Niche evolution in a northern temperate tree lineage: biogeographical legacies in cork oaks (Quercus section Cerris).

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Cork oaks (Quercus section Cerris) comprise 15 extant species in Eurasia. Despite being a small clade, they display a range of leaf morphologies comparable to the largest sections (>100 spp.) in Quercus. Their fossil record extends back to the Eocene. Here, we explore how cork oaks achieved their modern ranges and how legacy effects might explain niche evolution in modern species of section Cerris and its sister section Ilex, the holly oaks.

Methods

We inferred a dated phylogeny for cork and holly oaks using a reduced-representation next-generation sequencing method, restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq), and used D-statistics to investigate gene flow hypotheses. We estimated divergence times using a fossilized birth-death model calibrated

SUBMITTER: Denk T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10184457 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature