What is it about?
Most extant species of sea buckthorn (Hippophae L.) grow on or around Tibetan Plateau and their evolution was closely linked with geologic and climatic processes in this mountain system. Hippophae gyantsensis grows in some of the harshest climatic conditions in the area. Genetic analyses performed in this study demonstrated that climatic fluctuations of the recent geologic epochs had considerable impact on evolution of this species. These fluctuations likely resulted in evolution of two ecotypes within the species with adaptations to different climatic conditions along the same river valley.
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Why is it important?
Demonstration of specific impacts of climatic fluctuations of recent geologic epochs on evolutionary processes in plant species adapted to harsh climatic conditions of Tibetan Plateau can potentially provide useful insights into the mechanisms of adaptation of plants to climatic changes.
Perspectives
Evolutionary history of Hippophae is a fascinating area of research. Studies of the history have already allowed numerous insights into responses of plants with adaptations to frequent local environmental changes to climatic changes at the global scale. The reported in this study results add one more very interesting story about this plant.
Dr Igor V Bartish
Institute of Botany
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Climate heterogeneity shapes phylogeographic pattern of Hippophae gyantsensis (Elaeagnaceae) in the east Himalaya‐Hengduan Mountains, Ecology and Evolution, June 2023, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10182.
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