Related Species Pairs Research Articles

Mixed responses among closely related Neotropical butterflies under extreme climate and land cover changes

Abstract Although the Neotropics harbour almost half of the world's butterfly species, there are few assessments regarding the potential future suitability of habitats for this important bioindicator in the region. Here, we test if butterfly species restricted to the Amazonia rainforest will be more affected by environmental change than closely related, more widespread species. We compiled 1149 individually checked observation records of three closely related species pairs with distinct distribution patterns (Amazonian‐restricted and widely distributed in the Neotropics). Using MaxEnt species distribution models, we projected the future habitat suitability (2050 and 2100) under low (SSP126) and high (SSP585) greenhouse gas emission scenarios and also considering reduced forested cover. Estimated models showed that in the low‐emission scenario, most species will potentially expand their suitable habitats and distributions by 3.7%–11.4% in 2100. Contrastingly, in the high‐emission scenario, most species will potentially lose habitat and distribution ranges by 9.6%–49.7% in 2100, regardless of their original range extent or phylogenetic relatedness. Only one widespread generalist species might benefit from this scenario in 2100, increasing its suitable habitat area by 30%. Both Amazonian range‐restricted and more widely distributed Neotropical butterflies may be equally negatively affected by global change in high‐emission scenarios. The fact that only one generalist species might expand its suitable habitat suggests a butterfly fauna homogenisation in the Neotropics. This prospect requires further testing to consider whether global change will affect not only restricted but generalist species as well.

Genomic evidence of reproductive isolation among the Semisulcospira snails radiated in the ancient Lake Biwa.

Determining species boundaries within rapidly evolving species flocks is essential to understanding their evolutionary history but is often difficult to achieve due to the lack of clear diagnostic features. Ancient Lake Biwa harbours endemic snails in the genus Semisulcospira, a species flock with 19 described species. However, their morphological and genetic similarity cast doubt on the validity of their species status and their histories of explosive speciation. To evaluate their species boundaries, we examine patterns of gene flow among the sympatric or parapatric nominal Semisulcospira species in Lake Biwa. The principal component analysis and Bayesian structure analysis based on the genome-wide genotyping dataset demonstrated no gene flow between five pairs of the Semisulcospira species. However, we found the hybrids between the closely related species pair, Semisulcospira decipiens and S. rugosa. Despite the presence of hybrids, these nominal species still formed their own genetic clusters. There are variations in the chromosome numbers among these species, potentially providing an intrinsic barrier to panmictic gene flow. Our study showed complete or partial reproductive isolation among the sympatric or parapatric Semisulcospira species, demonstrating that the Semisulcospira snails are real species assemblages radiated in Lake Biwa. Our study provides significant implications for establishing species boundaries among rapidly evolving freshwater species in ancient lakes.

Is competitive ability the key adaptation to benign environments? Revisiting experiments on closely related species of tidal plants.

A central goal in biology is to understand which traits underlie adaptation to different environments. Yet, few studies have examined the relative contribution of competitive ability towards adaptive divergence among species occupying distinct environments. Here, we test the relative importance of competitive ability as an adaptation to relatively benign versus challenging environments, using previously published studies of closely related species pairs of primarily tidal plants subjected to reciprocal removal with transplant experiments in nature. Subordinate species typically occupy more challenging environments and showed consistent evidence for adaptation to challenging conditions, with no significant competitive effect on non-local, dominant species. In contrast, dominant species typically occupy relatively benign environments and performed significantly better than non-local, subordinate species that faced competition from the dominant species. Surprisingly, when the two species were not allowed to compete, the subordinate species performed as well as the dominant species in the benign environments where the subordinate species do not occur. These results suggest that competitive ability is the most important adaptation distinguishing the species that occupy relatively benign environments. The limited scope and number of suitable experimental studies encourage future work to test if these results are generalizable across taxa and environments.

A Measure of the DNA Barcode Gap for Applied and Basic Research.

DNA barcoding has largely established itself as a mainstay for rapid molecular taxonomic identification in both academic and applied research. The use of DNA barcoding as a molecular identification method depends on a "DNA barcode gap"-the separation between the maximum within-species difference and the minimum between-species difference. Previous work indicates the presence of a gap hinges on sampling effort for focal taxa and their close relatives. Furthermore, both theory and empirical work indicate a gap may not occur for related pairs of biological species. Here, we present a novel evaluation approach in the form of an easily calculated set of nonparametric metrics to quantify the extent of proportional overlap in inter- and intraspecific distributions of pairwise differences among target species and their conspecifics. The metrics are based on a simple count of the number of overlapping records for a species falling within the bounds of maximum intraspecific distance and minimum interspecific distance. Our approach takes advantage of the asymmetric directionality inherent in pairwise genetic distance distributions, which has not been previously done in the DNA barcoding literature. We apply the metrics to the predatory diving beetle genus Agabus as a case study because this group poses significant identification challenges due to its morphological uniformity despite both relative sampling ease and well-established taxonomy. Results herein show that target species and their nearest neighbor species were found to be tightly clustered and therefore difficult to distinguish. Such findings demonstrate that DNA barcoding can fail to fully resolve species in certain cases. Moving forward, we suggest the implementation of the proposed metrics be integrated into a common framework to be reported in any study that uses DNA barcoding for identification. In so doing, the importance of the DNA barcode gap and its components for the success of DNA-based identification using DNA barcodes can be better appreciated.

Sympatry and parapatry among rocky reef cichlids of Lake Victoria explained by female mating preferences.

Work on the Lake Victoria cichlids Pundamilia nyererei (red dorsum males, deeper water), Pundamilia pundamilia (blue males, shallower water) and related species pairs has provided insights into processes of speciation. Here, we investigate the female mating behaviour of 5 Pundamilia species and 4 of their F1 hybrids through mate choice trials and paternity testing. Complete assortative mating was observed among all sympatric species. Parapatric species with similar depth habitat distributions interbred whereas other parapatric and allopatric species showed complete assortative mating. F1 hybrids mated exclusively with species accepted by females of the parental species. The existence of complete assortative mating among some currently allopatric species suggests that pre-existing mating barriers could be sufficient to explain current patterns of co-existence, although, of course, many other factors may be involved. Regardless of the mechanism, mating preferences may influence species distribution in potentially hybridizing taxa, such as in the adaptive radiation of cichlid fish. We suggest that this at least partly explains why some species fail to establish breeding populations in locations where they are occasionally recorded. Our results support the notion that the mating preferences of potentially cross-breeding species ought to be included in coexistence theory.

The extent of rapid colour change in male agamid lizards is unrelated to overall sexual dichromatism

AbstractDynamic colour change is widespread in ectothermic animals, but has primarily been studied in the context of background matching. For most species, we lack quantitative data on the extent of colour change across different contexts. It is also unclear whether and how colour change varies across body regions, and how overall sexual dichromatism relates to the extent of individual colour change. In this study, we obtained reflectance measures in response to different stimuli for males and females of six species of agamid lizards (Agamidae, sister family to Chameleonidae) comprising three closely related species pairs. We computed the colour volume in a lizard‐vision colour space occupied by males and females of each species and estimated overall sexual dichromatism based on the area of non‐overlapping male and female colour volumes. As expected, males had larger colour volumes than females, but the extent of colour change in males differed between species and between body regions. Notably, species that were most sexually dichromatic were not necessarily those in which males showed the greatest individual colour change. Our results indicate that the extent of colour change is independent of the degree of sexual dichromatism and demonstrate that colour change on different body regions can vary substantially even between pairs of closely related species.

