Colonisation and diversification in invertebrates: looking within species on islands to connect pattern and process

Faria, Christiana (2015) Colonisation and diversification in invertebrates: looking within species on islands to connect pattern and process. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

How species originate and how communities of species assemble are among the most
intriguing questions in biology, and colonisation is a key element to understand them.
Using two island scenarios and applying molecular tools, this thesis looks within
species to investigate the themes of colonisation (both island colonisation and European
continental recolonisation) and diversification processes in invertebrates. The aim was
to address three gaps in our understanding about island colonisation, speciation and the
assembly of biota. In the Canary Islands, an oceanic island system, the gaps addressed
were: (i) the possibility that genomic admixture among multiple founding lineages has
featured in the diversification of a very species rich coleopteran genus; and (ii) the lack
of information regarding the colonisation history and dynamics of the small arthropod
soil dwelling fauna. In Great Britain, a continental island system, the gap addressed was
the under-explored possibility that the UK was not completely defaunated during
glaciations, then recolonised from external sources, but that a more complex pattern,
involving persistence within small cryptic refugia, may have featured in the history of
its invertebrate soil dwelling fauna. I reveal two instances of shared mtDNA variation
among weevil species from different Canarian islands for which I was able to dismiss
explanations of incomplete lineage sorting and reveal a history of colonisation and
speciation involving genetic admixture (first gap). I characterise Collembola
evolutionary diversity within Tenerife and the distribution of lineage colonisation times,
and reveal this fauna to be represented by a mosaic of very old lineages and a large
number of very recently arrived lineages (second gap). Finally, I reveal signatures of
survival and persistence of the Collembola fauna through the last Pleistocene glaciation
in Great Britain (third gap). How these results fit into a broader evolutionary and
conservation context as well as future directions are discussed.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Biological Sciences
Depositing User:	Users 2259 not found.
Date Deposited:	30 Jun 2015 13:12
Last Modified:	30 Jun 2015 13:12
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/53419
DOI:

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