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Biology
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Biological Novelty as Source of Biodiversity in Mountains
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Biological Novelty as Source of Biodiversity in Mountains

A special issue of Biology (ISSN 2079-7737). This special issue belongs to the section "Conservation Biology and Biodiversity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2022) | Viewed by 12775

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Adrien Favre

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Entomology III, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum, Senckenberganlage 25, D‐60325 Frankfurt/Main, Germany
Interests: origin and evolution of mountain biodiversity

Special Issue Information

Biological Novelty as Source of Biodiversity in Mountains Pix 1: Yading Nature Reserve, Sichuan, China
Biological Novelty as Source of Biodiversity in Mountains Pix 2: Lilium carniolicum in the Kamnik–Savinja Alps, Slovenia
Biological Novelty as Source of Biodiversity in Mountains Pix 3: Trient Valley and Glacier, Valais, Switzerland
Biological Novelty as Source of Biodiversity in Mountains Pix 4: Emaney, Valais, Switzerland

Dear Colleagues,

Mountains are well-known reservoirs of biodiversity. Underlying their remarkable species richness is a suite of biotic and abiotic factors acting in concert to foster diversification. Abiotic drivers, including geological and climatic dynamics, are often regarded as sole contributors to biodiversity in topographically complex areas. However, diversification itself may be initiated and fueled by biological processes at least partially independent from abiotic factors, an aspect which is more rarely investigated. For example, biological novelties may modify biotic interactions or allow taxa to seize ecological opportunities opened up by abiotic changes, thus allowing them to embark on their own evolutionary track towards speciation and diversification. The evolution of such key innovations, morphological, physiological or otherwise, may find its origins in biological processes such as variations in genome sizes and polyploidization, as well as hybridization and drift. In a sense, the immigration of pre-adapted lineages, with their own sets of traits, may also represent some form of novelty for local floras and faunas. Although these processes are likely to contribute to diversity in all mountain systems in the world, they remain vastly overlooked in some of them. This special issue is thus dedicated to case studies or reviews investigating the source of biological novelty as starting point of diversification in mountains, including biological interchange. In order to promote a more holistic understanding on how such high biodiversity levels were reached, the special issue will include studies on various taxa throughout the tree of life and across all mountain systems in the world. Relying on state-of-the-art and integrative methodological approaches, this special issue will not only produce a catalogue of biotic factors at the source of biodiversity, but also pave the way for a more unified theory on the origin of mountain biodiversity.

Dr. Adrien Favre
Guest Editor

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biological novelty
  • diversification
  • historical biogeography
  • hybridisation
  • polyploidization
  • mountains

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

29 pages, 4628 KiB  
Article
Geographic Genetic Structure of Alectoris chukar in Türkiye: Post-LGM-Induced Hybridization and Human-Mediated Contaminations
by Sarp Kaya, Bekir Kabasakal and Ali Erdoğan
Biology 2023, 12(3), 401; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12030401 - 3 Mar 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2743
Abstract
Türkiye is considered an important evolutionary area for Chukar partridge (Alectoris chukar), since it is both a potential ancestral area and a diversification center for the species. Using 2 mitochondrial (Cty-b and D-loop) and 13 polymorphic microsatellite markers, we investigated the [...] Read more.
Türkiye is considered an important evolutionary area for Chukar partridge (Alectoris chukar), since it is both a potential ancestral area and a diversification center for the species. Using 2 mitochondrial (Cty-b and D-loop) and 13 polymorphic microsatellite markers, we investigated the geographic genetic structure of A. chukar populations to determine how past climatic fluctuations and human activities have shaped the gene pool of this species in Türkiye. Our results indicate, firstly, that only A. chukar of the genus Alectoris is present in Türkiye (Anatolia and Thrace), with no natural or artificial gene flow from congenerics. Secondly, the geographic genetic structure of the species in Türkiye has been shaped by topographic heterogeneity, Pleistocene climatic fluctuations, and artificial transport by humans. Third, there appears to be three genetic clusters: Thracian, Eastern, and Western. Fourth, the post-LGM demographic expansion of the Eastern and Western populations has formed a hybrid zone in Central Anatolia (~8 kyBP). Fifth, the rate of China clade-B contamination in Türkiye is about 8% in mtDNA and about 12% in nuDNA, with the Southeastern Anatolian population having the highest contamination. Sixth, the Thracian population was the most genetically distinct, with the lowest genetic diversity and highest level of inbreeding and no China clad-B contamination. These results can contribute to the conservation regarding A. chukar populations, especially the Thracian population. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Novelty as Source of Biodiversity in Mountains)
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17 pages, 1146 KiB  
Article
Transposable Elements in the Genome of the Lichen-Forming Fungus Umbilicaria pustulata and Their Distribution in Different Climate Zones along Elevation
by Francesco Dal Grande, Véronique Jamilloux, Nathalie Choisne, Anjuli Calchera, Gregor Rolshausen, Malte Petersen, Meike Schulz, Maria A. Nilsson and Imke Schmitt
Biology 2022, 11(1), 24; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11010024 - 24 Dec 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3651
Abstract
Transposable elements (TEs) are an important source of genome plasticity across the tree of life. Drift and natural selection are important forces shaping TE distribution and accumulation. Fungi, with their multifaceted phenotypic diversity and relatively small genome size, are ideal models to study [...] Read more.
Transposable elements (TEs) are an important source of genome plasticity across the tree of life. Drift and natural selection are important forces shaping TE distribution and accumulation. Fungi, with their multifaceted phenotypic diversity and relatively small genome size, are ideal models to study the role of TEs in genome evolution and their impact on the host’s ecological and life history traits. Here we present an account of all TEs found in a high-quality reference genome of the lichen-forming fungus Umbilicaria pustulata, a macrolichen species comprising two climatic ecotypes: Mediterranean and cold temperate. We trace the occurrence of the newly identified TEs in populations along three elevation gradients using a Pool-Seq approach to identify TE insertions of potential adaptive significance. We found that TEs cover 21.26% of the 32.9 Mbp genome, with LTR Gypsy and Copia clades being the most common TEs. We identified 28 insertions displaying consistent insertion frequency differences between the two host ecotypes across the elevation gradients. Most of the highly differentiated insertions were located near genes, indicating a putative function. This pioneering study of the content and climate niche-specific distribution of TEs in a lichen-forming fungus contributes to understanding the roles of TEs in fungal evolution. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Novelty as Source of Biodiversity in Mountains)
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28 pages, 3049 KiB  
Article
The Evolution of Trait Disparity during the Radiation of the Plant Genus Macrocarpaea (Gentianaceae) in the Tropical Andes
by Julien C. Vieu, Darina Koubínová and Jason R. Grant
Biology 2021, 10(9), 825; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology10090825 - 25 Aug 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2457
Abstract
The evolutionary processes responsible for the extraordinary diversity in the middle elevation montane forests of the Tropical Andes (MMF; 1000–3500 m) remain poorly understood. It is not clear whether adaptive divergence, niche conservatism or geographical processes were the main contributors to the radiation [...] Read more.
The evolutionary processes responsible for the extraordinary diversity in the middle elevation montane forests of the Tropical Andes (MMF; 1000–3500 m) remain poorly understood. It is not clear whether adaptive divergence, niche conservatism or geographical processes were the main contributors to the radiation of the respective lineages occurring there. We investigated the evolutionary history of plant lineages in the MMF. We used the vascular plant genus Macrocarpaea (Gentianaceae) as a model, as it consists of 118 morphologically diverse species, a majority of which are endemic to the MMF. We used a time-calibrated molecular phylogeny and morphological and climatic data to compare a set of evolutionary scenarios of various levels of complexity in a phylogenetic comparative framework. In this paper, we show that the hypothesis of adaptive radiation for Macrocarpaea in the MMF is unlikely. The genus remained confined to the upper montane forests (UMF > 1800 m) during more than a half of its evolutionary history, possibly due to evolutionary constraints. Later, coinciding with the beginning of the Pleistocene (around 2.58 Ma), a phylogenetically derived (recently branching) clade, here referred to as the M. micrantha clade (25 species), successfully colonized and radiated in the lower montane forests (LMF < 1800 m). This colonization was accompanied by the evolution of a new leaf phenotype that is unique to the species of the M. micrantha clade that likely represents an adaptation to life in this new environment (adaptive zone). Therefore, our results suggest that niche conservatism and geographical processes have dominated most of the diversification history of Macrocarpaea, but that a rare adaptive divergence event allowed a transition into a new adaptive zone and enabled progressive radiation in this zone through geographical processes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Novelty as Source of Biodiversity in Mountains)
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15 pages, 2594 KiB  
Article
Gene Flow and Diversification in Himalopsyche martynovi Species Complex (Trichoptera: Rhyacophilidae) in the Hengduan Mountains
by Xi-Ling Deng, Adrien Favre, Emily Moriarty Lemmon, Alan R. Lemmon and Steffen U. Pauls
Biology 2021, 10(8), 816; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology10080816 - 23 Aug 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2750
Abstract
The Hengduan Mountains are one of the most species-rich mountainous areas in the world. The origin and evolution of such a remarkable biodiversity are likely to be associated with geological or climatic dynamics, as well as taxon-specific biotic processes (e.g., hybridization, polyploidization, etc.). [...] Read more.
The Hengduan Mountains are one of the most species-rich mountainous areas in the world. The origin and evolution of such a remarkable biodiversity are likely to be associated with geological or climatic dynamics, as well as taxon-specific biotic processes (e.g., hybridization, polyploidization, etc.). Here, we investigate the mechanisms fostering the diversification of the endemic Himalopsyche martynovi complex, a poorly known group of aquatic insects. We used multiple allelic datasets generated from 691 AHE loci to reconstruct species and RaxML phylogenetic trees. We selected the most reliable phylogenetic tree to perform network and gene flow analyses. The phylogenetic reconstructions and network analysis identified three clades, including H. epikur, H. martynovi sensu stricto and H. cf. martynovi. Himalopsyche martynovi sensu stricto and H. cf. martynovi present an intermediate morphology between H. epikur and H. viteceki, the closest known relative to the H. martynovi-complex. The gene flow analysis revealed extensive gene flow among these lineages. Our results suggest that H. viteceki and H. epikur are likely to have contributed to the evolution of H. martynovi sensu stricto and H. cf. martynovi via gene flow, and thus, our study provides insights in the diversification process of a lesser-known ecological group, and hints at the potential role of gene flow in the emergence of biological novelty in the Hengduan Mountains. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Novelty as Source of Biodiversity in Mountains)
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