Abstract
Chuquiraga is a genus of 23 species of evergreen shrubs endemic to South America. It is distributed principally along the Andes from Colombia to Chile and Argentina, and it is especially diversified in the Central Andes and in the deserts and semideserts of southern South America. The genus exhibits a wide array of leaf-morphology types and two different head and floral types apparently related to hummingbird and insect pollination.
In this study, phylogenetic relationships amongChuquiraga species were resolved by parsimony cladistic analysis using morphological characters. The resulting cladogram was used to interpret morphological, ecological, and biogeographical patterns in a historical context. Biotic and abiotic environmental factors hypothesized to have exerted selective pressure on morphological traits of its species were optimized onto the phylogeny to suggest how and when these factors may have affected the evolution and diversification of the genus.
Results suggest an origin of the genus in southern South America, with two major evolutionary radiations, one more northern in the Central and Northern Andes, and the other in the Southern Andes and the North Chilean, Patagonia and Monte Deserts. Pollination by hummingbirds seems to have been an important factor in the origin of the northern clade, affecting floral morphology. Herbivory by vertebrates and increased aridity seem to have been important selective forces in the evolution and diversification of the southern clade, especially affecting leaf morphology. These changes were probably associated with the major elevation of the Andes in late Tertiary and with the hyperaridization and climatic fluctuations of Pleistocene and Holocene times.
Resumen
Chuquiraga es un género con 23 especies de arbustos perennifolios endémico de América del Sur. Se distribuye principalmente a lo largo de los Andes desde Colombia hasta Chile y Argentina y está especialmente diversificado en los desiertos y semidesiertos de América del Sur. El género presenta un amplio espectro de tipos de morfología foliar y dos tipos florales y de capítulos aparentemente relacionados con la polinización por colibríes y por insectos.
En este trabajo las relaciones filogenéticas entre las especies deChuquiraga se resolvieron mediante análisis cladístico de parsimonia utilizando caracteres morfológicos. El cladograma resultante se empleó para interpretar patrones morfológicos, ecológicos y biogeográficos de las especies en un contexto histórico. Factures bióticos y abióticos que se han hipotetizado que han ejercido presión selectiva sobre los caracteres morfológicos fueron optimizados sobre la filogenia para sugerir cómo y cuándo podrían haber afectado la evolución y la diversificación del género.
Los resultados obtenidos sugieren un origen del género en el sur de América del Sur, y dos principales radiaciones evolutivas, una más al norte en los Andes Centrales y en los Andes del Norte, y la otra más al sur en los Andes del Sur y en los desiertos del norte de Chile, la Patagonia y el Monte. La polinización por colibríes parece haber sido un factor importante en el origen del clado del norte, afectando la morfología floral. La herbivoría por vertebrados y el incremento en la aridez parecen haber sido fuerzas selectivas importantes en la evolución y diversificación del clado austral, afectando especialmente la morfología foliar. Estos cambios probablemente estuvieron asociados a la elevación máxima de los Andes a fines del Terciario y a la hiperaridización y fiuctuaciones climáticas del Pleistoceno y Holoceno.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature Cited
Arroyo, M. T. K., L. Cavieres, A. Peñaloza, M. Riveros &A. M. Faggi. 1996. Relaciones fitogeográficas y patrones regionales de riqueza de especies en la flora del bosque lluvioso templado de Sudamérica. Pp. 71–99in J. J. Armesto, C. Villagrán & M. T. K. Arroyo (eds.), Ecología de los bosques nativos de Chile. Editorial Universitaria, Santiago.
Baumann, F. 1988. Geographische Verbreitung und ökologie südamerikanischer hochgebirgspflanzen. Phys. Geogr. (Zurich) 28: 1–190.
Bleiweiss, R., J. A. W. Kirsch &J. C. Matheus. 1994. DNA-DNA hybridization evidence for subfamily structure among hummingbirds. Auk 111: 8–19.
Böcher, T. W. 1979. Xeromorphic leaf types, evolutionary strategies and tentative semophyletic sequences. Biol. Skr. 22: 1–77.
