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Biogeography of larches in Eastern Siberia - using single nucleotide polymorphisms derived by genotyping by sequencing
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  • Sarah Haupt,
  • Nadine Bernhardt,
  • Stefanie Killing,
  • Stefano Meucci,
  • Ulrike Herzschuh,
  • Evgenii Zakharov,
  • Dörte Harpke,
  • Lyudmila Pestryakova,
  • Stefan Kruse
Sarah Haupt
Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam, Germany , Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, 14473 Potsdam, Germany

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Nadine Bernhardt
Julius Kühn-Institut, Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Resistance Research and Stress Tolerance, 06484 Quedlinburg, Germany
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Stefanie Killing
Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
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Stefano Meucci
Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam, Germany , Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
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Ulrike Herzschuh
Institute of Environmental Sciences and Geography, University of Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam, Germany, Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam, Germany , Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
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Evgenii Zakharov
Institute for Biological Problems of the Cryolithozone, Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian branch, 677000 Yakutsk, Russia , Institute of Natural Sciences, North-Eastern Federal University of Yakutsk, 677000 Yakutsk, Russia
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Dörte Harpke
Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research Gatersleben, 06466 Stadt Seeland, Germany
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Lyudmila Pestryakova
Institute of Natural Sciences, North-Eastern Federal University of Yakutsk, 677000 Yakutsk, Russia
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Stefan Kruse
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
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Abstract

The present distribution of Siberian boreal forests that are dominated by larches is influenced, to an unknown extent, by the glacial history. Knowing the past treeline response to climate shifts can improve our understanding of future treeline dynamics under changing climate. Here, we study patterns in the genetic variability of Siberian larches (Larix spp.) that can help us to unravel biogeographic migration routes since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). We sampled 148 larch individuals from Eastern Siberia. For each individual, genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were derived through genotyping by sequencing (GBS). We inferred the spatial distribution from 14,003 SNPs with a cluster analysis. To infer the postglacial demographic history of Larix, we applied an Approximate Bayesian Computation. The Bayesian population assignment statistically supported three to four clusters from Western to Eastern Siberia that correspond well to the geographic ranges of the main Siberian larch species Larix sibirica, L. gmelinii, and L. cajanderi. Using four plausible clusters, the tested hypotheses in DIYABC show that the existing populations seem to have been initiated long before the LGM. We presume that the different populations originate from larch populations that survived the glacial periods. From our genetic studies, we deduce that Larix was more likely to have survived the cold LGM in northern refugia, from where a fast colonization of Siberia was possible, rather than Larix completely repopulating Siberia in the postglacial spreading out from southern areas with less harsh climatic conditions. The northernmost expansion during the Holocene seems to have benefitted from refugial populations ahead of the treeline at that time, which explains the existence of Larix in the far north. We expect from our results that the present migration will be slow at first as there are currently no refugial populations far north, as there probably were in the Holocene.
04 Sep 2023Submitted to Ecography
05 Sep 2023Submission Checks Completed
05 Sep 2023Assigned to Editor
05 Sep 2023Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
15 Sep 2023Reviewer(s) Assigned
23 Oct 2023Editorial Decision: Revise Major
01 Feb 20241st Revision Received
01 Feb 2024Submission Checks Completed
01 Feb 2024Assigned to Editor
01 Feb 2024Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
01 Feb 2024Reviewer(s) Assigned