Genetic roadmap of the Arctic: plant dispersal highways, traffic barriers and capitals of diversity.

• Published in: New Phytologist
• Main Authors: Eidesen, Pernille Bronken, Ehrich, Dorothee, Bakkestuen, Vegar, Alsos, Inger Greve, Gilg, Oliver, Taberlet, Pierre, Brochmann, Christian
• Other Authors: National Centre for Biosystematics Oslo, Natural History Museum Oslo, University of Oslo (UiO)-University of Oslo (UiO), The University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), Department of Biology, University of Tromsø (UiT), Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Tromsø University Museum, Biogéosciences UMR 6282 Dijon (BGS), Université de Bourgogne (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine (LECA), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry ), Funding provided by the Research Council of Norway (grants 150322/720 and 146515/420).
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2013
• Subjects: geographical information system (GIS); plant dispersal; refugia; mplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP); genetic structure; genetic diversity; Arctic; comparative phylogeography; envir; geo; greenlandic; Beringia; Siberia
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.12412; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00905270

International audience We provide the first comparative multispecies analysis of spatial genetic structure and diversity in the circumpolar Arctic using a common strategy for sampling and genetic analyses. We aimed to identify and explain potential general patterns of genetic discontinuity/connectivity and diversity, and to compare our findings with previously published hypotheses. We collected and analyzed 7707 samples of 17 widespread arctic-alpine plant species for amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs). Genetic structure, diversity and distinctiveness were analyzed for each species, and extrapolated to cover the geographic range of each species. The resulting maps were overlaid to produce metamaps. The Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, the Greenlandic ice cap, the Urals, and lowland areas between southern mountain ranges and the Arctic were the strongest barriers against gene flow. Diversity was highest in Beringia and gradually decreased into formerly glaciated areas. The highest degrees of distinctiveness were observed in Siberia. We conclude that large-scale general patterns exist in the Arctic, shaped by the Pleistocene glaciations combined with long-standing physical barriers against gene flow. Beringia served as both refugium and source for interglacial (re)colonization, whereas areas further west in Siberia served as refugia, but less as sources for (re)colonization. 13 pages