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Tóth EG, Tremblay F, Housset JM, Bergeron Y, Carcaillet C. Geographic isolation and climatic variability contribute to genetic differentiation in fragmented populations of the long-lived subalpine conifer Pinus cembra L. in the western Alps. BMC Evol Biol 2019; 19:190. [PMID: 31623551 PMCID: PMC6798344 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-019-1510-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2019] [Accepted: 09/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Genetic processes shape the modern-day distribution of genetic variation within and between populations and can provide important insights into the underlying mechanisms of evolution. The resulting genetic variation is often unequally partitioned within species’ distribution range and especially large differences can manifest at the range limit, where population fragmentation and isolation play a crucial role in species survival. Despite several molecular studies investigating the genetic diversity and differentiation of European Alpine mountain forests, the climatic and demographic constrains which influence the genetic processes are often unknown. Here, we apply non-coding microsatellite markers to evaluate the sporadic peripheral and continuous populations of cembra pine (Pinus cembra L.), a long-lived conifer species that inhabits the subalpine treeline ecotone in the western Alps to investigate how the genetic processes contribute to the modern-day spatial distribution. Moreover, we corroborate our findings with paleoecological records, micro and macro-remains, to infer the species’ possible glacial refugia and expansion scenarios. Results Four genetically distinct groups were identified, with Bayesian and FST based approaches, across the range of the species, situated in the northern, inner and south-western Alps. We found that genetic differentiation is substantially higher in marginal populations than at the center of the range, and marginal stands are characterized by geographic and genetic isolation due to spatial segregation and restricted gene flow. Moreover, multiple matrix regression approaches revealed effects of climatic heterogeneity in species’ spatial genetic pattern. Also, population stability tests indicated that all populations had experienced a severe historical bottleneck, no heterozygosity excess was detected, suggesting that more recently population sizes have remained relatively stable. Conclusions Our study demonstrated that cembra pine might have survived in multiple glacial refugia and subsequently recolonized the Alps by different routes. Modern-day marginal populations, at the edge of the species’ range, could maintain stable sizes over long periods without inbreeding depression and preserve high amounts of genetic variation. Moreover, our analyses indicate that climatic variability has played a major role in shaping differentiation, in addition to past historical events such as migration and demographic changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Endre Gy Tóth
- Forest Research Institute (IRF), University of Quebec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT), 445 Boul. de l'Université, Rouyn-Noranda, QC, J9X 5E4, Canada. .,National Agricultural Research and Innovation Center (NARIC), Forest Research Institute (FRI), Várkerület u. 30/A, Sárvár, 9600, Hungary.
| | - Francine Tremblay
- Forest Research Institute (IRF), University of Quebec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT), 445 Boul. de l'Université, Rouyn-Noranda, QC, J9X 5E4, Canada
| | - Johann M Housset
- Centre for Forest Research (CEF), University of Québec in Montréal (UQAM), C.P. 8888, succ. Centre-ville, Montréal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada.,Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE), Paris Sciences & Lettres University (PSL), Paris, France.,Alcina, 10 rue des Amaryllis, 34070, Montpellier, France
| | - Yves Bergeron
- Forest Research Institute (IRF), University of Quebec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT), 445 Boul. de l'Université, Rouyn-Noranda, QC, J9X 5E4, Canada.,Centre for Forest Research (CEF), University of Québec in Montréal (UQAM), C.P. 8888, succ. Centre-ville, Montréal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada
| | - Christopher Carcaillet
- Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE), Paris Sciences & Lettres University (PSL), Paris, France.,Laboratory for Ecology of Natural and Anthropised Hydrosystems (UMR 5023 CNRS UCBL ENTPE), Université Lyon 1, Villeurbanne Cedex, France
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Carcaillet C, Blarquez O. Glacial refugia in the south-western Alps? THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2019; 222:663-667. [PMID: 30734310 DOI: 10.1111/nph.15673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2018] [Accepted: 12/31/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Carcaillet
- Laboratory for Ecology of Natural and Anthropised Hydrosystems (UMR 5023 CNRS ENTPE), Université Claude Bernard-Lyon, Villeurbanne, F-69622, France
- Paris Sciences & Lettres University (PSL), École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), 4-14 rue Ferrus, F-75014, Paris, France
| | - Olivier Blarquez
- Département de Géographie, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128 Succ. Centre Ville, Montréal, QC, H3C 3J7, Canada
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Finsinger W, Schwörer C, Heiri O, Morales-Molino C, Ribolini A, Giesecke T, Haas JN, Kaltenrieder P, Magyari EK, Ravazzi C, Rubiales JM, Tinner W. Fire on ice and frozen trees? Inappropriate radiocarbon dating leads to unrealistic reconstructions. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2019; 222:657-662. [PMID: 30019412 DOI: 10.1111/nph.15354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2017] [Accepted: 03/29/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Walter Finsinger
- Palaeoecology, ISEM, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Univ. Montpellier, F-34095, Montpellier, France
| | - Christoph Schwörer
- Institute of Plant Sciences and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, CH-3013, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Oliver Heiri
- Institute of Plant Sciences and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, CH-3013, Bern, Switzerland
| | - César Morales-Molino
