Post‐glacial history and introgression in Abies (Pinaceae) species of the Russian Far East inferred from both nuclear and cytoplasmic markers

Aim The main aim of the present study is to infer the post‐glacial history of Abies species from north‐east Asia and to test the hypotheses that coastal Abies populations suffered less from climatic fluctuations during Pleistocene glacial periods than their more continental counterparts, and that Sakhalin was a major area of introgression. Location Natural ranges of the fir species Abies nephrolepis, Abies sachalinensis and Abies holophylla in the Russian Far East, and of Abies gracilis, which is endemic to the Kamchatka Peninsula. Methods Nineteen populations were sampled for allozyme analysis. Seventeen of these populations were also screened for variation at two paternally inherited chloroplast DNA microsatellite loci (cpSSR) and variation at one maternally inherited mitochondrial marker (nad4‐3/4). Finally a subset of 11 populations was analysed with amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP). Comparisons were made with already available Abies sibirica data. For all sets of markers, we estimated genetic diversity and differentiation using an analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA). Population clustering was assessed with a Bayesian approach implemented in structure v.2.3. Results Among the three major species, A. sibirica, A. nephrolepis and A. sachalinensis, A. sachalinensis demonstrated the highest cytoplasmic and nuclear diversity and the most continental species, A. sibirica, the lowest. Both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA markers revealed the presence of a transitional zone on Sakhalin Island between A. nephrolepis and A. sachalinensis of south Sakhalin. The structure analysis delivered very clear results confirming the admixed origin of A. sachalinensis, with a genetic contribution from A. nephrolepis. No variation in cytoplasmic markers was found in A. gracilis, suggesting the occurrence of a recent bottleneck. Main conclusions There is a clear reduction of genetic diversity in Abies species from the Pacific coast into the continent. The higher diversity in A. sachalinensis could have two causes: a larger effective population size in the islands due to relatively stable climatic conditions and consequently less pronounced demographic fluctuations in population size and/or hybridization with continental and Japanese populations. Sakhalin Island is a major transitional zone for conifer species. Finally, the fir from Kamchatka, A. gracilis, should be regarded as a separate species closely related to the A. nephrolepis–A. sachalinensis complex.     

Velvet worm (Phylum Onychophora) on a sand island,in a wetland: Flushed from a Pleistocene refuge by recent rainfall?

Velvet worms (Onychophora) are restricted to moist, humid microclimates, but are poorly known from south‐east Queensland, Australia, where they are typically rainforest fauna. We made the unlikely observation of one of these invertebrates clinging to floating debris in a wetland on North Stradbroke Island. Palaeoecology of this wetland reveals that it once was within rainforest and has remained moist for at least the past 80 000 years, thus potentially harbouring an onychophoran population as a relic of a past broader, rainforest distribution. The presence of this animal, floating in the wetland, can be explained by recent climate, since the wetland filled following heavy rainfall shortly before the observation. This highlights the importance of groundwater‐fed wetlands as evolutionary refugia for moisture‐dependent biota.     

Is Anisakis simplex s.l. a biological marker for stock identification of Strangomera bentincki from Chile?

The absence of the larval Anisakis simplex s. l. in samples from central Chile but heavy infections in fish from southern localities suggest the existence of two stocks of Strangomera bentincki, one closely associated with the central coast of Chile (landing port San Antonio and Talcahuano, c. 33° 30′ S–36° 40′ S) and the other associated with southern Chile (landing port Puerto Montt, c. 41° 30′ S). Results confirm the usefulness of metazoan parasites, like A. simplex s. l. as biological markers.     

Comparative phylogeography of six herpetofauna species in Cyprus: late Miocene to Pleistocene colonization routes

The colonization patterns of oceanic islands are often interpreted through transmarine dispersal. However, in islands with intense human activities and unclear geological history, this inference may be inappropriate. Cyprus is such an island, whose geotectonic evolution has not been clarified yet to the desired level for biogeographical reconstructions, leaving the questions of ‘how the Cypriote biota arrived’ and ‘does the dispersal have the formative role in patterns of its diversification’ unanswered. Here, we address these issues through a reconstruction of the evolutionary history of six herptiles (Ablepharus budaki, Ophisops elegans, Acanthodactylus schreiberi, Telescopus fallax, Pelophylax cf. bedriagae, and Hyla savignyi) by means of mitochondrial DNA (cytochrome b and 16S rRNA), applying a Bayesian phylogenetic, biogeographical, and chronophylogenetic analyses. The phylogeographical analyses show that the colonization history of those species in Cyprus started in the late Miocene and extended into the Pliocene and Pleistocene, with geodispersal, transmarine dispersal, and human‐mediated dispersal having their share in shaping the diversification of Cypriote herptiles. The revealed patterns could be divided into three biogeographical categories: old colonizers that arrived in Cyprus during the late Miocene or early Pliocene either by a land bridge (geodispersal) which connected Cyprus with the mainland or by transmarine dispersal, younger colonizers that reached the island through transmarine dispersal from the Middle East, and new settlers that arrived through human‐induced (voluntary or not) introductions. This work advances our knowledge of the biogeography of Cyprus and highlights the need to consider both geo‐ and transmarine dispersal when dealing with islands whose associations do not have a straightforward interpretation. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London     

