Format: ORAL

Jared B. Meek1, Jenni U. Jones1, Richard H. Ree2, Deren A. R. Eaton1

1 Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, USA 2 Integrative Research Center, The Field Museum, Chicago, USA

Pedicularis (Orobanchaceae) is a genus of herbaceous hemiparasitic plants with highly diverse floral morphologies. It includes ca. 600 species worldwide, more than half of which are native to China and endemic to the Hengduan Mountains, where their greatest diversity is found. Over the past decade, multiple phylogeographic scenarios have emerged to describe the impacts of mountain uplift, Quaternary glacial cycles, and climatic transitions on plant diversification across the Hengduan Mountains. While some studies have documented these large-scale dynamics for species across this region, few have used population genomics to quantify impacts of geographic barriers on population structure. My research highlights the phylogeographic histories of twelve widespread Pedicularis species in the Hengduan Mountains, where it is common to find many species of Pedicularis flowering in sympatry. With an assembled dataset of ~1,000 specimens, I used a modified ddRAD approach to determine the population structure and divergence time estimates for these twelve species, as well as putative geographic barriers affecting their dispersal ability across the mountain range. Additionally, I compared the genetic diversity between contemporary (post-2018) and historical (pre-2000) Pedicularis samples collected throughout the Hengduan Mountains to reveal areas of gene flow, highlighting potential conservation implications of recent infrastructure development in the region.