Evolutionary history of the Arctic flora

• Published in: Nature Communications
• Main Authors: Jun Zhang, Xiao-Qian Li, Huan-Wen Peng, Lisi Hai, Andrey S. Erst, Florian Jabbour, Rosa del C. Ortiz, Fu-Cai Xia, Pamela S. Soltis, Douglas E. Soltis, Wei Wang
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Portfolio 2023
• Subjects: Science; Q; Arctic; Global warming; Tundra
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-39555-6; https://doaj.org/article/be2b8a2f4d29405696d725ca0264e8b5

Abstract 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.