scholarly journals Asymmetric biotic interchange across the Bering land bridge between Eurasia and North America

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 739-745 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dechun Jiang ◽  
Sebastian Klaus ◽  
Ya-Ping Zhang ◽  
David M Hillis ◽  
Jia-Tang Li
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Opposite Direction ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Strong Association ◽  
Disjunct Distribution ◽  
Dispersal Patterns ◽  
Land Bridge ◽  
Last Glacial Period ◽  
Bering Land Bridge ◽  
Dispersal Events

ABSTRACT The exchange of biotas between Eurasia and North America across the Bering land bridge had a major impact on ecosystems of both continents throughout the Cenozoic. This exchange has received particular attention regarding placental mammals dispersing into the Americas, including humans after the last glacial period, and also as an explanation for the disjunct distribution of related seed plants in eastern Asia and eastern North America. Here, we investigate bi-directional dispersal across the Bering land bridge from estimates of dispersal events based on time-calibrated phylogenies of a broad range of plant, fungus and animal taxa. We reveal a long-lasting phase of asymmetrical biotic interchange, with a peak of dispersal from Asia into North America during the late Oligocene warming (26–24 Ma), when dispersal in the opposite direction was greatly decreased. Influx from North America into Asia was lower than in the opposite direction throughout the Cenozoic, but with peak rates of dispersal at the end of the Eocene (40–34 Ma) and again in the early to middle Miocene (16–14 Ma). The strong association between dispersal patterns and environmental changes suggests that plants, fungi and animals have likely dispersed from stable to perturbed environments of North America and Eurasia throughout the Cenozoic.

scholarly journals Assembly of the eastern North American herpetofauna: new evidence from lizards and frogs

2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 388-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Robert Macey ◽  
James A Schulte ◽  
Jared L Strasburg ◽  
Jennifer A Brisson ◽  
Allan Larson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
North American ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Land Bridge ◽  
Dna Evidence ◽  
Bering Land Bridge ◽  
Biotic Diversity ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Dispersal Events ◽  
New Evidence

Darwin first recognized the importance of episodic intercontinental dispersal in the establishment of worldwide biotic diversity. Faunal exchange across the Bering Land Bridge is a major example of such dispersal. Here, we demonstrate with mitochondrial DNA evidence that three independent dispersal events from Asia to North America are the source for almost all lizard taxa found in continental eastern North America. Two other dispersal events across Beringia account for observed diversity among North American ranid frogs, one of the most species-rich groups of frogs in eastern North America. The contribution of faunal elements from Asia via dispersal across Beringia is a dominant theme in the historical assembly of the eastern North American herpetofauna.

scholarly journals A biogeographic perspective on the evolution of fire syndromes in pine trees ( Pinus : Pinaceae)

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 172412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin J. Badik ◽  
Joshua P. Jahner ◽  
Joseph S. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
New World ◽  
Historical Biogeography ◽  
Ancestral State ◽  
Land Bridge ◽  
Mountain Ranges ◽  
Bering Land Bridge ◽  
Pine Trees ◽  
Dispersal Events ◽  
The Relationship

Our goals were to explore the relationship between biogeography and the evolution of fire-adaptive syndromes in the genus Pinus . We used a previously published time-calibrated phylogeny and conducted ancestral trait reconstruction to estimate the likely timing of diversification in Pinus , and to determine when fire-adaptive syndromes evolved in the lineage. To explore trait conservation among fire syndromes and to investigate historical biogeography, we constructed ancestral state reconstructions using the program RASP and estimated the degree of conservatism for fire-adapted traits in the program BaTS. Our reconstructions suggest that the Bering land bridge, which connected North America and Asia, probably played a major role in early pine evolution. Our estimates indicated that fire-adaptive syndromes seem to have evolved more frequently in New World taxa and probably are related to the uplift of major North American mountain ranges. Our data suggest that certain geographically widespread adaptations to fire evolved repeatedly, possibly due to localized changes in climate and environment, rather than resulting from large dispersal events of pre-adapted individuals.

