Plant Evolution in the Mediterranean

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Plant Evolution ◽  
Major Theme ◽  
Mosaic Landscape ◽  
Historical Factors ◽  
Habitat Variation ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Mediterranean

Plant Evolution in the Mediterranean: Insights for conservation brings together a diverse literature on the Mediterranean flora in a detailed but synthetic account of plant evolutionary ecology. The central themes of ecological dynamics and evolutionary differentiation are developed at two spatial scales: habitat variation across the landscape and biogeographic processes across the Mediterranean. The history of the Mediterranean region is at the heart of this account and is described within a triptych that links geological and climatic history to the advent and history of human activities. The Mediterranean region is a hotspot of plant biodiversity, a key ingredient of which is its richness in endemic species. A primary question motivating this book concerns the role of historical factors and spatial environmental variation in the evolution of endemism. The Mediterranean landscape is a mosaic of ecological conditions, often with variation over short distances. A second focus is on the ecological and historical factors that mediate dispersal, reproduction, and adaptive trait variation in this mosaic landscape. With an ever-growing human footprint on the Mediterranean region, this book addresses a third major theme concerning the vulnerability and conservation of the flora. Alongside a traditional approach to rare species and protected area management, the book argues for the integration of the loss of evolutionary potential as a priority in conservation policy and practice. This accessible text is aimed at students and researchers in plant evolution, ecology, biogeography, and conservation science. It will be of interest to scientists and natural history societies worldwide.

A Mediterranean history

2020 ◽  
pp. x-33
Author(s):  
John D. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Human Activities ◽  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Sea Level Changes ◽  
Mosaic Landscape ◽  
Land Bridge ◽  
Mediterranean History ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Bridge Connections

The Mediterranean region has had a long and complex history. The phasing of three main historical elements forms a Mediterranean triptych: geology, climate, and human activities. The geological fragmentation of the Mediterranean into distinct microregions and tectonic movement of its different microplates has continually reshaped the configuration of the terrestrial landscapes, islands, and mountains. Many areas have been land bridge connections across the sea. The Mediterranean region has a characteristic climate, the essential element of which is the occurrence of a summer drought. Although initial trends towards aridity are ancient, the Mediterranean climate only dates to the Pliocene. Climatic oscillations since its onset have caused sea level changes, influencing the appearance and disappearance of land bridge connections across different parts of the Mediterranean Sea, causing species’ range sizes to expand and contract in repeated phases. Finally, nowhere else in Europe has had such a long history of human presence and activity. In the last three millennia, the impact of human activities on the landscape has been dramatic in terms of the evolution of the mosaic landscape we now observe. The phased history of these three factors is at the heart of plant evolution in the Mediterranean.

The ecology and biogeography of endemism

2020 ◽  
pp. 33-87
Author(s):  
John D. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Local Scale ◽  
Major Theme ◽  
Endemic Plants ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Mediterranean Plant ◽  
Total Species ◽  
High Diversity ◽  
Different Parts

Endemism is a primary characteristic of the Mediterranean flora. The Mediterranean region contains several zones rich in endemic species. These hotspots of endemism also have a high diversity of total species. The recurrent conjunction of endemism and high species diversity in different parts of the region represents the cornerstone of Mediterranean plant biodiversity. The causes and origins of patterns of diversity and endemism, on both a biogeographic and local scale, are the main subjects of this chapter, which will first invoke the diverse origins of the flora, a premier cause of the patterns we now observe. A major theme this chapter will then develop is the examination of correlated patterns of diversity and endemism in relation to the historical biogeography of islands and mountains that are rich in endemic plants. As the chapter advances it will become more and more apparent that the history of mountain formation is a key element in the high rates of endemic plants both in continental areas and on islands. Finally, the ecological and biological correlates of endemism are treated, in particular the niche in which endemic plants have evolved and persisted.

scholarly journals Mediterranean Heathland as a Key Habitat for Fire Adaptations: Evidence from an Experimental Approach

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 748
Author(s):  
Susana Gómez-González ◽  
Maria Paniw ◽  
Mario Durán ◽  
Sergio Picó ◽  
Irene Martín-Rodríguez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Shock ◽  
Seed Size ◽  
Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Fire Ecology ◽  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Plant Evolution ◽  
Fire Adaptations ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Mediterranean Basin

Some fire ecology studies that have focused on garrigue-like vegetation suggest a weak selective pressure of fire in the Mediterranean Basin compared to other Mediterranean-type regions. However, fire-prone Mediterranean heathland from the western end of the Mediterranean Basin has been frequently ignored in the fire ecology literature despite its high proportion of pyrogenic species. Here, we explore the evolutionary ecology of seed traits in the generalist rockrose Cistus salviifolius L. (Cistaceae) aiming to ascertain the role of the Mediterranean heathland for fire adaptations in the Mediterranean Region. We performed a germination experiment to compare the relationship of seed size to (i) heat-stimulated germination, (ii) dormancy strength, and (iii) heat survival in plants from ‘high-fire’ heathland vs. ‘low-fire’ coastal shrubland. Germination after heat-shock treatment was higher in large seeds of both ‘high-fire’ and ‘low-fire’ habitats. However, dormancy was weaker in small seeds from ‘low-fire’ habitats. Finally, seed survival to heat shock was positively related to seed size. Our results support that seed size is an adaptive trait to fire in C. salviifolius, since larger seeds had stronger dormancy, higher heat-stimulated germination and were more resistant to heat shock. This seed size–fire relationship was tighter in ‘high-fire’ Mediterranean heathland than ‘low-fire’ coastal shrubland, indicating the existence of differential fire pressures and evolutionary trends at the landscape scale. These findings highlight the Mediterranean heathland as a relevant habitat for fire-driven evolution, thus contributing to better understand the role of fire in plant evolution within the Mediterranean region.

