DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Patterns of Intraspecific Genetic Variation In Cordyline Fruticosa and the Basis for Male Sterility with Implications for Archaeoethnobotony in Polynesia

太平洋岛屿是地球上最后几个被人类殖民的地区。在波利尼西亚，主要的考古学问题仍然是殖民航行到岛屿的时间和顺序。本研究以波利尼西亚引种植物Cordyline ruticosa(L.)Chev.，更为人所知的是夏威夷的“ti”植物，作为研究波利尼西亚史前事件的代理。将对整个波利尼西亚地区的钛植物种群进行遗传变异模式的筛选。这些信息将被用来帮助重建波利尼西亚人民可能的殖民情景。波利尼西亚各地钛植物的形态和生殖差异将被表征，以探索不育钛植物因其根茎用作食物而选择性地有利的可能性。这项研究跨越了多个学科，将植物学和遗传学方法应用于生物和文化史的综合研究。与其他遗传和语言研究相比，这些数据将有助于更准确地描绘该地区人类殖民的模式。这一结果将引起波利尼西亚土著人民、植物学家、考古学家和园艺学家的兴趣，他们将这种植物作为观赏植物种植。

The islands of the Pacific Ocean are some of the last areas on Earth to have been colonized by humans. In Polynesia, major archaeological questions remain as to the timing and order of colonizing voyages to the islands. This study uses the Polynesian-introduced plant Cordyline fruticosa (L.) Chev., better known as the Hawaiian "ti" plant, as a proxy for the study of events in Polynesian prehistory. Populations of ti plants from the entire Polynesian region will be screened for patterns of genetic variation. This information will be used to help reconstruct likely colonization scenarios of the Polynesian peoples. Morphological and reproductive differences in ti plants across Polynesia will be characterized to explore the possibility that sterile ti plants were selectively favorable because of the use of their rhizomes for food. This research cuts across disciplines by applying botanical and genetic methods to an integrated study of biological and cultural history. These data, when compared with other genetic and linguistic studies, will help to build a more precise picture of patterns of human colonization in the region. Results will be of interest to indigenous peoples of Polynesia, botanists, archaeologists, and horticulturists who grow this plant as an ornamental.