Rediscovery of the presumably extinct fairy lantern Thismia kobensis (Thismiaceae) in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, with discussions on its taxonomy, evolutionary history, and conservation

Thismia (commonly known as fairy lanterns) is a genus of strange-looking, elusive, and non-photosynthetic plants. Thismia kobensis was first discovered in Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan in 1992, but it was believed to be extinct, given that its type locality was destroyed during the construction of an industrial complex. Here, we have reported the rediscovery of T. kobensis in Sanda City, Hyogo Prefecture, which is located approximately 30 km from the type locality. The new locality of T. kobensis is the northernmost distributional limit of Asian Thismiaceae species. As the original description of the species was based on a single museum specimen that lacked two of the three inner perianth lobes, we have provided an amended description of T. kobensis, highlighting its differences from the morphologically similar species T. huangii. Specifically, our morphological re-examination has revealed that T. kobensis is distinguishable from T. huangii by its short but expanded annulus and many short hairs on each stigma lobe. We have also demonstrated that the genetic distance between these taxa is comparable to that between other closely related species pairs. Finally, we have provided brief notes on the taxonomy, biogeography, evolutionary history, and conservation of T. kobensis and its closely related species, including an enigmatic species T. americana.

Extensive Sympatry and Frequent Hybridization of Ecologically Divergent Aquatic Plants on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

Hybridization has fascinated biologists in recent centuries for its evolutionary importance, especially in plants. Hybrid zones are commonly located in regions across environmental gradients due to more opportunities to contact and ecological heterogeneity. For aquatic taxa, intrazonal character makes broad overlapping regions in intermediate environments between related species. However, we have limited information on the hybridization pattern of aquatic taxa in alpines, especially submerged macrophytes. In this study, we aimed to test the hypotheses that niche overlap and hybridization might be extensive in related aquatic plants across an altitudinal gradient. We evaluated the niche overlap in three related species pairs on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and assessed the spatial pattern of hybrid populations. Obvious niche overlap and common hybridization were revealed in all three pairs of related aquatic plants. The plateau edge and river basins were broad areas for the sympatry of divergent taxa, where a large proportion of hybrid populations occurred. Hybrids are also discretely distributed in diverse habitats on the plateau. Differences in the extent of niche overlap, genetic incompatibility and phylogeographic history might lead to variation differences in hybridization patterns among the three species pairs. Our results suggested that plateau areas are a hotspot for ecologically divergent aquatic species to contact and mate and implied that hybridization may be important for the freshwater biodiversity of highlands.

A cost-benefit analysis of leaf carbon economy with consideration of seasonal changes in leaf traits for sympatric deciduous and evergreen congeners: implications for their coexistence.

Deciduous and evergreen species, which have evolved repeatedly across different clades, can coexist in a given environment despite substantial differences in their leaf traits. It remains unclear how these two groups differ in the development of leaf traits over their lifespans or how their carbon economy - the balance between lifetime carbon gain and leaf construction cost - is determined. We determined the photosynthetic rate (Aarea ), leaf mass per area (LMA), leaf mechanical strength and leaf water potentials and estimated the lifetime carbon gain and leaf construction cost of five closely related pairs of evergreen and deciduous species co-occurring in a temperate forest. Aarea of evergreen species was lower during their first spring, similar in summer and higher than the autumn until the following spring than their deciduous counterparts. Leaf mechanical strength, osmotic pressures and LMA increased continuously towards winter in evergreen species while remaining largely constant in deciduous species. The ratio of lifetime carbon gain to leaf construction cost was similar between the two groups. The additional cost associated with enduring winter is paid back by a longer revenue of photosynthesis in evergreen species, allowing evergreen and deciduous leaf habits to coexist in the seasonal environment.

