Format: ORAL

Carmen Bentez-Bentez1, Alejandra de Castro1, Jos Luis Silva1, Juan Viruel2, Marcial Escudero1, Jos Carlos del Valle1, Montserrat Arista1, Juan Arroyo1

1 Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain 2 Ecosystem Stewardship Department, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom

Southern Spain, recognized as a plant biodiversity hotspot, boasts remarkable species diversity, notable endemism, and relictness, by its high environmental variability and dynamic geomorphological history. These factors have acted as drivers of migration and diversification in this region, contributing to the richness of its plant landscape. The three National Parks in Andalusia (Doana, Sierra Nevada, Sierra de las Nieves) are considered the jewels of the crown, thought to exemplify the majority of ecological and evolutionary processes underlying the regions diversity. The flora of these natural reserves comprises a notably high percentage of species of the entire Andalusian flora. This, in turn, offers an assurance for preserving not only individual species but also populations and communities. The fields of phylofloristics and spatial phylogenetics open new avenues for understanding how evolutionary processes shape phylogenetic relationships of species in a region, elucidating their evolutionary patterns, which is particularly insightful when applied to biodiversity hotspots. Therefore, leveraging this new perspective, we used a megaphylogenomic approach (HybSeq, based on angiosperm353) to study the woody flora in these parks. Particularly, we explored the historical effects on biodiversity in these megadiverse areas and compare the patterns within and among territories. The phylogenomic results enabled us to calculate the phylogenetic diversity and signal associated with life-history traits (pollination, dispersal, flowering), ecological factors (habitat, substrate, altitude), and distribution within representative species ensembles of these biodiversity enclaves. Indeed, life-history traits displayed a strong phylogenetic signal and a pronounced overdispersal pattern. Interestingly, many ecological specialized character states, as a proxy of niche space, exhibited notable phylogenetic clustering, indicating their dominance within closely related species. These findings will provide new insights into the integration of evolutionary history into the criteria of management of protected areas and lineages.