Quaternary climate change drives allo-peripatric speciation and refugial divergence in the Dysosma versipellis-pleiantha complex from different forest types in China.

ABSTRACT: Subtropical China harbours the world's most diverse temperate flora, but little is known about the roles of geographical and eco-climatic factors underlying the region's exceptionally high levels of species diversity and endemism. Here we address this key question by investigating the spatio-temporal and ecological processes of divergence within the Dysosma versipellis-pleiantha species complex, endemic to subtropical China. Our cpDNA phylogeny showed that this monophyletic group of understory herbs is derived from a Late Pliocene ancestor of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP)/Southwest China. Genetic and ENM data in conjunction with niche differentiation analyses support that the early divergence of D. versipellis and D. pleiantha proceeded through allo-peripatric speciation, possibly trig

SUBMITTER: Wang YH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5225488 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature