Ericoid mycorrhizal fungi are common root inhabitants of non-Ericaceae plants in a south-eastern Australian sclerophyll forest

Fungi were isolated from the roots of 17 plant species from the families Apiaceae, Cunoniaceae, Cyperaceae, Droseraceae, Fabaceae-Mimosoideae, Lomandraceae, Myrtaceae, Pittosporaceae, Proteaceae and Stylidiaceae at a sclerophyll forest site in New South Wales, Australia. Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and sequence comparisons indicated that the isolated fungi had affinities to a range of ascomycetes, basidiomycetes and zygomycetes. Four RFLP types had closest affinities to previously identified Helotiales ericoid mycorrhizal (ERM) or Oidiodendron spp. Isolates representing six RFLP types, which were variously isolated from all 17 plant species, formed ERM coils in hair root epidermal cells of Woollsia pungens (Ericaceae) under gnotobiotic conditions. Three of these isolates formed intercellular hyphae, intracellular hyphae and/or microsclerotia, which are typical of dark septate endophyte infection, in roots of Stylidium productum (Stylidiaceae), indicating an ability to form different types of association with roots of different hosts. Overall the data indicate that a broad range of plant taxa may act as repositories for ERM fungi in sclerophyll forest soil.     

In a world of white,flower colour matters: A white–purple transition signals lack of reward in an alpine Euphrasia

The New Zealand alpine flora displays a range of unusual characteristics compared with other alpine floras, in particular the high frequency of species with small white flowers. The presence of both white and bright purple flowers on the same plant in the New Zealand alpine annual creeping eyebright (Euphrasia dyeri Wettst.) provides an ideal opportunity to investigate the significance of flower colour in an environment where coloured flowers are rare. The relationships among flower age, gender phase, reward availability and petal colour were assessed in natural populations of E. dyeri. The effect of pollination on flower colour was tested using hand pollination of bagged flowers. Direct observations and videos of flowers were used to assess patterns of flower visitation by native and introduced pollinators. Unpollinated white E. dyeri flowers changed from white to purple within 6 days. However, pollination of white flowers triggered a significantly faster colour change, typically within 1–2 days. White flowers had receptive stigmas, large amounts of lipid‐rich pollen and small amounts of nectar, whereas stigmas of purple flowers are not receptive and flowers did not provide pollen or nectar rewards. Flowers were mainly visited by native syrphid flies. Both native syrphids and introduced Bombus bees showed a marked avoidance of purple flowers, tending to preferentially visit white flowers. Our study suggests that flower colour change from white to bright purple in E. dyeri functions to direct pollinators to rewarding, receptive flowers. As many Euphrasia L. species are described as having variably coloured flowers, this mechanism may be more widespread in the genus. Furthermore, our results add to the growing evidence that the dominance of white flowers in the New Zealand alpine is not simply due to a lack of colour discrimination among pollinators.     

Evolutionary patterns and genetic structure in localized and widespread species in the Stylidium caricifolium complex (Stylidiaceae)

The Stylidium caricifolium (Stylidiaceae) complex consists of seven currently recognized species and a taxon of putative hybrid origin endemic to southwest Western Australia. These taxa vary in geographical distribution from widespread, extending over a range of 500 km, to extremely localized, covering a range of only 0.5 km. Patterns of allozyme variation were investigated in 61 populations covering all taxa and two closely related species. Measures of genetic diversity were consistently lower and in some cases significantly lower in four rare and geographically restricted taxa compared with their widespread relatives. In contrast, genetic diversity in two other localized taxa was comparable or higher than in the widespread taxa. The level of divergence among populations was moderate to high, with a significant trend of higher F(ST) values for the widespread species to lower values for the geographically restricted and rare taxa. Phylogenetic relationships and levels of divergence indicate that most taxa are probably relictual rather than recently evolved. Geographical localization and rarity in this complex can be attributed to a range of factors associated with habitat specificity, historical and ecological processes that characterize the southwest region, and mode of origin.     

