Evolutionary history of Orinus thoroldii (Poaceae), endemic to the western Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in China

Phylogeography of Orinus (Poaceae), a dominant grass genus on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

“…In comparison with Europe and North America, the genetic structure and variation in Quaternary phylogeographic histories of plant species are much more pronounced in topographically complex regions of China, such as the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) (e.g. Zhang et al, 2005;Meng et al, 2007;Wang et al, 2009aWang et al, , 2014Opgenoorth et al, 2010;Xu et al, 2010;Qiu et al, 2011;Zou et al, 2012;Wen et al, 2014;Liu et al, 2015;Zhang et al, 2015;Wan et al, 2016).…”

“…The QTP is regarded as a hotspot for global biodiversity and supports many endemic genera and species (Wu, 1988;Mittermeier et al, 2005). The exceptional biodiversity of the QTP has been attributed to Quaternary climatic oscillations and Miocene-Pliocene or Miocene-Quaternary phases of uplifts of the QTP (Liu et al, 2002(Liu et al, , 2006Liu, 2004;Wang et al, 2009c;Mao et al, 2010;Xu et al, 2010;Jia et al, 2012;Wen et al, 2014;Liu et al, 2015). Climatic oscillations and uplifts may lead to allopatric speciation, detectable as genetic imprints that date to the Miocene, Pliocene or Quaternary.…”

“…Recent studies have shown evidence for the importance of Quaternary climatic oscillations in explaining genetic variability, distributions and demographic patterns observed in modern populations of QTP species (Tang & Shen, 1996;Bawa et al, 2010;Jia et al, 2011;Liu et al, 2012Liu et al, , 2014bLiu et al, , 2015Wan et al, 2016). In particular, many alpine species retreated to eastern or south-eastern refugia during glacial periods and recolonized the central plateau platform during the interglacial or postglacial stages (e.g.…”

“…In particular, many alpine species retreated to eastern or south-eastern refugia during glacial periods and recolonized the central plateau platform during the interglacial or postglacial stages (e.g. Zhang et al, 2005;Meng et al, 2007;Chen et al, 2008;Yang et al, 2008;Wu et al, 2010;Tian et al, 2011;Jia et al, 2012;Liu et al, 2015;Wan et al, 2016). In contrast, some other cold-tolerant alpine species were able to survive in situ through glacial periods in multiple ice-free refugia or microrefugia (Wang et al, 2009b;Opgenoorth et al, 2010;Jia et al, 2011;Ma et al, 2014).…”

A population genetics perspective on the evolutionary histories of three clonal, endemic, and dominant grass species of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau: Orinus (Poaceae)

“…In the present, the QTP exhibits substantial landscape heterogeneity; for example, its elevation range is from 3,000 to 5,000 m and represents a steep ecological gradient comprising diverse niches for a rich composition of species (Feng et al, ; Feng et al, ; Liu, Luo, Li, & Gao, ). With respect to environmental change, the QTP has undergone extreme ecological disturbances on an evolutionary timescale, especially rapid uplifts since the Miocene–Pliocene or Miocene–Quaternary epochs and subsequent climatic oscillations in the Quaternary (Liu, ; Liu, Gao, Chen, & Lu, ; Liu, Wang, Geng, et al, ; Liu, Wang, Wang, Hideaki, & Abbott, ; Liu et al, , ; Shi, ; Shi, Li, & Li, ; Wen, Zhang, Nie, Zhong, & Sun, ; Zheng & Nat, ). The biodiversity within the QTP is reflected within its flora, which harbors ca.…”