Long-Distance Dispersal after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) Led to the Disjunctive Distribution of Pedicularis kansuensis (Orobanchaceae) between the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and Tianshan Region.

ABSTRACT: Quaternary climate fluctuations have profoundly affected the current distribution patterns and genetic structures of many plant and animal species in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) and adjacent mountain ranges, e.g. Tianshan (TSR), Altay, etc. In this greater area disjunct distributions are prominent but have nevertheless received little attention with respect to the historical processes involved. Here, we focus on Pedicularis kansuensis to test whether the current QTP and TSR disjunction is the result of a recent Holocene range expansion involving dispersal across arid land bridge(s) or a Pleistocene range fragmentation involving persistence in refugia. Two chloroplast DNA spacers were sequenced for 319 individuals from 34 populations covering the entire distribution range of this spec

SUBMITTER: Li WJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5091882 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature