Uplift-driven diversification in the Hengduan Mountains, a temperate biodiversity hotspot

A common hypothesis for the rich biodiversity found in mountains is uplift-driven diversification-that orogeny creates conditions favoring rapid in situ speciation of resident lineages. We tested this hypothesis in the context of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) and adjoining mountain ranges, using the phylogenetic and geographic histories of multiple groups of plants to infer the tempo (rate) and mode (colonization versus in situ diversification) of biotic assembly through time and across regions. We focused on the Hengduan Mountains region, which in comparison with the QTP and Himalayas was uplifted more recently (since the late Miocene) and is smaller in area and richer in species. Time-calibrated…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Awards: DEB-1119098, 1119098
• SN
  Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung

  Award: P300P3_158528
• CA
  Chinese Academy of Sciences