Long-term isolation of European steppe outposts boosts the biome’s conservation value

Kirschner, Philipp; Záveská, Eliška; Gamisch, Alexander; Hilpold, Andreas; Trucchi, Emiliano; Paun, Ovidiu; Sanmartín, Isabel; Schlick‐Steiner, Birgit C.; Frajman, Božo; Arthofer, Wolfgang; Steiner, Florian M.

doi:10.1038/s41467-020-15620-2

Cited by 54 publications

(83 citation statements)

References 63 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Palynological studies have evidenced that extensive areas of the Mediterranean region were vegetated by steppe‐like formations during glacial periods that became progressively replaced by temperate forests during interglacial stages (Carrión et al., 2012; Sánchez‐Goñi et al., 1999). Consequently, the confinement of the saltmarsh band‐winged grasshopper in refuges of suitable habitat during unfavourable periods may have led to processes of allopatric divergence along the Quaternary as reported for steppe‐like and halophytic species presenting similar environmental requirements (Kajtoch et al., 2016; Kirschner et al., 2020). Demographic inferences based on genomic data contrast with the predictions of our ENM, which suggests that the extent of climatically suitable habitats for the species have tended to increase since the LGM (Figure 1f).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to this hypothesis, disjunctions arose by colonization events and subsequent isolation processes linked to Quaternary climate oscillations (Kadereit & Yaprak, 2008). Sea‐level drawdown (∼125 m; Litcher et al., 2010) and expansions of steppe‐like environments (Kajtoch et al., 2016; Kirschner et al., 2020) during Pleistocene glacial periods might have facilitated the dispersal of steppe species across seaways and favourable habitats and, ultimately, led to the colonization of geographically distant regions that have remained isolated since then (Ortiz et al., 2007). For example, the Strait of Gibraltar, where the distance between the Iberian Peninsula and Africa shortened to a few kilometers during the Pleistocene coldest stages, which might have favoured the exchange of fauna and flora between the two continents (Graciá et al., 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Genomic insights into the origin of trans‐Mediterranean disjunct distributions

Noguerales

Knowles

Ortego

2020

Journal of Biogeography

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aim Two main biogeographical hypotheses have been proposed to explain the Mediterranean‐Turanian disjunct distributions exhibited by numerous steppe‐dwelling organisms, namely (a) dispersal during the Messinian salinity crisis (∼5.96–5.33 Ma) followed by range fragmentation and vicariance, and (b) Pleistocene colonization and recent processes of population subdivision (<2 Ma). Despite the two hypotheses postulate the role of climatic alterations and changes in landmass configuration on determining such disjunct distributions, estimates of the timing of lineage diversification have not been complemented so far with spatially‐explicit tests providing independent evidence on the proximate processes underlying geographical patterns of population genetic connectivity/fragmentation. Location Mediterranean‐Turanian region. Taxon Saltmarsh band‐winged grasshopper (Mioscirtus wagneri). Methods We integrate different sources of genetic (mtDNA and ddRADseq) and spatial information (configuration of emerged lands and niche modelling) to evaluate competing hypotheses of lineage diversification in the saltmarsh band‐winged grasshopper, a halophile species showing a classical Mediterranean‐Turanian disjunct distribution. Results Phylogenomic analyses reveal the presence of two North African cryptic lineages and support that trans‐Mediterranean populations of the species diverged in the Pleistocene, with evidence of post‐Messinian permeability of the Strait of Gibraltar to gene flow likely associated with sea level drops during glacial periods. Accordingly, spatial patterns of genetic differentiation are best explained by a scenario of population connectivity defined by the configuration of emerged landmasses and environmentally suitable habitats during glacial periods, a time when effective population sizes of the species peaked as inferred by genomic‐based demographic reconstructions. Main conclusions Our results support post‐Messinian colonization and Pleistocene diversification as the biogeographical scenario best explaining the trans‐Mediterranean disjunct distributions of halophilous organisms.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genomic insights into the origin of trans‐Mediterranean disjunct distributions

Noguerales

Knowles

Ortego

2020

Journal of Biogeography

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The sampled species are all typical elements of the Eurasian steppe biome, and represent different reproductive, life-history, and dispersal strategies. Collecting permits are given in Kirschner et al 19.…”

