Biology Seminar Series: Jenna TB Ekwealor

The fate of mosses under a changing climate: Evolution of stress tolerance in Syntrichia’s rapid radiation

The Late Miocene is characterized by global aridification and cooling and for immense changes in plant distributions, though little is known about how mosses fared. The diverse moss genus Syntrichia occurs worldwide in a variety of habitats. In this study, we tested whether the Northern Hemisphere subclade Borealsyntrichia represents a rapid radiation, whether its divergence time coincides with Late Miocene climate change, and whether its members differed in cold and desiccation tolerance. Lite Refreshments