Flake Tools in the American Arctic: Some Speculations

1964 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 338-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edwin N. Wilmsen
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
New World ◽  
Yukon Territory ◽  
River Delta ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Land Bridge ◽  
Bering Land Bridge

AbstractTwo sites, Kogruk (at the summit of Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska) and Engigstciak (at the head of the Firth River delta, Yukon Territory, Canada), have recently yielded flake-tool assemblages which show striking resemblances to a Eurasiatic flake-blade tradition based on a Levallois-Mousterian stone-chipping technique, and to the Clovis flake-blade tradition of America which appears to be based on a similar chipping technique. It is suggested that these traditions are historically related and that the Arctic sites provide a possible link between the two. The presence of incipient fluting in Siberia and at Engigstciak may prove significant. Dating is discussed in terms of the ecology and geology of the sites and is correlated with the probable periods of availability of the Bering land bridge. An upland-foothills zone is seen to be essentially continuous from central Asia to central North America. It is suggested that this zone provided the only environmentally compatible link between the two continents, and that it was therefore the most probable route of early hunting peoples into the New World.

scholarly journals A new terrestrial palaeoenvironmental record from the Bering Land Bridge and context for human dispersal

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 180145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Wooller ◽  
Émilie Saulnier-Talbot ◽  
Ben A. Potter ◽  
Soumaya Belmecheri ◽  
Nancy Bigelow ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Models ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Land Bridge ◽  
Human Dispersal ◽  
South Central ◽  
Bering Land Bridge ◽  
Last Glaciation ◽  
Close Proximity ◽  
The Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
The Last Glacial

Palaeoenvironmental records from the now-submerged Bering Land Bridge (BLB) covering the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the present are needed to document changing environments and connections with the dispersal of humans into North America. Moreover, terrestrially based records of environmental changes are needed in close proximity to the re-establishment of circulation between Pacific and Atlantic Oceans following the end of the last glaciation to test palaeo-climate models for the high latitudes. We present the first terrestrial temperature and hydrologic reconstructions from the LGM to the present from the BLB's south-central margin. We find that the timing of the earliest unequivocal human dispersals into Alaska, based on archaeological evidence, corresponds with a shift to warmer/wetter conditions on the BLB between 14 700 and 13 500 years ago associated with the early Bølling/Allerød interstadial (BA). These environmental changes could have provided the impetus for eastward human dispersal at that time, from Western or central Beringia after a protracted human population standstill. Our data indicate substantial climate-induced environmental changes on the BLB since the LGM, which would potentially have had significant influences on megafaunal and human biogeography in the region.

scholarly journals Plastome Phylogenomic and Biogeographical Study on Thuja (Cupressaceae)

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Kole F. Adelalu ◽  
Xu Zhang ◽  
Xiaojian Qu ◽  
Jacob B. Landis ◽  
Jun Shen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Potential Effect ◽  
Molecular Dating ◽  
Disjunct Distribution ◽  
Land Bridge ◽  
Biogeographic History ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
History Of ◽  
Phylogenomic Analyses

Investigating the biogeographical disjunction of East Asian and North American flora is key to understanding the formation and dynamics of biodiversity in the Northern Hemisphere. The small Cupressaceae genus Thuja, comprising five species, exhibits a typical disjunct distribution in East Asia and North America. Owing to obscure relationships, the biogeographical history of the genus remains controversial. Here, complete plastomes were employed to investigate the plastome evolution, phylogenetic relationships, and biogeographic history of Thuja. All plastomes of Thuja share the same gene content arranged in the same order. The loss of an IR was evident in all Thuja plastomes, and the B-arrangement as previously recognized was detected. Phylogenomic analyses resolved two sister pairs, T. standishii-T. koraiensis and T. occidentalis-T. sutchuenensis, with T. plicata sister to T. occidentalis-T. sutchuenensis. Molecular dating and biogeographic results suggest the diversification of Thuja occurred in the Middle Miocene, and the ancestral area of extant species was located in northern East Asia. Incorporating the fossil record, we inferred that Thuja likely originated from the high-latitude areas of North America in the Paleocene with a second diversification center in northern East Asia. The current geographical distribution of Thuja was likely shaped by dispersal events attributed to the Bering Land Bridge in the Miocene and subsequent vicariance events accompanying climate cooling. The potential effect of extinction may have profound influence on the biogeographical history of Thuja.

