Am. J. Bot.
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(American Journal of Botany. 2008;95:1262-1269.)
doi: 10.3732/ajb.0800010
© 2008 Botanical Society of America, Inc.
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Systematics and Phytogeography

Phylogeography of North African Atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica, Pinaceae): Combined molecular and fossil data reveal a complex Quaternary history1

Anass Terrab2,3,6, Arndt Hampe4, Olivier Lepais4, Salvador Talavera3, Errol Vela5 and Tod F. Stuessy2

2 Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, A-1030 Vienna, Austria 3 Departamento de Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Apartado 1095 41080-Sevilla, Spain 4 INRA, UMR 1202 BIOGECO, 69, Route d’Arcachon, F-33612 Cestas Cedex, France 5 Institut Méditerranéen d’Ecologie et de Paléoécologie, Faculté des Sciences de St-Jérôme, Boite 462, Av. Escadrille Normandie-Niemen, F 13397 Marseille Cedex 20, France

ABSTRACT

Northwest Africa is a major hotspot of plant biodiversity, but very little is known about the Quaternary range dynamics of plant species in this region. Here we investigate the range-wide population structure and phylogeography of Atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica), an emblematic forest tree endemic to Morocco and Algeria. We genotyped 261 individuals from 11 populations using AFLP markers. Data were analyzed using both conventional FST-based techniques and Bayesian clustering. Overall population differentiation was high (FST = 0.25). Two major groups of populations were identified, one distributed through the Rif and Middle Atlas mountains in Morocco and the other through the Algerian Tell Atlas and Aurès mountains as well as the Middle Atlas. Combined molecular and fossil data indicate that C. atlantica survived the Last Glacial Maximum in at least three disjunct refugia along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, whereas the Middle Atlas, today the core of the species range, has been colonized relatively recently (<10000 yr BP). The colonization history of individual populations has left clear imprints in their present-day diversity, which may vary greatly even between nearby stands. Our study illustrates how integrating different data sources and analytical approaches can help elucidate complex range dynamics that would otherwise remain undeciphered.

Key Words: Algeria • AFLP • diversity • gene flow • glacial refugia • Morocco • nonmetric multidimensional scaling analysis • population divergence • range contraction • Structure program

Received for publication 11 January 2008. Accepted for publication 8 July 2008.






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