What triggers the rising of an intraspecific biodiversity hotspot? Hints from the agile frog

Canestrelli, Daniele; Bisconti, Roberta; Sacco, Florinda; Nascetti, Giuseppe

doi:10.1038/srep05042

Cited by 33 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 79 publications

(116 reference statements)

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“…Three diversity indices also provide evidence in support of the hypothesis (Figs 3 and 5). Relatively high levels of genetic diversity are expected in refugial areas for temperate species, due to the survival of large, demographically stable populations over a long period of past climatic oscillations [77, 78]. Here we show, using both mtDNA (nucleotide diversity) and microsatellite markers (allelic richness and expected heterozygosity) that there are hotspots of genetic diversity for the common vole in the Carpathians and their close proximity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Between the Balkans and the Baltic: Phylogeography of a Common Vole Mitochondrial DNA Lineage Limited to Central Europe

et al. 2016

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The common vole (Microtus arvalis) has been a model species of small mammal for studying end-glacial colonization history. In the present study we expanded the sampling from central and eastern Europe, analyzing contemporary genetic structure to identify the role of a potential ‘northern glacial refugium’, i.e. a refugium at a higher latitude than the traditional Mediterranean refugia. Altogether we analyzed 786 cytochrome b (cytb) sequences (representing mitochondrial DNA; mtDNA) from the whole of Europe, adding 177 new sequences from central and eastern Europe, and we conducted analyses on eight microsatellite loci for 499 individuals (representing nuclear DNA) from central and eastern Europe, adding data on 311 new specimens. Our new data fill gaps in the vicinity of the Carpathian Mountains, the potential northern refugium, such that there is now dense sampling from the Balkans to the Baltic Sea. Here we present evidence that the Eastern mtDNA lineage of the common vole was present in the vicinity of this Carpathian refugium during the Last Glacial Maximum and the Younger Dryas. The Eastern lineage expanded from this refugium to the Baltic and shows low cytb nucleotide diversity in those most northerly parts of the distribution. Analyses of microsatellites revealed a similar pattern but also showed little differentiation between all of the populations sampled in central and eastern Europe.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Between the Balkans and the Baltic: Phylogeography of a Common Vole Mitochondrial DNA Lineage Limited to Central Europe

et al. 2016

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“…), Italy (Canestrelli et al . , , , ; Canestrelli & Nascetti ) and more recently in the Balkans (Ursenbacher et al . ; Kryštufek et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Evolutionary melting pots: a biodiversity hotspot shaped by ring diversifications around the Black Sea in the Eastern tree frog (Hyla orientalis)

et al. 2016

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Hotspots of intraspecific genetic diversity, which are of primary importance for the conservation of species, have been associated with glacial refugia, that is areas where species survived the Quaternary climatic oscillations. However, the proximate mechanisms generating these hotspots remain an open issue. Hotspots may reflect the long-term persistence of large refugial populations; alternatively, they may result from allopatric differentiation between small and isolated populations, that later admixed. Here, we test these two scenarios in a widely distributed species of tree frog, Hyla orientalis, which inhabits Asia Minor and southeastern Europe. We apply a fine-scale phylogeographic survey, combining fast-evolving mitochondrial and nuclear markers, with a dense sampling throughout the range, as well as ecological niche modelling, to understand what shaped the genetic variation of this species. We documented an important diversity centre around the Black Sea, composed of multiple allopatric and/or parapatric diversifications, likely driven by a combination of Pleistocene climatic fluctuations and complex regional topography. Remarkably, this diversification forms a ring around the Black Sea, from the Caucasus through Anatolia and eastern Europe, with terminal forms coming into contact and partially admixing in Crimea. Our results support the view that glacial refugia generate rather than host genetic diversity and can also function as evolutionary melting pots of biodiversity. Moreover, we report a new case of ring diversification, triggered by a large, yet cohesive dispersal barrier, a very rare situation in nature. Finally, we emphasize the Black Sea region as an important centre of intraspecific diversity in the Palearctic with implications for conservation.

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“…Under these assumptions, we posit that subdivided glacial refugia, where regionally diverged lineages recurrently expanded and hybridized during the succession of glacial‐interglacial periods, could also be candidate hotspots for extensive cytonuclear discordances. For instance, a large part of the genetic diversity of terrestrial vertebrates originates from admixture and/or fusion between young refugial lineages (Canestrelli, Bisconti, Sacco, & Nascetti, ; Petit et al, ), forming “evolutionary melting pots” (Dufresnes et al, ). This implies that the lineages found across separate glacial refugia could have experienced frequent events of hybridization, and, in turn, that the mitochondrial phylogeographies from these regions might be unreliable.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are glacial refugia hotspots of speciation and cytonuclear discordances? Answers from the genomic phylogeography of Spanish common frogs

et al. 2020

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Subdivided Pleistocene glacial refugia, best known as “refugia within refugia”, provided opportunities for diverging populations to evolve into incipient species and/or to hybridize and merge following range shifts tracking the climatic fluctuations, potentially promoting extensive cytonuclear discordances and “ghost” mtDNA lineages. Here, we tested which of these opposing evolutionary outcomes prevails in northern Iberian areas hosting multiple historical refugia of common frogs (Rana cf. temporaria), based on a genomic phylogeography approach (mtDNA barcoding and RAD‐sequencing). We found evidence for both incipient speciation events and massive cytonuclear discordances. On the one hand, populations from northwestern Spain (Galicia and Asturias, assigned to the regional endemic R. parvipalmata), are deeply‐diverged at mitochondrial and nuclear genomes (~4 My of independent evolution), and barely admix with northeastern populations (assigned to R. temporaria sensu stricto) across a narrow hybrid zone (~25 km) located in the Cantabrian Mountains, suggesting that they represent distinct species. On the other hand, the most divergent mtDNA clade, widespread in Cantabria and the Basque country, shares its nuclear genome with other R. temporaria s. s. lineages. Patterns of population expansions and isolation‐by‐distance among these populations are consistent with past mitochondrial capture and/or drift in generating and maintaining this ghost mitochondrial lineage. This remarkable case study emphasizes the complex evolutionary history that shaped the present genetic diversity of refugial populations, and stresses the need to revisit their phylogeography by genomic approaches, in order to make informed taxonomic inferences.

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What triggers the rising of an intraspecific biodiversity hotspot? Hints from the agile frog

Cited by 33 publications

References 79 publications

Between the Balkans and the Baltic: Phylogeography of a Common Vole Mitochondrial DNA Lineage Limited to Central Europe

Between the Balkans and the Baltic: Phylogeography of a Common Vole Mitochondrial DNA Lineage Limited to Central Europe

Evolutionary melting pots: a biodiversity hotspot shaped by ring diversifications around the Black Sea in the Eastern tree frog (Hyla orientalis)

Are glacial refugia hotspots of speciation and cytonuclear discordances? Answers from the genomic phylogeography of Spanish common frogs

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