Evolutionary history of the Arctic flora

• Published in: Nature Communications
• Main Authors: Zhang, Jun, Li, Xiao-Qian, Peng, Huan-Wen, Hai, Lisi, Erst, Andrey, S, Jabbour, Florian, Ortiz, Rosa del C., Xia, Fu-Cai, Soltis, Pamela, S, Soltis, Douglas, E, Wang, Wei
• Other Authors: Beihua University, Institute of Botany Beijing (IB-CAS), Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing (CAS), Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB ), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA), Missouri Botanical Garden, University of Florida Gainesville (UF)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2023
• Subjects: [SDV.BV.BOT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Vegetal Biology/Botanics; [SDV.BID.EVO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Populations and Evolution [q-bio.PE]; [SDV.EE.BIO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology; environment/Bioclimatology; Arctic; Global warming; Tundra
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-04174186; https://hal.science/hal-04174186/document; https://hal.science/hal-04174186/file/78_2023_46_Zhang-NatureComm.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-39555-6

The Arctic tundra is a relatively young and new type of biome and is especially sensitive to the impacts of global warming. However, little is known about how the Arctic flora was shaped over time. Here we investigate the origin and evolutionary dynamics of the Arctic flora by sampling 32 angiosperm clades that together encompass 3626 species. We show that dispersal into the Arctic and in situ diversification within the Arctic have similar trends through time, initiating at approximately 10–9 Ma, increasing sharply around 2.6 Ma, and peaking around 1.0–0.7 Ma. Additionally, we discover the existence of a long-term dispersal corridor between the Arctic and western North America. Our results suggest that the initiation and diversification of the Arctic flora might have been jointly driven by progressive landscape and climate changes and sea-level fluctuations since the early Late Miocene. These findings have important conservation implications given rapidly changing climate conditions in the Arctic.