Mitochondrial haplotypes and the New Zealand origin of clonal European Potamopyrgus, an invasive aquatic snail

The small aquatic snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum is an important invading species in Europe, Australia and North America. European populations are generally believed to derive from accidental introductions from New Zealand, probably dating back to the mid-19th century. We have employed mitochondrial DNA sequences to test the proposed New Zealand origin of European Potamopyrgus, and to learn more about its genealogical history. Using a 481-bp region of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene, we identified 17 distinct haplotypes among 65 snails from New Zealand. In marked contrast, only two haplotypes were found across all European samples, which cover a large geographical area. Importantly, these two haplotypes are shared with snails from the North Island of New Zealand. Due to sampling limitations we cannot rule out a South Island origin for one of the haplotypes, but our results clearly demonstrate the New Zealand origin of European populations. The marked divergence among the two European haplotypes implies the successful colonization by two distinct mitochondrial lineages, which is consistent with previous data based on nuclear markers.     

The Thrips orientalis group from South-east Asia and Australia: some species identities and relationships (Thysanoptera, Thripidae)

Abstract  A thrips associated in Thailand with the flowers of Paederia foetida , a rubiaceous weed in Florida that is a threat to Australia, is here recognised as Thrips morindae Priesner, a species previously considered a synonym of T. javanicus Priesner. Systematic relationships of these species with others in South-east Asia and the Australasian region are discussed. Two new species-groups are designated: the T. obscuratus group of six species from New Zealand and New Caledonia, and the T. orientalis group of 12 South-east Asian species that are associated with scented white flowers such as Gardenia . Four species of this second group are recorded from tropical Australia.     

Variation and response to experimental warming in a New Zealand cushion plant species

Cold adapted plants, such as cushion plants, may be particularly sensitive to climate warming because of their compact growth form and high branch density. In the oceanic southern hemisphere, cushion communities tend to have large range distributions at low latitudes (sea level to low alpine), thus providing an opportunity to test the effects of temperature on plant morphology and reproduction across gradients. Using Donatia novae‐zelandiae as a model species, we compared the leaf morphology, reproduction and responses to warming. Two low‐alpine sites (Maungatua (880 m a.s.l.), Blue Mountains (1000 m a.s.l.)) and two sea‐level sites (Waituna 1 (0 m a.s.l.), Waituna 2 (0 m a.s.l.)) in South Island, New Zealand were used. Donatia novae‐zelandiae cushions differed significantly between the high‐elevation and sea‐level sites both morphologically and in terms of reproduction. High‐elevation cushions produced more flowers (threefold more flowers per plant) and seeds (sevenfold more seeds per capsule) than at sea level, but leaves were larger at sea level (in length and specific leaf area). The cushions were also twice as compact at the high‐elevation sites. After two growing seasons of artificial warming, seed production (35%), leaf length (7%) and width (13%), and specific leaf area (63%) significantly decreased in D. novae‐zelandiae plants; flower production was not significantly affected. Cushion plant morphology and reproduction were significantly affected by environmental drivers at their establishment sites, but all populations responded negatively to artificial warming of 1–3°C. Many cushion plants are considered keystone species because of their propensity to facilitate the growth and establishment of other plant species, the inferred negative effects of global warming on cushion plant species may have a cascading effect on other alpine plant groups.     

Phylogenetic relationships and biogeography of Fuchsia (Onagraceae) based on noncoding nuclear and chloroplast DNA data

To examine relationships and test previous sectional delimitations within Fuchsia, this study used parsimony and maximum likelihood analyses with nuclear ITS and chloroplast trnL-F and rpl16 sequence data for 37 taxa representing all sections of Fuchsia and four outgroup taxa. Results support previous sectional delimitations, except for F. verrucosa, which is related to a Central American clade rather than to section Fuchsia and is described here as a new section Verrucosa. The basal relationships within Fuchsia are poorly resolved, suggesting an initial rapid diversification of the genus. Among the species sampled, there is strong support for a single South Pacific lineage, a southern South American/southern Brazilian lineage, a tropical Andean lineage, and one or two Central American and Mexican lineages. There is no clear support for an austral origin of the genus, as previously proposed, which is more consistent with Fuchsia's sister group relationship with the boreal Circaea. An ultrametric molecular clock analysis (all minimal dates) places the split between Fuchsia and Circaea at 41 million years ago (mya), with the diversification of the modern-day lineages of Fuchsia beginning at 31 mya. The South Pacific Fuchsia lineage branches off around 30 mya, consistent with fossil records from Australia and New Zealand. The large Andean section Fuchsia began to diversify around 22 mya, preceded by the divergence of the Caribbean F. triphylla at 25 mya. The Brazilian members of section Quelusia separated from the southern Andean F. magellanica around 13 mya, and the ancestor of the Tahitian F. cyrtandroides split off from the New Zealand species of section Skinnera approximately 8 mya.     

