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Citation for Study 10856

Citation title: "A dated phylogeny and collection records reveal repeated biome shifts in the African genus Coccinia (Cucurbitaceae)".

Study name: "A dated phylogeny and collection records reveal repeated biome shifts in the African genus Coccinia (Cucurbitaceae)".

This study is part of submission 10846 (Status: Published).

Citation

Holstein N., & Renner S.S. 2011. A dated phylogeny and collection records reveal repeated biome shifts in the African genus Coccinia (Cucurbitaceae). BMC Evolutionary Biology, 11: 28.

Authors

• Holstein N.
• Renner S.S. (submitter) 011-49-(0)89-17861250

Abstract

Background Conservatism in climatic tolerance may limit geographic range expansion and should enhance the effects of habitat fragmentation on population subdivision. Here we study the effects of historical climate change, and the associated habitat fragmentation, on diversification in the mostly sub-Saharan cucurbit genus Coccinia, which has 27 species in a broad range of biota from semi-arid habitats to mist forests. Species limits were inferred from morphology, and nuclear and plastid DNA sequence data, using multiple individuals for the widespread species. Climatic tolerances were assessed from the occurrences of 1189 geo-referenced collections and WorldClim variables. Results Nuclear and plastid gene trees included 35 or 65 accessions, representing up to 25 species. The data revealed four species groups, one in southern Africa, one in Central and West African rain forest, one widespread but absent from Central and West African rain forest, and one that occurs from East Africa to southern Africa. A few individuals are differently placed in the plastid and nuclear (LFY) trees or contain two ITS sequence types, indicating hybridization. A molecular clock suggests that the diversification of Coccinia began about 6.9 Ma ago, with most of the extant species diversity dating to the Pliocene. Ancestral biome reconstruction reveals six switches between semi-arid habitats, woodland, and forest, and members of several species pairs differ significantly in their tolerance of different precipitation regimes. Conclusions The most surprising findings of this study are the frequent biome shifts (in a relatively small clade) over just 6 - 7 million years and the limited diversification during and since the Pleistocene. Pleistocene climate oscillations may have been too rapid or too shallow for full reproductive barriers to develop among fragmented populations of Coccinia, which would explain the apparently still ongoing hybridization between certain species. Steeper ecological gradients in East Africa and South Africa appear to have resulted in more advanced allopatric speciation there.

Keywords

phylogenetics, climate change, Neogene, climate niche evolution

External links

• DOI: 10.1186/1471-2148-11-28
• PMID: 3041684
• Other URL: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/11/28

About this resource

• Canonical resource URI: http://purl.org/phylo/treebase/phylows/study/TB2:S10856
• Other versions: Nexus NeXML
• Show BibTeX reference

  		@ARTICLE{TreeBASE2Ref19195,
  	 author = {Norbert  Holstein and Susanne S Renner},
  	 title = {A dated phylogeny and collection records reveal repeated biome shifts in the African genus Coccinia (Cucurbitaceae)},
  	 year = {2011},
  	 keywords = {phylogenetics, climate change, Neogene, climate niche evolution},
  	 doi = {10.1186/1471-2148-11-28},
  	 url = {http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/11/28},
  	 pmid = {3041684},
  	 journal = {BMC Evolutionary Biology},
  	 volume = {11},
  	 number = {},
  	 pages = {28},
  	 abstract = {Background
  Conservatism in climatic tolerance may limit geographic range expansion and should enhance the effects of habitat fragmentation on population subdivision. Here we study the effects of historical climate change, and the associated habitat fragmentation, on diversification in the mostly sub-Saharan cucurbit genus Coccinia, which has 27 species in a broad range of biota from semi-arid habitats to mist forests. Species limits were inferred from morphology, and nuclear and plastid DNA sequence data, using multiple individuals for the widespread species. Climatic tolerances were assessed from the occurrences of 1189 geo-referenced collections and WorldClim variables.
  Results
  Nuclear and plastid gene trees included 35 or 65 accessions, representing up to 25 species. The data revealed four species groups, one in southern Africa, one in Central and West African rain forest, one widespread but absent from Central and West African rain forest, and one that occurs from East Africa to southern Africa. A few individuals are differently placed in the plastid and nuclear (LFY) trees or contain two ITS sequence types, indicating hybridization. A molecular clock suggests that the diversification of Coccinia began about 6.9 Ma ago, with most of the extant species diversity dating to the Pliocene. Ancestral biome reconstruction reveals six switches between semi-arid habitats, woodland, and forest, and members of several species pairs differ significantly in their tolerance of different precipitation regimes.
  Conclusions
  The most surprising findings of this study are the frequent biome shifts (in a relatively small clade) over just 6 - 7 million years and the limited diversification during and since the Pleistocene. Pleistocene climate oscillations may have been too rapid or too shallow for full reproductive barriers to develop among fragmented populations of Coccinia, which would explain the apparently still ongoing hybridization between certain species. Steeper ecological gradients in East Africa and South Africa appear to have resulted in more advanced allopatric speciation there.}
  }
  		

• Show RIS reference

  		TY  - JOUR
  ID  - 19195
  AU  - Holstein,Norbert 
  AU  - Renner,Susanne S
  T1  - A dated phylogeny and collection records reveal repeated biome shifts in the African genus Coccinia (Cucurbitaceae)
  PY  - 2011
  KW  - phylogenetics
  KW  - climate change
  KW  - Neogene
  KW  - climate niche evolution
  UR  - http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/11/28
  N2  - Background
  Conservatism in climatic tolerance may limit geographic range expansion and should enhance the effects of habitat fragmentation on population subdivision. Here we study the effects of historical climate change, and the associated habitat fragmentation, on diversification in the mostly sub-Saharan cucurbit genus Coccinia, which has 27 species in a broad range of biota from semi-arid habitats to mist forests. Species limits were inferred from morphology, and nuclear and plastid DNA sequence data, using multiple individuals for the widespread species. Climatic tolerances were assessed from the occurrences of 1189 geo-referenced collections and WorldClim variables.
  Results
  Nuclear and plastid gene trees included 35 or 65 accessions, representing up to 25 species. The data revealed four species groups, one in southern Africa, one in Central and West African rain forest, one widespread but absent from Central and West African rain forest, and one that occurs from East Africa to southern Africa. A few individuals are differently placed in the plastid and nuclear (LFY) trees or contain two ITS sequence types, indicating hybridization. A molecular clock suggests that the diversification of Coccinia began about 6.9 Ma ago, with most of the extant species diversity dating to the Pliocene. Ancestral biome reconstruction reveals six switches between semi-arid habitats, woodland, and forest, and members of several species pairs differ significantly in their tolerance of different precipitation regimes.
  Conclusions
  The most surprising findings of this study are the frequent biome shifts (in a relatively small clade) over just 6 - 7 million years and the limited diversification during and since the Pleistocene. Pleistocene climate oscillations may have been too rapid or too shallow for full reproductive barriers to develop among fragmented populations of Coccinia, which would explain the apparently still ongoing hybridization between certain species. Steeper ecological gradients in East Africa and South Africa appear to have resulted in more advanced allopatric speciation there.
  L3  - 10.1186/1471-2148-11-28
  JF  - BMC Evolutionary Biology
  VL  - 11
  IS  - 
  ER  -