Université de Fribourg

Genomics of the divergence continuum in an African plant biodiversity hotspot, I: drivers of population divergence in Restio capensis (Restionaceae)

Lexer, Lexer ; Wüest, R. O. ; Mangili, Sophia ; Heuertz, M. ; Stölting, Kai N. ; Pearman, Peter B. ; Forest, Félix ; Salamin, Nicolas ; Zimmermann, Niklaus E. ; Bossolini, Eligio

In: Molecular Ecology, 2014, vol. 23, no. 17, p. 4373–4386

Understanding the drivers of population divergence, speciation and species persistence is of great interest to molecular ecology, especially for species-rich radiations inhabiting the world's biodiversity hotspots. The toolbox of population genomics holds great promise for addressing these key issues, especially if genomic data are analysed within a spatially and ecologically explicit...

Université de Fribourg

Effects of a Fire Response Trait on Diversification in Replicated Radiations

Litsios, Glenn ; Wüest, Rafael O. ; Kostikova, Anna ; Forest, Félix ; Lexer, Christian ; Linder, H. Peter ; Pearman, Peter B. ; Zimmermann, Niklaus E. ; Salamin, Nicolas

In: Evolution, 2013, p. -

Fire has been proposed as a factor explaining the exceptional plant species richness found in Mediterranean regions. A fire response trait that allows plants to cope with frequent fire by either reseeding or resprouting could differentially affect rates of species diversification. However, little is known about the generality of the effects of differing fire response on species evolution. We...

Université de Fribourg

‘Next generation’ biogeography: towards understanding the drivers of species diversification and persistence

Lexer, Christian ; Mangili, Sofia ; Bossolini, Eligio ; Forest, Felix ; Stölting, Kai N. ; Pearman, Peter B. ; Zimmermann, Niklaus E. ; Salamin, Nicolas

In: Journal of Biogeography, 2013, p. -

The drivers of species diversification and persistence are of great interest to current biogeography, especially in those global biodiversity ‘hotspots’ harbouring most of Earth's animal and plant life. Classical multispecies biogeographical work has yielded fascinating insights into broad-scale patterns of diversification, and DNA-based intraspecific phylogeographical studies have started to...

Université de Fribourg

Trophic specialization influences the rate of environmental niche evolution in damselfishes (Pomacentridae)

Litsios, Glenn ; Pellissier, Loïc ; Forest, Félix ; Lexer, Christian ; Pearman, Peter B. ; Zimmermann, Niklaus E. ; Salamin, Nicolas

In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B - Biological Sciences, 2012, p. -

The rate of environmental niche evolution describes the capability of species to explore the available environmental space and is known to vary among species owing to lineage-specific factors. Trophic specialization is a main force driving species evolution and is responsible for classical examples of adaptive radiations in fishes. We investigate the effect of trophic specialization on the rate...