| Abstract Detail
Ecological Section Nakazato, Takuya [1], Sepulchre, Pierre [2], Moyle, Leonie C. [3]. Ecological divergence of wild tomatoes driven by the Andean uplift and the subsequent climate changes. Ecological events such as island formation and mountain uplift have long been thought to play a major role in speciation by restricting gene flow between allopatric populations. However, we know of no examples showing clear evidence of geological events causing environmental changes, which in turn, cause ecological divergence among populations. The recent rapid Andean uplift is one of such events that can potentially drive rapid climate changes and subsequent ecological divergence of organisms. Although previous studies suggested the role of the Andean uplift in high speciation rates, no direct causal links have been established between the uplift and species divergence. Our results from the Atmospheric General Circulation Modeling of paleoclimates and Ecological Niche Modeling show that the Andean uplift likely causes local adaptation and ecological divergence in wild tomatoes by demonstrating that 1) the Andean uplift has had substantial impacts on the climate of the region, 2) species have gradually radiated to high-altitude habitats upon uplift, and 3) species had become ecologically divergent after the radiation. Our results not only illustrate a mechanism of ecological divergence driven by geological events, but also offer a potential explanation to why the world’s biodiversity hotspots often coincide with geologically active regions.
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1 - Indiana University, Department of Biology, Jordan Hall, 1001 East Third Street, Bloomington, Indiana, 47405, USA
2 - University of California Santa Cruz, Earth & Planetary Sciences, Earth & Marine Sci., Santa Cruz, California, 95064, U.S.A.
3 - Indiana University, Department of Biology, Jordan Hall 142, 1001 E. 3rd St., Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA
Keywords:
tomato
adaptation
ecological speciation
Andes
paleoclimate.
Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 11
Location: Council Chambers/SUB
Date: Monday, July 28th, 2008
Time: 10:30 AM
Number: 11003
Abstract ID:77 |
