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Evolutionary history of Castanea sativa in the Caucasus driven by Middle and Late Pleistocene paleoenvironmental changes

Beridze, Berika; Sękiewicz, Katarzyna; Walas, Łukasz; Thomas, Peter A; Danelia, Irina; Kvartskhava, Giorgi; Farzaliyev, Vahid; Bruch, Angela A; Dering, Monika

Authors

Berika Beridze

Katarzyna Sękiewicz

Łukasz Walas

Irina Danelia

Giorgi Kvartskhava

Vahid Farzaliyev

Angela A Bruch

Monika Dering



Contributors

F Xavier Picó
Editor

Abstract

Due to global climate cooling and aridification since the Paleogene, members of the Neogene flora were extirpated from the Northern Hemisphere or were confined to a few refugial areas. For some species, the final reduction/extinction came in the Pleistocene, but some others have survived climatic transformations up to the present. This has occurred in Castanea sativa, a species of high commercial value in Europe and a significant component of the Caucasian forests’ biodiversity. In contrast to the European range, neither the historical biogeography nor the population genetic structure of the species in its isolated Caucasian range has been clarified. Here, based on a survey of 21 natural populations from the Caucasus and a single one from Europe, we provide a likely biogeographic reconstruction and genetic diversity details. By applying Bayesian inference, species distribution modelling and fossil pollen data, we estimated (i) the time of the Caucasian—European divergence during the Middle Pleistocene, (ii) the time of divergence among Caucasian lineages and (iii) outlined the glacial refugia for species. The climate changes related to the Early–Middle Pleistocene Transition are proposed as the major drivers of the intraspecific divergence and European–Caucasian disjunction for the species, while the impact of the last glacial cycle was of marginal importance.

Citation

Beridze, B., Sękiewicz, K., Walas, Ł., Thomas, P. A., Danelia, I., Kvartskhava, G., …Dering, M. (2023). Evolutionary history of Castanea sativa in the Caucasus driven by Middle and Late Pleistocene paleoenvironmental changes. AoB PLANTS, 15(5), https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plad059

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Aug 28, 2023
Online Publication Date Aug 29, 2023
Publication Date 2023-10
Deposit Date Nov 17, 2023
Journal AoB PLANTS
Publisher Oxford University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 15
Issue 5
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plad059
Keywords Plant Science