We found a match
Your institution may have rights to this item. Sign in to continue.
- Title
History or ecology? Substrate type as a major driver of patial genetic structure in Alpine plants.
- Authors
Alvarez, Nadir; Thiel-Egenter, Conny; Tribsch, Andreas; Holderegger, Rolf; Manel, Stéphanie; Schönswetter, Peter; Taberlet, Pierre; Brodbeck, Sabine; Gaudeul, Myriam; Gielly, Ludovic; Küpfer, Philippe; Mansion, Guilhem; Negrini, Riccardo; Paun, Ovidiu; Pellecchia, Marco; Rioux, Delphine; Schüpfer, Fanny; Van Loo, Marcela; Winkler, Manuela; Gugerli, Felix
- Abstract
Climatic history and ecology are considered the most important factors moulding the spatial pattern of genetic diversity. With the advent of molecular markers, species’ historical fates have been widely explored. However, it has remained speculative what role ecological factors have played in shaping spatial genetic structures within species. With an unprecedented, dense large-scale sampling and genome-screening, we tested how ecological factors have influenced the spatial genetic structures in Alpine plants. Here, we show that species growing on similar substrate types, largely determined by the nature of bedrock, displayed highly congruent spatial genetic structures. As the heterogeneous and disjunctive distribution of bedrock types in the Alps, decisive for refugial survival during the ice ages, is temporally stable, concerted post-glacial migration routes emerged. Our multispecies study demonstrates the relevance of particular ecological factors in shaping genetic patterns, which should be considered when modelling species projective distributions under climate change scenarios.
- Subjects
MOUNTAIN plants; PLANT genetics; SHIELDS (Geology); GENETIC polymorphisms; PHYLOGEOGRAPHY; PLANT species diversity; CLIMATE change; ECOLOGICAL research
- Publication
Ecology Letters, 2009, Vol 12, Issue 7, p632
- ISSN
1461-023X
- Publication type
Letter
- DOI
10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01312.x