Phylogeographic structure of Syntrichia caninervis Mitt, a xerophytic moss, highlights the expanded during glacial period

Abstract The rapid uplift of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and its aridification has significantly affected the distribution and community structure of the plants in these regions. However, most of the studies have focussed on vascular plants, and it has been unclear whether bryophytes, which are haploid plants, had similar historical population dynamics to other vascular plants during the dramatic geological and climatic environment changes of the Quaternary. This study used Syntrichia caninervis Mitt as the research object and investigated its genetic variation, differentiation and population dynamic history in China. We genotyped 27 populations throughout the distributional range of S. caninervis using two chloroplast DNA regions and 19 nuclear microsatellite loci and supplemented these data with ecological niche modelling of the potential distribution areas from the last interglacial period. The results showed that genetic data consistently identified three clades: the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, Pamir Plateau–TienShan and Central Asia. The genetic variation of Syntrichia caninervis mainly occurred within populations and in the populations within a specific region. However, there was a significant gene exchange between the different regions. S. caninervis may have expanded during the glacial period and shrank during the interglacial period. This study provides new evidence for the dynamic population history of drought-tolerant bryophytes in response to severe environmental changes during the Quaternary glacial and interglacial cycles.