The incisive foramen as character in distinguishing morphologically similar species of mammals

An analysis of the morphology and variability of the size and shape of a key morphological structure in the rostral part of the skull—the incisive foramen—has been carried out. It is shown that incisive foramina are variable morphological structures, the features of which are group-specific (at the level of genera and families), and in some cases also species-specific. At both these levels, the shape and size of the incisive foramen have features that can serve as criteria for species identification by osteological patterns. Their location is important for diagnosis because these structures are preserved in most specimens that have suffered various kinds of damage (e.g. in fodder residues of carnivorous mammals or in owl pellets), and their placement in the anterior part of the bony palate as well as them being protected from the sides with rows of teeth makes these structures invulnerable to trauma-related variation. It is shown that there is a specific structure (size, location, and shape) of incisive foramina at the level of taxonomic groups of all ranks, from orders to species. The analysis was performed mainly on the examples of different groups of rodents as an order, represented by the largest number of pairs of close species. Examples with several different groups, in particular with different pairs of species of voles, mice, mole rats, ground squirrels, and others are considered. Examples with differences in close pairs of species in other groups (white-toothed shrews, polecats, roe deer, etc.) are also known. In all pairs of related species, a pattern was found, according to which species that are restricted to steppe ecosystems have the smallest incisive foramina, while species from wetland habitats have large ones. In many cases, groups of genera and families well differ in the shape and location of incisive foramina, and close pairs of species differ well in the size of these structures (primarily in length), although it is important to always consider the ontogenetic age of specimens: in young individuals, the incisive foramina are naturally small, similar to incisive foramina in other species, which are characterized by small incisive foramina in general. Based on the known data on the role of incisive foramina and the Jacobson organ in the life of mammals, hypotheses have been considered that may explain the differences in species and genera by the structure (size, location, and shape) of incisive foramina.

Thermal conditions predict intraspecific variation in senescence rate in frogs and toads

Variation in temperature is known to influence mortality patterns in ectotherms. Even though a few experimental studies on model organisms have reported a positive relationship between temperature and actuarial senescence (i.e., the increase in mortality risk with age), how variation in climate influences the senescence rate across the range of a species is still poorly understood in free-ranging animals. We filled this knowledge gap by investigating the relationships linking senescence rate, adult lifespan, and climatic conditions using long-term capture-recapture data from multiple amphibian populations. We considered two pairs of related anuran species from the Ranidae (Rana luteiventris and Rana temporaria) and Bufonidae (Anaxyrus boreas and Bufo bufo) families, which diverged more than 100 Mya and are broadly distributed in North America and Europe. Senescence rates were positively associated with mean annual temperature in all species. In addition, lifespan was negatively correlated with mean annual temperature in all species except A. boreas In both R. luteiventris and A. boreas, mean annual precipitation and human environmental footprint both had negligible effects on senescence rates or lifespans. Overall, our findings demonstrate the critical influence of thermal conditions on mortality patterns across anuran species from temperate regions. In the current context of further global temperature increases predicted by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scenarios, a widespread acceleration of aging in amphibians is expected to occur in the decades to come, which might threaten even more seriously the viability of populations and exacerbate global decline.

Phenological displacement is uncommon among sympatric angiosperms

Interactions between species can influence successful reproduction, resulting in reproductive character displacement, where the similarity of reproductive traits - such as flowering time - among close relatives growing together differ from when growing apart. Evidence for the overall prevalence and direction of this phenomenon, and its stability under environmental change, remains untested across large scales. Using the power of crowdsourcing, we gathered phenological information from over 40 000 herbarium specimens, and investigated displacement in flowering time across 110 animal-pollinated species in the eastern USA. Overall, flowering time displacement is not common across large scales. However, displacement is generally greater among species pairs that flower close in time, regardless of direction. Furthermore, with climate change, the flowering times of closely related species are predicted, on average, to shift further apart by the mid-21st century. We demonstrate that the degree and direction of phenological displacement among co-occurring closely related species pairs varies tremendously. However, future climate change may alter the differences in reproductive timing among many of these species pairs, which may have significant consequences for species interactions and gene flow. Our study provides one promising path towards understanding how the phenological landscape is structured and may respond to future environmental change.

Phylogenetic distance and resource availability mediate direction and strength of plant interactions in a competition experiment.