Bohm, B. A. &T. F. Stuessy. 1995. Flavonoid chemistry of Barnadesioideae (Asteraceae). Syst. Bot. 20: 22–27.
Bremer, K. 1994. Asteraceae: Cladistics and classification. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
— &R. K. Jansen. 1992. A new subfamily of the Asteraceae. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 79: 414–415.
Brooks, D. R. &D. A. McLennan. 1991. Phylogeny, ecology, and behavior: A research program in comparative biology. Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Bucher, E. H. 1987. Herbivory in arid and semiarid regions of Argentina. Revista Chilena Hist. Nat. 60: 265–273.
Cabrera, A. L. 1959. Revisión del géneroDasyphyllum (Compositae). Revista Mus. La Plata, Secc. Bot., n.s., 9: 21–100.
— 1977. Mutisieae—Systematic review. Pp. 1039–1066in V. H. Heywood, J. B. Harborne & B. L. Turner (eds.), The biology and chemistry of the Compositae. 2 vols. Academic Press, London.
— &A. Willink. 1980. Biogeografía de América Latina. O.E.A. Serie de Biología, Monografía 13. Ed. 2, corr. General Secretariat of the Organization of American States, Washington, DC.
Carpenter, F. L. 1976. Ecology and evolution of an Andean hummingbird (Oreotrochilus estella). Univ. Calif. Publ. Zool., 106. Univ. of California Press, Berkeley.
Chesser, T. R. 2000. Evolution in the High Andes: The phylogenetics ofMuscisaxicola ground-tyrants. Molec. Phylogenetics & Evol. 15: 369–380.
Coughenour, M. B. 1985. Graminoid responses to grazing by large herbivores: Adaptations, exaptations, and interacting processes. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 72: 852–863.
Cuatrecasas, J. 1986. Speciation and radiation of the Espeletiinae in the Andes. Pp. 267–303in F. Vuilleumier & M. Monasterio (eds.), High altitude tropical biogeography. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford.
De Vore, M. L. &T. F. Stuessy. 1995. The place and time of origin of the Asteraceae, with additional comments on the Calyceraceae and Goodeniaceae. Pp. 23–40in D. J. N. Hind, C. Jeffrey & G. V. Pope (eds.), Advances in Compositae systematics. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Eggleton, P. &R. I. Vane-Wright. 1994. Some principles of phylogenetics and their implications for comparative biology. Pp. 345–366in P. Eggleton & R. I. Vane-Wright (eds.), Phylogenetics and ecology. Linnean Soc. Symp. ser., 17. Academic Press, London.
Espenshade, E. B., Jr. (ed.). 1978. Goode’s world atlas. Ed. 15. Rand McNally, Chicago.
Espinosa, R. 1933. Ökologischen Studien über Kordillerenpflanzen. Bot. Jahrb. Engler 65: 120–212.
Ezcurra, C. 1985. Revisión del géneroChuquiraga (Compositae-Mutisieae). Darwiniana 26: 219–284.
— &J. V. Crisci. 1987. Relaciones de similitud entre las especies del géneroChuquiraga (Compositae-Mutisieae): Un análisis numérico. Darwiniana 28: 219–229.
—,A. Ruggiero &J. V. Crisci. 1997. Phylogenyof Chuquiraga sect.Acanthophyllae (Asteraceae-Barnadesioideae), and the evolution of its leaf morphology in relation to climate. Syst. Bot. 22: 151–163.
Farris, J. S. 1988: Hennig86 user’s manual. Port Jefferson Station, NY.
— 1989. The retention index and the rescaled consistency index. Cladistics 5: 417–419.
Feduccia, A. 1996. The origin and evolution of birds. Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, CT.
Felsenstein, J. 1985. Confidence limits on phylogenies: An approach using the bootstrap. Evolution 39: 783–791.
Ferreyra, M., S. Clayton &C. Ezcurra. 1998. La flora altoandina de los sectores este y el oeste del Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi, Argentina. Darwiniana 36 (1–4): 65–79.
Ferreyra, R. 1995. Flora of Peru: Asteraceae, Part VI. Fieldiana, Bot. 35: 1–101.
