Individualistic evolutionary responses of Central African rain forest plants to Pleistocene climatic fluctuations

Significance Understanding species’ evolutionary responses to past climate change is fundamental for improved biodiversity conservation. Species in the same area could exhibit either similar or individualistic evolutionary responses. We tested this hypothesis within the highly biodiverse tropical rain forests of Central Africa. We generated an unparalleled genomic dataset to estimate the evolutionary dynamics of a range of codistributed plant species. We reveal variable, asynchronous, individualistic evolutionary responses driven by different environmental factors and life-history traits. Our results challenge the long-standing view that past climate change led to similar rain forest dynamics within this region. Our study has important implications for the conservation of tropical rain forest biodiversity in general, and in Central Africa in particular.