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- Boquete, María Teresa, et al.
(author)
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Current and historical factors drive variation of reproductive traits in unisexual mosses in Europe : A case study
- 2023
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In: Journal of Systematics and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 1674-4918 .- 1759-6831. ; 61:1, s. 213-226
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Unisexual bryophytes provide excellent models to study the mechanisms that regulate the frequency of sexual versus asexual reproduction in plants, and their ecological and evolutionary implications. Here, we determined sex expression, phenotypic sex ratio, and individual shoot traits in 242 populations of the cosmopolitan moss Pseudoscleropodium purum spanning its whole distributional range. We tested whether niche differentiation, sex-specific differences in shoot size, and biogeographical history explained the spatial variation of reproductive traits. We observed high levels of sex expression and predominantly female-biased populations, although both traits showed high intraspecific variation among populations. Sex expression and sex ratio were partly explained by current macroscale environmental variation, with male shoots being less frequent at the higher end of the environmental gradients defined by the current distribution of the species. Female bias in population sex ratio was significantly lower in areas recolonized after the last glacial maximum (recent populations) than in glacial refugia (long-term persistent populations). We demonstrated that reproductive trait variation in perennial unisexual mosses is partially driven by macroscale and historical environmental variation. Based on our results, we hypothesize that sexual dimorphism in environmental tolerance and vegetative growth contribute to sex ratio bias over time, constraining the chances of sexual reproduction, especially in long-term persistent populations. Further studies combining genetic analyses and population monitoring should improve our understanding of the implications of the intraspecific variation in the frequency of sexual versus asexual reproduction in bryophyte population fitness and eco-evolutionary dynamics.
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- Desamore, Aurelie, et al.
(author)
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High migration rates shape the postglacial history of amphi-Atlantic bryophytes
- 2016
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In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 25:21, s. 5568-5584
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Paleontological evidence and current patterns of angiosperm species richness suggest that European biota experienced more severe bottlenecks than North American ones during the last glacial maximum. How well this pattern fits other plant species is less clear. Bryophytes offer a unique opportunity to contrast the impact of the last glacial maximum in North America and Europe because about 60% of the European bryoflora is shared with North America. Here, we use population genetic analyses based on approximate Bayesian computation on eight amphi-Atlantic species to test the hypothesis that North American populations were less impacted by the last glacial maximum, exhibiting higher levels of genetic diversity than European ones and ultimately serving as a refugium for the postglacial recolonization of Europe. In contrast with this hypothesis, the best-fit demographic model involved similar patterns of population size contractions, comparable levels of genetic diversity and balanced migration rates between European and North American populations. Our results thus suggest that bryophytes have experienced comparable demographic glacial histories on both sides of the Atlantic. Although a weak, but significant genetic structure was systematically recovered between European and North American populations, evidence for migration from and towards both continents suggests that amphi-Atlantic bryophyte population may function as a metapopulation network. Reconstructing the biogeographic history of either North American or European bryophyte populations therefore requires a large, trans-Atlantic geographic framework.
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- Laenen, Benjamin, et al.
(author)
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Evolutionary origin of the latitudinal diversity gradient in liverworts
- 2018
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In: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. - : Elsevier BV. - 1055-7903 .- 1095-9513. ; 127, s. 606-612
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A latitudinal diversity gradient towards the tropics appears as one most recurrent patterns in ecology, but the mechanisms underlying this pattern remain an area of controversy. In angiosperms, the tropical conservatism hypothesis proposes that most groups originated in the tropics and are adapted to a tropical climatic regime, and that relatively few species have evolved physiological adaptations to cold, dry or unpredictable climates. This mechanism is, however, unlikely to apply across land plants, and in particular, to liverworts, a group of about 7500 species, whose ability to withstand cold much better than their tracheophyte counterparts is at odds with the tropical conservatism hypothesis. Molecular dating, diversification rate analyses and ancestral area reconstructions were employed to explore the evolutionary mechanisms that account for the latitudinal diversity gradient in liverworts. As opposed to angiosperms, tropical liverwort genera are not older than their extratropical counterparts (median stem age of tropical and extra-tropical liverwort genera of 24.35 +/- 39.65 Ma and 39.57 +/- 49.07 Ma, respectively), weakening the `time for speciation hypothesis'. Models of ancestral area reconstructions with equal migration rates between tropical and extra-tropical regions outperformed models with asymmetrical migration rates in either direction. The symmetry and intensity of migrations between tropical and extra-tropical regions suggested by the lack of resolution in ancestral area reconstructions towards the deepest nodes are at odds with the tropical niche conservatism hypothesis. In turn, tropical genera exhibited significantly higher net diversification rates than extra-tropical ones, suggesting that the observed latitudinal diversity gradient results from either higher extinction rates in extra-tropical lineages or higher speciation rates in the tropics. We discuss a series of experiments to help deciphering the underlying evolutionary mechanisms.
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- Laenen, Benjamin, et al.
(author)
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Geographical range in liverworts : does sex really matter?
- 2016
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In: Journal of Biogeography. - : Wiley. - 0305-0270 .- 1365-2699. ; 43:3, s. 627-635
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- AimWhy some species exhibit larger geographical ranges than others remains a fundamental, but largely unanswered, question in ecology and biogeography. In plants, a relationship between range size and mating system was proposed over a century ago and subsequently formalized in Baker's Law. Here, we take advantage of the extensive variation in sexual systems of liverworts to test the hypothesis that dioecious species compensate for limited fertilization by producing vegetative propagules more commonly than monoecious species. As spores are assumed to contribute to random long-distance dispersal, whereas vegetative propagules contribute to colony maintenance and frequent short-distance dispersal, we further test the hypothesis that monoecious species exhibit larger geographical ranges than dioecious ones. LocationWorldwide. MethodsWe used comparative phylogenetic methods to assess the correlation between range size and life history traits related to dispersal, including mating systems, spore size and production of specialized vegetative propagules. ResultsNo significant correlation was found between dioecy and production of vegetative propagules. However, production of vegetative propagules is correlated with the size of geographical ranges across the liverwort tree of life, whereas sexuality and spores size are not. Moreover, variation in sexual systems did not have an influence on the correlation between geographical range and production of asexual propagules. Main conclusionsOur results challenge the long-held notion that spores, and not vegetative propagules, are involved in long-distance dispersal. Asexual reproduction seems to play a major role in shaping the global distribution patterns of liverworts, so that monoecious species do not tend to display, on average, broader distribution ranges than dioecious ones. Our results call for further investigation on the spatial genetic structure of bryophyte populations at different geographical scales depending on their mating systems to assess the dispersal capacities of spores and asexual propagules and determine their contribution in shaping species distribution ranges.
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- Laenen, Benjamin, et al.
(author)
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Increased diversification rates follow shifts to bisexuality in liverworts
- 2016
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In: New Phytologist. - : Wiley. - 0028-646X .- 1469-8137. ; 210:3, s. 1121-1129
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Shifts in sexual systems are one of the key drivers of species diversification. In contrast to angiosperms, unisexuality prevails in bryophytes. Here, we test the hypotheses that bisexuality evolved from an ancestral unisexual condition and is a key innovation in liverworts. We investigate whether shifts in sexual systems influence diversification using hidden state speciation and extinction analysis (HiSSE). This new method compares the effects of the variable of interest to the best-fitting latent variable, yielding robust and conservative tests. We find that the transitions in sexual systems are significantly biased toward unisexuality, even though bisexuality is coupled with increased diversification. Sexual systems are strongly conserved deep within the liverwort tree but become much more labile toward the present. Bisexuality appears to be a key innovation in liverworts. Its effects on diversification are presumably mediated by the interplay of high fertilization rates, massive spore production and long-distance dispersal, which may separately or together have facilitated liverwort speciation, suppressed their extinction, or both. Importantly, shifts in liverwort sexual systems have the opposite effect when compared to angiosperms, leading to contrasting diversification patterns between the two groups. The high prevalence of unisexuality among liverworts suggests, however, a strong selection for sexual dimorphism.
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- Patino, Jairo, et al.
(author)
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Baker’s law and the island syndromes in bryophytes
- 2013
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In: Journal of Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0022-0477 .- 1365-2745. ; 101, s. 1245-1255
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- 1. The evolution of island syndromes has long served as a model to understand the mechanisms accounting for phenotypic differentiation. Combining literature data with actual observations, we determine whether typical syndromes such as the loss of dispersal power and the bias towards selfcompatibility s law) apply to vagile organisms, using bryophytes as a model.2. The life-history traits (LHTs) observed in oceanic island floras were statistically different from those observed on continents, evidencing the evolution of island syndromes. In contrast, LHTs of continental and continental island floras were similar, pointing to differences in migration intensity between continents, continental islands and oceanic islands.3. The proportion of bisexual species was significantly higher on oceanic islands than on continents. A significant proportion of species that are unisexual or bisexual on continents shifted towards exclusive bisexuality on oceanic islands, suggesting that Baker’s law applies to bryophytes. The underlying mechanisms, however, probably differ from in situ selection for selfing.4. The proportion of species producing specialized asexual diaspores, which are assumed to play a role in short-distance dispersal (SDD), was higher on oceanic islands than on continents. The proportion of species producing spores, which are involved in long-distance dispersal (LDD), exhibited the reverse trend, suggesting a shift in the prevalent reproductive strategy to favour SDD on oceanic islands. Approximately 50% of the species, however, maintained the ability to produce sporophytes on oceanic islands, and the relative frequency of fertile shoots within collections of four model species was even higher on islands than on continents.5. Synthesis. Bryophytes exhibit typical island syndromes, indicating that migration rates between oceanic islands and continents are not sufficient to prevent the effects of genetic drift and contradicting the view that the sea does not impede migration in the group. Significant shifts in life-history traits (LHTs) towards increased production of specialized asexual diaspores and decreased sporophyte production on oceanic islands indeed point to a global loss of long-distance dispersal (LDD) ability. The maintenance of traits characteristic for LDD in a large number of species has, however, substantial consequences for our understanding of island plant evolution, and in particular, for our vision of islands as evolutionary dead ends.
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