scholarly journals Global biogeographic patterns in bipolar moss species

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (7) ◽  
pp. 170147 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. M. Biersma ◽  
J. A. Jackson ◽  
J. Hyvönen ◽  
S. Koskinen ◽  
K. Linse ◽  
...  

A bipolar disjunction is an extreme, yet common, biogeographic pattern in non-vascular plants, yet its underlying mechanisms (vicariance or long-distance dispersal), origin and timing remain poorly understood. Here, combining a large-scale population dataset and multiple dating analyses, we examine the biogeography of four bipolar Polytrichales mosses, common to the Holarctic (temperate and polar Northern Hemisphere regions) and the Antarctic region (Antarctic, sub-Antarctic, southern South America) and other Southern Hemisphere (SH) regions. Our data reveal contrasting patterns, for three species were of Holarctic origin, with subsequent dispersal to the SH, while one, currently a particularly common species in the Holarctic ( Polytrichum juniperinum ), diversified in the Antarctic region and from here colonized both the Holarctic and other SH regions. Our findings suggest long-distance dispersal as the driver of bipolar disjunctions. We find such inter-hemispheric dispersals are rare, occurring on multi-million-year timescales. High-altitude tropical populations did not act as trans-equatorial ‘stepping-stones’, but rather were derived from later dispersal events. All arrivals to the Antarctic region occurred well before the Last Glacial Maximum and previous glaciations, suggesting that, despite the harsh climate during these past glacial maxima, plants have had a much longer presence in this southern region than previously thought.

2000 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-160
Author(s):  
Ryszard Ochyra ◽  
Halina Bednarek-Ochyra ◽  
Theo Arts ◽  
Ronald I. Lewis Smith

Dicranella hilariana (Mont.) Mitt., a pan-neotropical moss species, is reported for the first time from the Antarctic botanical zone. It was found on geothermally heated ground near fumaroles on Visokoi, Candlemas and Bellingshausen Islands in the volcanic archipelago of the South Sandwich Islands. Dicranella recurvata Ochyra, Arts & Lewis-Smith, nom. nud., is reduced to synonymy with D. hilariana. The Antarctic plants of D. hilariana are briefly described and illustrated, including the rhizoidal tubers which have not previously been reported in this species. The global distribution of D. hilariana is briefly reviewed and mapped. It is suggested that the species reached the Antarctic via long-distance dispersal from South America by the prevailing strong westerly winds.


Biologia ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marko Sabovljević ◽  
Jan-Peter Frahm

AbstractThe genetic structure, diversity and phylogeography of the moss species Campylopus oerstedianus in Europe was studied, based on the ITS region of the nrDNA of nine selected European populations. Although this species is only known in sterile stage, long-distance dispersal and gene flow among populations seem to be present within Europe. High levels of genetic differentiation between the investigated Greek population and the western European populations indicate a long lasting isolation.The populations from France and Switzerland root together and supposedly have a common origin. From the French populations, the one from the Pyrenees is the most basal one and the populations in the Massif Central and the Vosges Mts can be derived from it. This indicates relatively recent dispersal of the species from the Mediterranean to the north, in spite of the lack of sporophytes and the fact that the type of the dispersed propagules and their vectors are not obvious.


Ecology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 87 (12) ◽  
pp. 3029-3036 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Tittler ◽  
Lenore Fahrig ◽  
Marc-André Villard

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judit Sonkoly ◽  
Attila Takács ◽  
Attila Molnár V. ◽  
Péter Török

AbstractAlthough long-distance dispersal (LDD) events are considered to be rare and highly stochastic, they are disproportionately important and drive several large-scale ecological processes. The realisation of the disproportionate importance of LDD has led to an upsurge in studies of this phenomenon; yet, we still have a very limited understanding of its frequency, extent and consequences. Humanity intentionally spreads a high number of species, but a less obvious issue is that it is associated with the accidental dispersal of other plant species. Although the global trade of potted plants and horticultural substrates is capable of dispersing large quantities of propagules, this issue has hardly been studied from an ecological point of view. We used the seedling emergence method to assess the viable seed content of different types of commercial potting substrates to answer the following questions: (i) In what richness and density do substrates contain viable seeds? (ii) Does the composition of substrates influence their viable seed content? and (iii) Are there common characteristics of the species dispersed this way? We detected altogether 438 seedlings of 66 taxa and found that 1 litre of potting substrate contains an average of 13.27 seeds of 6.24 species, so an average 20-litre bag of substrate contains 265 viable seeds. There was a high variability in the seed content of the substrates, as substrates containing cattle manure contained a substantially higher number of species and seeds than substrates without manure. Based on this, this pathway of LDD is an interplay between endozoochory by grazing livestock and accidental human-vectored dispersal, implying that the diet preference of grazing animals largely determines the ability of a plant species to be dispersed this way. According to our results, potting substrates can disperse large quantities of seeds of a wide range of plant species, moreover, these dispersal events occur on very long distances in almost all cases. We conclude that this kind of human-vectored LDD may have complex effects on plant populations and communities; however, as this dispersal pathway is largely understudied and has hardly been considered as a type of LDD, its consequences are still largely unknown and further studies of the issue are of great importance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 998-1010
Author(s):  
Javier Jauregui-Lazo ◽  
Daniel Potter

