Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration

Nearly 100 estuaries exist along the coast of Mexico, resulting in a series of unique and isolated habitats.  The plant genus Suaeda Forssk ex J.F. Gmel., an unusual halophyte due to its sexual reproduction and dimorphic seeds, includes a high number of endemic taxa, which appear to have evolved due to the isolation of these estuaries.  Nine new species of Suaeda were proposed by botanist Wayne Ferren, but these species have yet to be studied in detail or formally published.  In addition to nearly 350 specimens collected by Ferren from 1980-2000, seeds collected from both known and putative species of Suaeda were donated to the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration (CCBER) for curation and research.  These seeds have been observed using brightfield microscopy and measured using ImageJ to quantify morphological variation. These seeds were also imaged using a scanning electron microscope to detect and describe variation in surface texture.  In addition to morphological characters, we will sequence four exemplars of each putative species, along with four known outgroup species, using high-throughput ddRADseq. To date, DNA has been extracted from herbarium specimens and Qubit assays have been conducted to measure DNA concentration.  A series of morphological and genetic analyses are planned to evaluate Ferren’s hypotheses regarding several new species of Suaeda, and how these populations or species are phylogenetically related. These analyses will also support evidence that these wetlands of Mexico allow for increased speciation, as proposed by Ferren, lending evidence towards their importance for preservation. Poster presented at the California Botanical Society.