Phylogenetic ecology uses evolutionary history to improve understanding of plant interactions. Phylogenetic distance can mediate plant interactions such as competition (e.g., via limiting similarity) and facilitation (e.g., via niche complementarity), influencing community assembly patterns. Previous research has found evidence both for and against a relationship between phylogenetic distance and the strength of plant interactions, and has found that other factors, such as trait differences, may be more influential. In addition to phylogenetic distance and species' traits, environmental conditions can also influence competition, with facilitative interactions-particularly among distantly related species-potentially becoming more pronounced under stressful, resource-limited conditions. We tested the prediction that greater phylogenetic distance is associated with decreased competition in a greenhouse experiment using plant species of the North American tallgrass prairie. We calculated the Relative Interaction Index for 81 species pairs using plant height, leaf length, and biomass as indicators of performance. We found that phylogenetic distance alone did not significantly affect competition. However, the interaction between phylogenetic distance and stressful conditions (sandier soils with low nutrient availability and water retention vs. resource-rich potting soil) altered plant traits and competition. Under stressful conditions, more distantly related species competed more strongly, leading to smaller plants. Conversely, under benign conditions more distantly related species pairs competed less and were larger. These results were contrary to our expectations that distant relatives would compete less under stressful conditions. Our experiment provides evidence that, while relatedness alone may not drive competition, phylogenetic distance can nonetheless be influential through interactions with environmental conditions.

Evolution of physiological performance in invasive plants under climate change.

Climate change is expected to promote biological invasions. Invasive species often undergo adaptive evolution, but whether invasive species show greater evolutionary potential than their native counterparts under climate change has rarely been evaluated. We conducted experimental evolution trials comparing the evolution of physiological performance (light-saturated photosynthetic rate, Amax ) of coexisting and closely related (1) invasive-native species pairs from Arid, Alpine, and Antarctic ecosystems, and (2) an invasive-naturalized species pair from a Mediterranean ecosystem differing in invasiveness. Experiments were conducted over three generations and under four environments of temperature and water availability resembling typical and climate change conditions in each ecosystem. Amax increased across generations for most species. Invasive species from Arid, Alpine, and Antarctic ecosystems showed similar, greater, and lesser evolution of Amax than their native counterparts, respectively. The Mediterranean invasive species showed greater evolution of Amax than its naturalized congener. Similar patterns were observed in all four experimental environments for each ecosystem, suggesting that comparable responses may be expected under climate change scenarios. All study species showed a positive association between Amax and reproductive output. Results suggest that invasive plants and their native (or naturalized) counterparts would show similar evolutionary responses of physiological performance to global warming and drought.

Variation of foliar silicon concentrations in temperate forbs: effects of soil silicon, phylogeny and habitat

Silicon (Si) accumulation is known to alleviate various biotic and abiotic stressors in plants with potential ecological consequences. However, for dicotyledonous plants our understanding of Si variation remains limited. We conducted a comparative experimental study to investigate (1) interspecific variation of foliar Si concentrations across 37 dicotyledonous forbs of temperate grasslands, (2) intraspecific variation in foliar Si concentration in response to soil Si availability, the influence of (3) phylogenetic relatedness, and (4) habitat association to moisture. Foliar Si differed markedly (approx. 70-fold) across the investigated forbs, with some species exhibiting Si accumulation similar to grasses. Foliar Si increased with soil Si availability, but the response varied across species: species with higher Si accumulation capacity showed a stronger response, indicating that they did not actively upregulate Si uptake under low soil Si availability. Foliar Si showed a pronounced phylogenetic signal, i.e., closely related species exhibited more similar foliar Si concentrations than distantly related species. Significant differences in foliar Si concentration within closely related species pairs nevertheless support that active Si uptake and associated high Si concentrations has evolved multiple times in forbs. Foliar Si was not higher in species associated with drier habitats, implying that in dicotyledonous forbs of temperate grasslands high foliar Si is not an adaptive trait to withstand drought. Our results demonstrated considerable inter- and intraspecific variation in foliar Si concentration in temperate forbs. This variation should have pervasive, but so far understudied, ecological consequences for community composition and functioning of temperate grasslands under land-use and climate change.

