Floristic Relationships between Eastern Asia and Eastern North America

Phylogenetic Structure of Floridian Plant Communities Depends on Taxonomic and Spatial Scale

“…It has long been recognized that plants can show a high degree of evolutionary stasis (e.g., Li 1952, Wen 1999, Qian and Ricklefs 2004 and niche conservatism (Webb et al 2002, Ackerly 2003, Reich et al 2003. At the same time, evolutionary processes that cause differentiation of sister taxa, such as character displacement…”

Evidence for sibling species in Cryptocercus punctulatus, the wood roach, from variation in mitochondrial DNA and karyotype

“…Because Ciyptocercus adults are wingless, speciation by dispersal is unlikely. The locations in which Ciyptocercus is presently found represent the remnants of a large mesophytic forest that extended throughout much of the northern hemisphere during the Tertiary (Bei-Bienko, 1950;Li, 1952;Mamaev, 1972). Geological events, including mountain elevation, submergence, climatic change and glaciation, resulted in the fragmentation of a previously contiguous forest (Li, 1952).…”

Dispersals of Hyoscyameae and Mandragoreae (Solanaceae) from the New World to Eurasia in the early Miocene and their biogeographic diversification within Eurasia

“…However, these two landmasses separated from each other 100-120 million years ago (mya) (Bauer, 1993;Hay et al, 1999), and vicariance may be appropriate only to interpret the distributions of some anciently diverged plant taxa, such as Annonaceae and Alstroemeriaceae -Luzuriagaceae, that were dated to Cretaceous (Doyle et al, 2004;Vinnersten and Bremer, 2001). Many plant taxa disjunct between Eurasia and North America may represent elements of the once continuous Arcto-Tertiary or boreal floras in the Tertiary (Li, 1952;Tiffney, 1985;Tiffney and Manchester, 2001). Nevertheless, these disjunctions from the breakup of the once continuous Arcto-Tertiary or boreal floras may be restricted to the mid-Tertiary temperate elements (such as Anemone of Ranunculaceae and Viburnum of Caprifoliaceae) or early Tertiary tropical elements (such as Illiciaceae), which adapted to the climatic conditions in the high-latitude regions of the northern hemisphere (Tiffney and Manchester, 2001;Wen, 1999Wen, , 2001).…”