History and evolution of the afroalpine flora: in the footsteps of Olov Hedberg

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11310%2F22%3A10456543" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11310/22:10456543 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=zTmveZx_YD" target="_blank" >https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=zTmveZx_YD</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00035-021-00256-9" target="_blank" >10.1007/s00035-021-00256-9</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

History and evolution of the afroalpine flora: in the footsteps of Olov Hedberg

Original language description

The monumental work of Olov Hedberg provided deep insights into the spectacular and fragmented tropical alpine flora of the African sky islands. Here we review recent molecular and niche modelling studies and re-examine Hedberg&apos;s hypotheses and conclusions. Colonisation started when mountain uplift established the harsh diurnal climate with nightly frosts, accelerated throughout the last 5 Myr (Plio-Pleistocene), and resulted in a flora rich in local endemics. Recruitment was dominated by long-distance dispersals (LDDs) from seasonally cold, remote areas, mainly in Eurasia. Colonisation was only rarely followed by substantial diversification. Instead, most of the larger genera and even species colonised the afroalpine habitat multiple times independently. Conspicuous parallel evolution occurred among mountains, e.g., of gigantism in Lobelia and Dendrosenecio and dwarf shrubs in Alchemilla. Although the alpine habitat was similar to 8 times larger and the treeline was similar to 1000 m lower than today during the Last Glacial Maximum, genetic data suggest that the flora was shaped by strong intermountain isolation interrupted by rare LDDs rather than ecological connectivity. The new evidence points to a much younger and more dynamic island scenario than envisioned by Hedberg: the afroalpine flora is unsaturated and fragile, it was repeatedly disrupted by the Pleistocene climate oscillations, and it harbours taxonomic and genetic diversity that is unique but severely depauperated by frequent bottlenecks and cycles of colonisation, extinction, and recolonisation. The level of intrapopulation genetic variation is alarmingly low, and many afroalpine species may be vulnerable to extinction because of climate warming and increasing human impact.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10611 - Plant sciences, botany

Project

—

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2022

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Alpine Botany

ISSN

1664-2201

e-ISSN

1664-221X

Volume of the periodical

132

Issue of the periodical within the volume

1

Country of publishing house

CH - SWITZERLAND

Number of pages

23

Pages from-to

65-87

UT code for WoS article

000674537000001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85110877958