Where have all the blue flowers gone: pollinator responses and selection on flower colour in New Zealand Wahlenbergia albomarginata

Although pollinators are thought to select on flower colour, few studies have experimentally decoupled effects of colour from correlated traits on pollinator visitation and pollen transfer. We combined selection analysis and phenotypic manipulations to measure the effect of petal colour on visitation and pollen export at two spatial scales in Wahlenbergia albomarginata. This species is representative of many New Zealand alpine herbs that have secondarily evolved white or pale flowers. The major pollinators, solitary bees, exerted phenotypic selection on flower size but not colour, quantified by bee vision. When presented with manipulated flowers, bees visited flowers painted blue to resemble a congener over white flowers in large, but not small, experimental arrays. Pollen export was higher for blue flowers in large arrays. Pollinator preference does not explain the pale colouration of W. albomarginata, as commonly hypothesized. Absence of bright blue could be driven instead by indirect selection of correlated characters.     

Are you my mother? Phylogenetic analysis reveals orphan hybrid stick insect genus is part of a monophyletic New Zealand clade

The hybrid stick insect genus Acanthoxyla Uvarov 1944 is unusual for an obligate parthenogen, in the extreme morphological diversity it exhibits that has led to eight species being recognised. The New Zealand sexual species Clitarchus hookeri [White, A. 1846. The zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Erebus and Terror. In: 1 Insects of New Zealand. E.W. Janson, London.] is the putative parental species in the hybridization that gave rise to the hybrid lineage Acanthoxyla. In an effort to identify the maternal ancestor of Acanthoxyla we sequenced nuclear 28S rDNA and/or mtDNA COI & COII of all nine endemic New Zealand stick insect genera, representing 17 of the 22 described species. We also sequenced 28S from eight non-New Zealand stick insects to supplement published 28S sequence data that provided a taxonomically and geographically broad sampling of the phasmids. We applied a novel search algorithm (SeqSSi=Sequence Similarity Sieve) to assist in selection of outgroup taxa for phylogenetic analysis prior to alignment. Phylogenetic reconstructions resolved an exclusively New Zealand clade to which the maternal lineage of Acanthoxyla belonged, but did not support existing higher level taxonomy of stick insects. We did not find a sexual maternal species for Acanthoxyla but phylogenetic relationships indicate that this species lived in New Zealand and could be classified among the New Zealand Phasmatinae. Among the available taxa, the nearest evolutionary neighbours to the New Zealand phasmid fauna as a whole were predominantly from the New Zealand region (Fiji, Australia, New Guinea, New Caledonia and South America). As it appears to be an orphan, it is interesting to speculate that a combination of parthenogenetic reproduction and/or hybrid vigour in Acanthoxyla may have contributed to the extinction of its mother.     

Evolution of insular Pacific Pittosporum (Pittosporaceae): origin of the Hawaiian radiation.

We investigated the origin of Hawaiian Pittosporum and their relationship to other South Pacific Pittosporum species using internal transcribed spacer sequences of nuclear ribosomal DNA. We performed both maximum-parsimony and maximum-likelihood analyses, which produced congruent results. Sequence divergence was 0.0% between Hawaiian members of Pittosporum. These taxa formed a strongly supported clade, suggesting a single colonization event followed by phyletic radiation. Sister to the Hawaiian clade were two South Pacific species, P. yunckeri from Tonga and P. rhytidocarpum from Fiji. This result presents convincing evidence for a South Pacific origin of Hawaiian Pittosporum. Our results also identify a monophyletic group comprising three species representing the Fijian Province and East Polynesia, two introductions onto New Caledonia, and at least one (but possibly two) introduction(s) onto New Zealand. Whether the New Zealand taxa form a monophyletic group is unclear from these data. Previous morphologically based hypotheses, however, suggest the presence of four different lineages occupying New Zealand. The nonmonophyly of the New Caledonian species was not surprising based on the extent of their morphological diversity. Although this latter result is not strongly supported, these species are morphologically complex and are currently the subject of taxonomic revision and molecular systematic analyses.     

