islands and Reefs. meet with the director of the Greek Digital W. John Kress traveled to Dominica Texts Program at the University of Cali- New Series - Vol. 14 - No. 3 (5/4 – 5/17) to conduct field work on fornia Irvine. Chair of Botany Heliconia-hummingbird interactions; to Warren Wagner traveled to Honolulu, Warren L. Wagner Arusha, Tanzania (6/8 – 6/19) to attend Hawaii (5/24 – 6/10) as the organizer ([email protected]) the annual meeting of the Association for of the conference Evolution of Life on Tropical Biology and Conservation as the Pacific Islands and Reefs, followed by EDITORIAL STAFF Executive Director; and to Nairobi, Kenya field work on the islands of Hawaii and Editor (6/19 – 6/21) to conduct field studies. Kauai; and to Fort Collins, Colorado Gary Krupnick Sonoe Nakasone traveled to Manhat- (6/23 – 6/26) to attend a thesis defense at ([email protected]) tan, New York (5/17 – 5/20) to attend a Colorado State University. workshop at Columbia University. Jun Wen traveled to Chicago, Illinois Copy Editors Paul Peterson traveled to throughout (4/24 – 4/27) to conduct research at the Robin Everly, Bernadette Gibbons, Rose western Maryland (5/9 – 5/12) to collect Field Museum; and to Alabama, Arkansas, Gulledge, Dail Laughinghouse grasses. Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and News Contacts Rusty Russell traveled to San Fran- Texas (6/17 – 6/25) with interns Ryan MaryAnn Apicelli, Robert Faden, Rusty cisco, California (5/23 – 5/27) to give two Moraski and Matt Chansler to collect Russell, Alice Tangerini, and Elizabeth presentations at the annual conference of Vitaceae. Zimmer the Society for the Preservation of Natural Elizabeth Zimmer traveled to New The Plant Press is a quarterly publication pro- History Collections; and to the San Jacinto York City, New York (6/28 – 6/29) to meet vided free of charge. 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