The ice-age history of West Patagonian (Chile) peat bog vegetation

我们的项目旨在阐明智利海峡地区的第四纪植被历史。这一大片区域很难进入，以前很少用系统地理学方法进行研究，尽管它是上一次冰川盛期南半球最大的冰川区域。我们将首先测试这样的假设，即冰盾完全消灭了这一地区的植物生命(Tabula rasa情景)，或者冰盾内或其边缘可能存在许多未知的避难所。已发表的孢粉学和地质学数据既不准确，也不具决定性，我们预计分子数据将产生更清晰的结果。我们将分析缓冲泥炭沼泽的三个物种的种群结构和系统地理，这是该地区特有的优势植被单元。我们将在假定的冰盾内外的每个物种的大约40个种群上应用dna序列和微卫星标记。我们将用环境生态位模型分析现在和过去的分布范围，以确定潜在的避难区。我们的结果将与两个研究小组的结果相结合，他们使用相同的方法研究相邻地区，潜在地允许更完整地了解南美洲南部的第四纪植被历史。

Our project aims to clarify the Quaternary vegetation history of the Chilean Channel region. This large region is difficult to access and has rarely been studied with phylogeographic methods before, although it was the largest glaciated area in the southern hemisphere during the last glacial maximum. We will first test the hypotheses that the ice-shield completely wiped out plant life from this area (tabula rasa scenario) or that many yet unkown refugia may have existed within the ice shield or along its margin. Published data from palynology and geology are neither precise nor decisive yet and we expect that molecular data will generate much clearer results. We will analyse the population structure and the phylogeography of three species from cushion peat bogs, which is an endemic, dominant vegetation unit in this area. We will apply DNA sequence and microsatellite markers on c. 40 populations per species from within and outside the presumed ice shield. We will analyse present and past distribution ranges with environmental niche modelling to ascertain potential refugial areas. Our results will be integrated with results of two research groups who study adjacent regions with the same methodology, potentially allowing for a much more complete understanding of Quaternary vegetation history in southern South America.