Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2006 A Comparison of Invasive and Noninvasive Commelinaceae in a Phylogentic Context Jean Burns Moriuchi Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact
[email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES A COMPARISON OF INVASIVE AND NONINVASIVE COMMELINACEAE IN A PHYLOGENTIC CONTEXT By Jean Burns Moriuchi A dissertation submitted to the Department of Biological Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Fall semester, 2006 Copyright (c), 2006 Jean Burns Moriuchi All Rights Reserved The members of the committee approve the dissertation of Jean Burns Moriuchi defended on 23 October 2006. _________________________ Thomas E. Miller Professor Directing Dissertation _________________________ William C. Parker Outside Committee Member _________________________ Scott J. Steppan Committee Member _________________________ Frances C. James Committee Member _________________________ David Houle Committee Member Approved: ___________________________________________________ Timothy S. Moerland, Chair, Department of Biological Science The office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank K. S. Moriuchi for constant support, editing, and help with idea development. I thank T. E. Miller, F. C. James, S. J. Steppan, D. Houle, W. Parker, A. A. Winn, C. T. Lee, D. Richardson, M. Rejmánek, S. L. Halpern, J. Hereford, C. Oakley, K. Rowe, and S. Tso and for helpful comments on the writing and idea development. Special thanks to T. E. Miller for lab support, idea development, and constant encouragement, and to S. J. Steppan for training in molecular techniques, lab support, and systematics training.