Abstract— Acaena (Rosaceae) is the most complex and ecologically variable genus in Sanguisorbinae. Although it has been the subject of several taxonomic treatments, the largest phylogenetic analysis to date only sampled a small fraction of the total global diversity (five to seven out of 45 to 50 species). This study included most of the species to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships of Acaena and biogeographic patterns in Sanguisorbinae. Phylogenetic analyses of non-coding nuclear (ITS region) and chloroplast (trnL-F) DNA sequence markers using maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses suggested that Acaena is a paraphyletic group with species of Margyricarpus and Tetraglochin nested within it. We identified strong support for eight subclades that are geographically or taxonomically structured. Nevertheless, the species-level relationships within subclades are still uncertain, which may be due to rapid diversification and lack of informative characters in the markers used. Sanguisorbinae, a primarily Southern Hemisphere clade, exhibits a classic Gondwana disjunct distribution. This current distribution is explained primarily by eight long-distance dispersal events. Our results suggested that Sanguisorbinae split into Cliffortia and Acaena around 13.6 mya. While Cliffortia diversified in southern South Africa, Acaena experienced several migration events in the Southern Hemisphere. Our estimation of the ancestral range suggested that Acaena likely originated in South Africa, followed by migration and subsequent diversification into southern South America. From there, the genus migrated to New Zealand, throughout the Andes, and to tropical areas in Central America, reaching as far north as California. Chile and New Zealand are the main sources of propagules for dispersal as well as the greatest diversity for the genus. The evolutionary relationships of species in Acaena combine a history of rapid diversifications, long-distance dispersals, and genetic variation within some taxa. Further research should be undertaken to clarify the infraspecific classification of A. magellanica.


2001 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory J. Jordan

Some 200 species of plants are currently recognised as being native to both Tasmania and New Zealand. It is argued that dispersal across the 1500–2000-km Tasman Sea has occurred in all of these species. Almost all (187) are herbs and constitute over 20% of the herbaceous flora of Tasmania. Common species, non-dioecious species, species with very small seeds, species from aquatic, coastal or wet habitats and possibly species with hooked fruit are all over-represented among the disjunct species of herbs. The incidence of disjunct species also varies significantly among families. In contrast, fleshy fruited species, or species with plumes or very hairy disseminules, are not over-represented among the herbaceous disjunct species. These data are used to model the probability that a species (past or present) with given traits would show a within-species trans-Tasman disjunction, and it is inferred that this can be used to give a crude approximation of the rates of long-distance dispersal for different types of species. The model can be tested by using molecular clock methods and could be made more robust by incorporating equivalent data from other disjunct regions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 286 (1905) ◽  
pp. 20190983 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Hotaling ◽  
Daniel H. Shain ◽  
Shirley A. Lang ◽  
Robin K. Bagley ◽  
Lusha M. Tronstad ◽  
...  

Disentangling the contemporary and historical factors underlying the spatial distributions of species is a central goal of biogeography. For species with broad distributions but little capacity to actively disperse, disconnected geographical distributions highlight the potential influence of passive, long-distance dispersal (LDD) on their evolutionary histories. However, dispersal alone cannot completely account for the biogeography of any species, and other factors—e.g. habitat suitability, life history—must also be considered. North American ice worms ( Mesenchytraeus solifugus ) are ice-obligate annelids that inhabit coastal glaciers from Oregon to Alaska. Previous studies identified a complex biogeographic history for ice worms, with evidence for genetic isolation, unexpectedly close relationships among geographically disjunct lineages, and contemporary migration across large (e.g. greater than 1500 km) areas of unsuitable habitat. In this study, we analysed genome-scale sequence data for individuals from most of the known ice worm range. We found clear support for divergence between populations along the Pacific Coast and the inland flanks of the Coast Mountains (mean F ST = 0.60), likely precipitated by episodic ice sheet expansion and contraction during the Pleistocene. We also found support for LDD of ice worms from Alaska to Vancouver Island, perhaps mediated by migrating birds. Our results highlight the power of genomic data for disentangling complex biogeographic patterns, including the presence of LDD.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Hotaling ◽  
Daniel H. Shain ◽  
Shirley A. Lang ◽  
Robin K. Bagley ◽  
Lusha M. Tronstad ◽  
...  

AbstractDisentangling the contemporary and historical factors underlying the spatial distributions of species is a central goal of biogeography. For species with broad distributions but little capacity to actively disperse, disconnected geographic distributions highlight the potential influence of passive, long-distance dispersal (LDD) on their evolutionary histories. However, dispersal alone cannot completely account for the biogeography of any species, and other factors–e.g., habitat suitability, life history–must also be considered. North American ice worms (Mesenchytraeus solifugus) are ice-obligate annelids that inhabit coastal glaciers from Oregon to Alaska. Previous studies identified a complex biogeographic history for ice worms, with evidence for genetic isolation, unexpectedly close relationships among geographically disjunct lineages, and contemporary migration across large (> 1,500 km) areas of unsuitable habitat. In this study, we analyzed genome-scale sequence data for most of the known ice worm range. We found clear support for divergence between populations along the Pacific Coast and the inland flanks of the Coast Mountains (mean FST = 0.60), likely precipitated by episodic ice sheet expansion and contraction during the Pleistocene. We also found support for LDD of ice worms from Alaska to Vancouver Island, perhaps mediated by migrating birds. Our results highlight the power of genomic data for disentangling complex biogeographic patterns, including the presence of LDD.


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