Origin of Hawaiian Polystichum (Dryopteridaceae) in the context of a world phylogeny

Abstract

A genus-wide molecular phylogeny for Polystichum and allied genera (Dryopteridaceae) was reconstructed to address the biogeographic origin and evolution of the three Hawaiian Polystichum species, all endemic there. The analysis was based on the cpDNA sequences rbcL and the trnL-F spacer from a taxonomically and geographically diverse sample. Parsimony and Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of the combined data support a monophyletic Polystichum and corroborate recent hypotheses as to membership and sequence of origin of the major groups within the genus. The Hawaiian Polystichum species are polyphyletic; two separate lineages appear to have arrived independently from the Old World. The provenance of the diploid Polystichum hillebrandii is continental eastern Asia, while the source of the polyploid lineage comprising tetraploid P. haleakalense and octoploid P. bonseyi is likely continental Asia. From our results, the origin of the Hawaiian species of Polystichum, like many Hawaiian fern genera with several species, is the result of multiple migrations to the islands, rather than single migrations yielding nearly all the local diversity as in the angiosperms. This emerging pattern provides a modern test of the premise that propagule vagility has a central role in determining pattern of evolution.