Molecular evidence for bicontinental hybridogenous genomic constitution in Lepidium sensu stricto (Brassicaceae) species from Australia and New Zealand

Lepidium sensu stricto (s.s.) (Brassicaceae) (ca. 150 species) is distributed worldwide with endemic species on every continent. It is represented in Australia and New Zealand by 19 and seven native species, respectively. In the present study we used a nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) phylogeny in comparison with a cpDNA phylogeny to unravel the origin of Australian/New Zealand species. Although phylogenetic relationships within Lepidium s.s. were not fully resolved, the cpDNA data were in agreement with a Californian origin of Lepidium species from Australia/New Zealand. Strongly conflicting signals between the cp- and nuclear DNA phylogenetic analysis clearly indicated hybridogenous genomic constitution of Australian Lepidium s.s. species: All 18 studied Australian/New Zealand Lepidium s.s. species examined shared a Californian cpDNA type. While eleven Australian/New Zealand species appeared to harbor a Californian ITS type, a group of seven species shared a South African ITS type. This pattern is most likely explained by two trans-oceanic dispersals of Lepidium from California and Africa to Australia/New Zealand and subsequent hybridization followed by homogenization of the ribosomal DNA either to the Californian or South African ITS type in the two different lineages. Calibration of our molecular trees indicates a Pliocene/Pleistocene origin of Lepidium in Australia/New Zealand. Low levels of cpDNA and ITS sequence divergence and unresolved topologies within Australian/New Zealand species suggest a rapid and recent radiation of Lepidium after the hybridization event. This coincides with dramatic climatic changes in that geological epoch shaping the composition of the vegetation.     

The biogeography of the austral, subalpine genus Ourisia (Plantaginaceae) based on molecular phylogenetic evidence: South American origin and dispersal to New Zealand and Tasmania

Molecular phylogenetic analyses of 26 of the 28 species of Ourisia , including eight of ten subspecies and two purported natural hybrids, are presented and used to examine the biogeography of the genus, which is distributed in subalpine to alpine habitats of South America, New Zealand and Tasmania. Gondwanan vicariance, often cited as the cause of this classic austral biogeographical pattern, was rejected by parametric bootstrapping of our combined dataset. Alternatively, various lines of evidence are presented in favour of a South American origin of Ourisia and subsequent dispersal to Australasia. Specifically, the genus likely arose in the Andes of central Chile and spread to southern Chile and Argentina, to the north-central Andes, and finally to Tasmania and New Zealand. The ancestor of the New Zealand species probably first arrived on the South Island, where the New Zealand species of Ourisia are most diverse, and migrated to the North and Stewart Islands. Because the Tasmanian and New Zealand species are sister to one another, the direction of dispersal between these two areas is equivocal. These results agree with other molecular phylogenetic studies that show that past dispersal between southern hemisphere continents has played an important role in the evolutionary history of many high-elevation austral plants. Our data also show that within South America, many of the geographical barriers (with the exception of the Atacama Desert) that have played a role in the evolution of other plant groups have not affected Ourisia species. Within New Zealand, the phylogeny and biogeography of species of Ourisia coincide with the geological history of the country and patterns of other alpine plants. © 2006 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2006, 87 , 479–513.     

