Origin and diversification of Cristaria (Malvaceae) parallel Andean orogeny and onset of hyperaridity in the Atacama Desert

Historical assembly of Zygophyllaceae in the Atacama Desert

“…There are several plant groups which diversified in the hyperarid Atacama Desert such as Cristaria, Heliotropium, Nolana, and Oxalis, all of which represent annual, short-lived perennials or shrubs and mostly go back to single colonizations with relatively short life cycles (Luebert and Wen 2008, Dillon et al 2009, Heibl and Renner 2012, Böhnert et al 2019. Conversely, Zygophyllaceae colonized the Atacama Desert five times independently and represents one of the very few families with truly woody representatives in this extreme habitat.…”

“…In addition to trans-Andean dispersal and Andean vicariance of closely related taxa (Luebert 2011, Böhnert et al 2019, Palazzesi et al (2012) suggested an alternative scenario for the genus Viviana (Vivianaceae). Based on pollen records from Patagonia, they hypothesized an origin of the genus in southern South America during the Miocene and a subsequent northward displacement in parallel with increasing aridity during the late Miocene.…”

“…Recent evidence suggests that the age of aridity can be dated back to the Miocene or even Oligocene (Dunai et al 2005). However, we still lack a detailed knowledge of the process, since an understanding of the timing of the onset of aridity remains elusive (Ritter et al 2018), and only few studies have addressed the timing of diversifications of Atacama Desert plant groups (e.g., Luebert and Wen 2008, Dillon et al 2009, Heibl and Renner 2012, Böhnert et al 2019.…”

Quaternary diversification of a columnar cactus in the driest place on earth

“…Regular advection fog that meets the west‐facing slopes of the coastal cordillera facilitates the establishment of fog oases (lomas), in which the majority of species occur (Rundel et al, 1991). Although few molecular phylogenetic studies have investigated the origin, divergence times, and causes for diversification of Atacama Desert lineages, individual studies have demonstrated a correlation between Andean uplift, the onset of hyperaridity in the Atacama, and diversification in parallel to aridification (Gengler‐Nowak, 2002; Luebert and Wen, 2008; Dillon et al, 2009; Heibl and Renner, 2012; Böhnert et al, 2019). Despite these studies, our knowledge of the evolution of the Atacama flora and, in particular, associated abiotic drivers of plant diversification in this extremely arid climate remains fragmentary.…”

Vegetation growth and landscape genetics of Tillandsia lomas at their dry limits in the Atacama Desert show fine‐scale response to environmental parameters

“…As a consequence, terrestrial life co-evolved with the landscape and its water-limited processes over millions of years (Böhnert et al, 2019;Knief et al, 2020;Mörchen et al, 2019;Zúñiga-Reinoso & Predel, 2019).…”