Do phylogeny and habitat influence admixture among four North American chickadee (family: Paridae) species?

Hybridization is an important aspect of speciation, yet questions remain about the ecological and environmental factors that influence hybridization among wild populations. We used microsatellite genotyping data and collected land cover and environmental data for four North American chickadee species: black‐capped Poecile atricapillus, mountain P. gambeli, chestnut‐backed P. rufescens and boreal P. hudsonicus chickadees. Combining these datasets, we sought to examine whether there is evidence of admixture between four widely distributed North American chickadee species; whether admixture takes place more often between more closely related species pairs or between species pairs with more similar ecological preferences; and whether certain habitat types have higher rates of admixture than others. We detected admixture for five of the six species pairs analyzed (chestnut‐backed–mountain chickadee pair showed no evidence of admixture), and found rates of admixture varied geographically, and within taxa pairs. Admixture was higher among less closely related species than more closely related species, although habitat similarity was not a significant predictor. Finally, rates of admixture were higher in urban parkland habitats than deciduous, mixed or coniferous forest habitats. Our work indicates admixture occurs frequently among North American parids, and habitat and environmental variation may play an important role in the frequency and geographic distribution of hybridization.

Comparative analysis of testis transcriptomes in laboratory cohorts of recently diverged allopatric Drosophila nasuta nasuta and Drosophila nasuta albomicans

Abstract Expression divergence, primarily defined as the proportion of differentially expressed genes, is one of the key parameters in assessing the evolutionary dynamics of diverging species. Most contributions toward expression differences between species and sexes come from testis tissue, which is the repertoire of rapidly diverging genes that can have a direct impact on speciation. To address the evolutionary dynamics among recently diverged Drosophila species, we analyzed testis transcriptomes of two members of nasuta subgroup of the immigrans species group: Drosophila nasuta nasuta and Drosophila nasuta albomicans. Using RNA-Seq and de novo assembly approach, we found that 96% of the transcriptome exhibited a conserved pattern of gene expression, typical of the recently diverged species'. The 4% of the characterized transcriptomes showing expression divergence had no influence of coding sequence variations. Four of the orthologous testicular genes are under relaxed positive selection, and the remaining 98% (n = 597) exhibit strong purifying selection irrespective of their expression patterns. Overall, our analyses suggest that the recent divergence of this closely related species pair has had a minimal impact on coding sequences and their expression, thereby providing useful insights into early stages of species divergence.

Closely related tree species support distinct communities of seed‐associated fungi in a lowland tropical forest

Abstract Previous theoretical work has highlighted the potential for natural enemies to mediate the coexistence of species with similar life histories via density‐dependent effects on survivorship. For plant pathogens to play this role, they must differ in their ability to infect or induce disease in different host plant species. In tropical forests characterized by high diversity, these effects must extend to phylogenetically closely related species pairs. Mortality at the seed and seedling stage strongly influences the abundance and distribution of tropical tree species, but the host preferences and spatial distributions of fungi are rarely determined. We examined how host species identity, relatedness and seed viability influence the composition of fungal communities associated with seeds of four co‐occurring pioneer trees (Cecropia insignis, C. longipes, C. peltata and Jacaranda copaia). Seeds were buried in mesh bags in five common gardens in the understorey of a lowland tropical forest in Panama and retrieved at intervals from 1 to 30 months. A subset of the seeds in each bag was used to determine germination success. One half of each remaining seed was tested for viability; and the other half was used to culture and identify seed‐infecting fungi. Seeds were infected by fungi after burial. Although fungal communities differed in viable versus dead seeds, and across burial locations, community composition primarily varied as a function of plant species identity (30.7% of variation in community composition vs. 4.5% for viability and location together), even for congeneric Cecropia species. Phylogenetic reconstruction showed that relatedness of fungi mostly reflected differences between Jacaranda (Bignoniaceae) and Cecropia (Urticaceae). Although the proportion of germinable seeds decreased gradually over time for all species, intraspecific variation in survival was high at the same location (e.g. ranging from 0% to 100% for C. peltata) suggesting variable exposure or susceptibility to seed pathogens. Synthesis. Our study provides evidence under field conditions that congeneric tree species with similar life history traits differ markedly in seed‐associated fungal communities when exposed to the same soil‐borne fungi. This is a critical first step supporting pathogen‐mediated coexistence of closely related tree species.