Evidence of protocarnivory in triggerplants (Stylidium spp.; Stylidiaceae)

Australian triggerplants (Stylidium spp.; Stylidiaceae) trap small insects using mucilage-secreting glandular hairs held at various points on their inflorescence stems and flower parts. Triggerplants are generally found in habitats also containing genera of plants already accepted as carnivorous, two of which (Drosera, Byblis) use the same basic mechanism as Stylidium to trap their prey. In the herbarium, sheets of triggerplants and of accepted groups of carnivorous plants held similar numbers of trapped insects, and in the field, trapping of small prey per unit of glandular surface area was the same at a given site for triggerplants and for nearby carnivorous plants at three sites in northern Australia. Even more important, protease activity was produced by glandular regions of both triggerplants and Drosera after induction with yeast extract. A panel of negative and positive controls, including use 1) of plants grown in tissue culture, which therefore lack surface microorganisms, and 2) of protease inhibitors, shows that this activity 1) is generated by the glandular regions of the triggerplant itself, not by organisms that might reside on the surface of the plants, and 2) is due to proteases. All of this evidence taken together provides strong evidence of protocarnivory in Stylidium, something not previously suggested in the scientific literature, though the insect trapping has been noted informally. Experiments remain to be done to determine nutrient uptake, so triggerplants may well be fully carnivorous.     

Native arthropods on exotic sand dune flowers: consideration of sample size and number for investigating rare species and sparse communities

When studying arthropod visitors of flowers, the sampling unit (individual flowers, groups of flowers, areas of plants, timed visits, etc.) depends upon the aim of the study and the sampling method employed. In this study, arthropods using flowers of the ice plant, Carpobrotus edulis, were recorded on the sand dunes at New Brighton in the south island of New Zealand. Of 3600 flowers, only 10% contained invertebrates and only 478 specimens were recorded in total. Of 32 arthropod species observed on this exotic plant, we consider at least 20 to be native to New Zealand and five species are probably New Zealand endemics. Based on an occupation rate of individual flowers of 10%, a binomial model indicated that a sample of 100 flowers would have <0.003% chance of containing no specimens, and 96% chance that 5–16 flowers would contain some animals. Species accumulation models (e.g. bootstrap, Chao and rarefaction) and models examining the likelihood of recording rare species indicated that after examining 2000 flowers, 80% of arthropod species would be recorded, and that only the rarest species in our study would fall below an 80% statistical power of detection. The results suggest that for this flower–invertebrate system, a scheme that involved 20 independent samples, each consisting of 100 flowers, would provide a good chance of (1) avoiding totally empty samples (2) collecting a high proportion of the total species present and (3) recording all but the very rarest species that occur in this system.     

Springs and wire plants: anachronistic defences against Madagascar's extinct elephant birds

The extinction of large vertebrates in the last few millennia has left a legacy of evolutionary anachronisms. Among these are plant structural defences that persist long after the extinction of the browsers. A peculiar, and controversial, example is a suite of traits common in divaricate (wide-angled branching) plants from New Zealand. Divaricate architecture has been interpreted as an adaptive response to cold climates or an anachronistic defence against the extinct moas. Madagascar, a larger tropical island, also had a fauna of large flightless birds, the elephant birds. If these extinct ratites selected for similar plant defences, we expected to find convergent features between New Zealand and Malagasy plants, despite their very different climates. We searched the southern thickets of Madagascar for plants with putative anti-ratite defences and scored candidate species for a number of traits common to many New Zealand divaricates. We found many Malagasy species in 25 families and 36 genera shared the same suite of traits, the 'wire plant' syndrome, as divaricates in New Zealand that resist ratite browsing. Neither ecologically, nor phylogenetically, matched species from South Africa shared these traits. Malagasy wire plants differ from many New Zealand divaricates in lacking the distinctive concentration of leaves in the interior of shrubs. We suggest that New Zealand divaricates have a unique amalgam of traits that acted as defences and also confer tolerance to cold. We conclude that many woody species in the thickets of southern Madagascar share, with New Zealand, anachronistic structural defences against large extinct bird browsers.     

