Large mountains make small barriers: Species composition and spatial dynamics history of the Odorrana schmackeri complex in the karst area of Guizhou, China

Abstract

Aim Species delimitation is the basis for identifying diversity, and the genetic structure and demographic history of species can shed light on the effects of geological and historical climate change, thus allowing us to develop appropriate conservation and management strategies. In this study, we aimed to clarify the species composition and geographic distribution of the Odorrana schmackeri complex in the karst areas of Guizhou, explore the influence of geological and climatic events on its evolutionary and demographic history, predict the impact of future climate on the distribution area, and investigate the ecological niche differentiation of the complex. Location Karst areas of Guizhou Province, China. Methods Using three mitochondrial (12S, 16S, and ND2) and four nuclear gene (BDNF, RAG1, RAG2, and Tyr) sequences as genetic markers, Bayesian inference (BI) was used to infer phylogenetic relationships and BEAST was used to assess divergence times. We assessed and estimated demographic histories using neutrality tests, mismatch distributions, and Bayesian skyline plots (BSPs). Using a species distribution prediction model, past and future suitable ranges were assessed. Niche equivalency and similarity of the three species of the complex were examined using the R package “ecospat.” Results The O. schmackeri complex in Guizhou Province consists of three species: O. kweichowensis, O. huanggangensis, and O. hejiangensis. Demographic analyses indicated that population expansion of O. kweichowensis and O. huanggangensis occurred during the late Pleistocene, coinciding with the expansion of suitable habitat during the last ice age and the mid‐Holocene. Our projections suggest that potentially suitable habitat for all three species will contract under all future climate scenarios. The ecological niche similarity test showed significant climatic ecological niche differentiation between O. huanggangensis and O. kweichowensis, and between O. kweichowensis and O. hejiangensis. Main conclusions The Guizhou distribution of the O. schmackeri complex comprises three species, most of whose recent common ancestors diverged at the early Miocene (ca. 14.30 Ma) and split at the late Miocene (ca. 8–9 Ma). The Miaoling Mountains were not a geographical barrier to the dispersal of O. kweichowensis and O. huanggangensis, and the Dalou Mountains, Foding‐Wuling‐Leigong‐Yueliang Mountains were geographical distribution boundaries in the formation of the current distribution of the three species in Guizhou Province. No population expansion was detected within O. hejiangensis. Population expansion in the late Pleistocene for O. kweichowensis and O. huanggangensis was less affected by the glacial period, and was related to the presence of refugia. Considering future climate change, the focus should be on suitable habitats, mainly in nature reserves. In conclusion, this study highlights the importance of the use of genetic markers for the identification of species in the complex, the small geographical barrier of the Miaoling Mounta...

New progress in exploring the mechanisms underlying extraordinarily high biodiversity in global hotspots and their implications for conservation

“…Jiang, Yan et al (2022) mapped the spatial distributions of 1028 endemic true bugs in China and investigated the distribution and diversity of endemic true bugs for four family groups (i.e., Miridae, Lygaeoidea, Pentatomidae, and Reduviidae), the environmental factors shaping these diversity patterns, and the effectiveness of China's Protected areas (PAs) in safeguarding their diversity. They found that most (84.9%) diversity hotspots for total species were located in mountainous areas of southern China.…”

“…fissipes populations. Jiang, Dong et al (2022) found Miaoling Mountains were not a geographical barrier to the dispersal of Schmacker's frog, Odorrana kweichowensis and O . huanggangensis , and the Dalou Mountains, Foding‐Wuling‐Leigong‐Yueliang Mountains were geographical distribution boundaries in the formation of the current distribution of the three species in Guizhou Province.…”

Population genetics and ecological niche modelling provide insights into management strategies of the herbivorous pest Phytomyza horticola (Diptera: Agromyzidae)

“…Past climatic changes, particularly during the late Pleistocene, have been important drivers of variations in genetic structure, demographic fluctuations and the current distributions of many extant species (Hewitt, 2000(Hewitt, , 2004Ye et al, 2014Ye et al, , 2022Zhang et al, 2022). Geological events such as the formation of mountain systems can generate physical barriers to dispersal, resulting in population differentiation and speciation (Che et al, 2010;Jiang et al, 2022;Zhu et al, 2022). Contemporary factors, including human-mediated factors, can also strongly affect geographic distributions and genetic variations within a population (Cao et al, 2017(Cao et al, , 2021Drahun et al, 2021;Xu et al, 2022).…”

“…Contemporary factors, including human-mediated factors, can also strongly affect geographic distributions and genetic variations within a population (Cao et al, 2017(Cao et al, , 2021Drahun et al, 2021;Xu et al, 2022). Determining how past and present factors have contributed to population genetic patterns enables a deeper understanding of the evolutionary history and ecological adaptations of a species, which contributes to the development of appropriate conservation and management strategies (Drahun et al, 2021;Jiang et al, 2022;Sherpa et al, 2022;Wang et al, 2021;Ye et al, 2022).…”

“…Population genetics has been used to understand patterns of genetic variation, such as genetic diversity, population structure and population responses to past climate change (Fedorov et al, 2020;Jiang et al, 2022;Ye et al, 2014Ye et al, , 2022Zhang et al, 2022). The characteristics of mitochondrial DNA, including maternal inheritance, moderate evolutionary rates, clear evolutionary patterns and nearly neutral evolution, make it suitable for studying population-level evolutionary patterns (Avise et al, 1987;Barraclough & Nee, 2001); thus, it has been widely used as a molecular marker in population genetic studies of insects and other fauna (Drahun et al, 2021;Jiang et al, 2022;Pérez-Alquicira et al, 2019;Sun et al, 2022;Ye et al, 2022). In recent years, ecological niche modelling (ENM) has become a popular tool for coupling analyses with population genetic studies.…”