The extreme disjunction between Beringia and Europe in Ranunculus glacialis s. l. ( Ranunculaceae) does not coincide with the deepest genetic split – a story of the importance of temperate mountain ranges in arctic–alpine phylogeography

• Published in: Molecular Ecology
• Main Authors: Ronikier, M., Schneeweiss, G. M., Schönswetter, P.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2012
• Subjects: Climate change; Ranunculus glacialis; Beringia
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mec.12030; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fmec.12030; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/mec.12030

Abstract The arctic–alpine R anunculus glacialis s. l. is distributed in high‐mountain ranges of temperate Europe and in the North, where it displays an extreme disjunction between the N orth A tlantic A rctic and B eringia. Based on comprehensive sampling and employing plastid and nuclear marker systems, we (i) test whether the E uropean/ B eringian disjunction correlates with the main evolutionary diversification, (ii) reconstruct the phylogeographic history in the A rctic and in temperate mountains and (iii) assess the susceptibility of arctic and mountain populations to climate change. Both data sets revealed several well‐defined lineages, mostly with a coherent geographic distribution. The deepest evolutionary split did not coincide with the E uropean/ B eringian disjunction but occurred within the A lps. The B eringian lineage and N orth A tlantic A rctic populations, which reached their current distribution via rapid postglacial colonization, show connections to two divergent pools of C entral E uropean populations. Thus, immigration into the A rctic probably occurred at least twice. The presence of a rare cp DNA lineage related to B eringia in the C arpathians supports the role of these mountains as a stepping stone between temperate E urope and the non‐ E uropean A rctic, and as an important area of high‐mountain biodiversity. The temperate and arctic ranges presented contrasting phylogeographic histories: a largely static distribution in the former and rapid latitudinal spread in the latter. The persistence of ancient lineages with a strictly regional distribution suggests that the ability of R . glacialis to survive repeated climatic changes within southern mountain ranges is greater than what recently was predicted for alpine plants from climatic envelope modelling.