Diverse Fossil Epacrids (Styphelioideae; Ericaceae) from Early Pleistocene Sediments at Stony Creek Basin, Victoria, Australia

Jordan, Gregory J.; Bromfield, Kate; Sniderman, J. M. Kale; Crayn, Darren M.

doi:10.1086/521686

Cited by 12 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Of these species, 43 species were woody sclerophyll taxa typical of Australian sclerophyll floras (Eucalyptus, other Myrtaceae, Acacia, Allocasuarina, Banksia, Hakea, Boronia, Bossieae, and Bauera) (Fig. 2), including 19 previously described species of Ericaceae (26). The identification of several of these groups was verified by the presence of reproductive structures [Acacia (SI Appendix, Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…S27-S30)]. The remainder could not be placed into groups, because the Australian sclerophyll flora shows high levels of morphological convergence and apart from Proteaceae and Ericaceae (26)(27)(28)(29), has poorly known anatomy. For example, superficially similar small, linear entire leaves with tightly revolute margins occur within Proteaceae, Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Ericaceae, Dilleniaceae, Tremandraceae, Frankeniaceae, Rhamnaceae, and Polygalaceae.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The regional mass extinction implicit in these results has passed largely unobserved, because many species in extant diverse sclerophyll floras share the same pollen types. Macrofossil records from Tasmania and southeast Australia have hinted at the scale of late Cenozoic plant species extinctions and imply that extinctions were largely complete by the middle Pleistocene (26,42). However, the exceptional preservation of the SCB fossil flora uniquely allows discrimination between the morphologically convergent forms that characterize sclerophyll floras.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2), and insects. Previous analyses indicate that the vegetation was a mosaic of diverse sclerophyll forest and temperate rainforest (26,41), with dynamics mediated, in part, by fire (50). Modern precipitation at SCB is dominated by cool-season frontal rain associated with seasonal migration of the subtropical anticyclone (51).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fossil evidence for a hyperdiverse sclerophyll flora under a non–Mediterranean-type climate

Sniderman

Jordan

Cowling

2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The spectacular diversity of sclerophyll plants in the Cape Floristic Region in South Africa and Australia's Southwest Floristic Region has been attributed to either explosive radiation on infertile soils under fire-prone, summer-dry climates or sustained accretion of species under inferred stable climate regimes. However, the very poor fossil record of these regions has made these ideas difficult to test. Here, we reconstruct ecological-scale plant species richness from an exceptionally well-preserved fossil flora. We show that a hyperdiverse sclerophyll flora existed under high-rainfall, summerwet climates in the Early Pleistocene in southeastern Australia. The sclerophyll flora of this region must, therefore, have suffered subsequent extinctions to result in its current relatively low diversity. This regional loss of sclerophyll diversity occurred at the same time as a loss of rainforest diversity and cannot be explained by ecological substitution of species of one ecological type by another type. We show that sclerophyll hyperdiversity has developed in distinctly non-Mediterranean climates, and this diversity is, therefore, more likely a response to long-term climate stability. Climate stability may have both reduced the intensity of extinctions associated with the Pleistocene climate cycles and promoted the accumulation of species richness by encouraging genetic divergence between populations and discouraging plant dispersal.macrofossil flora | species diversity | species-area curve | glacial-interglacial cycles M editerranean climate regions support ∼20% of vascular plant species on 5% of Earth's surface (1) and show positive anomalies in the latitudinal plant species diversity gradient. Researchers have used two approaches to explain this gradient. The first approach emphasizes the importance of contemporary environmental processes. For example, some models use energy and water availability to explain global patterns of diversity (2, 3). Alternatively, historical models focus on geological-scale processes and often invoke the contrasting antiquity of tropical vs. temperate climates. For example, the tropical conservatism hypothesis (4) argues that the high diversity of tropical floras accumulated over tens of millions of years during warm, ever-wet, early-middle Cenozoic climates. This model infers that temperate floras are depauperate because they were derived relatively recently from a small number of thermophilic lineages that were able to colonize novel temperate climates during the late Cenozoic.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fossil evidence for a hyperdiverse sclerophyll flora under a non–Mediterranean-type climate

Sniderman

Jordan

Cowling

2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…The Ericaceae have an ancient evolutionary history (Collinson & Crane, 1978;Nixon & Crepet, 1993;Jordan & Hill, 1996;Zetter & Hesse, 1996;Jordan et al, 2007Jordan et al, , 2010. Remarkably well-preserved fossilized flowers related to the extant genus Enkianthus Lour.…”

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confidence: 99%

Origin, Diversification, and Classification of the Australasian Genus Dracophyllum (Richeeae, Ericaceae)¹

