Phylogeography of SW Mediterranean firs: Different European origins for the North African Abies species

•Four distinct genetic groups of firs in W Mediterranean were found.•The Strait of Gibraltar was an effective genetic barrier for gene flow.•At least two European origins for firs in N Africa has been suggested.

The current distribution of Western Mediterranean Abies species is a result of complex geodynamic processes and climatic oscillations that occurred in the past. Abies sect. Piceaster offers a good study model to explore how geo-climatic oscillations might have influenced its expansion and diversification on both sides of the W Mediterranean basin. We investigated the genetic variation within and among nine populations from five Abies species by molecular markers with high and low mutation rates and contrasting inheritance (AFLP and cpSSR). Analyses revealed the opening of the Strait of Gibraltar as an effective barrier against gene flow between the Southern Iberian (A. pinsapo) and North African (A. marocana and A. tazaotana) firs. The A. pinsapo populations in Spain and likewise those of the A. marocana - A. tazaotana population complex were not differentiated, and no evidence was found to distinguish A. tazaotana at the species level. Diversification of Abies across North Africa could occur by way of at least two vicariant events from Europe, in the west, giving rise to the A. marocana - A. tazaotana complex, and in the east, giving A. numidica. Secondary contacts among species from Abies sect. Piceaster (A. pinsapo and A. numidica), and with A. alba (Abies sect. Abies) are also indicated. However, there is a closer relationship between the Algerian fir (A. numidica) and the North Mediterranean widespread A. alba, than with the Moroccan firs (A. marocana and A. tazaotana) or the Southern Iberian (A. pinsapo). We also discuss the distribution range of these taxa in its paleogeological and paleoclimatic context, and propose that part of the modern geography of the South-Western Mediterranean firs might be traced back to the Tertiary.

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