A DNA barcode library for ground beetles of Germany: the genus Pterostichus Bonelli, 1810 and allied taxa (Insecta, Coleoptera, Carabidae).

Species of the ground beetle genus Pterostichus Bonelli, 1810 are some of the most common carabids in Europe. This publication provides a first comprehensive DNA barcode library for this genus and allied taxa including Abax Bonelli, 1810, Molops Bonelli, 1810, Poecilus Bonelli, 1810, and Stomis Clairville, 1806 for Germany and Central Europe in general. DNA barcodes were analyzed from 609 individuals that represent 51 species, including sequences from previous studies as well as more than 198 newly generated sequences. The results showed a 1:1 correspondence between BIN and traditionally recognized species for 44 species (86%), whereas two (4%) species were characterized by two BINs. Three BINs were found for one species (2%), while one BIN for two species was revealed for two species pairs (8%). Low interspecific distances with maximum pairwise K2P values below 2.2% were found for four species pairs. Haplotype sharing was found for two closely related species pairs: Pterostichus adstrictus Eschscholtz, 1823/Pterostichus oblongopunctatus (Fabricius, 1787) and Pterostichus nigrita Paykull, 1790/Pterostichus rhaeticus Heer, 1837. In contrast to this, high intraspecific sequence divergences with values above 2.2% were shown for three species (Molops piceus (Panzer, 1793), Pterostichus panzeri (Panzer, 1805), Pterostichus strenuus (Panzer, 1793)). Summarizing the results, the present DNA barcode library does not only allow the identification of most of the analyzed species, but also provides valuable information for alpha-taxonomy as well as for ecological and evolutionary research. This library represents another step in building a comprehensive DNA barcode library of ground beetles as part of modern biodiversity research.

Genomic signatures of convergent adaptation to Alpine environments in three Brassicaceae species.

It has long been discussed to what extent related species develop similar genetic mechanisms to adapt to similar environments. Most studies documenting such convergence have either used different lineages within species or surveyed only a limited portion of the genome. Here, we investigated whether similar or different sets of orthologous genes were involved in genetic adaptation of natural populations of three related plant species to similar environmental gradients in the Alps. We used whole‐genome pooled population sequencing to study genome‐wide SNP variation in 18 natural populations of three Brassicaceae (Arabis alpina, Arabidopsis halleri, and Cardamine resedifolia) from the Swiss Alps. We first de novo assembled draft reference genomes for all three species. We then ran population and landscape genomic analyses with ~3 million SNPs per species to look for shared genomic signatures of selection and adaptation in response to similar environmental gradients acting on these species. Genes with a signature of convergent adaptation were found at significantly higher numbers than expected by chance. The most closely related species pair showed the highest relative over‐representation of shared adaptation signatures. Moreover, the identified genes of convergent adaptation were enriched for nonsynonymous mutations, suggesting functional relevance of these genes, even though many of the identified candidate genes have hitherto unknown or poorly described functions based on comparison with Arabidopsis thaliana. We conclude that adaptation to heterogeneous Alpine environments in related species is partly driven by convergent evolution, but that most of the genomic signatures of adaptation remain species‐specific.