Introduction. Following on from work on the European bryophyte Red List, the taxonomically and nomenclaturally updated spreadsheets used for that project have been expanded into a new checklist for the bryophytes of Europe. Methods. A steering group of ten European bryologists was convened, and over the course of a year, the spreadsheets were compared with previous European checklists, and all changes noted. Recent literature was searched extensively. A taxonomic system was agreed, and the advice and expertise of many European bryologists sought. Key results. A new European checklist of bryophytes, comprising hornworts, liverworts and mosses, is presented. Fifteen new combinations are proposed. Conclusions. This checklist provides a snapshot of the current European bryophyte flora in 2019. It will already be out-of-date on publication, and further research, particularly molecular work, can be expected to result in many more changes over the next few years.
We present the development and application of the novel in situ cosmogenic 14 C/ 10 Be chronometer to recently exposed proglacial bedrock of the Rhone Glacier, Switzerland. Results show that during the Holocene, the glacier was smaller than today for 6500 ± 2000 yr and larger than today for 4500 ± 2000 yr. This pattern is consistent with limited data from other techniques for glaciers in the Alps and Scandinavia, but in contrast to glaciers from the Southern Alps of New Zealand, emphasizing the high sensitivity of large mountain glaciers to small climate changes. The 14 C/ 10 Be chronometer also shows that abrasion rates beneath the Rhone Glacier increased with ice speed.
The relative importance of introgression for diversification has long been a highly disputed topic in speciation research and remains an open question despite the great attention it has received over the past decade. Gene flow leaves traces in the genome similar to those created by incomplete lineage sorting (ILS), and identification and quantification of gene flow in the presence of ILS is challenging and requires knowledge about the true phylogenetic relationship among the species. We use whole nuclear, plastid and organellar genomes from 12 species in the rapidly radiated, ecologically diverse, actively hybridizing genus of peatmoss (Sphagnum) to reconstruct the species phylogeny and quantify introgression using a suite of phylogenomic methods. We found extensive phylogenetic discordance among nuclear and organellar phylogenies, as well as across the nuclear genome and the nodes in the species tree, best explained by extensive ILS following the rapid radiation of the genus rather than by post-speciation introgression. Our analyses support the idea of ancient introgression among the ancestral lineages followed by ILS, whereas recent gene flow among the species is highly restricted despite widespread interspecific hybridization known in the group. Our results contribute to phylogenomic understanding of how speciation proceeds in rapidly radiated, actively hybridizing species groups, and demonstrate that employing a combination of diverse phylogenomic methods can facilitate untangling complex phylogenetic patterns created by ILS and introgression.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.