TY - JOUR
T1 - Persistent history of the bird-dispersed arctic–alpine plant Vaccinium vitis-idaea L. (Ericaceae) in Japan
AU - Ikeda, Hajime
AU - Yoneta, Yusuke
AU - Higashi, Hiroyuki
AU - Eidesen, Pernille Bronken
AU - Barkalov, Viachenslav
AU - Yakubov, Valentin
AU - Brochmann, Christian
AU - Setoguchi, Hiroaki
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI; HS) and by the Research Council of Norway (Grant Nos. 150322/720 and 170952/V40 to C.B.).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015, The Botanical Society of Japan and Springer Japan.
PY - 2015/5/1
Y1 - 2015/5/1
N2 - Arctic–alpine plants have expanded and contracted their ranges in response to the Pleistocene climate oscillations. Today, many arctic–alpine plants have vast distributions in the circumarctic region as well as marginal, isolated occurrences in high mountains at lower latitudes. These marginal populations may represent relict, long-standing populations that have persisted for several cycles of cold and warm climate during the Pleistocene, or recent occurrences that either result from southward step-wise migration during the last glacial period or from recent long-distance dispersal. In light of these hypotheses, we investigated the biogeographic history of the marginal Japanese populations of the widespread arctic–alpine plant Vaccinium vitis-idaea (Ericaceae), which is bird-dispersed, potentially over long distances. We sequenced three nuclear loci and one plastid DNA region in 130 individuals from 65 localities covering its entire geographic range, with a focus on its marginal populations in Japan. We found a homogenous genetic pattern across its enormous range based on the loci analysed, in contrast to the geographically structured variation found in a previous study of amplified fragment length polymorphisms in this species. However, we found several unique haplotypes in the Japanese populations, excluding the possibility that these marginal populations result from recent southward migration. Thus, even though V. vitis-idaea is efficiently dispersed via berries, our study suggests that its isolated populations in Japan have persisted during several cycles of cold and warm climate during the Pleistocene.
AB - Arctic–alpine plants have expanded and contracted their ranges in response to the Pleistocene climate oscillations. Today, many arctic–alpine plants have vast distributions in the circumarctic region as well as marginal, isolated occurrences in high mountains at lower latitudes. These marginal populations may represent relict, long-standing populations that have persisted for several cycles of cold and warm climate during the Pleistocene, or recent occurrences that either result from southward step-wise migration during the last glacial period or from recent long-distance dispersal. In light of these hypotheses, we investigated the biogeographic history of the marginal Japanese populations of the widespread arctic–alpine plant Vaccinium vitis-idaea (Ericaceae), which is bird-dispersed, potentially over long distances. We sequenced three nuclear loci and one plastid DNA region in 130 individuals from 65 localities covering its entire geographic range, with a focus on its marginal populations in Japan. We found a homogenous genetic pattern across its enormous range based on the loci analysed, in contrast to the geographically structured variation found in a previous study of amplified fragment length polymorphisms in this species. However, we found several unique haplotypes in the Japanese populations, excluding the possibility that these marginal populations result from recent southward migration. Thus, even though V. vitis-idaea is efficiently dispersed via berries, our study suggests that its isolated populations in Japan have persisted during several cycles of cold and warm climate during the Pleistocene.
KW - Biogeography
KW - Disjunct distribution
KW - Long-distance dispersal
KW - Pleistocene
KW - Range margin
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U2 - 10.1007/s10265-015-0709-8
DO - 10.1007/s10265-015-0709-8
M3 - Article
C2 - 25773306
AN - SCOPUS:84939950137
VL - 128
SP - 437
EP - 444
JO - Journal of Plant Research
JF - Journal of Plant Research
SN - 0918-9440
IS - 3
ER -