Biology and Functional Ecology of Equisetum with Emphasis on the Giant Horsetails

Husby, Chad E.

doi:10.1007/s12229-012-9113-4

Cited by 65 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 126 publications

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“…The Equisetopsida are estimated to have diverged from other monilophytes somewhere around ;354 million years ago (mya) . This extreme isolation of Equisetum, combined with fossil findings that show that horsetails have retained multiple ancient features dating back to the Jurassic (Channing et al, 2011) and possibly even the Triassic (Hauke, 1963), indicate that Equisetum could possibly be the oldest extant genus within the vascular plants (Husby, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…The transition from the blue to the red color at a K S of 0.81 indicates a significant bump in the distribution. plant biomass in their ecosystems (Marsh et al, 2000;Husby, 2013).…”

Section: Regulatory and Developmental Genes Are Overrepresented In Thmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, there are more ways to measure evolutionary success than just species numbers. The evolutionary history of horsetails as perhaps the oldest extant vascular plant lineage that has retained multiple ancestral features despite having survived past multiple geological times scales and extinction events (Husby, 2013) is of particular interest in light of the paleopolyploidy they experienced. Although the exact timing of this event remains to be determined (see previous section), its position toward the end of the Mesozoic in the Late Cretaceous coincides with a very turbulent period for ferns as a transition phase between the Paleozoic and Cenozoic, during which they had to surrender their title of most dominant plant life form to the angiosperms (DiMichele and Phillips, 2002).…”

Section: The Paleopolyploidy May Have Contributed To the Long-term Sumentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They consist of a single extant genus (Equisetum), which is the only remaining representative from the more ancient Sphenophyta that once were a very abundant and diverse clade (Husby, 2013). The Equisetopsida are estimated to have diverged from other monilophytes somewhere around ;354 million years ago (mya) .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, the genus has a subcosmopolitan distribution with most species found between 40°and 60°n orthern latitude. They typically thrive under a very wide range of conditions due to diverse adaptations that enable efficient nutrient uptake and nitrogen fixation mechanisms and make them tolerant to disturbance, soil anoxia, high metals, and salinity (Husby, 2013). Rhizomatous clonal growth is a universal feature of the genus and is extremely important for its ecology in moist conditions such as woods, ditches, and wetlands (Hauke, 1963).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Horsetails Are Ancient Polyploids: Evidence from Equisetum giganteum

et al. 2015

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Horsetails represent an enigmatic clade within the land plants. Despite consisting only of one genus (Equisetum) that contains 15 species, they are thought to represent the oldest extant genus within the vascular plants dating back possibly as far as the Triassic. Horsetails have retained several ancient features and are also characterized by a particularly high chromosome count (n = 108). Whole-genome duplications (WGDs) have been uncovered in many angiosperm clades and have been associated with the success of angiosperms, both in terms of species richness and biomass dominance, but remain understudied in nonangiosperm clades. Here, we report unambiguous evidence of an ancient WGD in the fern linage, based on sequencing and de novo assembly of an expressed gene catalog (transcriptome) from the giant horsetail (Equisetum giganteum). We demonstrate that horsetails underwent an independent paleopolyploidy during the Late Cretaceous prior to the diversification of the genus but did not experience any recent polyploidizations that could account for their high chromosome number. We also discuss the specific retention of genes following the WGD and how this may be linked to their long-term survival.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…The transition from the blue to the red color at a K S of 0.81 indicates a significant bump in the distribution. plant biomass in their ecosystems (Marsh et al, 2000;Husby, 2013).…”

Section: Regulatory and Developmental Genes Are Overrepresented In Thmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Paleopolyploidy May Have Contributed To the Long-term Sumentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Horsetails Are Ancient Polyploids: Evidence from Equisetum giganteum

et al. 2015

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Origin of Equisetum: Evolution of horsetails (Equisetales) within the major euphyllophyte clade Sphenopsida

Elgorriaga

Escapa

Rothwell

et al. 2018

American J of Botany

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Modern horsetails are not nested within calamitaceans; instead, both groups have explored independent evolutionary trajectories since the Carboniferous. Diverse fossil taxon sampling helps to shed light on the position and relationships of equisetalean lineages, of which only a tiny remnant is present within the extant flora. Understanding these relationships and early character configurations of ancient plant clades as Equisetales provide useful tests of hypotheses about overall phylogenetic relationships of euphyllophytes and foundations for future tests of molecular dates with paleontological data.

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A railway increases the abundance and accelerates the phenology of bear‐attracting plants in a forested, mountain park

2017

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Citation: Pollock, S. Z., S. E. Nielsen, and C. C. . A railway increases the abundance and accelerates the phenology of bear-attracting plants in a forested, mountain park. Ecosphere 8(10):e01985. 10. 1002/ecs2.1985 Abstract. Vegetation enhancement along railways has not been well studied, despite high rates of mortality from train strikes across numerous species, including sensitive populations in protected areas. This situation describes grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) in the mountain parks of Canada, where train strikes have become the leading source of known mortality. We hypothesized that attraction by bears to railways occurs partly because of increases in the richness, diversity, cover, and maturation rate of plants consumed by bears relative to adjacent forest and that this effect may increase with elevation. We quantified and compared responses in plants used by bears to the railway (ballast), forest edge, and within adjacent forest for two growing seasons (May-October) at 19 locations spanning an elevational gradient in Banff and Yoho National Parks in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Overall, richness, diversity, and total cover of plants consumed by bears were greatest at the forest edge. On the forest edge or ballast, flowering rates of some species were over three times higher and fruit occurrence was up to five times higher than 50 m into the adjacent forest. Enhancement of berry productivity along rail edges increased with elevation. Buffaloberry (Shepherdia canadensis), an important regional pre-hibernation resource, had more fruit, faster ripening, and higher sugar content for shrubs located within 15 m of the rail than within surrounding interior forest. Our results demonstrate that railway edges can increase the quantity and quality of palatable vegetation resources of both native and introduced species, potentially increasing strike risk for bears and other wildlife. Potential mitigation of this risk could include removal of attractants along the rail, particularly at locations where other factors increase the risk of collisions, and creation of forest openings, either through natural processes or through forest modification that would provide forage in less risky habitats.

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Biology and Functional Ecology of Equisetum with Emphasis on the Giant Horsetails

Cited by 65 publications

References 126 publications

Horsetails Are Ancient Polyploids: Evidence from Equisetum giganteum

Horsetails Are Ancient Polyploids: Evidence from Equisetum giganteum

Origin of Equisetum: Evolution of horsetails (Equisetales) within the major euphyllophyte clade Sphenopsida

A railway increases the abundance and accelerates the phenology of bear‐attracting plants in a forested, mountain park

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