Journal article
Taxonomic status and distribution of the critically endangered Christmas Island spleenwort (Asplenium listeri, Aspleniaceae): It is not as rare as we thought
DJ Ohlsen, LR Perrie, LD Shepherd, MJ Bayly
Australian Systematic Botany | CSIRO PUBLISHING | Published : 2014
DOI: 10.1071/SB14047
Abstract
Asplenium listeri C.Chr. has been considered endemic to Christmas Island and is one of only two fern species listed as Critically Endangered under Australia's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. Its status as a distinct species has been questioned because of morphological similarity to the widespread A. Polyodon G.Forst., which also occurs on Christmas Island. Molecular analyses revealed that A. Listeri and plants attributed to A. Polyodon from coastal limestone in New Caledonia and Vanuatu share the same rbcL, trnL-trnF and rps4-trnS haplotype and that other samples of A. Polyodon in Australia and the south-western Pacific belong to three separate molecular lineages. O..
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Awarded by Bush Blitz Research Grant from the Australian Biological Resources Study
Funding Acknowledgements
We thank Alasdair Grigg and Braydon Moloney for providing specimens from Christmas Island and Patrick Brownsey for involvement in a broader Aspleniaceae project that this study was part of. Plant collecting permits were provided by Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population & Communities and the Department of Environment and Resource Management. This study was funded by a Bush Blitz Research Grant (BBR210-25) from the Australian Biological Resources Study, with support from The School of Botany Foundation, The University of Melbourne. This study forms part of Daniel J. Ohlsen's PhD project, supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award. Alasdair Grigg also provided the photograph used in Fig. 1A.