Premium
The ubiquity of alpine plant radiations: from the Andes to the Hengduan Mountains
Author(s) -
Hughes Colin E.,
Atchison Guy W.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/nph.13230
Subject(s) - adaptation (eye) , ecology , pleistocene , perennial plant , alpine plant , ice age , glacial period , paleontology , geography , biology , neuroscience
Summary Alpine plant radiations are compared across the world's major mountain ranges and shown to be overwhelmingly young and fast, largely confined to the Pliocene and Pleistocene, and some of them apparently in the early explosive phase of radiation. Accelerated diversification triggered by island‐like ecological opportunities following the final phases of mountain uplift, and in many cases enabled by the key adaptation of perennial habit, provides a general model for alpine plant radiations. Accelerated growth form evolution facilitated by perenniality provides compelling evidence of ecological release and suggests striking parallels between island‐like alpine, and especially tropicalpine radiations, and island radiations more generally. These parallels suggest that the world's mountains offer an excellent comparative system for explaining evolutionary radiation.ContentsSummary 275 I. Introduction 275 II. Mountains as islands 277 III. Lupinus : a model for alpine plant radiation 277 IV. Perenniality and life‐form disparification 279 V. A comparative system for understanding evolutionary radiation 279 VI. Future perspectives 280Acknowledgements 280References 280