Molecular data and ecological niche modelling reveal a highly dynamic evolutionary history of the East Asian Tertiary relict Cercidiphyllum (Cercidiphyllaceae)

Abstract

Summary• East Asia's temperate deciduous forests served as sanctuary for Tertiary relict trees, but their ages and response to past climate change remain largely unknown. To address this issue, we elucidated the evolutionary and population demographic history of Cercdiphyllum, comprising species in China ⁄ Japan (Cercdiphyllum japonicum) and central Japan (Cercdiphyllum magnificum).• Fifty-three populations were genotyped using chloroplast and ribosomal DNA sequences and microsatellite loci to assess molecular structure and diversity in relation to past (Last Glacial Maximum) and present distributions based on ecological niche modelling.• Late Tertiary climate cooling was reflected in a relatively recent speciation event, dated at the Mio-⁄ Pliocene boundary. During glacials, the warm-temperate C. japonicum experienced massive habitat losses in some areas (north-central China ⁄ north Japan) but increases in others (southwest ⁄ -east China, East China Sea landbridge, south Japan). In China, the Sichuan Basin and ⁄ or the middle-Yangtze were source areas of postglacial northward recolonization; in Japan, this may have been facilitated through introgressive hybridization with the cool-temperate C. magnificum.• Our findings challenge the notion of relative evolutionary and demographic stability of Tertiary relict trees, and may serve as a guideline for assessing the impact of Neogene climate change on the evolution and distribution of East Asian temperate plants.

Long‐distance dispersal or postglacial contraction? Insights into disjunction between Himalaya–Hengduan Mountains and Taiwan in a cold‐adapted herbaceous genus, Triplostegia

“…6.79 Ma; 95% HPD: 2.50–13.6 Ma; node I in Figures 4 and S5). The late Miocene has been recognized as an important period of diversification for both woody and herbaceous plants (e.g., Heterobalanus , Meng et al., 2017; Cercidiphyllum , Qi et al., 2012; Tetracentron , Sun et al., 2014; Tetrastigma , Wang, Jiang et al., 2015). Differentiation within Triplostegia might have been initiated and driven by both uplift of the Hengduan Mts.…”

Reciprocal translocation identified in Vigna angularis dominates the wild population in East Japan

“…4). Particularly in northern Japan, populations could roughly be divided into two groups, the Sea of Japan-side group and the Pacific Ocean-side group (Iwasaki et al 2012;Qi et al 2012;Honjo et al 2004).…”

Molecular phylogeny, biogeography and ecological niche modelling ofCardiocrinum(Liliaceae): insights into the evolutionary history of endemic genera distributed across the Sino-Japanese floristic region

“…Wang et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2015), and East China-Japan-Korea (e.g. Qiu et al, 2009a, b, c;Qi et al, 2012;Sakaguchi et al, 2012), while few have been conducted throughout the SJFR. Besides, it also needs to be emphasized that numerous phylogeographical studies within the SJFR have focused on individual species, while a limited number have been conducted on multiple pairs of sister species or groups of closely related taxa (Qiu et al, 2011).…”

“…Additionally, it is well known that climate change plays a critical role in shaping the distribution of plants (Harrison et al, 2001;Qiu et al, 2011). The range dynamics in response to past climate change have been assessed based on ecological niche modelling (ENM) for a limited number of plants in the SJFR, such as Cercidiphyllum (Qi et al, 2012), Kalopanax septemlobus (Sakaguchi et al, 2012) and Tetrastigma hemsleyanum (Wang et al, 2015).…”