scholarly journals Russia in Greater Mediterranean: New Pacific Eurasian Transition

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 441-458
Author(s):  
Ivan Alexandrovich Chikharev
Keyword(s):  
Political Development ◽  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Important Conclusion ◽  
Political Transformations ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Mediterranean

The relevance of the issues raised in the article is related to the active return of Russia to the Mediterranean region, as well as the international political transformations taking place in it. The purpose of the article is to identify the historical foundations, current state and strategic prospects of Russias presence and international influence in the Greater Mediterranean region. The article is based on the methodology of critical geopolitics, historical and comparative approaches, which critically analyze the geopolitical structures of the region, built in the interests of various regional and extra-regional political forces. The historical material of the ancient, medieval, new and modern periods in the history of the macro-region is used, including the poorly studied times of the Mongol presence on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Scientific works on the history, geography and international relations in the region, written in the 18th - 19th centuries, as well as modern scientific information on the trends of technological, infrastructural and political development of the Mediterranean region are introduced into scientific circulation. An important element of the article is the thesis about the special role of Russia in the Pacific-European (Eurasian) transit. From the authors point of view, it includes not only the full implementation of Russias transport and logistics potential in the macro-region, but also the transfer of modern technologies, as well as the promotion of the formation of sustainable political regimes. As a result, a conclusion is made about the deep historical foundations of Russias presence and influence in the region, its strategic prospects are justified, and the main directions of our countrys international activities in the Mediterranean region are highlighted. An important conclusion of the article is the thesis about the need for a multilateral balanced approach to solving macro-regional problems.

scholarly journals Parallel pattern of differentiation at a genomic island shared between clinal and mosaic hybrid zones in a complex of cryptic seahorse lineages

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florentine Riquet ◽  
Cathy Liautard-Haag ◽  
Lucy Woodall ◽  
Carmen Bouza ◽  
Patrick Louisy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Isolation ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Genomic Island ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Hybrid Zones ◽  
Single Chromosome ◽  
Marine Habitats ◽  
Habitat Variation ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Mosaic Distribution

AbstractDiverging semi-isolated lineages either meet in narrow clinal hybrid zones, or have a mosaic distribution associated with environmental variation. Intrinsic reproductive isolation is often emphasized in the former and local adaptation in the latter, although both can contribute to isolation. Rarely these two patterns of spatial distribution are reported in the same study system. Here we report that the long-snouted seahorse Hippocampus guttulatus is subdivided into discrete panmictic entities by both types of hybrid zones. Along the European Atlantic coasts, a northern and a southern lineage meet in the southwest of France where they coexist in sympatry with little hybridization. In the Mediterranean Sea, two lineages have a mosaic distribution, associated with lagoon-like and marine habitats. A fifth lineage was identified in the Black Sea. Genetic homogeneity over large spatial scales contrasts with isolation maintained in sympatry or close parapatry at a fine scale. A high variation in locus-specific introgression rates provides additional evidence that partial reproductive isolation must be maintaining the divergence. Surprisingly, fixed differences between lagoon and marine populations in the Mediterranean Sea belong to the most differentiated SNPs between the two Atlantic lineages, against the genome-wide pattern of structure. These parallel outlier SNPs cluster on a single chromosome-wide island of differentiation. Since Atlantic lineages do not match the lagoon-sea habitat variation, genetic parallelism at the genomic island suggests a shared genetic barrier contributes to reproductive isolation in contrasting contexts -i.e. spatial vs. ecological. We discuss how a genomic hotspot of parallel differentiation could have evolved and become associated either with space or with a patchy environment in a single study system.

Conservation in the crossroads of history

2020 ◽  
pp. 263-311
Author(s):  
John D. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Plant Evolution ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Evolutionary Potential ◽  
Mediterranean Flora ◽  
Complementary Approach ◽  
Dispersal Agents ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Major Target

The first six chapters of this book describe the range of historical and contemporary processes that underlie the wealth, diversity, and divergence of natural populations and species in the Mediterranean flora. The processes of species divergence, adaptive trait variation along ecological transitions, interactions with pollinators and dispersal agents, and ongoing hybridization are, however, barely treated in conservation policy and action. After a presentation of the traditional approach to conservation based on rare species protection and the identification and conservation management of protected areas, this chapter presents arguments for a complementary approach based on the processes of plant evolution. Its primary proposal is that preventing further loss of evolutionary potential should become a major target of contemporary conservation strategies for the Mediterranean flora.

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