Fjeldså, J. &N. Krabbe. 1990. Birds of the high Andes. Zoological Museum, Univ. of Copenhagen, Copenhagen; Apollo Books, Svendborg, Denmark.
Franklin, W. L. 1982. Biology, ecology and the relationships to man of the South American camelids. Pp. 457–489in M. A. Mares & H. H. Genoways (eds.), Mammalian biology in South America. Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology, Univ. of Pittsburgh, Special Publication 6.
Funk, V. A., H. Robinson, G. S. McKee &J. F. Pruski. 1995. Neotropical montane Compositae with an emphasis on the Andes. Pp. 451–471in S. P. Churchill, H. Balslev, E. Forero & J. L. Luteyn (eds.), Biodiversity and conservation of neotropical montane forests. New York Bot. Gard., Bronx.
Gentry, A. H. 1982. Neotropical floristic diversity: Phytogeographical connections between Central and South America, Pleistocene climatic fluctuations, or an accident of Andean orogeny? Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 69: 557–593.
Granda P., A. 1997. Una nueva especie deChuquiraga (Asteraceae-Mutisieae) del Perú. Kurtziana 25: 151–156.
Harling, G. 1991. 190(10). Compositae-Mutisieae. Flora of Ecuador, 42. Univ. of Göteborg, Dept. of Systematic Botany, Copenhagen.
Hill, R. S. 1998. Fossil evidence for the onset of xeromorphy and scleromorphy in Australian Proteaceae. Austral. Syst. Bot. 11: 9–40.
Hinojosa, L. F. &C. Villagrán. 1997. Historia de los bosques del sur de Sudamérica, I: Antecedentes paleobotánicos, geológicos y climáticos del Terciario del cono sur de América. Revista Chilena Hist. Nat. 70: 225–239.
Hoffmann, J. A. J. 1975. Atlas climático de América del Sur: Mapas de temperatura y precipitaciones medias. WMO, UNESCO, Geneva.
Hooghiemstra, H. &A. M. Cleef. 1995. Pleistocene climatic change and environmental and generic dynamics in the North Andean montane forest and páramo. Pp. 35–49in S. P. Churchill, H. Balslev, E. Forero & J. L. Luteyn (eds.), Biodiversity and conservation of neotropical montane forests. New York Bot. Gard., Bronx.
Lauenroth, W. K. 1998. Guanacos, spiny shrubs, and the evolutionary history of grazing in the Patagonian steppe. Ecol. Austral 8: 21–215.
Maddison, W. P. &D. R. Maddison. 1992. MacClade: Interactive analysis of phylogeny and character evolution, version 3.0. Sinauer Assoc., Sunderland, MA.
—,M. J. Donoghue &D. R. Maddison. 1984. Outgroup analysis and parsimony. Syst. Zool. 33: 63–104.
Obeso, J. R. 1997. The induction of spinescence in European holly leaves by browsing ungulates. Pl. Ecol. 129: 149–156.
Parkhurst, D. F. &O. L. Loucks. 1972. Optimal leaf size in relation to environment. J. Ecol. 60: 505–537.
Parrish, J. T. 1987. Global paleogeography and paleoclimate of the Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary. Pp. 51–73in E. M. Friis, W. G. Chaloner & P. R. Crane (eds.), The origin of angiosperms and their biological consequences. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge.
Pascual, R. 1984. Late Tertiary mammals of southern South America as indicators of climatic deterioration. Pp. 1–30in J. Rabassa (ed.), Quaternary of South America and the Antarctic Peninsula. A. A. Balkema, Rotterdam.
— &E. Ortiz J. 1990. Evolving climates and mammal faunas in Cenozoic South America. J. Human Evol. 19: 23–60.
—,M. G. Vucetich, G. J. Scillato-Yané &M. Bond. 1985. Main pathways of mammalian diversification in South America. Pp. 219–239in F. G. Stehli & S. D. Webb (eds.), The great American biotic interchange. Plenum, New York.
Pelliza-Sbriller, A., N. A. Bonino, G. Bonvissuto &J. N. Amaya. 1995. Composición botánica de la dieta de herbivoros silvestres y domésticos en el área de Pilcaniyeu (Río Negro). I.D.I.A. 429-432: 63–73.
