Evolution of the Atacama Desert flora: Insights from phylogeographic studies on Oxalis and Viola

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The proposed research will use phylogenetic and phylogeographic approaches to address hypotheses about the evolution of the flora of the Atacama Desert. These hypotheses derive from the well-constrained Miocene age of this desert, the type and geographic direction of its drainage patterns, and its proximity to major centres of Andean and Southern Cone plant diversity. Using molecular genetic data for species of Viola and Oxalis endemic to the Atacama coastal fog desert, we will investigate where their closest relatives occur, what the major directions of geographic spread are, and which effects regional barriers, such as the East-West-running water drainage canyons known as quebradas, have on population structure and species diversity. Preliminary data demonstrate the feasibility of an approach that will utilize chloroplast and nuclear DNA sequences, microsatellites, and AFLP data.