Hylaeus communis (Hymenoptera: Colletidae), a new exotic bee for North America with generalist foraging and habitat preferences

2017 ◽  
Vol 149 (3) ◽  
pp. 377-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle T. Martins ◽  
Étienne Normandin ◽  
John S. Ascher
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
North American ◽  
Native Plants ◽  
Strong Association ◽  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
Bipartite Networks ◽  
Paired Difference ◽  
Horticultural Plants ◽  
Nesting Preferences ◽  
Dispersal Events

AbstractWe document a novel exotic bee for North America, Hylaeus (Hylaeus) communis Nylander, 1852 (Hymenoptera: Colletidae), and determine whether it is likely to spread widely across the continent. To evaluate the extent to which H. communis behaves as a generalist and would be able to adapt to novel North American environments, we compare the breadth of its climatic, floral, habitat, and nesting preferences between its native European range and sites where it was first discovered in southern Québec, Canada. Specifically, we calculate the paired difference index, which approximates species generalism, from a set of bipartite networks linking Hylaeus Fabricius, 1793 species to their respective floral hosts and habitats. Results indicate that H. communis is the most adaptable bee of the European Hylaeus fauna and will likely acclimate to its new environment, being a greater generalist than an already widely established exotic bee, H. hyalinatus Smith, 1842. In southern Québec, we find that, despite visiting a wide variety of flowering species, it exhibits a strong association with non-native plants and resides almost exclusively in urban settings. We hypothesise that H. communis will be able to spread widely throughout North America via multiple human-mediated but accidental dispersal events and by following the distribution of European weeds and horticultural plants.

THE IDENTIFICATION AND ORIGIN OF THE STRAINS OF THE LARCH SAWFLY, PRISTIPHORA ERICHSONII (HYMENOPTERA: TENTHREDINIDAE), IN NORTH AMERICA

1974 ◽  
Vol 106 (11) ◽  
pp. 1121-1131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Horne R. Wong
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
North American ◽  
Land Bridge ◽  
Bering Land Bridge ◽  
Pristiphora Erichsonii ◽  
Larch Sawfly

AbstractThis study identifies and presents a key to five strains of the larch sawfly, Pristiphora erichsonii (Hartig), which are designated Aweme, Fernie, Ambleside, Thirlmire, and Salzburg.Aweme and Fernie strains occur only in North America and Salzburg strain is confined to Eurasia. Two Eurasian strains, Ambleside and Thirlmire, were accidentally introduced into Canada from England by 1913 among cocoons shipped for the release of the parasite Mesoleius tenthredinis Morley. It is postulated that the ancestors of Aweme-Salzburg strains Fernie–Thirlmire strains dispersed across the Bering Land Bridge into North America some time in the Miocene. These phyletic lines evolved into distinct Eurasian and North American strains. Early infestations in North America apparently consisted of North American strains, while later outbreaks have consisted primarily of the recently introduced Eurasian strains.

scholarly journals Lions and brown bears colonized North America in multiple synchronous waves of dispersal across the Bering Land Bridge

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander T Salis ◽  
Sarah C E Bray ◽  
Michael S Y Lee ◽  
Holly Heiniger ◽  
Ross Barnett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
North America ◽  
Glacial Cycles ◽  
Land Bridge ◽  
Large Herbivores ◽  
Brown Bears ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
North West ◽  
North East ◽  
Bering Land Bridge

AbstractThe Bering Land Bridge connecting North America and Eurasia was periodically exposed and inundated by oscillating sea levels during the Pleistocene glacial cycles. This land connection allowed the intermittent dispersal of animals, including humans, between Western Beringia (far north-east Asia) and Eastern Beringia (north-west North America), changing the faunal community composition of both continents. The Pleistocene glacial cycles also had profound impacts on temperature, precipitation, and vegetation, impacting faunal community structure and demography. While these paleoenvironmental impacts have been studied in many large herbivores from Beringia (e.g., bison, mammoths, horses), the Pleistocene population dynamics of the diverse guild of carnivorans present in the region are less well understood, due to their lower abundances. In this study, we analyze mitochondrial genome data from ancient brown bears (Ursus arctos; n = 103) and lions (Panthera spp.; n = 39), two megafaunal carnivorans that dispersed into North America during the Pleistocene. Our results reveal striking synchronicity in the population dynamics of Beringian lions and brown bears, with multiple waves of dispersal across the Bering Land Bridge coinciding with glacial periods of low sea levels, as well as synchronous local extinctions in Eastern Beringia during Marine Isotope Stage 3. The evolutionary histories of these two taxa underscore the crucial biogeographic role of the Bering Land Bridge in the distribution, turnover, and maintenance of megafaunal populations in North America.

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