Molecular phylogeography and ecological niche modelling of a widespread herbaceous climber, Tetrastigma hemsleyanum (Vitaceae): insights into Plio–Pleistocene range dynamics of evergreen forest in subtropical China

Abstract

SummaryWarm-temperate evergreen (WTE) forest represents the typical vegetation type of subtropical China, but how its component species responded to past environmental change remains largely unknown. Here, we reconstruct the evolutionary history of Tetrastigma hemsleyanum, an herbaceous climber restricted to the WTE forest.Twenty populations were genotyped using chloroplast DNA sequences and nuclear microsatellite loci to assess population structure and diversity, supplemented by phylogenetic dating, ancestral area reconstructions and ecological niche modeling (ENM) of the species distributions during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and at present.Lineages in Southwest vs Central-South-East China diverged through climate/tectonicinduced vicariance of an ancestral southern range during the early Pliocene. Long-term stability in the Southwest contrasts with latitudinal range shifts in the Central-South-East region during the early-to-mid-Pleistocene. Genetic and ENM data strongly suggest refugial persistence in situ at the LGM.Pre-Quaternary environmental changes appear to have had a persistent influence on the population genetic structure of this subtropical WTE forest species. Our findings suggest relative demographic stability of this biome in China over the last glacial-interglacial cycle, in contrast with palaeobiome reconstructions showing that this forest biome retreated to areas of today's tropical South China during the LGM.

Long‐distance dispersal or postglacial contraction? Insights into disjunction between Himalaya–Hengduan Mountains and Taiwan in a cold‐adapted herbaceous genus, Triplostegia

“…2.15 Ma, 95% HPD: 0.48–5.32 Ma; node V in Figure S5). For this chronogram, BEAST provided an average substitution rate of 0.49 × 10 −9  subs/site/year, which is similar to that of Tetrastigma hemsleyanum derived from three cpDNA markers ( pet L– psb E, trn K– mat K, and rbc L; 0.50 × 10 −9  subs/site/year; Wang, Jiang et al., 2015). …”

“…6.79 Ma; 95% HPD: 2.50–13.6 Ma; node I in Figures 4 and S5). The late Miocene has been recognized as an important period of diversification for both woody and herbaceous plants (e.g., Heterobalanus , Meng et al., 2017; Cercidiphyllum , Qi et al., 2012; Tetracentron , Sun et al., 2014; Tetrastigma , Wang, Jiang et al., 2015). Differentiation within Triplostegia might have been initiated and driven by both uplift of the Hengduan Mts.…”

Molecular phylogeny, biogeography and ecological niche modelling ofCardiocrinum(Liliaceae): insights into the evolutionary history of endemic genera distributed across the Sino-Japanese floristic region

“…Wang, 1992;Liang, 1995;Wu and Wu, 1996;Sun, 2002a, b;Manchester et al, 2009) and phylogenetic and biogeographical surveys (Qiu et al, 2011;C. B. Wang et al, 2014;Y. Wang et al, 2015) have been informative in revealing the evolutionary assembly in the SJFR.…”

“…Additionally, it is well known that climate change plays a critical role in shaping the distribution of plants (Harrison et al, 2001;Qiu et al, 2011). The range dynamics in response to past climate change have been assessed based on ecological niche modelling (ENM) for a limited number of plants in the SJFR, such as Cercidiphyllum (Qi et al, 2012), Kalopanax septemlobus (Sakaguchi et al, 2012) and Tetrastigma hemsleyanum (Wang et al, 2015).…”

“…Sun, 2002a, b;Zhou et al, 2013), subtropical China (e.g. Wang et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2015), and East China-Japan-Korea (e.g. Qiu et al, 2009a, b, c;Qi et al, 2012;Sakaguchi et al, 2012), while few have been conducted throughout the SJFR.…”