Phylogeographical Analyses of a Relict Fern of Palaeotropical Flora ( Vandenboschia speciosa ): Distribution and Diversity Model in Relation to the Geological and Climate Events of the Late Miocene and Early Pliocene

• Published in: Plants (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 7; p. 839
• Main Authors: Ben-Menni Schuler, Samira, Hamza, Hammadi, Blanca, Gabriel, Romero-García, Ana Teresa, Suárez-Santiago, Víctor N
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 22.03.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Climate change; Dispersion; Distribution patterns; Evolution; fern phylogeography; Ferns; Flora; gapCp gene; Genetic diversity; Geographical distribution; Geology; Miocene; palaeotropical flora; Phylogeny; plastid DNA; Pleistocene; Pliocene; Populations; Quaternary; Refugia; relict fern; Species; Vandenboschia speciosa; Scotland; United Kingdom > UK; Azores; United States > US; Europe; Germany; Vandenboschia speciosa; gapCp gene; relict fern; fern phylogeography; Tertiary; plastid DNA; palaeotropical flora; species distribution modelling; refugia
• ISSN: 2223-7747; 2223-7747
• DOI: 10.3390/plants11070839

Fern phylogeographic studies have mostly focused on the influence of the Pleistocene climate on fern distributions and the prevalence of long-distance dispersal. The effect of pre-Pleistocene events on the distributions of fern species is largely unexplored. Here, we elucidate a hypothetical scenario for the evolutionary history of , hypothesised to be of Tertiary palaeotropical flora with a peculiar perennial gametophyte. We sequenced 40 populations across the species range in one plastid region and two variants of the nuclear gene and conducted time-calibrated phylogenetic, phylogeographical, and species distribution modelling analyses. is an allopolyploid and had a Tertiary origin. Late Miocene aridification possibly caused the long persistence in independent refugia on the Eurosiberian Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, with the independent evolution of gene pools resulting in two evolutionary units. The Cantabrian Cornice, a major refugium, could also be a secondary contact zone during Quaternary glacial cycles. Central European populations resulted from multiple post-glacial, long-distance dispersals. reached Macaronesia during the Pliocene-Pleistocene, with a phylogeographical link between the Canary Islands, Madeira, and southern Iberia, and between the Azores and northwestern Europe. Our results support the idea that the geological and climate events of the Late Miocene/Early Pliocene shifted Tertiary fern distribution patterns in Europe.