Himalayan Origin and Evolution of Myricaria (Tamaricaeae) in the Neogene

Abstract

Background Myricaria consists of about twelve-thirteen species and occurs in Eurasian North Temperate zone, most species in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) and adjacent areas.Methodology/Principal FindingsTwelve species of Myricaria plus two other genera Tamarix and Reaumuria in Tamaricaceae, were sampled, and four markers, ITS, rps16, psbB-psbH, and trnL-trnF were sequenced. The relaxed Bayesian molecular clock BEAST method was used to perform phylogenetic analysis and molecular dating, and Diva, S-Diva, and maximum likelihood Lagrange were used to estimate the ancestral area. The results indicated that Myricaria could be divided into four phylogenetic clades, which correspond to four sections within the genus, of them two are newly described in this paper. The crown age of Myricaria was dated to early Miocene ca. 20 Ma, at the probable early uplifting time of the Himalayas. The Himalayas were also shown as the center of origin for Myricaria from the optimization of ancestral distribution. Migration and dispersal of Myricaria were indicated to have taken place along the Asian Mountains, including the Himalayas, Kunlun, Altun, Hendukosh, Tianshan, Altai, and Caucasus etc., westward to Europe, eastward to Central China, and northward to the Mongolian Plateau.Conclusions/Significance Myricaria spatiotemporal evolution presented here, especially the Himalayan origin at early Miocene ca. 20 Ma, and then migrated westward and eastward along the Asian mountains, offers a significant evolutionary case for QTP and Central Asian biogeography.

Tertiary montane origin of the Central Asian flora, evidence inferred from cpDNA sequences of Atraphaxis (Polygonaceae)

“…Owing to the diverse flora, vegetation, paleogeography, and unique location of these mountains in Central Asia, they have been suggested as a center of origin and diversification, and are recognized as a conservation hotspot of global biodiversity (Wulff ; Wu and Wang ; Agakhanjanz and Breckle ; Grubov ; Hu ; Chen ; Zachos and Habel ). Our recent phylogeographical studies, such as those on Clematis sibirica and Clematis songorica (Ranunculaceae) (Zhang et al , ), the Delphinium naviculare species group (Ranunculaceae) (Zhang and Zhang ), the Aconitum nemorum (Ranunculaceae) species group (Jiang et al ), and Ribes meyeri (Saxifragaceae) (Xie and Zhang ), have shown that the Tianshan Mountains are unquestionably a haplotype diversity center and Quaternary Pleistocene refugium. Presently, Atraphaxis contributes a valid example of an Early Tertiary montane origin, and diversification in the Tianshan Mountains at the generic level.…”

“…This is different from species or groups occurring in Central Asia and adjacent regions of Eurasia, such as the Himalayas, East Asia, or the Mediterranean, and having different places of origin. For instance, H. rhamnoides (Elaeagnaceae) (Jia et al ) and Myricaria (Tamaricaceae) (Zhang et al ) are both speculated to have originated from the Himalayas and migrated to Central Asia. Endemic to the Mediterranean, Anagyris (Leguminosae) (Ortega‐Olivencia and Catalán ), is inferred to have evolved in Central Asia and migrated to that region.…”

Phylogeny of spiny frogs Nanorana (Anura: Dicroglossidae) supports a Tibetan origin of a Himalayan species group

“…Many phylogenetic studies with a primary focus on the Greater Himalaya have been conducted in groups with higher dispersal potential, such as birds, butterflies, and plants with wind‐ or bird‐dispersed seeds (e.g., Deodati, Cesaroni, & Sbordoni, ; Favre et al, ; Mani, ; Martens, Tietze, & Päckert, ; Rajbhandary, Hughes, Phutthai, Thomas, & Shrestha, ; Xie, Ash, Linde, Cunningham, & Nicotra, ; Zhang, Kang, Zhong, & Sanderson, ). For the majority of these organisms, it has been reported that they originated through long‐distance dispersal from the mountains of China–Indochina along the southern slope of the Himalayan chain, associated with very little in situ speciation (Deodati et al, ; Johansson et al, ; Liu et al, ; Martens & Eck, ; Martens et al, ; Rajbhandary et al, ; Tabata, ; Xie et al, ; Zhang, Meng, Zhang, Vyacheslav, & Sanderson, ). For several Palearctic species groups, on the other hand, it has been shown that the influx of organisms came from the West along a climatically temperate corridor that enabled dispersal from Central Asia and the Pamiro‐Alai region into the Himalaya (Alcaide, Scordato, Price, & Irwin, ; Martens, ).…”

Sink limitation of plant growth determines tree line in the arid Himalayas

“…In this study, we used the C sink-source balance concept to explore the elevation-related growth decline in Myricaria elegans, endemic species to the western Himalayas (Zhang, Meng, Zhang, Vyacheslav, & Sanderson, 2014). It forms one of the world's highest located tree line among winter-deciduous woody species.…”