- Institute of Plant Sciences and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, CH-3013, Bern, Switzerland
- Palaeoclimate, EPOC (UMR 5805 CNRS/University of Bordeaux), University of Bordeaux, F-33615, Pessac, France
| | - Adriano Ribolini
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, University of Pisa, via S. Maria 53, 56126, Pisa, Italy
| | - Thomas Giesecke
- Department of Palynology and Climate Dynamics, University of Göttingen, Wilhelm-Weber-Str. 2a, D-37073, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Jean Nicolas Haas
- Institute of Botany, Division of Systematics, Palynology and Geobotany, University of Innsbruck, Sternwartestrasse 15, A-6020, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Petra Kaltenrieder
- Institute of Plant Sciences and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, CH-3013, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Enikő K Magyari
- MTA-MTM-ELTE Research Group for Paleontology and Department of Environmental and Landscape Geography, Eötvös Lóránd University, Pázmány Péter stny. 1/C, H-1117, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Cesare Ravazzi
- CNR - Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes, U1 - DISAT - Università Milano Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 1, I-20126, Milano, Italy
| | - Juan Manuel Rubiales
- Departamento de Sistemas y Recursos Naturales, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería de Montes, Forestal y del Medio Natural, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, E-28040, Madrid, Spain
- Departamento de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, C/José Antonio Novais, E-28040, Madrid, Spain
| | - Willy Tinner
- Institute of Plant Sciences and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, CH-3013, Bern, Switzerland
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Fréjaville T, Vilà‐Cabrera A, Curt T, Carcaillet C. Aridity and competition drive fire resistance trait covariation in mountain trees. Ecosphere 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.2493] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Thibaut Fréjaville
- BIOGECO (UMR 1202), INRA Univ Bordeaux F‐33615 Pessac France
- Irstea ‐ UR RECOVER 3275 route Cézanne ‐ CS 4006 13182 Aix‐en‐Provence cedex 5 France
- École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE) & PSL University F‐75014 Paris France
| | - Albert Vilà‐Cabrera
- Biological and Environmental Sciences Faculty of Natural Sciences University of Stirling FK9 4LA Stirling UK
| | - Thomas Curt
- Irstea ‐ UR RECOVER 3275 route Cézanne ‐ CS 4006 13182 Aix‐en‐Provence cedex 5 France
| | - Christopher Carcaillet
- École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE) & PSL University F‐75014 Paris France
- Laboratoire d’Écologie des Hydrosystèmes Naturels et Anthropisés (UMR5023 CNRS) Université Lyon 1 F‐69622 Villeurbanne France
- LTER Zone Atelier Alpes F‐38000 Grenoble France
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Carcaillet C, Latil JL, Abou S, Ali A, Ghaleb B, Magnin F, Roiron P, Aubert S. Keep your feet warm? A cryptic refugium of trees linked to a geothermal spring in an ocean of glaciers. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2018; 24:2476-2487. [PMID: 29464827 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2017] [Accepted: 12/18/2017] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Up to now, the most widely accepted idea of the periglacial environment is that of treeless ecosystems such as the arctic or the alpine tundra, also called the tabula rasa paradigm. However, several palaeoecological studies have recently challenged this idea, that is, treeless environments in periglacial areas where all organisms would have been exterminated near the glacier formed during the Last Glacial Maximum, notably in the Scandinavian mountains. In the Alps, the issue of glacial refugia of trees remains unanswered. Advances in glacier reconstructions show that ice domes did not cover all upper massifs, but glaciers filled valleys. Here, we used fossils of plant and malacofauna from a travertine formation located in a high mountain region to demonstrate that trees (Pinus, Betula) grew with grasses during the Lateglacial-Holocene transition, while the glacier fronts were 200-300 m lower. The geothermal travertine started to accumulate more than 14,500 years ago, but became progressively more meteogene about 11,500 years ago due to a change in groundwater circulation. With trees, land snails (gastropods) associated to woody or open habitats and aquatic mollusc were also present at the onset of the current interglacial, namely the Holocene. The geothermal spring, due to warm water and soil, probably favoured woody glacial ecosystems. This new finding of early tree growth, combined with other scattered proofs of the tree presence before 11,000 years ago in the western Alps, changes our view of the tree distribution in periglacial environments, supporting the notion of tree refugia on nunataks in an ocean of glaciers. Therefore, the tabula rasa paradigm must be revisited because it has important consequences on the global changes, including postglacial plant migrations and biogeochemical cycles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Carcaillet
- Laboratory for Ecology of Natural and Anthropised Hydrosystems (UMR 5023 CNRS), Université Lyon 1, Villeurbanne Cedex, France
- Paris Sciences & Lettres University (PSL), Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE), Paris, France
| | | | - Sébastien Abou
- Paris Sciences & Lettres University (PSL), Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE), Paris, France
| | - Adam Ali
- Institut des Sciences et de l'Evolution de Montpellier (UMR 5554), Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Bassam Ghaleb
- GEOTOP, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Frédéric Magnin
- Mediterranean Institute for Marine and Terrestrial Biodiversity and Ecology (UMR 7263 CNRS), Aix-Marseille University, Aix-en-Provence, France
| | - Paul Roiron
- Institut des Sciences et de l'Evolution de Montpellier (UMR 5554), Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Serge Aubert
- Station Alpine Joseph Fourier (UMS 3370 CNRS), Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
- Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine (UMR 5553 CNRS), Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
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