image: Hickories are a major component of eastern North American oak-hickory forests, shown here in eastern Kentucky. view more
Credit: Image courtesy of Jordan B. Bemmels.
Genomic data from two species of hickory trees suggests that one species may have survived the Last Glacial Maximum in an isolated northern microrefuge, whereas a second species may have expanded to its current range from a southern origin, suggesting that the species retreated southward to hospitable climates as the ice sheets advanced; the results suggest that robust phylogeography can aid in reconstructing tree and plant responses to climate shifts.
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Article #19-01656: "Genomic evidence of survival near ice sheet margins for some, but not all, North American trees," by Jordan B. Bemmels, L. Lacey Knowles, and Christopher Dick.
MEDIA CONTACT: Jordan B. Bemmels, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; tel: 734-709-2914; e-mail: <jbemmels@umich.edu>
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences