Plant extinction excels plant speciation in the Anthropocene ...

• Main Authors: Gao, Jian-Guo, Liu, Hui, Wang, Ning, Yang, Jing, Zhang, Xiao-Ling
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: figshare 2020
• Subjects: Genetics; FOS Biological sciences; Evolutionary Biology; Ecology; Arctic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5124114.v1; https://springernature.figshare.com/collections/Plant_extinction_excels_plant_speciation_in_the_Anthropocene/5124114/1

Abstract Background In the past several millenniums, we have domesticated several crop species that are crucial for human civilization, which is a symbol of significant human influence on plant evolution. A pressing question to address is if plant diversity will increase or decrease in this warming world since contradictory pieces of evidence exit of accelerating plant speciation and plant extinction in the Anthropocene. Results Comparison may be made of the Anthropocene with the past geological times characterised by a warming climate, e.g., the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) 55.8 million years ago (Mya)—a period of “crocodiles in the Arctic”, during which plants saw accelerated speciation through autopolyploid speciation. Three accelerators of plant speciation were reasonably identified in the Anthropocene, including cities, polar regions and botanical gardens where new plant species might be accelerating formed through autopolyploid speciation and hybridization. Conclusions However, this kind of ...