Cycads, "living fossil" descendents of the first plants that colonized land and reproduced with seeds, are rapidly going extinct because of invasive pests and habitat loss, especially those species endemic to islands. But new research on Cycas micronesica published recently as the cover article in Molecular Ecology calls into question the characterization of these plants as relicts (leftovers of formerly abundant organisms), and gives a glimpse into how the remaining plantsthose that survived the loss of more than 90% of their populationcan be conserved and managed. By sampling what is left of C. micronesica on Guam, researchers, including some from the American Museum of Natural History, found moderate genetic variation within local populations and different levels of gene flow between populations.
"Cycas micronesica is one of the most ecologically important plants on Guam and nearby islands, and it is now rapidly disappearing," says Anglica Cibrin-Jaramillo, a researcher at the American Museum of Natural History and at The New York Botanical Garden. "But with new genomic tools we developed microsatellite markers to quickly assess individual plants. This technique is ideal for species that need quick answers for conservation reasons." Microsatellite markers are short genetic sequences typically used to determine how individuals are related to each other (kinship) and other population studies.
Cycads have been around for about 300 million years and are among the first spermatophytes, or plants that reproduce with seeds. Although this group's large crowns of feathery compound leaves was once common, cycads now number about 300 species throughout the world, and about half of these are threatened or endangered. C. micronesica is found on four island groups in Micronesia.
Within four years, the millions of C. micronesica on Guam were reduced by more than 90%. The primary culprit was an insect that o
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| Contact: Kristin Elise Phillips kphillips@amnh.org 212-496-3419 American Museum of Natural History Source:Eurekalert |
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