Raven, P. H. &D. I. Axelrod. 1974. Angiosperm biogeography and past continental movements. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 61: 539–673.
Redmann, R. E. 1985. Adaptation of grasses to water stress—Leaf rolling and stomate distribution. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 72: 833–842.
Reig, O. R. 1986. Diversity patterns and differentiation of high Andean rodents. Pp. 404–440in F. Vuilleumier & M. Monasterio (eds.), High altitude tropical biogeography. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford.
Robinson, H. 1987. Some suggestions regarding the significance of chloroplast DNA variation in the Asteraceae. Phytologia 63: 316–324.
Ruse, M. 1979. Falsifiability, consilience, and systematics. Syst. Zool. 28: 530–536.
Sagástegui A., A. Sánchez V. &I. Sánchez V. 1991. Una nueva especie deChuquiraga del norte de Perú. Arnaldoa 1: 1–4.
Simpson, B. B. 1975. Pleistocene changes in the flora of the high tropical Andes. Paleobiology 1: 273–294.
— 1986. Speciation and specialization ofPolylepis in the Andes. Pp. 304–316in F. Vuilleumier & M. Monasterio (eds.), High altitude tropical biogeography. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford.
— &J. L. Neff. 1985. Plants, their pollinating bees, and the Great American Interchange. Pp. 427–452in F. G. Stehli & S. D. Webb (eds.), The great American biotic interchange. Plenum, New York.
— &C. A. Todzia. 1990. Patterns and processes in the development of the high Andean flora. Amer. J. Bot. 77: 1419–1432.
Solbrig, O. T. 1976. The origin and floristic affinities of the South American temperate desert and semidesert regions. Pp. 7–49in D. W. Goodall (ed.), Evolution of desert biota. Univ. of Texas Press, Austin.
Somlo, R. (ed.). 1997. Atlas dietario de herbívoros patagónicos. PRODESAR, INTA, GTZ, San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina.
Stebbins, G. L. 1981. Coevolution of grasses and herbivores. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 68: 75–86.
Stuessy, T. F., T. Sang &M. L. DeVore. 1996. Phylogeny and biogeography of the subfamily Barnadesioideae with implications for early evolution of the Compositae. Pp. 463–490in D. J. N. Hind & H. J. Beentje (eds.), Proceedings of the International Compositae Conference, Kew, 1994. Vol. 1. Compositae: Systematics. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Swofford, D. L. 1991. PAUP: Phylogenetic analysis using parsimony, Version 3.0. Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign.
Taylor, D. W. 1991. Paleobiogeographic relationships of Andean angiosperms of Cretaceous to Pliocene age. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 88: 69–84.
Thiele, K. 1994. The holy grail of the perfect character: the cladistic treatment of morphometric data. Cladistics 9: 275–304.
Ulloa U., C. &P. M. Jørgensen. 1993. Árboles y arbustos de los Andes del Ecuador. AAU Reports, 30. Aarhus Univ. Press, Aarhus, Denmark.
Urtubey, E. &T. E. Stuessy. 2001. Morphological phylogenetic relationships in Barnadesioideae (Asteraceae) revisited. Taxon 50: 1043–1066.
Villagrán, C., M. T. Kalin A. &C. Marticorena. 1983. Efectos de la desertización en la distribución de la flora andina de Chile. Revista Chilena Hist. Nat. 56: 137–157.
Webb, D. S. 1978. A history of savanna vertebrates in the New World, II: South America and the great interchange. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 9: 393–426.
— 1985. Late Cenozoic mammal dispersals between the Americas. Pp. 357–386in F. G. Stehli & S. D. Webb (eds.), The great American biotic interchange. Plenum, New York.
Wheeler, J. C. 1995. Evolution and present situation of the South American Camelidae. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 54: 271–295.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ezcurra, C. Phylogeny, morphology, and biogeography ofChuquiraga, an Andean-Patagonian genus of Asteraceae-Barnadesioideae. Bot. Rev 68, 153–170 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1663/0006-8101(2002)068[0153:PMABOC]2.0.CO;2
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1663/0006-8101(2002)068[0153:PMABOC]2.0.CO;2