Supporting Spartina: Interdisciplinary perspective shows Spartina as a distinct solid genus

Alejandro Bortolus; Paul Adam; Janine B Adams; Malika L Ainouche; Debra Ayres; Mark D Bertness; Tjeerd J Bouma; John F Bruno; Isabel Caçador; James T Carlton; Jesus M Castillo; Cesar S B Costa; Anthony J Davy; Linda Deegan; Bernardo Duarte; Enrique Figueroa; Joel Gerwein; Alan J Gray; Edwin D Grosholz; Sally D Hacker; A Randall Hughes; Enrique Mateos-Naranjo; Irving A Mendelssohn; James T Morris; Adolfo F Muñoz-Rodríguez; Francisco J J Nieva; Lisa A Levin; Bo Li; Wenwen Liu; Steven C Pennings; Andrea Pickart; Susana Redondo-Gómez; David M Richardson; Armel Salmon; Evangelina Schwindt; Brian R Silliman; Erik E Sotka; Clive Stace; Mark Sytsma; Stijn Temmerman; R Eugene Turner; Ivan Valiela; Michael P Weinstein; Judith S Weis

doi:10.1002/ecy.2863

Supporting Spartina: Interdisciplinary perspective shows Spartina as a distinct solid genus

Ecology. 2019 Nov;100(11):e02863. doi: 10.1002/ecy.2863. Epub 2019 Sep 19.

Authors

Alejandro Bortolus¹, Paul Adam², Janine B Adams³, Malika L Ainouche⁴, Debra Ayres⁵, Mark D Bertness⁶, Tjeerd J Bouma^{7

8}, John F Bruno⁹, Isabel Caçador¹⁰, James T Carlton¹¹, Jesus M Castillo¹², Cesar S B Costa¹³, Anthony J Davy¹⁴, Linda Deegan¹⁵, Bernardo Duarte¹⁰, Enrique Figueroa¹², Joel Gerwein¹⁶, Alan J Gray¹⁷, Edwin D Grosholz¹⁸, Sally D Hacker¹⁹, A Randall Hughes²⁰, Enrique Mateos-Naranjo¹², Irving A Mendelssohn²¹, James T Morris²², Adolfo F Muñoz-Rodríguez²³, Francisco J J Nieva²⁴, Lisa A Levin²⁴, Bo Li²⁵, Wenwen Liu²⁶, Steven C Pennings²⁷, Andrea Pickart²⁸, Susana Redondo-Gómez¹², David M Richardson²⁹, Armel Salmon⁴, Evangelina Schwindt³⁰, Brian R Silliman³¹, Erik E Sotka³², Clive Stace³³, Mark Sytsma³⁴, Stijn Temmerman³⁵, R Eugene Turner²¹, Ivan Valiela³⁶, Michael P Weinstein³⁷, Judith S Weis³⁸

Affiliations

¹ Grupo de Ecología en Ambientes Costeros (GEAC), Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales (IPEEC), CONICET, Boulevard Brown 2915, Puerto Madryn (U9120ACD), Chubut, Argentina.
² School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, 2052, Australia.
³ Department of Botany, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, 6031, South Africa.
⁴ UMR CNRS 6553 Ecosystems, Biodiversity Evolution (ECOBIO), University of Rennes 1, Campus de Beaulieu, 35 042, Rennes Cedex, France.
⁵ Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, California, 95616, USA.
⁶ Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, 02901, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
⁷ Department of Estuarine and Delta Systems, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), Utrecht University, P.O. Box 140, 4400 AC, Yerseke, The Netherlands.
⁸ Faculty of Geosciences, Department of Physical Geography, Utrecht University, 3584 CS, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
⁹ Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599-3280, USA.
¹⁰ MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal.
¹¹ Maritime Studies Program, Williams College, Mystic Seaport, Mystic, Connecticut, 96355, USA.
¹² Departamento de Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Universidad de Sevilla, 41080, Sevilla, Spain.
¹³ Universidade Federal do Rio Grande-FURG, Campus Carreiros, Rio Grande, RS, 96203-900, Brazil.
¹⁴ School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom.
¹⁵ Woods Hole Research Center, 129 Woods Hole Road, Falmouth, Massachusetts, 02543, USA.
¹⁶ California State Coastal Conservancy, Oakland, California, 94612-1401, USA.
¹⁷ Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Edinburgh Research Station, Penicuik, Midlothian, EH26 0QB, United Kingdom.
¹⁸ Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, California, 95616, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Integrative Biology, Oregon State University, 3029 Cordley Hall, Corvallis, Oregon, 97331, USA.
²⁰ Department of Marine and Environmental Science, Northeastern University, Nahant, Massachusetts, 01908, USA.
²¹ Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70803, USA.
²² Belle Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, 29208, USA.
²³ Departamento de Ciencias Integradas, Universidad de Huelva, Huelva, 21071, Spain.
²⁴ Integrative Oceanography Division and Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California, 92093, USA.
²⁵ Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Coastal Ecosystems Research Station of the Yangtze River Estuary, Institute of Biodiversity Science and Institute of Eco-Chongming, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China.
²⁶ Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Coastal and Wetland Ecosystems, College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Fujian, 361102, China.
²⁷ Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, 77204, USA.
²⁸ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge, 6800 Lanphere Road, Arcata, California, 95521, USA.
²⁹ Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Matieland, 7602, South Africa.
³⁰ Instituto de Biología de Organismos Marinos (IBIOMAR-CONICET), U9120 ACD, Puerto Madryn, Argentina.
³¹ Division of Marine Science and Conservation, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Beaufort, North Carolina, 28516, USA.
³² Grice Marine Laboratory and the Department of Biology, College of Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina, 29412, USA.
³³ Apletree House, Larters Lane, Middlewood Green, Sufolk, IP14 5HB, United Kingdom.
³⁴ Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, 97207, USA.
³⁵ Ecosystem Management Research Group, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, BE-2610, Belgium.
³⁶ The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 02543, USA.
³⁷ New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium, Sandy Hook, New Jersey, 07732, USA.
³⁸ Department of Biological Sciences, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey, 07102, USA.

PMID: 31398280
DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2863

Abstract

In 2014, a DNA-based phylogenetic study confirming the paraphyly of the grass subtribe Sporobolinae proposed the creation of a large monophyletic genus Sporobolus, including (among others) species previously included in the genera Spartina, Calamovilfa, and Sporobolus. Spartina species have contributed substantially (and continue contributing) to our knowledge in multiple disciplines, including ecology, evolutionary biology, molecular biology, biogeography, experimental ecology, biological invasions, environmental management, restoration ecology, history, economics, and sociology. There is no rationale so compelling to subsume the name Spartina as a subgenus that could rival the striking, global iconic history and use of the name Spartina for over 200 yr. We do not agree with the subjective arguments underlying the proposal to change Spartina to Sporobolus. We understand the importance of both the objective phylogenetic insights and of the subjective formalized nomenclature and hope that by opening this debate we will encourage positive feedback that will strengthen taxonomic decisions with an interdisciplinary perspective. We consider that the strongly distinct, monophyletic clade Spartina should simply and efficiently be treated as the genus Spartina.

Keywords: botanical nomenclature; coastal ecology; cordgrass; integrative analysis; interdisciplinary decisions; salt marsh.

MeSH terms

Phylogeny
Poaceae*