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

Alejandro Bortolus (1) , Paul Adam , Janine Adams , Malika Ainouche (2) , Debra Ayres , Mark Bertness , Tjeerd Bouma (3) , John Bruno , Isabel Caçador , James Carlton , Jesús Castillo , Cesar Costa , Anthony Davy , Linda Deegan , Bernardo Duarte (4) , Enrique Figueroa (5) , Joel Gerwein , Alan Gray , Edwin Grosholz , Sally Hacker , A. Randall Hughes , Enrique Mateos‐naranjo , Irving Mendelssohn , James Morris , Adolfo Muñoz‐rodríguez , Francisco Nieva , Lisa Levin , Bo Li , Wenwen Liu , Steven Pennings , Andrea Pickart , Susana Redondo‐gómez , David Richardson , Armel Salmon (2) , Evangelina Schwindt , Brian Silliman , Erik E Sotka (6) , Clive Stace , Mark Sytsma , Stijn Temmerman (7) , R. Eugene Turner , Ivan Valiela , Michael I. Weinstein , Judith Weis (8)

1 GEAC - Grupo de Ecologia en Ambientes Costeros
2 ECOBIO - Ecosystèmes, biodiversité, évolution [Rennes]
3 NIOZ - Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research
4 ULISBOA - Universidade de Lisboa = University of Lisbon
5 Universidad de Sevilla / University of Sevilla
6 College of Charleston
7 Ecosystem management research group - ECOBE (Wilrijk, Belgium)
8 Rutgers - Rutgers University System

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

Domains: Environmental Sciences; Biodiversity and Ecology

Alejandro Bortolus, Paul Adam, Janine Adams, Malika Ainouche, Debra Ayres, et al.. Supporting Spartina : Interdisciplinary perspective shows Spartina as a distinct solid genus. Ecology, 2019, 100 (11), pp.e02863. ⟨10.1002/ecy.2863⟩. ⟨hal-02355287⟩