The evolutionary origins of three new Neotyphodium endophyte species from grasses indigenous to the Southern Hemisphere

Members of the genus Neotyphodium are asexual, seedborne, protective fungal endophytes of cool season grasses that have likely evolved either directly from sexual Epichlo?; species, or by the interspecific hybridization of distinct lineages of Epichlo?; and Neotyphodium. We investigated the evolutionary origins of Neotyphodium endophytes from several grasses that are indigenous to the Southern Hemisphere using a multiple-gene phylogenetic approach. Intron regions of the genes encoding β-tubulin (tub2), translation elongation factor 1-α (tef1) and actin (act1) were amplified by polymerase chain reaction and sequenced. Phylogenetic analyses of these sequences, aligned with homologous sequences from Epichlo?; spp., revealed the evolutionary origins of the Southern Hemisphere endophytes, where one lineage of apparently non-hybrid origin, and three lineages of unique interspecific hybrid origin were identified. On the basis of morphology, host range and evolutionary history, we propose three new species of Neotyphodium. Neotyphodium aotearoae was isolated from Echinopogon ovatus populations from New Zealand and Australia, and comprised a unique, apparently non-hybrid lineage within the Epichlo?; species phylogeny. In contrast, an interspecific hybrid lineage was identified from two Australian Ec. ovatus populations, whose ancestry apparently involved lineages closely related to extant E. festucae and an E. typhina genotype similar to that of isolates from Poa pratensis. Endophytes infecting South African Melica racemosa and M. decumbens (dronkgras) appeared to be hybrids of E. festucae and N. aotearoae or close relatives. The names N. australiense and N. melicicola are proposed for these two hybrid lineages, respectively. The origin of N. tembladerae, an established endophyte species from South American Poa and Festuca spp., was also investigated. Neotyphodium tembladerae appeared to be of hybrid origin, involving E. festucae and an E. typhina genotype similar to that of isolates from Poa nemoralis. The results of this study highlight the widespread occurrence of interspecific hybrid Neotyphodium lineages on a global scale, and the extent of endophyte gene-flow between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.     

Frugivore gape size and the evolution of fruit size and shape in southern hemisphere floras

Abstract The present study uses differences among frugivore faunas of the southern hemisphere landmasses to test whether frugivore characteristics have influenced the evolution of fruit traits. Strong floristic similarities exist among southern landmasses; for example, 75% of New Zealand vascular plant genera also have species in Australia. However, plants in Australia and South America have evolved in the presence of a range of mammalian frugivores, whereas those in New Zealand, New Caledonia and the Pacific Islands have not. In addition, the avian frugivores in New Zealand and New Caledonia are generally smaller than those of Australia. If frugivore characteristics have influenced the evolution of fruit traits, predictable differences should exist between southern hemisphere fruits, particularly fruit size and shape. Fruit dimensions were measured for 77 New Zealand species and 31 Australian species in trans‐Tasman genera. New Zealand fruits became significantly more ellipsoid in shape with increasing size. This is consistent with frugivore gape size imposing a selective pressure on fruit ingestability. This result is not a product of phylogenetic correlates, as fruit length and width scaled isometrically for Australian species in genera shared with New Zealand. Within‐genus contrasts between New Zealand and Australian species in 20 trans‐Tasman genera showed that New Zealand species have significantly smaller fruits than their Australian counterparts. Within‐genus contrasts between New Zealand and South American species in nine genera gave the same result; New Zealand species had significantly smaller fruits than their South American counterparts. No difference was found in fruit size or shape between New Zealand and New Caledonia congeneric species from 12 genera. These results are consistent with the broad characteristics of the frugivore assemblage influencing the evolution of fruit size and shape in related species. The smaller‐sized New Zealand frugivore assemblage has apparently influenced the evolution of fruit size of colonizing taxa sometimes within a relatively short evolutionary timeframe.     

Mutualisms with the wreckage of an avifauna: the status of bird pollination and fruit dispersal in New Zealand