Wagstaff¹,

Dawson²,

Venter³

et al. 2010

Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden

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The genus Dracophyllum Labill. (Ericaceae) has a fragmented distribution in Australasia, but reaches the greatest level of species richness and morphological diversity in New Zealand. We investigated evolutionary processes that contribute to this disparity in species richness by comparing DNA sequences from members of Dracophyllum, its close relatives Richea Labill. and Sphenotoma R. Br. ex Sweet (together constituting tribe Richeeae Crayn & Quinn), along with more distant relatives in the Ericaceae. We created complementary data sets for the chloroplast-encoded genes matK and rbcL. Parsimony, Bayesian, and maximum likelihood analyses were conducted to assess the robustness of our phylogenetic inferences. The results were largely congruent and, when analyzed in combination, provided greater resolution. In our analyses, tribe Richeeae formed a monophyletic group that diverged during the Eocene (at least 33.3 million years ago [Ma]) with a crown radiation during the Early Miocene (at least 16.5 Ma) that resulted in two disjunct lineages. This date corresponds roughly to the onset of aridification in central Australia. The southern Western Australian genus Sphenotoma formed an isolated evolutionary lineage, while Dracophyllum and Richea together formed a second lineage restricted to eastern Australia, Lord Howe Island, New Caledonia, and New Zealand. The relationships of the Tasmanian endemic, D. milliganii Hook. f., remain an enigma. It was ambiguously placed as sister to Sphenotoma or to the Dracophyllum-Richea clade. We recovered two distinct lineages, traditionally recognized as Richea sect. Cystanthe (R. Br.) Benth. and Richea sect. Dracophylloides Benth., which were nested within Dracophyllum. The Lord Howe Island endemic, D. fitzgeraldii F. Muell., emerged as sister to an eastern Australian clade of Dracophyllum. Our evidence suggests that the New Caledonian and New Zealand species of Dracophyllum dispersed from Australia; we document two independent episodes of long-distance dispersal in the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene. Low levels of sequence divergence suggest a rapid and recent species radiation in these two island archipelagos largely within the last three to six million years. This radiation accompanied Pliocene uplift of the New Zealand Southern Alps and episodes of glaciation during the Pleistocene. Because Dracophyllum is paraphyletic and Richea is polyphyletic, the taxonomic circumscription of these genera requires revision.

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The Neotropical endemic liverwort subfamily Micropterygioideae had circum‐Antarctic links to the rest of the Lepidoziaceae during the early Cretaceous

Rayos,

Renner,

2024

Ecology and Evolution

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Lepidoziaceae are the third‐largest family of liverworts, with about 860 species distributed on all continents. The evolutionary history of this family has not been satisfactorily resolved, with taxa such as Micropterygioideae yet to be included in phylogenetic analyses. We inferred a dated phylogeny of Lepidoziaceae using a data set consisting of 13 genetic markers, sampled from 147 species. Based on our phylogenetic estimate, we used statistical dispersal‐vicariance analysis to reconstruct the biogeographic history of the family. We inferred a crown age of 197 Ma (95% credible interval 157–240 Ma) for the family in the Australian region, with most major lineages also originating in the same region. Micropterygioideae are placed as the sister group to Lembidioideae, with these two lineages diverging from each other about 132 Ma in the South American–Australian region. With South America and Australia being connected through Antarctica at the time, our results suggest a circum‐Antarctic link between Micropterygioideae and the rest of the family. Crown Micropterygioideae were inferred to have arisen 45 Ma in South America before the continent separated from Antarctica. Extinction from southern temperate regions might explain the present‐day restriction of Micropterygioideae to the Neotropics. Our study reveals the influence of past geological events, such as continental drift, on the evolution and distribution of a widespread and diverse family of liverworts.

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Diverse Fossil Epacrids (Styphelioideae; Ericaceae) from Early Pleistocene Sediments at Stony Creek Basin, Victoria, Australia

Cited by 12 publications

References 30 publications

Fossil evidence for a hyperdiverse sclerophyll flora under a non–Mediterranean-type climate

Fossil evidence for a hyperdiverse sclerophyll flora under a non–Mediterranean-type climate

Origin, Diversification, and Classification of the Australasian Genus Dracophyllum (Richeeae, Ericaceae)¹

The Neotropical endemic liverwort subfamily Micropterygioideae had circum‐Antarctic links to the rest of the Lepidoziaceae during the early Cretaceous

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Diverse Fossil Epacrids (Styphelioideae; Ericaceae) from Early Pleistocene Sediments at Stony Creek Basin, Victoria, Australia

Cited by 12 publications

References 30 publications

Fossil evidence for a hyperdiverse sclerophyll flora under a non–Mediterranean-type climate

Fossil evidence for a hyperdiverse sclerophyll flora under a non–Mediterranean-type climate

Origin, Diversification, and Classification of the Australasian Genus Dracophyllum (Richeeae, Ericaceae)1

The Neotropical endemic liverwort subfamily Micropterygioideae had circum‐Antarctic links to the rest of the Lepidoziaceae during the early Cretaceous

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Origin, Diversification, and Classification of the Australasian Genus Dracophyllum (Richeeae, Ericaceae)¹