<i>Triodia veniciae</i> (Poaceae), a new species from the Pilbara region, Western Australia

Barrett, Matthew D.

doi:10.58828/nuy00915

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 9 publications

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“…Extensive biotic surveys prior to mining notwithstanding (McKenzie et al, 2009), none of the new species of Nicotiana section Suaveolentes in the Pilbara region was identified, highlighting the need for detailed genetic and taxonomic studies as part of specialist treatments. This parallels the findings in Anderson et al (2016) in Triodia, in which multiple new species were identified in the Pilbara (Barrett & Trudgeon, 2018;Barrett, 2019;Barrett et al, 2023). One of our new, narrowly distributed, crypticspecies discoveries from the Pilbara Craton is Nicotiana karijini previously identified as the more widespread N. umbractica), for which six of seven known collections were made during mine-site surveys.…”

Section: Implications For Conservation Planningsupporting

confidence: 82%

Recent speciation and adaptation to aridity in the ecologically diverse Pilbara region of Australia enabled the native tobaccos (Nicotiana; Solanaceae) to colonize all Australian deserts

Cauz-Santos,

Samuel,

Metschina

et al. 2024

Preprint

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For the last six million years, the arid Australian Eremaean Zone (EZ) has been as dry as today. A hypothesis, applied to arid regions worldwide, suggests that flora and fauna were more broadly distributed before aridification began. In Australia, this aridification process started around 20 million years ago (Mya), leading to gradual speciation processes via vicariance as the climate became increasingly arid. Here, we use genomic data to investigate the biogeography and timing of divergence of native allotetraploid tobaccos, Nicotiana section Suaveolentes (Solanaceae), which putatively entered the EZ 5 Mya. The original allotetraploid migrants from South America were adapted to mesic areas of Australia and putatively radiated recently in the EZ, including sandy dune fields (only 1.2 My old), after developing drought adaptations. Based on coalescent and maximum likelihood analyses designed to corroborate timing of the Australian radiation independently, arrival of Nicotiana section Suaveolentes on the continent occurred approximately 6 Mya, and ancestors of the Pilbara (Western Australian) lineages radiated there at the onset of extreme aridity 5 Mya by locally adapting to these various ancient, highly stable habitats. The Pilbara thus served as both a mesic refugium and cradle for adaptations to harsher conditions. This dual role is due to its high topographical diversity, providing microhabitats with varying moisture levels, and its proximity to the ocean, which buffers against extreme aridity. Consequently, species like Nicotiana have been able to survive in mesic refugia during arid periods and subsequently adapt to more arid conditions. These results demonstrate that initially poorly adapted plant groups can develop novel adaptations in situ, permitting extensive and rapid wide dispersal despite the highly variable and unpredictable extremes of heat and drought in the EZ.

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Section: Implications For Conservation Planningsupporting

confidence: 82%

Recent speciation and adaptation to aridity in the ecologically diverse Pilbara region of Australia enabled the native tobaccos (Nicotiana; Solanaceae) to colonize all Australian deserts

Cauz-Santos,

Samuel,

Metschina

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Recent speciation and adaptation to aridity in the ecologically diverse Pilbara region of Australia enabled the native tobaccos (Nicotiana; Solanaceae) to colonize all Australian deserts

Cauz‐Santos,

Samuel,

Metschina

et al. 2024

Molecular Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Over the last 6 million years, the arid Australian Eremaean Zone (EZ) has remained as dry as it is today. A widely accepted hypothesis suggests that the flora and fauna of arid regions were more broadly distributed before aridification began. In Australia, this process started around 20 million years ago (Ma), leading to gradual speciation as the climate became increasingly arid. Here, we use genomic data to investigate the biogeography and timing of divergence of native allotetraploid tobaccos, Nicotiana section Suaveolentes (Solanaceae). The original allotetraploid migrants from South America were adapted to mesic areas of Australia and recently radiated in the EZ, including in sandy dune fields (only 1.2 Ma old), after developing drought adaptations. Coalescent and maximum likelihood analyses suggest that Nicotiana section Suaveolentes arrived on the continent around 6 Ma, with the ancestors of the Pilbara (Western Australian) lineages radiating there at the onset of extreme aridity 5 Ma by locally adapting to these various ancient, highly stable habitats. The Pilbara thus served as both a mesic refugium and cradle for adaptations to harsher conditions, due to its high topographical diversity, providing microhabitats with varying moisture levels and its proximity to the ocean, which buffers against extreme aridity. This enabled species like Nicotiana to survive in mesic refugia and subsequently adapt to more arid conditions. These results demonstrate that initially poorly adapted plant groups can develop novel adaptations in situ, permitting extensive and rapid dispersal despite the highly variable and unpredictable extreme conditions of the EZ.

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Triodia veniciae (Poaceae), a new species from the Pilbara region, Western Australia

Cited by 2 publications

References 9 publications

Recent speciation and adaptation to aridity in the ecologically diverse Pilbara region of Australia enabled the native tobaccos (Nicotiana; Solanaceae) to colonize all Australian deserts

Recent speciation and adaptation to aridity in the ecologically diverse Pilbara region of Australia enabled the native tobaccos (Nicotiana; Solanaceae) to colonize all Australian deserts

Recent speciation and adaptation to aridity in the ecologically diverse Pilbara region of Australia enabled the native tobaccos (Nicotiana; Solanaceae) to colonize all Australian deserts

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