Worldwide declines in bird numbers have recently renewed interest in how well bird?plant mutualisms are functioning. In New Zealand, it has been argued that bird pollination was relatively unimportant and bird pollination failure was unlikely to threaten any New Zealand plants, whereas dispersal mutualisms were widespread and in some cases potentially at risk because of reliance on a single large frugivore, the kereru (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae). Work since 1989, however, has changed that assessment. Smaller individual fruits of most plant species can be dispersed by mid-sized birds such as tui (Prosthemadera novaezelandiae) because both fruits and birds vary in size within a species. Only one species (Beilschmiedia tarairi) has no individual fruits small enough for this to occur. Germination of 19 fleshy-fruited species, including most species with fruits >8 mm diameter, does not depend on birds removing the fruit pulp. The few studies of fruit removal rates mostly (7 out of 10) show good dispersal quantity. So dispersal is less at risk than once thought. In contrast, there is now evidence for widespread pollen limitation in species with ornithophilous flowers. Tests on 10 of the 29 known native ornithophilous-flowered species found that in 8 cases seed production was reduced by at least one-third, and the pollen limitation indices overall were significantly higher than the global average. Birds also frequently visit flowers of many other smaller-flowered native species, and excluding birds significantly reduced seed set in the three species tested. So pollination is more at risk than once thought. Finally, analyses of both species numbers and total woody basal area show that dependence on bird pollination is unexpectedly high. Birds have been recorded visiting the flowers of 85 native species, representing 5% of the total seed-plant flora (compared with 12% of those with fleshy fruit) and 30% of the tree flora (compared with 59% with fleshy fruit). A higher percentage of New Zealand forest basal area has bird-visited flowers (37% of basal area nationally) than fleshy fruit (31%). Thus, bird pollination is more important in New Zealand than was realised, partly because birds visit many flowers that do not have classic ?ornithophilous? flower morphology.     

Support for vicariant origins of the New Zealand Onychophora

Aim The distribution of Onychophora across the southern continents has long been considered the result of vicariance events. However, it has recently been hypothesized that New Zealand was completely inundated during the late Oligocene (25–22 Ma) and therefore that the entire biota is the result of long-distance dispersal. We tested this assumption using phylogenetic and molecular dating of DNA sequence data from Onychophora. Location New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Chile (South America). Methods We obtained DNA sequence data from the nuclear genes 28S and 18S rRNA to reconstruct relationships among species of Peripatopsidae (Onychophora). We performed molecular dating under a Bayesian relaxed clock model with a range of prior distributions using the rifting of South America and South Africa as a calibration. Results Our phylogenetic trees revealed that the New Zealand genera Ooperipatellus and Peripatoides, together with selected Australian genera (Euperipatoides, Phallocephale and an undescribed genus from Tasmania), form a monophyletic group that is the sister group to genera from Chile (Metaperipatus) and South Africa (Peripatopsis and Opisthopatus). The relaxed clock dating analyses yielded mean divergence times from 71.3 to 78.9 Ma for the split of the New Zealand Peripatoides from their Australian sister taxa. The 0.95 Bayesian posterior intervals were very broad and ranged from 24.5 to 137.6 Ma depending on the prior assumptions. The mean divergence of the New Zealand species of Ooperipatellus from the Australian species Ooperipatellus insignis was estimated at between 39.9 and 46.2 Ma, with posterior intervals ranging from 9.5 to 91.6 Ma. Main conclusions The age of Peripatoides is consistent with long-term survival in New Zealand and implies that New Zealand was not completely submerged during the Oligocene. Ooperipatellus is less informative on the question of continuous land in the New Zealand region because we cannot exclude a post-Oligocene divergence. The great age of Peripatoides is consistent with a vicariant origin of this genus resulting from the rifting of New Zealand from the eastern margin of Gondwana and supports the assumptions of previous authors who considered the Onychophora to be a relict component of the New Zealand biota.     

New insights into tateid gastropods and their radiation on Fiji based on anatomical and molecular methods (Caenogastropoda: Truncatelloidea)

The South Pacific archipelago of Fiji is characterized by a predominantly Indo‐Malesian flora and fauna. We provide a first systematic study on Fiji's tateid gastropods – previously classified as Hydrobiidae – describing 18 new species, combining morphological, anatomical, and molecular data. The molecular phylogeny of tateid gastropods based on 16S rRNA and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) showed that the species from Fiji were closer related to New Zealand than to Australian or New Caledonian taxa, which is rather exceptional. Performing an ancestral range reconstruction we inferred the colonization history across the two main islands. The radiation had its origin in southern Viti Levu, with a subsequent dispersal over the western and central parts of the island. The chronology of the radiation over eastern Viti Levu and Vanua Levu remained unresolved because of incomplete lineage sorting, a phenomenon typical for young radiations. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London