Molecular species delimitation of Sphagnum subgenus Subsecunda in Europe

A taxonomic revision of Sphagnum subgenus Subsecunda in Europe is warranted as the taxonomic status and the relationships among the six species found in Europe are inconsistent. Here we provide molecular data from a large specimen set of species in Sphagnum subgenus Subsecunda obtained from European herbaria, used to investigate taxonomic relationships in European Subsecunda species. The molecular data includes a dataset of 15 microsatellite markers from a total of 310 specimens and short-nucleotide repeats (SNP) data from 64 specimens obtained using double digest restriction-site associated DNA (ddRAD) sequencing method. The species included in the datasets are S. contortum, S. platyphyllum, S. subsecundum, S. inundatum, and S. denticulatum, in addition to one deviating specimen of S. auriculatum from the Azores potentially representing an undescribed taxon of subgenus Subsecunda in Europe. The methods used to obtain the molecular data are described in detail in Meleshko et al.