Dated Plant Phylogenies Resolve Neogene Climate and Landscape Evolution in the Cape Floristic Region

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dc.contributor.authorHoffmann, Veraen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorVerboom, G. Anthonyen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorCotterill, Fenton P. D.en_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-11-09T13:23:33Z
dc.date.available2015-11-09T13:23:33Z
dc.date.issued2015en_ZA
dc.description.abstractIn the context of molecularly-dated phylogenies, inferences informed by ancestral habitat reconstruction can yield valuable insights into the origins of biomes, palaeoenvironments and landforms. In this paper, we use dated phylogenies of 12 plant clades from the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) in southern Africa to test hypotheses of Neogene climatic and geomorphic evolution. Our combined dataset for the CFR strengthens and refines previous palaeoenvironmental reconstructions based on a sparse, mostly offshore fossil record. Our reconstructions show remarkable consistency across all 12 clades with regard to both the types of environments identified as ancestral, and the timing of shifts to alternative conditions. They reveal that Early Miocene land surfaces of the CFR were wetter than at present and were dominated by quartzitic substrata. These conditions continue to characterize the higher-elevation settings of the Cape Fold Belt, where they have fostered the persistence of ancient fynbos lineages. The Middle Miocene (13-17 Ma) saw the development of perennial to weakly-seasonal arid conditions, with the strongly seasonal rainfall regime of the west coast arising ~6.5-8 Ma. Although the Late Miocene may have seen some exposure of the underlying shale substrata, the present-day substrate diversity of the CFR lowlands was shaped by Pliocene-Pleistocene events. Particularly important was renewed erosion, following the post-African II uplift episode, and the reworking of sediments on the coastal platform as a consequence of marine transgressions and tectonic uplift. These changes facilitated adaptive radiations in some, but not all, lineages studied.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationHoffmann, V., Verboom, G. Anthony., & Cotterill, Fenton P. D. (2015). Dated Plant Phylogenies Resolve Neogene Climate and Landscape Evolution in the Cape Floristic Region. <i>PLoS One</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14795en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationHoffmann, Vera, G. Anthony Verboom, and Fenton P. D. Cotterill "Dated Plant Phylogenies Resolve Neogene Climate and Landscape Evolution in the Cape Floristic Region." <i>PLoS One</i> (2015) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14795en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationHoffmann, V., Verboom, G. A., & Cotterill, F. P. (2015). Dated Plant Phylogenies Resolve Neogene Climate and Landscape Evolution in the Cape Floristic Region. PloS one, 10(9), e0137847. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0137847en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Hoffmann, Vera AU - Verboom, G. Anthony AU - Cotterill, Fenton P. D. AB - In the context of molecularly-dated phylogenies, inferences informed by ancestral habitat reconstruction can yield valuable insights into the origins of biomes, palaeoenvironments and landforms. In this paper, we use dated phylogenies of 12 plant clades from the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) in southern Africa to test hypotheses of Neogene climatic and geomorphic evolution. Our combined dataset for the CFR strengthens and refines previous palaeoenvironmental reconstructions based on a sparse, mostly offshore fossil record. Our reconstructions show remarkable consistency across all 12 clades with regard to both the types of environments identified as ancestral, and the timing of shifts to alternative conditions. They reveal that Early Miocene land surfaces of the CFR were wetter than at present and were dominated by quartzitic substrata. These conditions continue to characterize the higher-elevation settings of the Cape Fold Belt, where they have fostered the persistence of ancient fynbos lineages. The Middle Miocene (13-17 Ma) saw the development of perennial to weakly-seasonal arid conditions, with the strongly seasonal rainfall regime of the west coast arising ~6.5-8 Ma. Although the Late Miocene may have seen some exposure of the underlying shale substrata, the present-day substrate diversity of the CFR lowlands was shaped by Pliocene-Pleistocene events. Particularly important was renewed erosion, following the post-African II uplift episode, and the reworking of sediments on the coastal platform as a consequence of marine transgressions and tectonic uplift. These changes facilitated adaptive radiations in some, but not all, lineages studied. DA - 2015 DB - OpenUCT DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0137847 DP - University of Cape Town J1 - PLoS One LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2015 T1 - Dated Plant Phylogenies Resolve Neogene Climate and Landscape Evolution in the Cape Floristic Region TI - Dated Plant Phylogenies Resolve Neogene Climate and Landscape Evolution in the Cape Floristic Region UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14795 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/14795
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0137847
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationHoffmann V, Verboom G Anthony, Cotterill Fenton P D. Dated Plant Phylogenies Resolve Neogene Climate and Landscape Evolution in the Cape Floristic Region. PLoS One. 2015; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14795.en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisherPublic Library of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Biological Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.en_ZA
dc.rights.holder© 2015 Hoffmann et alen_ZA
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0en_ZA
dc.sourcePLoS Oneen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://journals.plos.org/plosoneen_ZA
dc.subject.otherHabitatsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherPaleoclimatologyen_ZA
dc.subject.otherFossil calibrationen_ZA
dc.subject.otherPhylogenetic analysisen_ZA
dc.subject.otherPaleobotanyen_ZA
dc.subject.otherPaleogeneticsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherPhylogeneticsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherShaleen_ZA
dc.titleDated Plant Phylogenies Resolve Neogene Climate and Landscape Evolution in the Cape Floristic Regionen_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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