Abstract

BackgroundQuaternary climatic oscillations had tremendous effects on the current distribution of species. Here, we aim to elucidate the glacial history of Rhodiola crenulata, a perennial herb almost exclusively restricted to rock crevices on mountain peaks, and to test whether the nunatak or massif de refuge hypotheses could explain its distribution pattern.ResultsSix haplotypes and six ribotypes were detected in the cpDNA data set and the ITS data set, respectively. The divergence of R. crenulata and its closest relatives was dated have occurred ca. 0.65 Mya, during the Naynayxungla glaciation on the QTP. Mismatch distribution analysis suggested that the species experienced a range expansion around 0.31 Mya. Populations with high genetic and haplotype diversity were found on the QTP platform as well in the Hengduan Mountains. The ecological niche modeling results showed that there were suitable habitats on both the QTP platform and in the Hengduan Mountains during the LGM.ConclusionOur results support a scenario that both nunataks and the massif de refuge hypotheses could explain the distribution of R. crenulata. We also confirmed that Quaternary climatic oscillations could promote plant speciation in some circumstances. This study adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that the QTP plant lineages exhibited diverse reactions to the Quaternary climatic oscillations.

Highlights

  • Quaternary climatic oscillations had tremendous effects on the current distribution of species

  • We revealed six haplotypes determined by seven nucleotide substitutions

  • We used two molecular markers and ecological niche modeling to elucidate the glacial history of R. crenulata, a perennial herb almost exclusively restricted to rock crevices on mountain peaks

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Summary

Introduction

Quaternary climatic oscillations had tremendous effects on the current distribution of species. Mountains have long been recognized as island-like systems [1,2,3]. These so-called “sky islands” could provide us with important insights into evolutionary mechanisms of island systems. Two hypotheses exist relating to how alpine organisms survive glacial periods based on studies in the Alps and the north Atlantic area [8,9,10]: the “nunatak” hypothesis suggests survival on mountain tops within the ice sheet [11], whilst the massif de refuge hypothesis suggests that the periphery

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