Abstract
Understanding the evolutionary history of the Eurasian steppe is crucial for restoring severely degraded ecosystems and mitigating the impact of future climate change. Stipa species, which demonstrate zonal and extrazonal distribution patterns across the eastern Eurasian steppe, serve as a noteworthy example for elucidating the evolution of this biome. In this paper, we explored the phylogeny of the genus Stipa using transcriptome data, while examined the genetic differentiation, demographic history, and adaptive evolution of S. baicalensis, S. grandis, and S. krylovii using RAD-seq data. We found that from mid-Miocene to early-Pliocene, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) uplift triggered the formation of the Asian monsoon and progressive aridification of Asian interior, fostering Stipa species emergence and out-of-QTP. During the Pleistocene, glacial-interglacial cycles and East Asian monsoon fluctuations led to alternations of cold-dry and warm-wet climate, facilitating the differentiation and migration of these three species across Mongolian Plateau, Loess Plateau, and Central Asia. These climatic oscillations shaped distinct genetic variations among these species in different geographical regions. Furthermore, annual precipitation and total soil nitrogen content were the primary drivers of their adaptive evolution. Noticeably, the evolution of Stipa species exhibits prominent spatio-temporal integration characteristics. Conclusively, we proposed a comprehensive regional evolution framework for plants in the eastern Eurasian steppe. Our research fills gaps in understanding the evolutionary history of the entire Eurasian steppe and the impact of evolutionary processes on contemporary plant distributions, which is vital for assessing steppe vegetation shifts and plant genomic vulnerability under climate change scenarios.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed cc-by-nc-nd. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 5
Claim · model-written summary
Mid-Miocene to early-Pliocene uplift and aridification were linked to Stipa emergence and dispersal.
StipaNot reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“from mid-Miocene to early-Pliocene, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) uplift triggered the formation of the Asian monsoon and progressive aridification of Asian interior, fostering Stipa species emergence and out-of-QTP”
Claim · model-written summary
Pleistocene climate cycles facilitated differentiation and migration of three Stipa species.
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“During the Pleistocene, glacial-interglacial cycles and East Asian monsoon fluctuations led to alternations of cold-dry and warm-wet climate, facilitating the differentiation and migration of these three species across Mongolian Plateau, Loess Plateau, and Central Asia”
t0“Stipa”
Claim · model-written summary
Climatic oscillations shaped distinct regional genetic variation.
- Outcome
- distinct genetic variationse0
- Qualifier
- climatic oscillationse0
- Setting
- different geographical regionse0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“These climatic oscillations shaped distinct genetic variations among these species in different geographical regions”
t0“Stipa”
Claim · model-written summary
Annual precipitation and soil nitrogen were primary drivers of adaptive evolution.
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“annual precipitation and total soil nitrogen content were the primary drivers of their adaptive evolution”
t0“Stipa”
Claim · model-written summary
Stipa evolution showed spatiotemporal integration.
- Outcome
- prominent spatio-temporal integration characteristicse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the evolution of Stipa species exhibits prominent spatio-temporal integration characteristics”