陇东黄土高原丘陵沟壑区天然草地植物多样性研究

以陇东黄土高原丘陵沟壑区天然草地30个植被样点的样方资料为依据,以相对生物量为指标,对该地区群落植物多样性进行了研究。结果表明,该地区天然草地可划分为长芒草草原、次生杂类草草原和杂类草草甸草原3个植被类型,16个群落按放牧程度分为禁牧草地、轻牧草地和过牧草地3个层次。多样性指数显示草甸草原>长芒草草原>次生杂类草草原,轻牧草地>禁牧草地>过牧草地的趋势。放牧程度可能是影响该区域天然草地植物多样性的关键因素,出现海拔增高和降水增加多样性指数降低的趋势可能是放牧干扰的结果。相关性分析显示物种的Shannon-wiener和Simpson多样性指数与Shannon和Simpson均匀度指数间均呈显著正相关,而与生物量之间呈显著负相关。     

北祁连山东段早石炭世棘鱼类、辐鳍鱼类和软骨鱼类--北祁连山东段石炭纪鱼类序列研究之一

对甘肃靖远一带和内蒙古自治区黑山地区早石炭世前黑山组、臭牛沟组和靖远组中三亚纲鱼类微体化石进行了形态学和古组织学研究。这些化石涉及 7个目或亚目 ,含 4属 4种 ,其中有 2新种。文中记述的属均为全球广布的属。建立了 3个早石炭世鱼类组合 ,这是我国早石炭世第一个鱼类组合序列。辐鳍鱼类和软骨鱼类中 2个目的化石均为我国早石炭世鱼类的首次记录     

Effects of the landscape on boreal toad gene flow: does the pattern–process relationship hold true across distinct landscapes at the northern range margin?

Understanding the impact of natural and anthropogenic landscape features on population connectivity is a major goal in evolutionary ecology and conservation. Discovery of dispersal barriers is important for predicting population responses to landscape and environmental changes, particularly for populations at geographic range margins. We used a landscape genetics approach to quantify the effects of landscape features on gene flow and connectivity of boreal toad (Bufo boreas) populations from two distinct landscapes in south-east Alaska (Admiralty Island, ANM, and the Chilkat River Valley, CRV). We used two common methodologies for calculating resistance distances in landscape genetics studies (resistance based on least-cost paths and circuit theory). We found a strong effect of saltwater on genetic distance of CRV populations, but no landscape effects were found for the ANM populations. Our discordant results show the importance of examining multiple landscapes that differ in the variability of their features, to maximize detectability of underlying processes and allow results to be broadly applicable across regions. Saltwater serves as a physiological barrier to boreal toad gene flow and affects populations on a small geographic scale, yet there appear to be few other barriers to toad dispersal in this intact northern region.     

Conservation Genetics of the East Pacific Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) in Michoacan, Mexico

The main continental nesting rookeries of the east Pacific green turtle (EPGT), Chelonia mydas, on the Michoacan (Mexico) coast suffered drastic population declines following intense exploitation in the 1960s--1970s with annual abundance of nesting females plummeting from about 25,000 to an average of about 1400 between 1982 and 2001. Analyses of data from three nDNA microsatellite loci and 400 bp mtDNA control region sequences from a total of 123 nesting females sampled from four Michoacan rookeries found no evidence of population sub-structuring. The recent order of magnitude reduction in the population size shows no apparent impact on genetic diversity in either control region sequences (overall h = 0.48; pi = 0.0036) or microsatellite loci (overall Na = 20.8; Hexp = 0.895). Our estimates of annual effective female population size (Nef; from theta = 2Nemicron) of 1.9-2.3 x 10(3), in spite of being an order of magnitude below historical records, appear to be sufficient to allow recovery of this population without significant loss of genetic diversity. These findings highlight the importance of continued conservation to reverse the decline of this population before it becomes vulnerable to genetic erosion.     

Molecular phylogeography reveals an antitropical distribution and local diversification of Solenogyne (Asteraceae) in the Ryukyu Archipelago of Japan and Australia

An antitropical distribution represents an intriguing disjunction, in which a given species or sister lineages occupy regions north and south of the tropics but are absent from the intervening areas. Solenogyne mikadoi endemic to the Ryukyu Archipelago is regarded as an Australian element. Testing the phylogenetic relationship with Australian congeners and discussing the onset timing and causes of the disjunction would potentially enhance the understanding of antitropical distribution. A nuclear ribosomal DNA phylogeny was reconstructed using Bayesian and most parsimonious criteria with allied genera. Solenogyne was monophyletic and clustered with Lagenophora huegelii endemic to Australia, indicating the antitropical distribution and Australian origin of Solenogyne. Multispecies coalescent analysis based on nuclear ribosomal DNA and chloroplast DNA indicated the divergence of S. mikadoi and Australian congeners in the Plio‐Pleistocene. Phylogenetic network analyses suggested that the ancestral lineage of S. mikadoi first colonized the southernmost island in the archipelago and then dispersed northward. The migration to the archipelago likely followed the flourishing of Solenogyne in open vegetation communities that radiated in south‐eastern Australia during the late Pliocene. This disjunction might arise through long‐distance dispersal across the tropics or, alternatively, through extinction in the tropics as a result of unsuitably high temperatures during climate oscillation and/or competitions from diverse tropical flora surviving since the early Tertiary. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, 105 , 197–217.