Abstract
This study investigated the influences of geographic isolation and climate fluctuation on the genetic diversity, speciation, and biogeography of the genus Pseudovelia (Hemiptera: Veliidae) in subtropical China and tropic Indo-China Peninsula. Species nucleotide and haplotype diversities decreased with reduction in species distribution limits. The gene tree was congruent with the taxonomy of monophyly, except for four species, P. contorta, P. extensa, P. tibialis tibialis, and P. vittiformis. The conflicts between the genes and species tree could be due to long-term isolation and incomplete lineage sorting. Diversification analysis showed that the diversification rate (0.08 sp/My shifted to 0.5 sp/My) changed at 2.1 Ma, which occurred in the early Pleistocene period. Ancestral area reconstruction suggested that subtropical species possibly evolved from the tropics region (i.e., Indo-China Peninsula). Results implied that narrow endemics harbored relatively low genetic diversity because of small effective population and genetic drift. Radiation of subtropical Pseudovelia species was rapidly promoted by Pleistocene climate fluctuations and geographic isolation. The acute rising of the Hengduan Mountain with the entire uplift of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau induced the initial differentiation of Pseudovelia species. These results highlighted the importance of geographical isolation and climate changes in promoting speciation in mountain habitat islands.
Highlights
Understanding speciation is fundamental in ecology and evolutionary biology[1]
Of the 22 recognized species and two undescribed species, only P. tibialis tibialis is widely distributed and most species have adapted to localized distributions (i.e. P. buccula, P. contorta, P. feuerborni, P. extensa, P. intonsa, P. pusilla, P. sexualis, P. sichuanensis, P. spiculata, P. sp[2], P. ullrichi, P. vittiformis) or restricted to single mountain massifs[16,19,20]
The nucleotide and haplotype diversities of Pseudovelia species ranged from 0.00000 to 0.01892 as well as from 0.000 to 1.000, respectively (Table 1). Both species nucleotide and haplotype diversities decreased with reduction in species distribution limits (Figs 1 and S1), with the lowest value (Hd = 0, π = 0) found in narrow endemics (Table 1)
Summary
Understanding speciation is fundamental in ecology and evolutionary biology[1]. diversification patterns and potential driving factors must be elucidated with accurate divergence time estimation to predict species/population and historical demographic changes as well as implement effective conservation in future biodiversity[2]. For terrestrial mountain animals with relatively short generation times, the strong dispersal ability induces them to solely respond by shifting their ranges toward ecologically suitable areas[15] Another reason is that the complex climate changes in Asia might have various influences on speciation by comparison with the well-known history of climate glaciations in North America and western Europe[11]. Of the 22 recognized species and two undescribed species, only P. tibialis tibialis is widely distributed and most species have adapted to localized distributions (i.e. P_buccula, P. contorta, P. feuerborni, P. extensa, P. intonsa, P. pusilla, P. sexualis, P. sichuanensis, P. spiculata, P. sp[2], P. ullrichi, P. vittiformis) or restricted to single mountain massifs (i.e., narrow endemics including P. anthracina, P. fulva, P. globosa, P. hsiaoi, P. longiseta, P. longitarsa, P. lundbladi, P. piliformis, P. recava, P. sp[1], P. taiwanensis)[16,19,20] The use of this genus as a study model can clearly define the diagnostic characteristics among closely related species as well as species boundaries; this model can eliminate ambiguous taxonomic problem and enables the establishment of a priori precise designation of species for potential analysis of conflicts between gene and species tree (i.e., incomplete lineage sorting and hybridization)[10]
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