Section: Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Population grouping into two clusters, corresponding to extrazonal and zonal lineages, was the optimal solution for all investigated species based on Bayesian population assignment (Figure 2A). Though Kirschner et al 19 found further subgrouping within these clusters, the focus of our study are the contrasting demographic dynamics between extrazonal and zonal steppe lineages, so we constrained all analyses to the clusters at the highest hierarchical level, that is, K=2 for all species. Numbers of individuals and loci analysed are given in Supplementary Table 1.…”

Section: Clustering Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Congruent evolutionary responses of European steppe biota to late Quaternary climate change: insights from convolutional neural network based demographic modeling

Kirschner¹,

Perez²,

Záveská³

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Quaternary climatic oscillations had a large impact on European biogeography. Alternation of cold and warm stages caused recurrent glaciations, massive vegetation shifts and large-scale range alterations in many species. The Eurasian steppe biome and its grasslands are a noteworthy example; they underwent climate-driven, large-scale contractions during warm stages and expansions during cold stages. Here, we evaluate the impact of these range alterations on the late Quaternary demography of phylogenetically unrelated plant and insect species, typical of the Eurasian steppes. We contrast three explicit demographic hypotheses by applying a novel approach combining Convolutional Neural Networks with Approximate Bayesian Computation. We identified congruent demographic responses of cold stage expansions and warm stage contractions across all species, but also species-specific effects. The demographic history of Eurasian steppe biota reflects major paleoecological turning points of the late Quaternary, and emphasizes the role of the climate as a driving force behind patterns of genetic variance.

show abstract

“…In Central Europe, the remains of the more or less continuous Pleistocene Artemisia -Chenopodiaceae cold steppe (tundra-steppe) belt 1 , 5 can be found nowadays only in azonal steppe islands and in artificial, man-made steppe-like habitats 11 , 12 . In recent years, steppe plants and their shared history with the Eurasian steppe belt have come under the focus of much research 13 – 21 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The phylogeographic history of Krascheninnikovia reflects the development of dry steppes and semi-deserts in Eurasia

Seidl

Tremetsberger

Pfanzelt

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Constituting one of Earth’s major biomes, steppes are characterised by naturally treeless extra-tropical vegetation. The formation of the Eurasian steppe belt, the largest steppe region in the world, began in Central Asia during the Neogene. In the glacial stages of the Pleistocene, steppe displaced forest vegetation, which in turn recolonised the area during the warmer interglacial periods, thus affecting the distribution of plants adapted to these habitats. Krascheninnikovia ceratoides (Chenopodiaceae) is a plant characteristic of dry steppe and semi-desert formations. Earlier studies showed that the ancestor of this autochthonous steppe element originated in Central Asia during the Miocene/Pliocene, i.e., in the same region and at the same time as the first appearance of steppe vegetation. However, as the extant lineages of Krascheninnikovia ceratoides diversified only 2.2 ± 0.9 Mya, it may represent a modern element of current dry steppe and semi-desert formations, rather than a component of the first steppe precursors of the Miocene. As such, it may have capitalised on the climatic conditions of the cold stages of the Quaternary to expand its range and colonise suitable habitats outside of its area of origin. To test this hypothesis, phylogeographic methods were applied to high-resolution genotyping-by-sequencing data. Our results indicate that Krascheninnikovia originated in western Central Asia and the Russian Altai, then spread to Europe in the West, and reached North America in the East. The populations of eastern Central Asia and North America belong to the same clade and are genetically clearly distinct from the Euro-Siberian populations. Among the populations west of the Altai Mountains, the European populations are genetically distinct from all others, which could be the result of the separation of populations east and west of the Urals caused by the Pleistocene transgressions of the Caspian Sea.

show abstract

Long-term isolation of European steppe outposts boosts the biome’s conservation value

Cited by 54 publications

References 63 publications

Genomic insights into the origin of trans‐Mediterranean disjunct distributions

Genomic insights into the origin of trans‐Mediterranean disjunct distributions

Congruent evolutionary responses of European steppe biota to late Quaternary climate change: insights from convolutional neural network based demographic modeling

The phylogeographic history of Krascheninnikovia reflects the development of dry steppes and semi-deserts in Eurasia

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About