Origins of beach-cast Sophora seeds from the Kermadec and Chatham Islands

Abstract

ABSTRACTWe examined the origins of Sophora seeds collected from the beaches of the Kermadec and Chatham Islands using chloroplast DNA sequencing and comparison with published sequences of known provenance. Sophora does not grow on the Kermadec Islands but two species grow on the Chatham Islands, both in low numbers. All seeds sequenced were confirmed to be from Sophora sect. Edwardsia. Several seeds exhibited novel DNA sequences that had not been found in past sampling. The remaining haplotypes have all been previously detected in the North and/or South Islands and some have also been recorded from Chile, Gough Island or the Juan Fernandez Islands. The two haplotypes that had been sequenced in the resident Chatham Islands S. chathamica population were both found in the beach-cast seeds from the islands. However, an additional four haplotypes were also detected in the Chatham Islands beach-cast seeds, indicating dispersal from elsewhere.