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Plant speciation in the Namib Desert : potential origin of a widespread derivative species from a narrow endemic

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Milton_2022_PED_Plant_speciation_Namib_CC.pdf (8.861Mb)
Date
12/11/2022
Author
Milton, Joseph J.
Affenzeller, Matthias
Abbott, Richard
Comes, Hans P.
Keywords
African Dry Corridor
Budding speciation
Dispersal
Namib Desert
Niche differentiation
Phylogenetic relicts
Reproductive isolation barriers
Senecio
QK Botany
NDAS
NIS
MCC
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Abstract
Background:  Parapatric (or ‘budding’) speciation is increasingly recognised as an important phenomenon in plant evolution but its role in extreme (e.g. desert) environments is poorly documented. Aims:  To test this speciation model in a hypothesised sister pair, the Southwest – North African disjunct Senecio flavus and its putative progenitor, the Namibian Desert endemic S. englerianus. Methods:  Phylogenetic inferences were combined with niche divergence tests, morphometrics, and experimental-genetic approaches. We also evaluated the potential role of an African Dry Corridor (ADC) in promoting the hypothesised northward expansion of S. flavus (from Namibia), using palaeodistribution models. Results:  Belonging to an isolated (potential ‘relict’) clade, the two morphologically distinct species showed pronounced niche divergence in Namibia and signs of digenic-epistatic hybrid incompatibility (based on F2 pollen fertility). The presence of ‘connate-fluked’ pappus hairs in S. flavus, likely increasing dispersal ability, is controlled by a single gene locus. Conclusions:  Our results provide evidence for a possible (and rare) example of ‘budding’ speciation in which a wider-ranged derivative (S. flavus) originated at the periphery of a smaller-ranged progenitor (S. englerianus) in the Namib Desert region. The Southwest – North African disjunction of S. flavus could have been established by dispersal across intermediate ADC areas during periods of (Late) Pleistocene aridification.
Citation
Milton , J J , Affenzeller , M , Abbott , R & Comes , H P 2022 , ' Plant speciation in the Namib Desert : potential origin of a widespread derivative species from a narrow endemic ' , Plant Ecology & Diversity , vol. 15 , no. 5-6 , pp. 329-353 . https://doi.org/10.1080/17550874.2022.2130018
Publication
Plant Ecology & Diversity
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/17550874.2022.2130018
ISSN
1755-0874
Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.
Description
Funding: This research was funded in part by the award of a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) CASE research studentship to J.J.M.
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/26465

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