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Evolutionary response of Caragana (Fabaceae) to Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau uplift and Asian interior aridification

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Abstract

Caragana is endemic to temperate Asia, with most species distributed on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau (QTP) and in Northwestern China. Consequently its biogeography should be hypothesized to have been affected by QTP uplift. To examine the biogeography of Caragana in relation to QTP uplift and consequent interior aridification, we conducted molecular dating analyses based on three genes (ITS, cpDNA trnS-trnG and rbcL). Results from relaxed Bayesian BEAST, relaxed Bayesian Multidivtime, and PL (penalized likelihood) indicate that QTP uplift, especially the onset of Himalayan motion at 21–17 Ma, triggered the origin of Caragana (with estimated ages 16–14 Ma). The subsequent QTP rapid uplift at 8 Ma is inferred to have driven the evolution and diversification of the three major clades of Caragana: section Caragana (northern China and the Junggar–Altai–Sayan region), section Frutescentes (Central Asia), and sections Bracteolatae and Jubatae, centered in the QTP. A rapid and active speciation process occurring in the QTP intense uplift at 3.4–1.8 Ma, is indicated by the chronogram.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to Peng Zhang (University of California, Berkeley, USA) for molecular dating help, Jianquan Liu (Lanzhou University, China) for discussion of the QTP biogeography, and to an anonymous reviewer for a very useful suggestion on QTP plant biogeography. Funding is from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KSCX2-YW-R-136, KSCX2-YW-2-069).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresource in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, China

    Ming-Li Zhang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China

    Ming-Li Zhang

  3. Department of Botany, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA, 94118, USA

    Peter W. Fritsch

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  1. Ming-Li Zhang
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Correspondence to Ming-Li Zhang.

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Zhang, ML., Fritsch, P.W. Evolutionary response of Caragana (Fabaceae) to Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau uplift and Asian interior aridification. Plant Syst Evol 288, 191–199 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-010-0324-z

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